Published on May 08, 2005
The US SEC has already made the most damning statements available online
I researched legal documents belonging to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission that are posted on its website: http://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/34-51199.htm
There I found the following, and I quote: “InVision retained a distributor in Thailand (Patriot) to lobby the airport corporation and the Thai government on InVision’s behalf. Under the terms of the transaction, the distributor would purchase the explosives-detection machines from InVision and then make its profit by reselling them at a higher price for use by the airport. “From at least January 2003 through April 2004, in communications with the responsible Regional Sales Manager and the Senior Executive (from InVision), the distributor (Patriot) indicated that it had offered to make gifts or payments to officials with influence over the airport corporation.” What is more clear than that? Thomas Moore Chon Buri Three rules could clear up much of the bribery I don’t understand why all this corruption need take place. Three rules could eliminate 90 per cent of the opportunities to engage in any sort of misconduct. All companies bidding for government contracts should conform to the following rules: l Be a registered tax-paying company for no less than five years. l Have five years of proven experience in the field for which they are bidding. l Have assets or bank credit equal to 50 per cent of the bid price. If these rules had been in place, few of the big corruption scandals that have been in the news would have taken place. In fact, the Thai government and people of Thailand would presumably only get qualified, experienced and financially sound companies to bid on projects, leading to more professional and better quality work. Sound good? Citizen Kare Bangkok Mass-transit system could use some toilets Can anyone please tell me the rationale for not having toilets at the MRT and BTS train stations? In Singapore there is always one toilet facility in every MRT Station. Could it be that Thais have better control of their bladders and tummies and are therefore unlikely to use toilet facilities? Please clarify, someone! Michael Chan Singapore Roaming mobile phones will trump new rules Re: “Unregistered prepaid phones in South to be blocked”, News, May 5. “The government has asked mobile-phone firms to block calls made by prepaid phone-users who travel to the four southernmost provinces after May 15 if they fail to register their SIM cards by that date.” I am a Malaysian, and my wife is a former Thai citizen who comes from Pattani. We have been married for 28 years now, we live in KL and are blessed with three children, who have all grown up. My wife and I travel frequently to Pattani to visit her ailing, old mother and our relatives there, and also in other parts of Thailand. We always travel by car, and it is because of this that I have been following the news about the security situation in the south of Thailand. We both have cell phones and use Malaysian SIM cards, of course. I use a Maxis 012, and my wife has a Digi 016 line. When ever we cross the border in the Bukit Kayu Hitam-Danog area, we receive a “welcome call” stating that our Malaysian systems have been “overtaken” by the Thai service-provider in the area. As we travel closer to Hat Yai, we receive another call stating our systems have been taken over by the service-provider in that local area. This carries on, all these “welcome calls”, until we finally reach Pattani. So we can still use our Malaysian SIM cards while we are in Pattani – or in Bangkok, or anywhere in Thailand. I supposed the same is also true for other international SIM cards from other countries – as long as the service-providers have mutual arrangements among themselves. All these other international SIM cards can be used anywhere in Thailand, and I believe the reverse is also true: all SIM cards bought in Thailand can also be used in other countries. Therefore, how is the Thai government going to prevent an insurgent from buying a SIM card in one of the border towns or from using this card for whatever evil purpose in Thailand? For that matter, one can purchase a SIM card almost anywhere in the world without having to register one’s address – and then use it in Thailand! For a normal Thai, it may be a problem to travel across the border to buy a SIM card from another country, but for an insurgent with a cause it shouldn’t be a problem at all! Even from Satul to Langkawi, it is less than two hours by ferry, much less by speedboat. I may be wrong in this, but if what I say is true then would the new rule help in the way that is intended? If not, it will be just be a futile exercise at the expense of the phone companies and the public in general. I just love to travel in Thailand, and my family and I have travelled in our car all over the South, to Phuket, Koh Phi Phi and to Koh Samui. We went right up to Chang Mai in 2002. We pray that peace and tranquillity will return to the South, the peaceful South, which is our second home! Yusiff Ali Malaysia Small vendors are what keep Bangkok vibrant The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s plan to ban street vendors from operating on Sundays could be disastrous for Bangkok. I am sure the BMA genuinely believes its plan will be good for the city. It probably identifies economic success with the profits of its friends in big business, including, specifically, the owners of shopping malls, luxury-goods stores and car-manufacturers, all of whom would benefit from clearing vendors off the streets. However, if the BMA believes this, it is mistaken. It is the small businesses on which the economic health of Thailand depends, and the BMA should be encouraging them, not chasing them away. If the BMA wants to see the results of policies that favour big business at the expense of small businesses it need only visit typical Western cities, where well-meaning over-regulation and zoning laws have created sterile, bleak city centres. Cities that used to be vibrant and thriving, as Bangkok is today, are dying. In fact, at weekends and every evening they are already dead. People are afraid to walk in the streets, and drunks and hooligans take over. Please, BMA, think again. Ronnie Horesh Bangkok Thailand has taken all its best chips off the table The FTA negotiations with Japan have been badly conducted. First, we one-sidedly took rice off the agenda and so lost our main bargaining chip and subsequently gave up on a number of agricultural products. Then we concentrated on tariff rates while the main problem with the Japanese market is non-tariff barriers. On the other hand, the Japanese, who know the Thai economy inside out, have gone for the jugular with their demands for a reduction of tariff rates on spare parts, steel and automobiles. I think we should suspend negotiations until we are better prepared or settle for an expanded partnership agreement and concentrate on negotiating an FTA with Japan as a group with other Asean countries. Sunat Songcham Samut Prakan Taxing livestock is the best way to save animals Re: “The best way to protect animals is not to eat them”, Letters, May 6. The way to reduce consumption of animals is to levy taxes just like on alcohol or tobacco. A chicken costs around Bt100, so a price closer to Bt500 might lead to much healthier results. Consumption will decrease while subsidised farmers could shift production to more wholesome foods. Livestock would be reduced and the living space per animal increased. Nicolas Pierson Bangkok Russia’s interest in the Middle East to be welcomed The French built the Suez Canal in 1867. Egypt nationalised the canal in 1956. The British, French and Israelis invaded Egypt to regain control of the canal. The Russians protested. The American president, Dwight Eisenhower, ordered the British, French and the Israelis out of Egypt. Times have changed. Since the days of Eisenhower, meek and corrupt American politicians have subordinated American policy and action to the needs and desires of Israeli leaders. To the general dismay of Palestinians, as well as the broader Arab and Muslim world, the current American president, George W Bush, often appears to be nothing more than a powerless lackey of the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon. But the recent trip of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to Israel and Palestine points to the return of Russia to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Russia is expected to fill the political vacuum left some years ago by the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Russia’s presence in any Middle East peace talks could stabilise the situation and provide much-needed support for the Palestinian cause of an independent state. It could also signal the beginning of the return of Russia as a power-broker and counter-lever to the Western powers in world politics. Jacques Smythe Bangkok
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