OPINION

Why 'Fly Thai'?

Umesh Pandey's opinion editorial on Thai Airways in today's Asia Focus was spot on.

I just think he missed out on a few other areas where THAI has lost plenty of customers to other airlines.

I have had a Thai Airways Gold Card for over a decade and have flown with them as my carrier of preference for a very long time.

However, recently I stopped using them because they use lousy old aircraft, use "bus gates" very often which is a pain when you are a business traveller with bags in both your hands, and have dilapidated entertainment systems.

And to top it all, they are invariably the most expensive! And try getting tickets on miles and you will discover that it is virtually impossible on any route even if you try booking months in advance. So why "Fly Thai"?

Khalid M Hashim

George Orwell's allegorical and dystopian novella Animal Farm had many classic lines, but the one that springs to mind is 'All pigs are equal, but some are more equal than others'. Any bells ringing out there?

The proposed Computer Act to monitor us all more closely is a bit nauseating. However, one needs to remember that governments, like leaders, come and go. No one and nothing is forever. Laws can always be changed, dropped, rescinded. Let's hope this will be true.

Would it be such a bad thing to print writers actual names when printing letters instead of an alias or phoney title?

Perhaps without the hiding behind the security of their animosity, while drinking their pints, they wouldn't be so quick to judge people, countries and others. Seems that multiple letters are sent by the same persons under different names if you look at the writing style and the self-titled names such as General and Sargent would be held for what they are: people who reinvent themselves moving to Thailand to retire and can't stop the critical letter writing that make them feel special.

Some comments to the supposed Thai uniqueness. I would say it does not apply to all Thais but only to Thai conservatives.

They show an appalling lack of understanding of political structures and systems worldwide, both past and present.

Instead they were fed on fairy tales and feudalistic political propaganda to which they cling fiercely onto all their life. Therefore they are unable to understand the political situation in their own country. This blindness can indeed be considered quite unique.

Re: "Drone sent in to prepare for temple raid", (BP, May 29). The Royal Thai Police will be asked to send a helicopter to help survey the temple, and an estimated 2,250 police and soldiers will be needed to be deployed to gain entrance to arrest Phra Dhammajayo, the temple's abbot.

I trust that the abbot, if nothing else, will be fined an amount at least equivalent to the cost of the raid, for obstructing the course of justice. But then that would be peanuts compared to the temple's reported assets of around 30 billion baht.

The whole fiasco caused by the abbot in his attempt to avoid questioning about an alleged massive fraud, hardly has the appearance of an innocent man, let alone a man of the cloth. Let us hope that for once justice will prevail over money.

Something I've learnt over the years here. If you can fake it, you will; be it clothes, orange juice or illness. Wonder how much is it costing the state to get "Boss" and the famous monk into custody?