Published on November 03, 2005
The South is a big place and by and large safe, so don’t be afraid to visit
Friends and acquaintances in Bangkok often comment that they worry about my safety and well-being during my frequent post-tsunami volunteer travels to “the South”. Due primarily to the intense media coverage depicting violence and killings in “the South”, many Thais and foreigners fail to differentiate between the conflict that is largely confined to three provinces and the rest of the South.
During this peak tourism season, the six provinces hardest hit by the tsunami (Satun, Trang, Krabi, Phuket, Phang Nga and Ranong) are still suffering from the misconception that a visit to any or all of these serene and pristine provinces should be filled with trepidation or fear. In fact, all will take pride in welcoming you and your family, with genuine heartfelt southern hospitality, for a safe and secure, carefree ecofriendly adventure. Dr Chanchai Prasertson Bangkok ---------------------------------- National Concealment of Corruption Club = NCCC? Re: “NCCC list full of govt friends”, News, November 2. What a joke! If this is true, Thailand is walking on very thin ice. Our only hope is that foreign media will pick up on this. However, Thai politics is not that interesting to them. There are dozens of good examples to follow for a developing country like Thailand. The willingness to learn from others’ mistakes is just not there. If more money and power to the already rich is the goal, then by all means stay on this track. Nick Bangkok ---------------------------------- Happy to see that scare tactics didn’t sway voters Re: “PM branded a sore loser over threat to deny funds”, News, November 2. Thaksin’s statement that the government will give preferential special treatment to regions that support the Thai Rak Thai party over those that do not was unwise in the extreme. It seems Thaksin is not satisfied with a divisive policy in the South and that he now wants to institute divisive double standards throughout the Kingdom. A man who seeks to pervert the function of government for his own purposes and deny citizens their just entitlement to government services has no place in government. A man who seeks to punish those who disagree is a dictator and a bully. A man who thinks money and power are the solution to everything is morally corrupt and untrustworthy. Thankfully, the recent by-election results indicate the Thai people now see the PM for what he really is. As further blows to his ego and political fortunes prompt similar ill-considered outbursts, I can only applaud the hastening of his political demise. Sibeymai Bangkok ---------------------------------- Outsourcing brings hidden economic and ethical costs Re: “Belt-tightening measures could end up costing more”, Letters, October 29. Gareth Clayton’s letter shows much understanding of creative accounting in government finances. Unfortunately, such is the state of governance in Thailand that so much economic policy is imported from business universities in the US. The only reasons that outsourcing can sometimes work out to be cheaper than insourcing is because of the quality of management, payment of lower salaries and lower pension-provision costs. In Europe, there are protection provisions for employees in both the private and public sectors who find their jobs being outsourced, as covered by the Transfer of Pensions and Undertakings (TUPE). But of course, these costs are factored back into contract pricing. When governments or companies outsource contracts, it is really an abdication of governmental or corporate responsibility. It really shows they do not have management that is really up to the job – they are simply and quietly washing their hands of the problems so they can blame others when things go wrong. In Thailand, it’s a catch-22 situation. On the one hand, the country needs high-calibre qualified managers for both the public and private sector, and on the other it needs an education system that enables those from all backgrounds to attain such qualities. Governments, unfortunately, are much better at talking about it than they are in delivering. In the meantime, and until the government delivers on its education promises, Thailand probably needs to relax immigration controls for some time to come, enabling professional managers to fill in. It’s not an easy thing for the government to swallow, since these people become transparent, whereas foreign advisers remain hidden in the accounts. David Harris Bangkok ---------------------------------- Southern youth should be given technical know-how Re: “Who will tell the emperor he has no clothes?” Opinion, October 30. Bangkok could ask the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah to develop the three border provinces and let Malaysians, Bruneians and Indonesians be observers to the process, as is what happened in the southern Philippines. Many lives have been lost in southern Thailand. It is appropriate to accept help from Thailand’s Muslim neighbours. Malaysia and Brunei could assist in providing vocational training. Let the southern youth get as much vocational training as they can, in order for them to progress in the modern world. Most of them have already completed their religious study in pondoks. Technical training will complement their spiritual knowledge with the tools they need in the material world. Zarir Malaysia ---------------------------------- Iraq needs real security, not a visit from Bush Re: “How Bush can get his mojo back”, Opinion, October 28. Maybe Bush can get his mojo back with photo ops in Iraq, but he did not appear to have gained much mojo with such a strategy in New Orleans after Katrina. Besides, it is somewhat cruel and insensitive to worry about one man’s mojo in the context of the conflagration in Iraq and its human tragedy. Cheerleaders are not what Iraq needs right now. Morale is not the problem there. The problems are more fundamental, severe and complex. They include open warfare between Sunnis and Shi’ites, the basis for a prolonged and bloody civil war with or without foreign troops and real questions as to whether there exists a basis for nationhood among the Iraqi people without a Saddam to ram it down their throats. Cha-am Jamal Phetchaburi ---------------------------------- Widely varying standards for American universities Re: “US economy speaks on behalf of its educational system”, Letters, October 25. Steve Snyder says it is too bad Tom Duzanica (“Lack of US linguists reflects lowered education standards”, Letters, October 23) did not want to discuss maths and science. Checking back to the context of Duzanica’s letter, the implication was clear that he considered the standard of the education in these very low. When I first started working in Thailand, I thought the school exchange programmes, where Thai students go, usually to the US, for a school year, would be a terrific educational experience for the students. I still think the students can gain a lot from the experience. Their ability to use English and their self-confidence are certainly improved. I have met a substantial number of students who have been on such programmes over the years. I like to ask them to compare their experiences in the US and Thailand. Almost universally, the response includes the comment that doing well in maths classes in US schools is very easy and that they had a lot of catching up to do when they got back. If the level of education is good, as Snyder implies, why the need for specialised secondary schools in mathematics, science and technology, teaching special advanced-preparation courses for those wanting to study in those areas at university? My final source of information is somewhat esoteric. It is the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) sample tests, downloadable from the organisation’s website. The GRE is used by universities in the US as a guide to admission to postgraduate study. Yet the questions in the quantitative comparison, problem-solving and data-interpretation sections were of lower to middle secondary-school standard that I would expect 15- and 16-year-olds to be able to cope with, much less applicants wishing to study at the postgraduate level. There was a time when I thought the standard of education in the US very high. I was aware of well-regarded universities like MIT, Carnegie Mellon and the University of California (Berkley and Santa Barbara). It is clear that while these are leading international institutions, they do not reflect the general level of education in the US. Gareth Clayton Bangkok ---------------------------------- Israel’s actions fail to indicate it is hot to push the button Re: “More than one Middle Eastern nation involved in dangerous nuclearisation”, Letters, November 2. It would certainly be informative for Manfred Liebig to post his entire agenda in his letter about how Israel’s nuclear weapons are a threat to safety and security in the region. What did I miss? Are the leaders of Israel chanting for the death of other countries? It is the Iranians who chant for death to Israel and death to America, while their leaders publicly pronounce that Israel should be wiped off the planet. It is most curious that Manfred ignores these facts completely. A Non-Religiously Motivated Reader Bangkok
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