I think it would be more accurate to point the finger at the relationship between written and spoken English.

Thai is consistent. There are rules that tell you how to pronounce things and a symbol for showing when a letter is not pronounced. Thus when you have learnt these basic rules you can read out loud a passage of Thai pronounced correctly and Thai listeners will understand you, even though you have no idea what it means. Could you do that with English? No, certainly not.

Pronunciation of letters and groups of letters change, apparently randomly in English. The well-known example amongst language teachers is 'ghot'. Now the 'gh' is pronounced as in 'rough', the 'o' as in women and the 't' as the 't' in nation. Hence this is a perfectly consistent spelling of the word we usually spell fish.

In the spelling of Suvarnabhumi, the pronunciation rules of Thai tell you the final 'i' is silent. We have no way of showing that in English.

As an aside, the same word with the meaning of golden land also exists in Nepali as well, but there the 'i' is pronounced, so where did the word come from? I have often puzzled about why the Thai 'w' is usually transliterated as a 'v'. Then I remembered that Latin, like Thai, has no 'v' sound, so words like video - from which we get all those words about seeing - were pronounced in the original with a 'w' sound as they would be in Thai. The English changed the sound of that letter from its original 'w' sound!

Then there is the question of whether to transliterate the spoken or the written Thai. Transliterating the written Thai brings in the problem of the Thai pronunciation rules for consonants at the ends of syllables and the silent letters that are shown as silent in Thai.

If we try and represent the Thai pronunciation then what do we do about sounds that do not exist in English?

And as for the tonal nature of Thai, we cannot even begin to represent that in English and we all know that is just as important to the meaning of the word as the consonant and vowel combination. At the moment there seems to be a mixture of the two approaches. The only way that is perfect is to write Thai words using the Thai alphabet and spelling rules.

Gareth Clayton

Bangkok

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Money used to finance the coup belongs to the public

Army chief General Sonthi does not deny that the military spent a billion baht of its secret fund to stage the September coup d'etat, justifying the expenditure because their intentions were pure, and saying that the funds were disbursed properly.

This hardly sits well with PM Surayud's emphasising that one of this government's main themes is to increase transparency.

How can it be proper for the military to use taxpayers' funds to overthrow a government elected by those same taxpayers? The very act goes directly counter to good governance.

Being the money of we the people, the military's secret fund should be controlled by the country's duly elected representatives - eg, the Armed Forces Committee of Parliament, with rigorous checks and balances and accountability.

Burin Kantabutra

Bangkok

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Let Thais and Thailand enjoy Christmas if they want to

The letters, primarily by Westerners, decrying Christmas celebrations in Thailand, are filled with a lack of any sensible argument. First they seem to think this is some new deal forced on Thais by America. In the last forty years of coming to and residing in Thailand, I have yet to see them miss a Christmas. Thais adopt and tolerate what they want without any prodding from America or anyone else.

There is also a large Christian presence in Thailand, including parochial schools and colleges. The left, in teaching it's anti-Christian dogma, has tried to make it appear they are defending other religions. Make no mistake they, for the most part, have no religion and no God. No problem with me, but to try and push this down other's throats is pure hogwash.

If anyone is trying to force their beliefs on anyone it is this crew. These are the very same people who try to push every new leftist cause from "Kiss a terrorist good morning" to a desire to beat the swords of any military into opium pipes.

The claim that there is a large group of high-spending tourists coming to Thailand to get away from Christmas is just a plain lie. These are a very small group who have had their way for too long and are facing a backlash in their own countries. Few come here with little more than a backpack and dreams of getting high and worshipping the moon. Thais are not stupid people nor insecure in their core religious beliefs. They love Christmas and children here are not going to be denied it by some non-believing-in-anything Grinch. Do not care to believe in anything? Not a problem and most belief systems say in the end there is such a place waiting for you. If there is, you are obviously already booked, so leave these good people and Christmas alone.

Major Mark A Smith (US Army Retired)

Bangkok

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Fight fire with fire on hotel dinner scams

At this time of festivity and supposed goodwill among all men and women, I note with dismay that the curse of compulsory "Gala Dinners" continues to cast a shadow on this fair land. This is the scam whereby your tourist hotel adds 2,000 or so baht per head to your bill for the special dinners on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, no matter that you have somewhere else to go or simply don't want to eat the wretched things. Freedom of choice for the valued guest? Forget it!

I offer two solutions to the hapless tourist who finds himself in this trap on New Year's Eve.

1. If you haven't already paid in advance, check out of the hotel as late as possible on New Year's Eve and start partying elsewhere. The hotel will find it difficult to fill the vacancy so late on that particular day and stands to lose not only the gala dinner fee but the room night as well. Furthermore, New Year's Eve is one of the two nights per year when the "Social Order" laws do not require the population of the country to be in bed by 2am, so you can stay out enjoying yourself until dawn. Luggage? Just leave it with the concierge. Then, as dawn breaks on New Year's Day and the exodus of tourists checks out, that's when you check back in again.

2. If you have already paid up front, you may as well make the best of it, so on New Year's Eve, don't eat anything during the day so you develop a monster appetite by the evening. Make sure you turn up immediately the gala dinner opens (having had plenty to drink somewhere else beforehand so you don't incur further drinks charges), and proceed to stuff yourself with as much of the buffet as you can, concentrating on the expensive imported items. When fully satiated to the point of feeling mildly sick, abandon the hotel and enjoy yourself at the venue of your choice.

This practice of compulsory gala dinners is extortion in all but name and should be stamped out. The Tourist Authority of Thailand, please take note.

Nigel Pike

Phang Nga

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Children can form opinions and decide for themselves

Re: "Black Tuesday the price the country is paying for the coup", Letters, December 29.

"Neutral Observer" would do better to allow his Thai sons to think for themselves and not confuse them politically as well as ethnically. If they are to live here as Thais, they must learn for themselves not to indiscriminately 'downgrade' Thai institutions as he seems so proud to have done.

And what truth, pray, does he claim to know about every person involved in the coup, unjustified or not. This is our home and if Neutral Observer self-elected to live here through some devious reason or other, then he should do himself and his Thai sons a favour by refraining from uttering his ignorant pontifications, which are the mere mouthings of an even more ignorant mind.

Fed Up

Bangkok

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Food for thought on Gerald Ford's legacy

Since the passing of former President Gerald Ford the US media has been searching for ways to characterise his short-lived administration. One small "fact" about him that came to light was that despite being president of the United States and thus being able to eat the finest food in the world, for most of his adult life he only ate cottage cheese with ketchup for lunch.

That pretty well sums him up.

Brian Elkey

Cheonan, South Korea

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Foreign traveller pleased with Bangkok airport experience

I came through Suvarnabhumi on my way from Kathmandu to the US a few weeks ago. It was obviously new and the finishing touches were being put in place, but I was comfortable, the personnel were polite and helpful, and I had no experience of the inconveniences that have received so much attention.

I'd be more critical of the airport in my hometown if it underwent such a vast renovation, but that's because I'm a local here in Orlando, Florida and I have strong opinions about what's happening in my hometown.

As for travelling through Suvarnabhumi Airport, it worked just fine for me.

US Traveller

Orlando, Florida