Now we see how impudent Samak Sundaravej was to pervert the truth when he blamed the current Bangkok governor, Apirak Kosayodhin, for the scandalous fire-truck deal. He was behaving like a villain who sues his victim before he himself has been prosecuted.

I would like to pay him back in his own coin by concluding that this scandal could not have happened if this veteran politician had not been so hasty in signing the Bt7 billion deal on the last day of his tenure.

Let’s wait and see whether some day this veteran villain will find himself in the defendant’s dock.

Abee

Bangkok

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Shin sale a sheer insult and robbery

This sale by the Shinawatra family, headed by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, must be the biggest coup during his term in office and the biggest insult to the Thai people. If this action does not bring about his downfall it should.

The deal to transfer his shares to his family at a low price (without paying taxes), then raise the legal level of foreign ownership in time for the sale and finally sell the shares to an overseas company (without paying taxes) robbed Thai people.

Thaksin has indicated that the beneficiaries may give some of the profits to charity, but I think the only charity that will benefit will be the Shinawatras.

Thailand seemingly has a very corrupt government with no effective watchdog to protect the citizens.

Thai Lover

Bangkok

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It’s time to educate our masters: Thai citizens

The current escalating political crisis in Thailand brings to mind a quote from a British statesman in the latter half of the 19th century. At the time of a reform movement to extend the right to vote in parliamentary elections to more people, Robert Lowe, viscount of Sherbrooke, declared: “We must educate our masters.”

In a true democracy, the real masters are the voters who elect politicians to serve the people’s best interests. Sovereignty resides in the people. As the right to govern is given on trust to the elected representatives, it can also be taken back by the people when that trust is betrayed. So it’s time Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra ceased mentioning the 19 million votes his party won and accusing academics and other citizens who demand his resignation of being anti-democratic.

We need to educate our masters if we are to put an end to corrupt electoral practices, money politics and abuse of legislative and executive power by corrupt, self-serving politicians. This will take time, but it must be done to achieve true parliamentary and participatory democracy.

I am heartened to see that the process has already begun and is gaining momentum. Sondhi Limthongkul’s lighting of the symbolic candle is part of the educational process. Pro-democracy activists, academics, artists, intellectuals, teachers, business people, workers, farmers, concerned citizens, members of non-governmental organisations, journalists and students are coming together to undertake the task of educating our masters.

When our masters are better educated, we will not see the likes of Thaksin and his band of sycophants in power ever again.

Nick Probono

Bangkok

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Ample evidence Shinawatras are too rich for words

I have been following the debate regarding the sale of Shin Corp shares to Temasek Holdings of Singapore. Some of the shares that were sold came from Ample Rich, which sold its shares to members of the Shinawatra family for Bt1 per share. The Shinawatra family then sold these to Temasek Holdings for a ridiculous profit.

A very simple question arises: if Ample Rich is not closely connected to the Shinawatra family, why didn’t it sell its shares directly to Temasek – making the profit itself? Another small note – we know what “ample” means in English. Could it be that those who own this company consider themselves rich enough already?

AR

Bangkok

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‘Ten easy steps’ explains the whole situation

Re: “Ten easy steps to selling a country”, Opinion, February 11.

Many thanks for your absolutely brilliant analysis. You’ve made my day. Thanks so much. Now I know why I have been feeling like I’m living in a banana republic.

I’m feeling heaps better already and will be laughing all the way to the Royal Plaza.

Thana na Nagara

Dept of Common & Graduate Studies

Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology

Thammasat University

Thaksin’s timing reveals

he’s a satirist at heart

Politicians pretending to combat poverty are only bent on self-ridicule and self-destruction. Thaksin & Co have no conception whatsoever of the harsh realities of those held captive to cycles of poverty and debts.

The concomitance of the anti-poverty road show, the sale of Shin Corp and the Ample Rich affair is the best evidence. On the one hand the Great CEO is running a road show, on the other the Shin family is conducting a sell-off.

Now, we also can enjoy the legal and political razzmatazz of the takeover’s shady sides (oh, those beautiful legal loopholes and grey areas). The Great CEO must now justify his actions and profits vis a vis his anti-poverty vision. This vision is probably consistent with W C Sellars’ “1066 and All That” published in 1930.

“The Industrial Revelation made by all the rich men at once: (a) women and children can work twenty-five hours a day in factories without many of them dying by exhaustion or becoming excessively deformed; and (b), the Debt is a very Good Thing and it would be dangerous to pay it off for fear of Political Economy,” the humorist wrote. Considering the general state of politics, a remark by Plato seems apropos: “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that [the voters] end up being governed by their [intellectual] inferiors.”

Krabong Kuverakorn

Bangkok

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Did a free-trade nightmare spook the PM into a sale?

Our Prime Minister has lambasted the media, telling them to “wake up [and] stop dreaming” because they have been critical about his “clownish” show in Roi Et.

Meanwhile, I have to praise him because he has already woken up and realised the negative consequences of a free-trade agreement with the United States, thus moving most of his assets to Singapore.

He truly deserves to be remembered in Thai history as the prime minister who “dreamt, woke up and fled”.

Reality

Bangkok

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Taxi ordeal followed by tuk tuk nightmare

I will keep this as short as I can, but this issue makes my Thai wife and me very angry.

My American colleague Tim made his first visit to Thailand and stayed for only two days. The first one-and-half days were, in his words, a wonderful lifetime experience, but the last few hours were a nightmare because of unscrupulous taxi and tuk tuk drivers.

After a temple tour, my wife took Tim to Pratunam to shop. Afterwards, she showed him to a taxi, told the driver where to go and handed him a card with directions to the hotel.

Shortly after driving away, the taxi was stopped by the police. An argument ensued between the officer and driver. It became quite heated and the driver appeared to blame Tim for whatever the problem was. The driver pointed angrily at Tim and threw the hotel card at him. Then, both the driver and officer ordered him out of the car.

By this time Tim had become very scared because no one was speaking English and he thought he was being arrested. He quickly got out of the cab and in panic left his new digital camera on the seat.

Tim was left standing on the kerb side still upset when a tuk tuk pulled up and its driver asked if he needed to go somewhere. Having been in a tuk tuk earlier in the day with my wife, he thought he would be safe. Wrong. He showed the driver the hotel card and the driver told him the fare would be Bt200. Bearing in mind that Tim was already on Petchaburi Road and going to the Amari Atrium, he was surprised but agreed just to get back to the safety of the hotel. Shortly afterwards, the driver stopped the tuk tuk and tried very insistently to get Tim to go to a Turkish bath. Tim shouted: “No, no hotel please!”

This happened again after a couple hundred of metres. Next, the tuk tuk driver said: “You pay me in dollars.” Tim agreed just to get to the hotel. Finally the driver stopped a few hundred metres from the hotel, on the other side of the road and told Tim to get out as he could not do a U-turn. He then asked for US$200 [Bt7,900]. By this time Tim was not only scared but very angry. He gave the driver the agreed Bt200 and walked away while being abused by the driver.

Warning to all farangs in Thailand. Never, never let your friends get into a tuk tuk alone. If you do, give them the telephone number of the tourist police.

A Concerned Thai Resident

Bangkok

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