What have Singaporeans done that is wrong? Doing business with Thai citizens, whoever they are, is based solely on commercial interest. Whether or not a particular citizen is corrupt is not within our control. If you want us Singaporeans not to deal with corrupt citizens in your country, we must be shown evidence that they are corrupt. Thaksin has not been convicted in a court of law for his alleged corruption.

We do not have to know whether the proprietor of a shop in your Mah Boonkrong Centre, where Singaporeans frequently shop, is corrupt in order to buy from him or her. It is very unfriendly of your demonstrators to protest outside our embassy despite no wrong done by us and, to aggravate things, suggest boycotting our goods. This is really not reasonable of you, especially because for geographical reasons you are one of our most-frequented countries. Do whatever you must to please your citizens, but do not drag us into your mess.

Gordon Koh

Singapore

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Threatened boycott of city-state drips with irony

Re: "Alliance warns S'pore to drop deal or face boycott", News, March 8.

What goes around comes around. Shin Corp and friends should know everything about boycotting. Allegedly, they have systematically cancelled all advertising in any newspaper that has been critical of the PM. It appears that business and politics do mix, even to the extent of commercial arm-twisting designed to make independent media toe the line.

Spaceman

Bangkok

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Blacklist of products is enough to drive one to drink

Re: "Products blacklisted", News, March 8.

The People's Alliance for Democracy's blacklist of products and other services of the leader and his cronies has me worried. I live in an SC Asset house, use Loxinfo Internet on my True phone and while at home watch iTV on UBC. When I'm out, I use my AIS mobile and shop at 7-Eleven. Does this mean that just a few people have long since carved up Thailand? And have you noticed how many of these are or started as monopolies?

Thank God I don't drink Nescafe or drive a Toyota!

But if I find out that he has the sole import licence on Highland Park scotch, I might just end it all.

Mihi Est Praepositum in Taberna Mori

Bangkok

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Chances of snap election being either free or fair are nil

Re: "In a democracy, the real test of leadership should be a free and fair election", Letters, March 5.

Reading through William's comments on the current political situation, I felt his article worth pondering. A second reading of it revealed to me that his comments sounded, logically and terminologically, exactly the same as those made recently by Thaksin and some of the heavyweights in his deactivated Cabinet.

On the one hand, William admitted that it is well within their rights for the opposition to stage one protest rally after another but argued, on the other, that the expression of one's point of view should be within the limits of the laws of the country. Then what are the limits of our laws that limit the right to stage a protest rally and free expression? Here apparently William tactfully resorted to "the negation of negation".

Why is not beating him (Thaksin, the former prime minister) in the next election an acceptable alternative? Our caretaker PM keeps challenging the opposition these days, on every platform and occasion, to beat him in the snap election, shouting himself hoarse: "Return power to the people!" and "Let the people make the decision!" and so on and so forth.

But how can it be a free and fair election and acceptable when Bt300 million was spent only on the March 3 mass rally that backed up Thaksin? I was told by the barber who gave me a haircut that day and then by a neighbour that every motorcyclist was hired at Bt1,000 to show up in force at the rally! The prime minister has won two landslides, and it goes without saying he will win a third, a fourth landslide if we do not take immediate action to stop him from achieving that vicious goal.

William, you don't like mob mentality (in fact, "mob" is not the right word to describe the current demonstrators and protesters), but you can take some trouble to listen to our respected academics and intellectuals, who are coming forward urging the caretaker prime minister in the same loud voice to resign. They are not losers. They uphold justice by reason. They show their responsibility for the destiny of our country.

Abee

Bangkok

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Public still seems to be missing a piece of the puzzle

Perhaps we should assess the facts before making any foregone conclusions. Is PM Thaksin really guilty, and does he deserve to be kicked out? What exactly is he guilty of? The Shin sale? Exactly which law did he break? Do we have proof of his guilt? I have been following all of the accusations in regard to the Shin sale but have yet to see any evidence that he broke the law. Seems like people want to see him pay tax on that massive sale, but if Securities and Exchange Commission regulations say there's no tax on shares sold or transferred, why would he have to pay anything? To whom is he supposed to pay tax? I don't particularly care for PM Thaksin, but I don't think it is right for the public to treat him this way.

J Lee

Texas

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It's so obvious now: TRT means 'Thaksin Rak Thaksin'

Since I have strong family ties to Thailand and live there for parts of the year, I of course follow all of your articles on PM Thaksin when I'm there.

Although Thailand, unfortunately, has had far too many bad and corrupt PMs, to the detriment of ordinary Thais, I nevertheless think Thaksin is one of the most selfish PMs Thailand has ever had. Thus I think TRT stands for "Thaksin Rak Thaksin", because he has not the least idea how ordinary upcountry Thais live and fight to survive. Please keep up the heat on Thaksin, as he's really bad news for the Thai people, apart from his greedy family and friends.

Lisa Ahlqvist

New Zealand

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Premier's legacy threatens to be one of social division

Judging from the letters to the editor, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra elicits sharply opposing points of view from both Thais and foreigners. It is to be hoped that the divisions and cleavages created in and between communities, workplaces, families, friends, nationalities, social classes, occupations and regions will not be a permanent legacy he leaves behind for this country.

Atip Munvit

Bangkok

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Too early to predict doom for Bangkok's luxury outlets

Re: "Bangkok's luxury malls are about to implode", Letters, March 9.

While I found the letter of Outraged Taxpayer interesting in regard to shopping malls in Bangkok, he or she must have been in a different Emporium than the one I have visited. The letter-writer said that both it and Gaysorn Plaza were nearly abandoned when he was shopping there. I agree that Gaysorn has a shortage of shoppers, but that has never been the case at The Emporium when I have visited there in the daytime. It has always been busy. Which Emporium was your letter-writer talking about anyway?

As for the new Siam Paragon, I liked what I saw when I was there in January; however, it seemed to be busy in some sections but not others. Then again, the complex had just opened, and not all stores were open at that time. Perhaps it will succeed, perhaps it won't, but it is handicapped by its close proximity to two other malls in the same area. It will be interesting to see what it is like when I visit there again next year.

Irving Q Waldorf

San Francisco, California

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If it's Saturday, then this must be Patpong

Re: "Quality tourists demand the right of 24-hour partying", Letters, March 5.

I only recently discovered your paper and am very glad I did. The Asian way of looking at life, compared with the North American way, is in your stories, and you cover both sides of a situation. Due to your superior coverage of local, regional and world events, you have a reader for the duration.

It's funny, though. Being from Canada and not hearing everyone complaining daily about every little thing, I still get to read comments from Americans putting their two cents in. Some things never change. After seeing a third letter in your Letters section from individuals from the US, I felt I must comment. Why is it some people can't leave well enough alone and are always trying to push their values and culture on other nations? I come to Thailand every year for the winter, because I love the culture and the people. If I wanted North American culture, I'd stay home. If I wanted 24-hour partying, I would stay in any city in any Westernised country.

Look at Pattaya, Chaweng and Patong. Don't trade in your culture to accommodate shallow individuals looking to get so drunk they don't even know where they are anyway.

Katie

Mae Hong Son