Published on October 13, 2005
UBC is not the only cable provider broadcasting pass-through advertising
UBC read with dismay an item published in “The Week That Was” on October 9 [which summarised information from the article “UBC told to stop ads”, Business, October 4]. We are very concerned about incorrect and inaccurate comments made in the article. First, and most important, UBC is not the only cable-television operator in Thailand that broadcasts pass-through advertising. In fact, most of the 500 cable operators in Thailand have been passing through advertising for many years.
UBC does not undertake advertising itself but merely [screens] advertising attached to international programmes. Thus, UBC is not receiving any revenue from this form of advertising. Customer surveys collected have also showed that the majority of consumers favour uninterrupted content as opposed to prior practices of blocking such adverts. The article also states that UBC monopolises the Bangkok market. This statement is inflammatory and untrue. Thai TV (TTV) broadcasts throughout Bangkok. There are a number of cable operators offering services in Bangkok. These networks operate illegally in Bangkok, as they have not secured permission from the Metropolitan Electricity Authority but nevertheless continue to operate without facing any action. Kantima Kunjara Corporate Communications Director, UBC Bangkok --------------------------------------- Aiding Pakistan would help improve Thailand’s image I have been following the news about the earthquake in Pakistan and particularly about the aid given from various countries. Before his departure to Europe, PM Thaksin said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would contact Pakistan to find out what kind of aid Thailand could offer. Wan Mohamad Nor Matha has been designated a representative of the PM, to take aid consisting of tents, blankets and medical supplies worth Bt5 million to Pakistan this week. It should not have been difficult to figure out what kind of aid was needed for this sort of disaster. All one had to do was watch CNN’s coverage of the situation and have a little bit of common sense. It is debatable whether sending a high-level representative to Pakistan is a good idea. The Pakistani government is likely to have its hands full handling the disaster. To me, this suggests a well-known style of working of the Thai government - “form or rhetoric before substance”. So we should not be surprised if any aid that comes from Thailand ends up being too little, too late. Pakistan is a very important Islamic country. It is one of the destinations our youths from our troubled South go to for their religious studies. So perhaps those advisers of Thaksin should have recommended sending a C-130 full of volunteers from the South to help in relief operations going on in that country. That way, Thailand would not only be helping a friend in trouble, but also providing a positive psychological effect on the populace in the South, which could very well alleviate some of the violence there. A Citizen Bangkok --------------------------------------- Tragedy can serve as a catalyst for peace Re: “Opportunity in tragedy?” Editorial, October 11. It is regrettable that often it seems to take unspeakably horrible events to stir us to action. One can only hope that the warming of relations between India and Pakistan that had marked effects even before the earthquake, which caused such great damage in Kashmir, can be continued. The peace treaty between the Indonesian government and separatists in tsunami-hit Aceh shows us that anything is possible. Somchai Thon Buri --------------------------------------- Hard to read the fine print in word games Once again, your Crossword and Jumble have shrunk to a minuscule size. If the puzzles are so insignificant as not to be worth using up more space, why bother printing them at all? Please print them large enough for those of us whose eyesight is no longer keen. Also, the anagrams on Sunday are difficult to work on, because of the lack of space. Most puzzle magazines have spaces between the lines, in order for readers to solve them. Amelia Komlertkul Bangkok --------------------------------------- Dialogue is key to a real solution for the South Thailand’s former PM, Chuan Leekpai, would be the best person to handle this quagmire that is troubling Thailand’s southern region. It was too bad he was not re-elected PM in the 2001 election. But pointing fingers at other won’t help resolve this predicament. To find the root cause of the troubles, more dialogue needs to be had with the people of the South. Communication only works if both parties start discussing and not point guns at each other. In this respect, the resolution underway for the conflict in Northern Ireland can serve as a model. Southerners should be treated by the people of Thailand as compatriots, not as aliens. This is my sincere view as a person who loves Thailand. Jebat2020 Bangkok --------------------------------------- English skills remain critical for career advancement I think teaching Mandarin in Thai schools is a good idea and presents an alternative to learning just English. However, I want to suggest that parents and children think about what students will do when they grow up. Do they want to go into business? Or have a technical career focused on engineering or science? As a scientist by training, I would recommend Thai students and parents focus on advanced classes in maths and the sciences. In terms of foreign languages, I would suggest they master English, because these days, getting only a bachelor’s degree in science is not enough to guarantee career advancement. You must have a master’s degree or doctorate, in order to get involved in serious research in any industry. Biotechnology is the cutting-edge science these days; every major pharmaceutical company is racing to take its share of the pie. When science students go to graduate school, they will spend a lot of time in the library, where most scientific literature is in English. They will spend more time reading and less time in the laboratory then they think. I would suggest that students who want to excel in science, engineering and technology master English. I strongly believe that if Thailand has more specialists in the fields of science and maths, it would benefit the country greatly. Many top Chinese scientists and researchers still publish their research in English in academic journals. Many of the brightest Asians that go to do graduate work in the US - especially those from South Korea, Taiwan, China and Japan - have studied English very hard in their homeland. Luk Isaan Bangkok --------------------------------------- Arabic may be more useful to Thais than Mandarin Most international business is carried out in English. It makes sense to promote more knowledge of maths and science. Scientific and IT skills would be more beneficial than a knowledge of Mandarin. If another language really needs to be promoted in Thailand, I think it should be Arabic, seeing how so many skilled Thai workers wind up going to one of the Arabic-speaking countries in the Middle East. Learning Mandarin is a waste of time and effort unless you plan on living in China. Samuel D Bangkok --------------------------------------- Language students need good books and more inspiration There is a joke among linguists. “What do you call a person who speaks three languages? A trilingual. What do you call a person who speaks two languages? A bilingual. What do you call a person who speaks one language? An American!” But the punch-line may need to be changed now. If I can witness “uneducated” taxi drivers in Burma, India, Indonesia, China and Malaysia speaking English with more fluency, depth and vocabulary than college graduates in Thailand, certainly Thai people can witness the same. While living in Chiang Mai over the past two years, I have met people who studied English for many years yet still had poor conversational skills. One of the biggest problems is that of the curricula used in teaching English in Thailand. Fortunately, textbooks and curricula are also easy to repair. Formal language education has been occurring as long as human beings have been civilised. In 600 BC, Panini developed the first grammar system for Sanskrit. Grammatically, Sanskrit is intensely complex. But the classic Panini text is still in use today and a model for other grammar systems. Having studied German, English, Spanish, Sanskrit, Japanese and Thai across a wide range of media and institutions, what works and does not work in language education is apparent, widely known and readily available in texts sold at any good bookstore in the West. Perhaps the books and curricula in Thailand are not of the highest standards? It would be difficult to quantify. Blaming curricula and books may not provide the best results. In the late 1930s, in my homeland of Germany, people also blamed books. Entire libraries were emptied into bonfires across the country. This has happened time and again in the history of the world. And all those flames and all that light have illuminated one thing again and again: it is not the book that brings learning to life, it is the student. Thailand, if you wish to improve your English-language training, look first to your own heart’s view and actions. The light of learning already shines around you. A Farang Linguist Bangkok
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