I would like to commend The Nation for the informative article that served as a contribution to the celebrations of His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adulyadej's accession to the throne 60 years ago. In this regard, I would like to contribute a minor comment for the benefit of some readers who may not be fully aware that although His Majesty's coronation took place on May 5, 1950, now known as Chat Mongkon [Coronation] Day, His Majesty acceded to the throne some years earlier, on June 9, 1946.

Therefore, this year marks the 60th anniversary of the accession to the throne of His Majesty the King and the celebrations nationwide. In particular, foreign monarchs will visit the Kingdom to join these auspicious celebrations from June 12-13.

Songphol Sukchan

Director

Press Division

Department of Information

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Bangkok

Return of the 'enemy of evil' is a sad irony

Re: "'Enemy of evil' back with new party", News, April 24.

It is hard to believe that Chalerm Yoobamrung, one of the most hated politicians in Thai history, with three allegedly felonious sons, one of whom is suspected of committing a murder in a pub in Bangkok (this we conclude, since no one else has been arrested, prosecuted or convicted) dares to enter the public arena again. Is he betting that the Thai people have lost their memory? Is he betting Thaksin will retain the premiership into the indefinite future?

Chalerm is very wealthy, with a huge compound and countless very expensive cars. Where did the money come from? Has the Revenue Department done its due diligence to determine precisely where the money came from? A thorough, extensive and retroactive investigation of Chalerm's "unusual" wealth could help pre-empt someone so bad for society to dare seek power.

Worried

Bangkok

Multiple elections are not in the people's interests

Re: "South to face 3rd round of voting", News, April 25.

Who are the Election Commission (EC) and the caretaker CEO PM working for? What are they trying to accomplish with four elections within one month - most of them rigged in favour of one party and some tainted by intimidation and violence obviously condoned by the ruling party (see "Furious mob forces PAD leaders to hide in Udon university", News, April 24)? Is it a coincidence that the EC is trying to disqualify three candidates who scored a large number of votes in the Senate election, three candidates who are known to be independent in their views and not aligned with Thai Rak Thai? I had hoped the Senate would somehow provide some checks and balances to the Thai Rak Thai juggernaut, but even that hope appears to have been dashed.

I am no expert on legal or political issues. I am just an ordinary, law-abiding citizen who also happens to be a capable CEO of my own small business. I am appalled at all the manoeuvrings and machinations of the caretaker CEO PM and his Thai Rak Thai Party in disregarding the rules of civil democratic societies in order to retain power at all costs. I am equally disgusted by their efforts to quell dissent and protest, which are, in fact, necessary components of true, healthy democracies.

Who is paying for these elections anyway? The caretaker PM has not even paid his taxes, and he is taking my taxes to finance elections to get his party the required number of seats? He should be billed for all of these elections and all the disruptions created to business by them! He also needs to be up front with his "shareholders" at Thailand Inc (ordinary citizens like me) about why he is going off on an overseas junket without asking our permission and telling us exactly what he is doing. He is using our money as well as depriving us of time that he should be devoting to looking after the country and the welfare of its citizens. Instead, he is going away, after he has had enough of playing golf, on a trip to take care of his money perhaps?

SAS

Bangkok

Rights are not subject to the whims of the state

Re: "Ripped slips 'show contempt for EC'," News, April 24.

Take good note: the ballot paper is a sacred tool with which each citizen exercises his or her national democratic rights, which largely consist of drawing an X on such a paper once every few years. That is, if one doesn't have a BA, and thus one's rights don't extend to standing in a national election, and if one has not forfeited one's other political rights by missing a vote in a national election.

It is as if our rights - like the ballot paper - are lent to us by the state and unless we use our rights and mark our ballot papers in the manner deemed proper by the state, we lose our rights, our vote and our liberty.

Thai state! Our rights and democratic tools belong to us, the people. We are not borrowing them from you the way you, or whoever wrote the law, would like us to think.

Pla Nil

Bangkok

Go to Udon Thani if you want to see a real mob

Re: "Furious mob forces PAD leaders to hide in Udon university", News, April 24.

Just to let The Economist know that should they wish to find a real Thai mob, they had better hotfoot it to Udon Thani, where democracy is not alive and well!

Observer

Chon Buri

Spiral of dirty dealing plummets to a new low

Re: "One last chance to break out of a political chokehold", Opinion, April 21.

I returned home from a long holiday abroad only to find an even nastier phenomenon in the Thai political arena. First, appearing to stun the world was a new Senate composed of husbands, wives, brothers and sisters and what not.

A shameless farce it was, but it was real, real stuff. It was premeditated. Nothing went wrong. They were playing by the rules.

Then no sooner had democratically minded Bangkokians been overjoyed at the top winners in the race, when the ruling party rushed out clamouring that the top winners should be punished for gaining publicity by making anti-Thaksin speeches at the People's Alliance for Democracy rallies.

They know only too well that figures like Nitipoom Navarat, Klanarong Chantik and Rosana Tositrakul are certainly obstacles to their road to directly manipulate the Upper House, hand in hand with the Lower House. Unfortunately, at this point, they have overlooked Samak Sundaravej, who gained publicity by attacks every day when he hosted his notorious talk show.

Then came the second round of voting on April 23 that left a number of constituencies empty, as Thai Rak Thai candidates failed to win the required minimum 20 per cent of the vote. But there is no need not worry about it.

Just listen to what caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said about this: it would depend on the rule-keepers. As we know, it is an easy job for our rule-keepers to modify the rules that we the people must play by.

For Thaksin and his like, this is a life-and-death battle. They must win at all costs in order to stay in power. They know only too well what they have done and what will be in store for them on that day when they fall.

Abee

Bangkok

TAC is a building block for progress

Re: "US changes tone and approach on Asean policies", Opinion, April 24.

Kavi Chongkittavorn mentions the possibility of US accession to the Asean Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) as a precursor for better ties. That would be a very important event with a strong impact on the future. Indeed, Article 1 of the TAC stipulates the purpose of this treaty is to promote perpetual peace, everlasting amity and cooperation among peoples that would contribute to their strength, solidarity and closer relationships.

That would also contribute to a more dynamic trend in developing cooperation between Asean and the European Union, which wishes to share with other organisations its experience on both the successes and the failures it has met. Some Asean representatives have stated it was time to think that what was right and good for European nations might also be good for Asean. There are some promising movements for advancing the Asian-European dialogue, including a free-trade agreement (FTA) between the two continents.

Certainly, an EU-Asean FTA is not an easy objective, as the Asean countries are not homogeneous, being at different stages of economic development. However, even if such an FTA were not an immediate solution for expanding EU-Asean cooperation, it should be kept in mind that in accordance with Article 6 of the TAC, the Asean countries shall continue to explore all avenues for close and beneficial cooperation with other states, as well as with international and local organisations outside the region.

What can be expected on the basis of the TAC is a more visible commitment of the Asean countries to collaborate in all fields for the promotion of regional resilience, based on the principles of self-confidence, self-reliance, mutual respect, cooperation and solidarity, all of which constitute the foundation of a strong and viable community of nations in Southeast Asia.

Ioan Voicu

Bangkok