Finally, Thai investors, like investors in all other major capital markets around the world, will have access to a derivative tool that will allow them to hedge portfolios of local shares, employ complex arbitrage strategies or just take speculative long or short positions in the index.

Unfortunately, despite the lengthy preparation period, it seems that for Thai retail investors, starting to trade in futures will be like moving into an unfinished house without electricity or telephone connections. Some brokers have still not finished testing their futures trading systems. Others have not yet produced the forms for clients to apply for futures trading accounts. Many of the brokers' marketing officers have not yet passed the exams required to advise clients on trading futures.

Worst of all, retail clients will not have access to real-time prices of futures contracts through brokers' websites. So retail clients trading futures will be flying blind and will have to rely on prices relayed to them by brokers over the telephone.

Speculative trading in futures represents a highly leveraged investment with full risk beyond the initial margin paid by the investor. It is not like buying options, which, in the worst-case scenario, expire worthless, and the investor simply loses his stake. Futures traders in a worst-case scenario can lose several times their initial stake or margin. This happened to several retail investors in Hong Kong after Black Monday in October 1987, and they were ordered by the courts to have their salaries garnished until retirement, to repay their losses.

Allowing retail investors to trade futures without access to real-time prices and with limited access to qualified advisers increases their risk unnecessarily in this potentially high-risk market. Institutional investors that may be trading against retail investors will of course have access to real-time prices through their Bloomberg and Reuters systems.

Since futures markets depend on volume for their survival, it also seems a pity to start the market half-cocked and risk putting off investors for the long term. An attempt by the Singapore Stock Exchange to trade SET Index options ended in failure, due to lack of volume. I sincerely hope the SET 50 futures market will eventually take off and develop enough volume to make it usable for hedging and other purposes, despite the inauspicious beginnings.

George Morgan

Bangkok

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Cut in Oil Fund contribution is disastrous in the long term

The report that the contribution to the Oil Fund will be cut Bt1 per litre of diesel to ease the burden on consumers is absolutely the worst news imaginable. It shows that the government has absolutely not understood the crisis we are in.

The simple reality is that demand for oil, specifically the light sweet crude used for transport, has exceeded supply. That is why oil is going up. It's basic economics. It is not about greed, and there are no simple solutions. Lowering the taxes and Oil Fund contribution will not help this situation; it will only exacerbate it. The longer we wait to learn how to live on less oil, the harder it will be to accept, and the harder our economy will crash.

We need to implement a large tax on petrol and diesel. The proceeds of this tax need to be used to subsidise and revitalise public transportation and the decaying rail system. We have to make everyone feel pain when they use their private car or send cargo by lorry instead of rail. This is the only way it will stop. This is the only way it will improve. People will find efficient ways of moving things if they are forced to.

Please, I beg of the government, do not try and help the people by lowering the taxes on fuel. It may seem like a popular idea, but the results of this policy will be disastrous. Accept the damage high prices do to the economy. It is an economy that needs to adjust, and it will be easier to do it now than later.

Joe Frasier

Bangkok

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Pay heed to the substance of His Majesty's words

 In news reports following His Majesty the King's wise words, Thai Rak Thai, "winner" of a one-sided election, was said to be determined to open the new Parliament, the Election Commission (EC) maintained that the April 2 election was lawful and leaders of the anti-government protests insisted the May 2 rally for the resignation of Thaksin and the EC members would go ahead.

Didn't they get His Majesty's message that it is the substance that matters and not the form? It is not viable to have governance of the country handed over to the "winner" of this peculiar election. That is human logic. Cries for "salvaging our country" do not make sense, because the country is not at the stage of needing salvaging. Street protesters should leave the issue for the judges to resolve.

For the first time in months, the opposition parties have come out with a good response, promising to field candidates in a fresh general election and no longer neglect their political duty.

Shouldn't the cost of the April 2 election be paid proportionately by their parties and Thai Rak Thai? They are the cause of this queer situation and Thai Rak Thai the initiator. If the four parties had reached an agreement among themselves like gentlemen of politics, time and money would not have been wasted on the election a day after April Fool's Day.

Songdej Praditsmanont

Bangkok

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Good, capable people needed to reform Thai politics

 My firm feeling is that it is not the political system that does not work; it is the people who are in it who do not want to make it work. The Constitution of 1997 was written with the best of intentions, providing the best of guarantees for a perfect system of checks and balances and a strong executive leadership that would see the country through difficult times.

Who can deny that economically and socially, let alone politically, our country is now not well? We cannot ignore the rising cost of oil, the growing debt at the grass-roots level, the strengthening of the baht that affects our exports. The political strains and stresses have aggravated these problems even further, not alleviated them.

Finding good people to run the country should also mean finding capable people. Never mind Thaksinomics and never mind saying nobody can replace him. Good and capable people will come along, if given the chance.

Prachyadavi Tavedikul

Bangkok

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Thaksin's tour nothing more than an ego trip

Our right honourable Thaksin Shinawatra is visiting leaders of foreign countries, ostensibly better to inform them of political developments in Thailand.

Will he be giving them a fair and complete picture? Unlikely. Will it do Thailand any good? Hardly. So why is he doing it? Perhaps it's an ego thing. Perhaps he wants to keep alive his privatisation and mega-project schemes. More likely, it's intended to impress the Thai masses by showing he has international support and influential friends in high places. But in doing so, he is allowing foreign governments to become involved in a domestic mess of his own making.

When will all this silliness end? Don't hold your breath.

Nisanart Pumpanwong

Bangkok

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PM currying favour abroad is a slap in the face to citizens

 The Thai Rak Thai Party likes to say the international community is concerned about Thai democracy because "street protests appear able to overrule the people's vote". My opinion is that when the international community sees a country where thousands or tens of thousands of people take to the streets to voice dissatisfaction with their government, it is the government that will be seen as being at fault, not the citizens who voice their opinion. For a citizen has to look after his or her own needs and standards, but the government is responsible for all the people's needs and standards.

As for Thaksin, I can hardly imagine he is "best friends" with all these leaders with whom he is meeting. And the short visits of three hours here, one day there means he is running around as a representative of Thailand, not a private citizen, because a private citizen would take the time to have a more relaxed and enjoyable visit with "old friends". He wants these leaders to feel sorry for him. He wants to show them that yes, they may have pushed him from his seat, but he's still the boss.

Thaksin is not making these visits to muster support in Thailand. It's a slap in the face to Thai citizens - showing them he will run the country the way he wants, without listening to or caring about its people. In truth, he is looking for support and backing from other countries to keep Thai Rak Thai in power, because he can't get enough here. Thaksin is not the right person to explain to the international community what is going on in Thai democracy, because he is biased and has a history of slandering his critics.

Desert Rat

Bangkok

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Start crackdown on noise by removing bus speakers

 It is ironic that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is participating in a noise-abatement campaign when it acquiesces in, if not actively promotes, increased noise levels on public buses.

The city's public buses have recently had speakers installed throughout the vehicles, so that the passengers are subjected to extra noise, in addition to the traffic noise. Perhaps a good place for the Pollution Control Department to crack down on noise pollution would be inside BMA buses.

If the noise levels on the roads are considered excessive, then those inside the buses are excessive and then some.

Gareth Clayton

Bangkok