Published on October 12, 2005
Khao Lak tsunami victims only problem is which house to sleep in tonight
Re: “Praying for a roof”, News, October 10.
I live right next door to one of Khao Lak’s churches and get woken up by badly played and fully amplified music at 8am every Sunday, accompanied (and this is the point) by hardly any singing. Yes, the drop-out rate is high – these churches have tiny congregations. I agree with Senator Wongphan and Father Bancha that tsunami assistance should not be used as a bribe to induce people to abandon their indigenous religion. But the senator and the priest may have underestimated the cunning of the Phang Nga tsunami victims. The charities fail to coordinate, and the victims have used this to maximum advantage. Many charity homes lie empty because the recipient families are so thinly spread that they can’t occupy all their newly acquired houses at the same time – I know several families who have managed to get two or three each. So, no need to worry ... but it would be nice if someone would come and teach our Christian musicians how to play their instruments, and preferably “unplugged”. Nigel Pike Phang Nga ------------------------------------------- Lack of bird-flu preparations a cause for serious concern Re: “US to cooperate on bird-flu vaccine”, News, October 11. Vaccine trials are good, but more practical work needs to be done. Immediate preparation is needed on many fronts. Information needs to be shared. What vaccines does the government have in stock? What is their efficacy? When, where, at what price and to whom will it be available? Is there a training scheme for paramedics being organised? How effective are the face masks that will be used? Are face masks ready to be distributed in schools? Who is in charge of preparations for the likely epidemic? In the country, in the provinces, in local areas? Are there booklets, leaflets, posters, radio and television announcements in the works? Apart from meetings between officials, what preparations are being made? Danthong Breen Bangkok ------------------------------------------- Lawsuits send clear warnings to the overly opinionated Re: “Luangta Bua escapes PM’s legal wrath”, News, October 11. No one, including monks and reporters, should go around saying or publishing things that invade other people’s privacy or damage their reputation. It’s good that PM Thaksin has been setting examples of television and radio talk-show hosts and other journalists who speak too freely. Freedom of speech doesn’t mean the freedom to attack anyone by telling lies! Three cheers for you, PM Thaksin! Siri Angkasuwan Bangkok ------------------------------------------- Worried about use of divine message to justify war Re: “Bush: God told me to invade Iraq, Afghanistan”, News, October 8. I am puzzled. It seems that God must have spoken at least two times to Bush and perhaps quite a bit more. I gather this since there were military actions at two very different times. I would like to know if God talks to Bush only about military operations, or if he also speaks about hurricanes and other disasters. I wonder how often they communicate. Another puzzling thing has been bothering me. I wonder if God will tell Bush when the right time to withdraw troops from Iraq will be. And I thought Iraq was about weapons of mass destruction and not about God’s needs. I worry about what might be said in the next conversation Bush might have with God. Lewis B ------------------------------------------- Pompano Beach, Florida Iraq deserves to be left in better shape than it’s in now While we certainly cannot start over, there are a few things we can do other than blow stuff up, arrest folks that support the insurgency and put henchmen like Saddam on mock trials before they are executed. Actually they should have been summarily executed. The US ran Saddam out of town and scattered his army but has ignored the Iraqi people. The US went into Iraq on a quest to bring in the bad guys with an army that just came out of a popular war in Afghanistan. It was to be quick down and dirty – fast in, fast out. But it was too little and too soon. The US-led coalition went in six months early and at less than half strength. The ease in which foreign insurgents are able to stir up the locals should not surprise anyone. So what did the US expect? A slow-moving powerhouse is on the move. The Iraqi government and the coalition needs to go to the small villages and ensure they have water, electricity and job opportunities. Until this is done there is no use in exiting Iraq, and the effort that GW Bush started in anger will end in utter shame. Sam Blackstock Bangkok ------------------------------------------- Awareness of patients’ rights leads to better healthcare Re: “Doctors to be freed from danger of legal action”, News, October 6. Opinions on medical malpractice in Thailand differ greatly. From the point of view from the medical profession, the situation is getting worse. But from the perspective of patients, it situation is getting better. The medical profession wants to limit the right of the patient to sue, and limit the amount of monetary rewards that can go to patients. Patients want the way they are advised and are given medical care to be more transparent, and for doctors to explain more about their condition and options. They want it to be easier to file a complaint about bad medical care. For a long time the medical profession has got away without being sued too much, due to Thai society’s respect for authority, and belief in karma and predestination. In cases where medical malpractice has taken place, patients and families have often just quietly accepted reality, even when gross medical negligence has occurred. Now, with knowledge of consumer rights spreading, when things go wrong, patients and their families are more likely to ask questions. This is a good development. It will help the medical profession improve, as the main defence against being sued is to practice good medicine. Patients also need to be realistic and differentiate between malpractice and unfortunate outcomes, which are not the same thing. Sometimes, even when doctors do everything they can, unfortunate results take place. Vinai Bangkok ------------------------------------------- Foreigners have a right to comment on their new home Farangs who work and pay taxes here have the right to express themselves, even if it is criticism. Unfortunately, it is difficult for them to integrate into this society. Even if one works here for many years, gets married and has children here or buys a home, it remains a difficult task to be able to stay here. Jean-Paul Patrick Bangkok ------------------------------------------- Prospective World Book Capital lacks big bookstores Re: “Bangkok: World Book Capital?” Editorial, October 10. When I first heard of Bangkok’s bid to become World Book Capital, I took it to be an off-colour joke. Thailand’s libraries could benefit from a lot more funding. Bookstores around the country are small compared to the spacious ones you’ll find in other modern Asian cities. Major malls here fling high fashion at us to no end, but a large selection of books is impossible to find. Having an appropriately sizeable bookstore would be a real boon to Bangkok – any city without one claiming to be a world book capital is just mocking itself. Evan Saunders Bangkok ------------------------------------------- Real and lesser heroes ignored when others receive awards Ever noticed that some professions are disproportionately busy awarding themselves awards? Show business and military personnel are the busiest, but government and business people are avidly self-aggrandising also. Does a man who’s been awarded four Academy Awards deserve more praise than a nameless guy who cheers up his neighbours when they’re feeling suicidal? Then there are countless military yes-men with jackets laden with sparkly medals and campaign ribbons, though they’ve never been close to combat. There’s a guy who single-handedly stomped out a wildfire that bordered a prestigious neighbourhood packed with million-dollar houses. It was a bone-dry California summer and he happened to be driving by a fallow field where minutes earlier an idiot had tossed a lighted cigarette. The guy with the blackened boots and singed trousers got nary a pat on the back. There’s little the ordinary Joe or Jane can do to affect a change. However, an American named Hank Meals once came up with a unique twist: he arranged a community event that awarded Certificate of Merits to everyone in attendance. It was a small-town community, so everyone knew everyone, and it was a fun time for all. One woman received the Most Dependable Car-Pooler award. Another received a citation for her oatmeal fig cookies. Near the end of the awards ceremony, whoever was left over was asked what they felt was noteworthy about them, and a certificate was filled in on the spot – so no one felt left out. Ken Albertsen Chiang Rai
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