Feeling that my privacy had been violated, my reaction soon changed from wonderment to anger. Such encroachment on personal freedom reminds me of the totalitarian regime that George Orwell depicted in his novel, "1984".

This could be even more dangerous when those who monitor our cyberspace are so idiotic that they cannot tell whether the website they are monitoring is "appropriate" or not. For your information, I was looking up the websites of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy on their Human Security Programme and the Orange Opera Festival when I was warned!

I hope that there is greater awareness of this state violation of our basic rights - before we have none left.

Kusuma Snitwongse

Bangkok

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'Ghost Game': making sport of genocide

 Holocaust Remembrance Day was observed this year on April 25. It is held in memory of the six million Jews who died at the hands of the Nazis 60 years ago. This day is observed by holding ceremonies, reading aloud the names of people who died, lighting candles, praying, reading poems and having survivors speak about their experiences. It is a day when the Jewish people try to fight ignorance by teaching others about the horrors of genocide.

It makes me profoundly sad that the makers of the movie "Ghost Game" have been so ill taught. This film, which opened two days after Holocaust Remembrance Day, is set in a thinly disguised version of the Khmer Rouge's S-21 prison (what the film calls "S-11"). To the people who were starved, tortured and executed at this prison, it was no "game". Only about 12 of the over 14,000 inmates at S-21 survived.

The film-makers have chosen to capitalise on all this misery and in the process dishonour both the dead and their surviving family members. The trauma families suffered may well resurface when the Khmer Rouge tribunals begin next year, and this film makes a mockery of the terror so many innocent people endured.

I wonder, if the genocide had occurred in Thailand instead, would they have set "Ghost Game" in a Bangkok prison? Would the photographs of the victims, the piles of skulls and the ghosts of their dead parents be mere entertainment then?

Youk Chhang

Director

Documentation Centre of Cambodia

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Open letter to the Samui police chief

 A while ago Samui's new police chief publicised his mobile phone number and asked people to call him personally if there were complaints against the force or if they did not act when called upon. In my neighbourhood in central Chaweng we have an old problem that remains unresolved: a night spot with a very powerful sound system that blares music until at least 5am every day, keeping everyone in the area sleepless all night.

I called the police chief to find out the reason for this. I thank him for taking time to talk to me. I would also like to complement him on his excellent English. However, I was not convinced by all the answers or explanations he gave me.

He said that the police could not control every bar at all times. Sometimes guests sit after the legal closing time of 2am to finish their drinks. But all bars stop playing music at 2am, he said.

However, this late-night venue is running a full discotheque until sunrise. It goes on every night of the week and everybody in town knows about it. Anybody who walks in there at any time after 2am can see for themselves.

The police chief told me that I have to come to the police station and identify myself before we can look for a solution.

Why can't the police act when illegal activities are reported? Why do I have to identify myself? And can the police chief guarantee my safety if I do so? Given the Samui force's reputation for collaborating with influential people and Mafia-type characters I feel more comfortable reporting this through the media. My Thai girlfriend and my Thai neighbours all say it could be a major health risk to pursue this. They are far too scared to say anything even if they are kept sleepless as well.

The police chief also said that I would have to present house papers that prove I have stayed longer at the location than my noisy neighbours.

I understand you have stronger rights in Thailand with a house registration that goes back in time. But does that give you the right to do as you please and to break the law nightly? I rent an apartment in the vicinity of this late-night spot, and I have paid one year's rent in advance. I like my apartment, and I like the area. Why should I, who am law-abiding, have to move?

Living on Samui is like living in paradise. But not being able to sleep is seriously lowering the quality of life for us.

UK citizen

Samui

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Dolphin therapy centre is all about exploitation

 We recently heard about the plans to build a new dolphin centre in Cape Panwa, Phuket, to treat disabled people and promote tourism. As a marine mammal welfare charity based in the UK, I felt that we should respond.

Although the Marine Connection believes dolphins are fascinating to people, to attribute these "healing" powers to them is irresponsible. In reality, dolphin therapy has been proven to be no more effective than petting domestic animals.

It was mentioned in an article from www.thaisnews.com that the dolphins involved in these therapy sessions "would come from those found stranded on beaches, and willing to interact with humans". This is still the removal of an animal from its wild, unrestricted habitat. These vulnerable animals should be rehabilitated and returned to the wild, not preyed upon by captive dolphin facilities as a way to make an easy buck.

Ordinarily, captive facilities would pay up to US$100,000 (Bt3.75 million) for a dolphin. [The plan for the facility in Phuket] seems a rather convenient way of portraying the idea the dolphin is being rescued when in fact it is being subjected to a life of restriction for the profit of the facility owner.

In the wild, dolphins are known to travel and explore the oceans over hundreds of miles, to depths of 150 feet, while using their echo-location skills to hunt live prey. In captivity, an environment devoid of natural currents, live fish and places to explore, they become bored and - having had their freedom of choice taken from them - generally do not fare well. Even captive-born dolphins have the same physiological urges to use their well-adapted skills and display many physical and mental problems in response to being kept in a tiny fraction of the space they need.

For many people, coming for the dolphin therapy will be a trip of many firsts - going on a plane, meeting new people, being in a different country, feeling the hot sun, swimming in warm water and many other things. These new experiences are sure to bring out a fresh side to many people. The captive dolphin meeting is simply another first.

It is no wonder that different characteristics are displayed by those who take these trips. But it can by no means be attributed solely to the presence of a captive dolphin, which has been trained to swim around you in order to receive food.

All of the "firsts" that people on these trips experience can be done without having to include touching and petting captive dolphins. Why not choose to see dolphins in the wild, in their natural environment? In fact, surely the knowledge that a dolphin is only interacting with someone because it receives a food reward rather than through choice and that it is living a shadow of the life of its wild counterpart removes some of the special feelings associated with seeing these animals? Wild dolphins can be seen in so many coastal regions, including Thailand, which is what the Marine Connection would advocate.

The wild is where dolphins are meant to be: humans do not need to touch dolphins to be touched by them. This exploitation by captive dolphin facilities of extremely vulnerable people as well as dolphins unsuited to captivity is a profit-making venture and not a proven method of therapy.

Andrina Murrell

Marine Connection

London

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We'll never be civilised as long as we're carnivores

 I'd like to praise The Nation for running the photograph on April 28 of an animal-rights activist posing stretched out across an oversized meat tray to protest a meeting of the World Meat Congress.

It was Leonardo da Vinci who said that the day would come when man would regard the killing and eating of animals with the same disgust that we now regard cannibalism. And Mahatma Gandhi said: "In my opinion the life of a lamb is as precious as the life of a human".

Until we begin to heed the words of those great men we will never be a civilised or moral people. Isn't our humanity more important than our taste buds?

Eric Bahrt

Pattaya

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Abac's advertisement gives lie to its claims

 Despite the fact that Assumption University's Abac Graduate Business School offers many impressive business courses in English, it managed to include at least six serious spelling mistakes in its advertisement on page 9A of your April 25 edition

Considering the fees Abac charges, I would advise the management to at least hire a proof-reader before claiming to "educate the intelligent and active minds to change the world". That would be better than leaning on their reputation and arrogantly producing marketing materials that in fact prove exactly the opposite of what they claim.

Ryan Kern

Bangkok

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