Conferences will highlight the challenges and opportunities of better language training

REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE: The unsavoury politics of corpse verification

It was as if the TV series “CSI” (Crime Scene Investigation) had done a special episode on the tsunami victims in Phuket. The row between the Royal Thai Police Headquarters and Central Institute for Forensic Science (CIFS) that surfaced last week could be a ready-made script for the popular American prime-time drama.

The importance of speaking English

The English language has in the last century or so steadily become the primary global language, whether in business, education, government or simply for cross-cultural communication. As an official language of the United Nations and other major international organisations and as the main means of communication worldwide, there is no denying that the English language is the most important language in the world. It can also be said that on average natives of every country, large or small have some knowledge of English. The British Council estimates that in 10 years’ time approximately three billion people, or half of the world’s population, will be communicating in English. The language is taught in most schools on every continent, if not as the primary then as the secondary language, and a large majority of textbooks are printed in English as well.

Voting for economic policy

The end-of-year tiff between the prime minister and the Bank of Thailand governor over economic policy was very revealing. The governor said that Thailand’s fundamentals for 2005 were so good that the economy will be fine whatever government is elected. Voters should choose a party that will increase the country’s competitiveness, rather than increase household debt.