What is so bad about Scottish accents that letter-writers keep attacking them? My own experience of hearing Scots in films and real life is they were not particularly difficult to understand, certainly no worse than Jordies or Liverpudlians (for a couple of months). The ordinary red- or white-rose supporter, perfectly clear.

But a group that has escaped, until now, is the Yanks. There are not many American voices on television in Thailand, as foreign films are usually dubbed in Thai. But when I have come across American films broadcast with an American soundtrack, they are often very difficult to follow, particularly if they are using the accent in the southern states of the US. By contrast, I do not have much trouble with the accents of people from India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka, but I have worked with several at various times.

The point is that what is clear pronunciation to one native speaker may be very difficult to follow to another. It depends on the past experience of the listener.

Native speaker or not? How do you define "native speaker"? The trouble is that in many cases, it is the colour of the skin, not the ability of the person that is used to decide. An ethnic Iraqi with a master's degree in English from a leading English university has a far better understanding of and ability to use English than a German who has learned it only through his or her compulsory classes in school.

Other factors are also important in making someone a good English teacher in Thailand. Some skill as a teacher of language is required, and not every native speaker has that. Being a native speaker of English does not make a person a good English teacher. I have always refused to take children's groups, because I know I am no good with young children.

Another useful skill is a moderate understanding of Thai. No, not to give explanations in Thai or word-for-word translations, but to suggest the source of some of the common problems that Thais have with English stemming from their carry-over from Thai. Several times when I was teaching English, I said to the students, "You just answered in Thai. All the words you used were English, but everything else was Thai." I think pointing out where their English mistakes are coming from helps students to understand and correct their mistakes.

Gareth Clayton

Bangkok

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And if democratic principles are beyond repair, what then?

Re: "Democratic principles more important than ousting PM", Letters, June 27.

The letter from Trirat Petchsingh was excellent. He emphasised that change should come through democratic or judicial processes and not through mass protests.

One question, though: What if the ruling regime had corrupted both processes? Would Trirat then still feel the public should do nothing?

Korn Chatikavanij

Bangkok

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Meeting between PM and Pachara was poorly timed

Re: "Uneasy date", News, June 27.

The day before a critical verdict is announced, the very powerful defendant summons the chief judge to a meeting. The next day, the judge declares the defendant "not guilty". Just happenstance? Or obstruction of justice? If the Thai Rak Thai Party is acquitted, PM Thaksin's calling the attorney-general in for an unscheduled meeting means millions worldwide will believe the initial verdict was changed under pressure. If, as Attorney-General Pachara Yutithamdamrong claims, they only talked about cases in the deep South, why couldn't it have waited a day and come after the verdict had been announced? What was so urgent? Did the drafted verdict support the Election Commission's recommendation to shut the Thai Rak Thai Party - and so had to be revised?

At best, PM Thaksin is playing into the hands of those who are already biased against him and is pouring fuel on the flames. At worst, he's obstructing justice.

Burin Kantabutra

Bangkok

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Crazed referees are to blame for World Cup's minor faults

Re: "Fifa killing the beautiful game", Editorial, June 27.

Your editorial blamed Fifa's strict policies for lowering the standard of some of the matches, especially those of Portugal and the Netherlands.

I beg to differ. In general, the matches have been so enjoyable to watch, with players being careful not to be red- or yellow-carded. Some may still have bad habits, but with that threat they have behaved nicely, with only a few exceptions, when the referees were not up to the mark. The exceptions were not the fault of the policies, but that of the individual enforcers/referees who went berserk and extreme with this new policy. They are due to be weeded out anyway.

But please think of the many beautiful matches that have been so pleasing to our eyes and with the least whistling. So far, the best was between Argentina and Mexico, which looked so similar to a football video game, so fast and so fair. Both teams deserved to win. That was thanks to Fifa's policies as well as to the referee of the match. Furthermore, the standard of the new teams emerging in Germany has been so impressive that any team, such as Ecuador, Togo, and Trinidad and Tobago, could have upset some of the incumbents had it not been for bad luck. That must be something correct in regard to Fifa's work, in getting the right nations to Germany. Now we are left with Ghana.

However, I am in agreement with the editorial on the use of technology to help referees. In this modern age, a pocket gadget could do the trick and put people like Luis Figo in their place. It will come just as with tennis line calls. Now, one watches tennis with hardly any tantrums from the players.

Songdej Praditsmanont

Bangkok

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Also ban wailing babies, chatty teens and catchy jingles

Jumping onto the anti-noise bandwagon, I would like to propose that in addition to stifling the blaring advertisements inside the BTS coaches and on the platforms, we also ban wailing babies from entering the carriages. Once that is done, we should extend the ban to hyperactive adolescents and teenagers yakking into their mobile phones endlessly throughout the journey, with decibel levels reaching more than 100. Finally, the ban must include the incessantly irritating mobile-phone ringtones and force all passengers to put them on silent mode like they are required to do in cinemas.

From the management side, we should ban the platform guards from using their ear-splitting whistles, especially when standing right next to an innocent passenger.

Last but not least, BTS management must drop what must be the most catchy but nauseating tune ever blasted into the Earth's atmosphere by a popular restaurant. We know what we want to eat!

Damien Lee

Bangkok

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Letter-writer scolded for failing to heed Fox News

Re: "Iraq's invaders reaping the results of haste and greed", Letters, June 27.

I don't know what A Warner is ranting about when he refers to an "immoral" attack on Iraq by the US. Apparently, Warner is mired in the lack of information in the past and has failed to recognise those facts that don't support an America-hating agenda. You know, inconvenient facts like UN Resolution 1441 and the 500 weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) found in Iraq that appear to have been overlooked by the previous regime's efforts to hide them.

A Fox News report based on a recently declassified Defence Department report, "Hundreds of WMDs Found in Iraq", announced that 500 WMD's - specifically, chemical weapons - have been found since 2003.

The Washington Times quoted a former Romanian spy chief who used to take orders from the Soviet KGB: "It is perfectly obvious to me that Russia is behind the evanescence of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. After all, Russia helped Saddam get his hands on them in the first place. The Soviet Union and all its bloc states always had a standard operating procedure for deep-sixing weapons of mass destruction, called 'Sarindar' ('Emergency Exit'). It was for ridding Third World despots of all trace of their chemical weapons if the Western 'imperialists' ever got near them. We wanted to make sure they would never be traced back to us, and we also wanted to frustrate the West by not giving them anything they could make propaganda with.

"Iraq, in my view, had its own Sarindar plan in effect direct from Moscow. It certainly had one in the past. Nicolae Ceausescu told me so, and he heard it from Leonid Brezhnev. KGB chairman Yury Andropov and later General Yevgeny Primakov told me so, too."

It is obvious now that Iraq did indeed have a significant number of WMDs and that Russia may have played a key roll in helping Saddam hide them from the coalition.

Sue P

Chai Nat

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Reader not amused by articles that don't add up

Re: "Keanu's age of reason", Entertainment, June 26.

The Nation's writers are second to none in their independent style of writing. But frankly, anything in the newspaper that requires a bit of arithmetic, I always need to calculate for myself. For instance, the article on Keanu Reeves reads: "The 'Matrix' trilogy netted him more than US$100 million (Bt380 million)."

This is in an entertainment piece! You can go back just a month, and I am sure you will find nearly a dozen errors. It has taken a dozen errors finally to get me off my behind. Please be more careful.

Sukit Bejrsuwana

Bangkok

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