It's all very well that things are calm and happy after the coup, but what worries me now is precisely the fact that we are under military rule ... and that most people are very obliging and compliant.

Whatever Thaksin Shinawatra might have been, we have to accept the fact that he was a democratically elected leader. We chose to give him power, via a democratic election; we should be the ones taking power back from him, also via democratic means. So it's slow. So the system's imperfect. We, the people, should be the ones fixing it, not the military. We cannot be a democracy if all we can do is blame the leader and hope for a new superman to come rescue us.

We are given this power, like it or not. We are "condemned" to it, as Jean-Paul Sartre would say, and we cannot simply shirk our responsibility for the monster we have created - the monster that is our political system. Replacing one dictatorship by another doesn't make a country a democracy, no matter what they call themselves. Right now, we have laid our freedom down gladly and gratefully before the coup leaders and accepted our shackles with smiles and gratitude.

We are defined by our actions, and right now our actions define us as a people incapable of facing the horrors of freedom. We are showing ourselves as childish cowards, unfit for and undeserving of freedom, not because of any weakness in our nature, but because of our refusal to take responsibility for our own lives, our own government. Now, does this seem like Thailand, the land of the free that we love and are proud of?

The blame doesn't lie with who we place as our figurehead, but in who we are as the people. The answer doesn't lie in what we think, it is in what we do. You might not agree with my beliefs - I don't expect you to. All I expect is that you believe in something and fight for it. Action is what defines a human being. Inertia is for sand and stones, not mankind. And now, it is time we claim responsibility for this franken-democracy we have created.

I don't expect any less from you.

Pruittiporn Kerdchoochuen

Bangkok

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Interim constitution is self-contradictory

 I am not sure the people who wrote and reviewed the new and temporary constitution are aware of the anomaly it has created.

After a brief skim through the constitution, it seems this new legal instrument is an aberration. It creates the Council for National Security that has the power to remove the premier, yet the council members are supposed to be administratively under him.

The promises from the coup leaders to step back and let the new government run the country are contradicted by the new constitution.

Aroon Suansilppongse

Bangkok

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US on shaky ground in condemning coup

 Re: "US urges Thailand to lift martial law in 10 days", News, October 4.

The United States calls for the Thai military to get out of Thai politics, but the US administration itself is not shy about meddling in Thai politics with sanctions, demands and deadlines issued almost on a daily basis.

The overwhelming majority of people support the present Thai government, according to all opinion polls. Is this not another form of democracy in action? Regime-change is not something that can be done only by outsiders.

President Bush currently has the support of only one-third of the American people. Should we call for him to step aside in the name of direct democracy? Different rules are drafted by different people and applied differently in different places. But substance everywhere should be at least as important as form.

The US says it abhors military coups, but when it suits its national interests, it embraces coup leaders. The latest coup-maker to be wined and dined at the White House was President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, just two weeks ago. Obviously, Pakistan has more strategic importance for the US than Thailand.

The US's decades-long history of involvement in fomenting coups and supporting military regimes around the world - from South Korea, the Philippines, South Vietnam, Indonesia, Pakistan, Iran, Egypt, Spain, Argentina, Chile and El Salvador to its current efforts in undermining popularly elected governments in Iran, Palestine and Venezuela - do not accord it the moral authority to pronounce on the application of democratic principles. Even the conduct of the US presidential elections in 2000 was not a model for democracy.

The Thai people on the whole appreciate the stand the US usually takes on human rights and civil liberties. The US is still the beacon of freedom for the world. But the US could win more friends and influence more people if it showed more awareness of its own shortcomings, more tact in dealing with friends, and a better appreciation of the challenges that other people face.

Surely the long history of friendly Thai-US relations can withstand temporary blips and changes in personnel and circumstances. The professionals in the State Department and the US military establishment undoubtedly know better. They should advise the Bush administration that continued knee-jerk reactions and self-serving public posturing could nudge Thailand and eventually the whole of Asean irrevocably into China's orbit as well as dilute any solidarity on the war on terror and ultimately on commitment to democracy itself.

Full democracy in both form and substance will ultimately return to Thailand. But it will be the accomplishment of the Thai people. The US should not seek nor expect to take any credit.

Nisanart Pumpanwong

Bangkok

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Letter to top members of the Bush administration

 Dear George W Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Condoleeza Rice,

Don't the people of a nation have the right to remove an undemocratic government, and if they can do it without spilling a drop of blood or damaging a square inch of property, aren't they to be praised all the more?

Indeed, isn't it every true citizen's obligation to stand up to a takeover - for that's what the Thaksin regime was, a brutal takeover of Thailand disguised as a benevolent democracy. It was all Madison Avenue spin, all junk food advertising itself as organic - like so much of what is being allowed to happen in the name of democracy all over the world (you can fill in the blanks for me here).

And the Thaksin takeover came to within a whisker of succeeding - we all saw that even if you didn't, looking out as you do through your self-righteous, bigoted spectacles.

One final note. As an American citizen who has fought all his life for freedom of thought even more than for freedom of movement or property, I find it very painful to acknowledge that, in their recognition of the value of this new Thai government, the Republic of China is streets ahead of my United Sates of America. And, frankly, I'm ashamed.

Christopher Woodman

Chiang Mai

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Thai people have seen Thaksin's true colours

I don't understand why the US Administration has been trying so hard to pressure the new Thai government without giving it a chance to start. The best thing for the US to do right now is just wait and see. I hope it will not make another mistake by helping the wrong man again. Thaksin may have a good public relations firm in the US, but he cannot fool us any longer.

A Sirivan

Bangkok

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Shortcomings spotted at Suvarnabhumi Airport

 I was able to take a flight to Kuala Lumpur from Suvarnabhumi Airport within a week of its opening. I was impressed by the size of the airport compared to the airport in my country, Changi International Airport. As my flight was delayed by two hours, I had almost four hours to make a good tour of the departure hall. Below are some of my observations:

1. Lack of signs for departure gates.

On countless occasions I saw people asking staff where the departure gates were. I did not see any directions to the various gates either. Do note that the departure hall is very big and if you go in the wrong direction you will waste a lot of time going back.

2. Lack of public phones.

My cell-phone battery ran out and I was trying to find a public phone. However, the staff told me there was no public phone in the departure hall and the phones in the duty free shop were only for making calls within the airport. This is the first time I have ever seen an airport without any public phones in the departure hall.

3. Condition, location of toilets.

I was disappointed with the lack of toilets in the departure hall and the location of the toilets. The toilets are small and not easy to find. Also, is there any reason to locate the toilets next to the rear of a restaurant? If you go and inspect the area, you will see how dirty it is. Why let visitors see such places?

4. Poor workmanship.

The flooring in the departure hall is very badly done. Many tiles are broken or cracked. Pushing a trolley from one end of the departure hall to the other end, you will notice that many tiles are hollow, ie there is not enough cement under the tiles. I wonder how long these tiles will last with such workmanship.

5. Duty free shops.

Duty free shopping is not just about high-end shopping. The planning should also incorporate the promoting of Thai culture. Where are the shops selling good Thai desserts? Also, there is a lack of electronics shops selling accessories for travellers.

6. ATM machines.

I am surprised that there were no ATM machines in the departure hall. I expected the planners to learn from the mistake at the old airport and provide some ATM machines in the departure hall for withdrawals. And why are Thai Military Bank and Siam Commercial Bank the only two banks operating in the whole airport?

Suvarnabhumi Airport scores very well in size, but very badly in planning, design and construction.

Toh Hwee

Bangkok