The article states that Asean has drafted an Asean charter. In fact, the process of drafting a "constitutive act" for Asean to provide it with a legal personality is a very complex process that is far from complete. The 2005 Kuala Lumpur Declaration on the Establishment of the Asean Charter, and the appointment of an Eminent Persons Group (EPG) to help draft it, stipulates that the EPG will make recommendations to Asean on the proposed legal instrument by the end of this year. The actual drafting of the charter will not be done by the EPG, but by a High Level Task Force in 2007.

As emphasised by experts, an Asean charter accepted by all its members would be a very important symbol and might provide a stronger basis for the organisation to give tangibility to its principles and purposes. Rather than maintaining the status quo, it should give new dynamism to Asean. It might, certainly, contribute to forging a common Asean identity among the peoples in the region.

It can be expected that the Asean charter will reflect the common fundamental values proclaimed by consensus by the United Nations, with the active participation of all Asean members, including freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, respect for all human rights, respect for nature and shared responsibility. This set of universal values should be the guiding light of national, regional and global policies.

Ioan Voicu

Bangkok

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Elections are not the only yardstick for democracy

 I read with interest Burin Kantabutra's comments about Election Commission chairman Pol General Vasana Puemlarp's claim that the elections of candidates who stood unopposed were "democratic" (Letters, May6).

Burin thought it to be otherwise, citing the practice in former communist countries that left the voters no choice. Vasana, nevertheless, had a point when he said that if this was not democratic, why have it in the Constitution in the first place?

Burin also questioned the legality of the snap election of 2 April. Again, in hindsight, why did he not come out to say it before the election took place, rather than wait until after His Majesty's wise words and then offer his opinion on the subject?

What both Burin and Vasana fail to understand is the fact that democracy is not a perfect system. From the time of its birth, which was not long ago, democracy has been a system of trial and error. There is a famous saying by a great philosopher that the best political system, democratic or not, is one which governs least. If we can accept the dictum in the current case, then the political reform that everyone is looking forward to after the forthcoming election, if there is one, may not be necessary after all. What you need to do, as His Majesty once said, is to put good and decent men in positions of power who will see the country through.

And speaking about elections, they are not by any measure a yardstick to determine whether a system is democratic or not. Take the United States, for example. Rutherford B Hayes, Benjamin Harrison, and most recently George W Bush in 2000, were elected to the presidency without the majority of the popular vote. Lest it be forgotten, the election of the American presidents is done through the electoral college vote, not a direct one. Gerald Ford, who succeeded Richard Nixon in 1974, did not have to go through any electoral process at all. He was confirmed by Congress as vice president, and later became president when Nixon resigned.

Prachyadavi Tavedikul

Bangkok

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Junta should explain exactly what has become of 354 MPs

 Re: "Only 131 parliamentarians left from 1990 poll, says Rangoon", Regional news, May 6.

The number announced in a press conference by the spokesman of the Burmese junta, Brig-General Kyaw Hsan, was somewhat puzzling. After a period of 19 years, the number has dwindled from 485 to 131. The drop was attributed to members losing their MP status due to either violation of national laws, resignation or death. I would like to ask the junta the following:

First, is the announcement supposed to be the junta's proud record on members of parliament who never formed a government or convened in parliament in the 16 years since the election?

Second, of the 354 who lost their MP status, how many were members of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD)?

Third, how many of the NLD members lost their status through death or violation of national laws?

Fourth, how many deaths of NLD members were due to natural causes and how many occurred while in prison?

Finally, is Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi still a member of parliament? If not, was her membership rescinded through her resignation or "violation of national laws"?

Songdej Praditsmanont

Bangkok

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Charter Court ruling should settle doubts for future polls

 In considering election-related cases, the Constitution Court should draw up, and

explain, its verdict with such clarity and comprehensiveness that future elections will

not be the debacle, joke, fiasco and mess that the April 2 general election and associated by-elections were.

Thus, the court should address all four points raised about the legitimacy of the elections:

the rushed election date, re-positioning of polling booths, alleged bankrolling of small

parties by a major party (so it didn't need to meet the 20-per-cent requirement), and lack of

formal reviews of Election Commission (EC) resolutions.

If the court nullifies the elections merely because of booth repositioning, the other issues are sure to arise again and again. For example, how can holding a by-election on three days' notice be democratic - especially when the EC allowed new candidates to stand and existing ones to shift constituencies? The electorate would be better acquainted with Mickey Mouse than their would-be MPs. Or, given the EC's dissolution of several small parties deemed guilty of receiving money from a major party to contest the election -why the delay in determining the source of funds, which would be child's play for, say, the Anti-Money Laundering Organisation or Department of Special Investigation?

In an earlier case, a Constitution Court justice admitted that he took into consideration the number of votes that the defendant garnered in determining guilt or innocence. The other justices should have more integrity and seek to bring honour to their hallowed court. The way to do so is simple: take His Majesty's wise words on rule of law to heart.

Burin Kantabutra

Bangkok

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Media twisting story of Christ to turn a profit

 Dan Brown's book, "The Da Vinci Code", is wildly inaccurate. The book revels in hidden codes and dark conspiracies deliberately meant to suppress the truth about Jesus and early Christianity.

Recently, the Gospel of Judas went on display in Washington. It incorrectly portrays Judas as Jesus' closest disciple and says Jesus asked Judas to hand Him over to the Roman authorities so that He could fulfil His mission. In reality, however, Judas was a greedy liar who put his desire for money ahead of his relationship with Jesus. Judas' betrayal of his close friend is the clearest example Christians have of someone who refuses God's saving love. For Judas only power and success are real; love does not count. Purposefully ignoring the truth, Judas eventually hardens, becoming incapable of conversion and throws away his destroyed life.

With the soon-to-be-released film version of "The Da Vinci Code", we can see how Christ is being sold again, only this time to publishers and booksellers for billions of dollars. People are being manipulated by a media that is interested more in touting the newest fad or insight than the truth and, as a consequence, turning a pretty penny.

Paul Kokoski

Hamilton, Canada

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Reason for early release of  'Da Vinci Code' is simple

 In Talk of the Town on May 6 you write: "The Da Vinci Code hits the screens on May 18 in Thailand. That's a full day before the movie's release anywhere else! What makes Thailand so special? We don't know - it's a mystery...".

Under the Business front-page headline "DVD, VCD piracy is worsening", in the same edition, you report that the problem is "mainly due to illegal copies flooding in from neighbouring countries".

Could it be that the distributors are hoping to get at least one day's good box-office returns in "special" Thailand before the film reaches Panthip Plaza?

Mystery solved!

Nigel Pike

Phang Nga

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Costly oil not a bad thing; neither is capital punishment

 David Spillane wonders what will the country

do when and if oil reaches US$100 a barrel (Letters, May 7). Well, Thailand will do just like

the rest of the world: adapt, improvise and change. Oil at that price will force people to conserve and give the world incentive to find alternative sources of energy.

Meanwhile, with reference to Danthong Breen's letter "Capital Punishment's major drawback [is] risk to innocents" in the same edition, capital punishment applied swiftly is a major deterrent to capital crimes. All punishment, for crimes ranging from petty theft to murder, is a deterrent. That is why we have punishment for crimes. To say the death penalty is the only exception and doesn't deter would-be criminals only makes sense to liberals.

Bill Cymbalsky

Bangkok