The news about caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra chastising caretaker Defence Minister Thamarak Isarangura for being "obvious" and "so clear" in the pictures submitted as evidence to the Criminal Court by Democrat Party secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban shows that something is wrong in the Thai Rak Thai Party leadership, not just in its rank and file.

The ruling party has long been suspected of being run with little respect for the rule of law and its leaders driven by expediency rather than principle.

Thus, Thaksin should be advised to study the case of Watergate, the 1972 illegal break-in of Democratic Party headquarters in Washington that resulted in President Richard Nixon's resignation from office for offences committed by his Republican political henchmen. That should help him realise the enormity of the consequences of political expediency in high office.

Chavalit Van

Chiang Mai

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UN secretary-general is required to be his own man

Re: "Thai catalyst to speed up UN reforms", News, May 30.

Caretaker Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon was quoted as having told the special ministerial meeting of the Group of 77 and China in Putrajaya, Malaysia, that "Dr Surakiart Sathirathai, Thailand's deputy prime minister, is the best candidate with the best qualifications" for the post of UN secretary-general.

I fail to see how having Surakiart as secretary-general would contribute anything to UN reform. Article 100 of the United Nations Charter clearly stipulates the UN secretary-general "shall not seek or receive instructions from any government or from any authority external to the organisation". Surakiart fails to meet this basic qualification, for he will surely continue to seek and receive instructions from Thaksin Shinawatra and whatever remnants will be left of the Thai Rak Thai Party.

Natika Chairat

Songkhla

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Rivers are better for tourism than for energy production

Re: "Salween development: future damned?" News, May 30.

Thanks to The Nation and Denis Gray for such a well-written article. Trusting Chinese authorities to watch over the environment is akin to having a fox watch over a hen-house. Similarly, the Burmese junta will do what the heck it wants and damn what anyone else says.

Free-running rivers are just too special to be dammed for power. Better to develop the river's regions for tourism and take the revenue to purchase alternative-energy hardware. As long as there's sunshine and blowing wind, alternative power is preferable. I moved to Thailand from a region in northern California where there was a hotly contested river-damming issue. The locals organised a committee called the South Yuba River Citizens' League (syrcl.org), and the dam project was dropped after years of peaceful resistance.

Granted, dealing with Chinese and Burmese authorities is a lot tougher than dealing with American authorities, but there may still be hope for a reasonable and fair outcome. Plus there are the Chinese multi-dam plans for the Mekong River, which will adversely impact stretches of Thailand's northeastern border. Oh well, that's another challenge from Big Brother to the north.

Ken Albertsen

Chiang Rai

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Tighter restrictions on land ownership are a big mistake

Thailand is facing the biggest crisis in its history, and I am not talking about the political chaos.

The decision to implement the law addressing foreign ownership of land via a Thai company controlled by an alien (a bogus company, if you like) has the potential to cost your country billions in foreign-investment funds.

Thousands of foreigners have used Thai companies to purchase high-end land-and-house packages all over Thailand, especially on Koh Samui and in Phuket, Pattaya, Bangkok and Chiang Mai. The word spreading like a bushfire throughout the real-estate industry and among reputable agents is that overnight, foreigners have stopped buying. The prices of houses must plummet and will do so quickly.

The government official or department responsible for enforcing this law and closing this foreign-ownership loophole may well have the dubious credit of bringing Thai real estate and ultimately the Thai economy to its knees.

It is not as if foreign-owned land would ever be taken out of Thailand, and the irony of it all is that a high percentage of property owned under a Thai company controlled by a foreigner will eventually be bequeathed to a female or male Thai national.

The only way confidence may be restored and an economic catastrophe averted is for the Thai government to change the law to allow foreigners to own land, even limiting it to one rai, just as the law was changed to allow foreigners to own condominiums in their own name.

Deeply Concerned

Australia

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Reforms in the absence of criminal penalties are useless

One common denominator in politics throughout the world is the scandalous behaviour of a few individuals whose philosophy is: "Don't do as I do, do as I tell you." Every country has its share of unscrupulous officials, and no government can truthfully claim to be immune from their acts. Thailand is no different, and it's not likely to be the first exception.

From what I've observed, there are a lot of Thais who aren't too concerned about crooked politicians as long as their alleged illegal activities don't adversely affect them personally. I learned a long time ago that there are a lot of people who don't consider lying, cheating and stealing to be morally wrong, and their belief is that breaking the law is only illegal if you get caught. This mindset is quite obvious in too many politicians. Bribery, corruption, nepotism, under-the-table deals and the good-old-boys syndrome (cronyism) have been rampant in Thai politics for decades, and it'll continue regardless of who runs the country

If the people of Thailand choose to elect politicians who are prone to raiding the treasury, engaging in cronyism, circumventing election laws and participating in overt acts of bribery and corruption, it's their right to do so. And for those whose vote can be bought for a couple hundred baht, they don't deserve any better than what they get. I have no sympathy for them at all. All I can say is if Thais really want a democratic and transparent form of government, there are two things that must be done.

First, they're going to have to clean up the system and get rid of the trash. Second, they're going to have to stay vigilant and keep the trash out. Elect men of good character and remove those who fall from grace.

As bad as the present situation is, it could be a lot worse, and it may very well get worse before it gets better. Other factors have a way of influencing the people's tolerance for political excesses. Attitudes can change overnight. A sharp economic downturn (now in progress), due to inflated oil prices while oil companies reap record-breaking profits, may add "fuel to the fire" so to speak. It's going to be four and a half months before another election takes place, and if the price of fuel keeps increasing, Thaksin may want to consider buying that elephant he rode as a permanent means of transportation; otherwise, Thai Rak Thai's support base in the North and Northeast may evaporate like petrol fumes.

That's presuming Thai Rak Thai is still in existence, which is another point of Thai politics I don't understand. Why is dissolving an entire political party justified for the illegal actions of a few? You wouldn't destroy your neighbour's house just because you see one of his children playing in the dirt, would you?

Many discussions are taking place in regard to constitutional amendments and reforms in government, and I think this is a good start, but reforms in the conduct of political and business leaders will be an effort in futility unless some serious penalties are imposed upon those convicted of violations.

Al Eagan

Bangkok

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Political events may be unfolding beyond control

Re: "What were they doing at the Defence Ministry?" News, May 30.

Call it "Thai Rak Thai-gate", "Smoking-gun evidence", the "Finland Declaration" - call it whatever way you like, Thai politics has never been void of excitement. With the presentation of the photo printouts from Defence Ministry security video footage in the Criminal Court investigation of the April 2 electoral-fraud allegations, the unexpected has become the expected, with tremendous repercussions on Thai political developments yet to be assessed. And at the same time, the expected has become the unexpected, with equally devastating results.

Suddenly, Thai politics has become what it should be: the art of the possible. What was unthinkable only three months previously has become thinkable and even doable. The aura of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's invincibility has been shaken to the core. It seems what he expected to happen turned out to be just the opposite.

Now both main political parties, the Democrats and Thai Rak Thai, are accusing each other of engaging smaller parties either to contest or not to contest the April 2 general election. It is surprising to find some elements of truth in their mutual accusations. Both the photo printouts of the security video footage at the Defence Ministry and tape recordings suggesting a Democrat member trying to do much the same, albeit in the opposite direction, are difficult to dispute.

With the ongoing political circus, it seems the public is not at all the masters of their own destiny. People like you and me are no more than silent bystanders, watching from the sidelines the unfolding of fateful events that are likely to affect us adversely, and even street protests are not going to be of much help.

Prachyadavi Tavedikul

Bangkok