His Arrogance George W Bush has not stopped showing his ignorance about Thailand and foreign affairs in general and keeps sabre-rattling with an empty scabbard. The world, however, stands not only amazed, but also amused at the surprising enthusiasm of the people's acceptance of the coup.

General Sonthi Boonyaratglin's coup has indeed redefined the term and has shown up the vacuous hypocrisy of pro-democracy, stereotypical criticisms.

It may sound like an oxymoron, but what has happened could be termed "democracy by coup", since thanks to the opportunistic incompetence of our politicians, there was no constitutional mechanism available to solve the malign political crisis a la Thaksin. Privy Councillor General Surayud is probably the best choice as interim prime minister. Considering the deeply entrenched corruption in our society, there are not many trustworthy political figures around. We could end up with either a selective whitewasher or the world booby prize.

General Surayud's record and status indicate he may actually be able to bring about desirable changes. However, he has a most daunting task in finding enough honest experts to serve as ministers. He and his technocratic government will undoubtedly encounter some hostility from all public figures and bureausaurs with grey and black records.

To change the Kingdom for the better is harder than a Herculean task - it demands heroic, unswerving determination, untold courage and routine miracle-making. He has my best wishes.

Krabong Kuverakorn

Bangkok

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The United States should let Thailand make its own way

The US has to stop issuing unnecessary statements such as Condoleezza Rice's statement about Thailand making a U-turn with the coup, and now, when we should lift martial law.

Since when is the US a spokesperson for the Thai people? Thailand belongs to Thais. The US does not own the whole world. The US should ask itself, just like CNN did on September 11 when a reporter posed a question similar to, "what has America done to cause such hatred?"

Instead of wondering, how about the US government look at itself first before it invades another territory? When US President George W Bush was campaigning for president and said he could not remember the leaders names in other parts of the world, I was mostly concerned for America - what kind of foreign relations would they have if he were elected?

Now we know. With their ignorance, and continued self-proclaimed righteousness as leader of the world, we should only expect them to have deaf ears. And this is right after the Thai people have finally been freed from the abuses of Thaksin and his cronies, right when Thailand is trying to set things right and rebuild a better democracy. Give us some room and give us some respect, please.

Carolyn

Bangkok

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Don't put all your eggs in the happiness basket

Re: "Surayud asks for one week to name his Cabinet", Breaking News, October 4.

Interim Prime Minister Surayud's intention of putting the people's happiness ahead of economic growth is a concept I find difficult to quantify.

I mean, ordinary folk working in a job trying to take care of their family may find happiness an elusive goal when the economy is slowed down due to a contraction of business investments. In the beginning, the interim government will be a source of relief after the turmoil of the past year, but putting the wheels of industry on hold for a year may be a risky proposition in a competitive world, which Thailand can't afford. Surayud should try to follow the middle way, where some projects deemed worthwhile and promoting jobs and tourism still go ahead. Now that Thaksin is gone, there should not be an ultra-conservative economic agenda. Otherwise, the people may feel their happiness is short-lived.

Tom Lloyd

Australia

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Make sure the crew goes down with the ship

Re: "TRT sinking like Titanic", News, October 3. I was concerned by the lead headline. In view of the significant role Thai Rak Thai has played in politics over the past several years, I think they should not be allowed to disintegrate at this time.

In order to help them, I would urge an amendment to Announcement 27. This amendment would be that banning executive members of any party dissolved for breaking electoral law applied to those who were executive members at the time the offence was committed. This change would mean there would no longer be any need for executive members of Thai Rak Thai to forsake the party to avoid punishment. They would be punished based on their responsibility at the time the law was broken.

Leaving the party at this time should not save them from the responsibility they bear for at least allowing, if not aiding, the commission of any offence. Thai Rak Thai might last a little longer, and all the guilty parties would be netted.

Gareth Clayton

Bangkok

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It will be a long way back to democracy and prosperity

The recent coup in Thailand may well have been the lesser of two evils, but nevertheless it has set the country back decades. Although there have been promises to return to democracy in a year, we will no doubt see demonstrations of military influence and power in the near future, such as dealing with dissidents and freedom of the press. There can't be many, if any, junta-controlled countries that thrive, and even if power is handed back to civilians, they will be hand-picked and serve no more purpose than a puppet for their military masters behind them.

Ironically, Thailand has only itself to blame. It elected Thaksin in the hope that his own material wealth and dubious ways of making it would somehow trickle all the way down through society. But somehow even that got to be too much to stomach for a society and political system already riddled with corruption. So it's back to square one for Thailand, and it will be a long road back to respectability and prosperity.

A Warner

Bangkok

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Do not link humanitarian assistance and democracy

Re: "Despite its missteps, the US does plenty of good", Letters, October 4.

Richard Rees correctly questions the uncited hyperbole in John Francis Lee's letter ("The US is in no position to talk about democracy", Letters, October 1), but then proceeds to defend the United States' credibility with equally irrelevant material. The impressive American record of humanitarian assistance and development work, including the major push in HIV-prevention funding under the Bush administration, is unrelated to the high ground on democracy. Cuba, for example, leads the world in sending doctors abroad to provide free medical care in places that desperately need it, but this action does not qualify Castro as a democrat. Trotting out the blunt mythology of World War II and the even less-relevant polio vaccine as if either were charitable American interventions devoid of self-interest sounds strikingly like "an agenda that has nothing to do with democracy", as well.

The US earns its position (not its "right") to cite democracy by merit of continuously having one, made possible by a robust, amendable constitution as its cultural and legal core, rather than a religion or a monarch. Its foreign policy has always been in its own self-interest, at the expense of pluralism if necessary; its assistance in crises is indeed generous, to the benefit of autocrats if necessary. Strictly speaking, the Bush administration's appalling foreign policy does not undermine its democratic credentials, since it is the elected serving the alleged interests of their electorate. However, its dismantling of sacred US constitutional protections (congressional oversight, freedom of information, legal rights of the accused) just might.

Wesley Hsu

Bangkok

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Mistakes are natural in such a serious undertaking

Re: "The generals have done their part, now it's time to fade", Opinion, October 3.

I read your Hard Talk column with interest. However, when I read the headline, it occurred to me the whole headline should have been: "The generals have done their part, now it's time for the rest to do their parts".

After reading this article, I was left with the impression the writer expected the coup-makers and interim new prime minister, with no legitimacy, to deliver what even a democratically elected government had not been able to do, at least in a short period like the one given to the new interim prime minister. After six years of no progress on fighting corruption, the coup-makers and interim prime minister now have been given the exclusive responsibility to carry on the fight.

The article also points out that blunders were made during and after the coup. The coup's leader surely did not have a lot of trusted friends in the Army to choose from, not to mention friends in other branches of the armed forces. He had to work with very few trusted friends compared with past coups.  I can imagine he must have been very busy making sure the coup did not fail before even thinking about next move.

The coup leader and the new prime minister surely need lots of help. But they don't have millions of baht to hire the best legal experts or financiers, who have the knowledge and expertise to point out the many dubious transactions that are still under the carpet. So who will help them? Looking at the criticism they now face, it seems they will have to help themselves.

Prichar

Bangkok

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