The junta now instead intends to exercise wider powers entitling soldiers to search premises, prohibit actions, seize items and detain people for questioning, he said.

After September 19, the new military government in Thailand hurried to have an interim constitution written up that would create an illusion of its adherence to principles of law. The gaping hole left by the abrogated 1997 Constitution was filled not by the sham charter, but by martial law. Nor is there anything "interim" about this arrangement. The intention of the armed forces has from the beginning been to restore an earlier model of hierarchy and administration to the government, military, police and bureaucracy.

In Thailand, with its multitude of overlapping and competing departments, offices and commands, this can only give rise to even greater conflict for which there will be no easy solutions, which will in turn demand increasingly aggressive and uncompromising responses from the military for it to keep control. That is the direction in which the country is now headed.

 The facade of civilian government and adherence to the rule of law has come crashing down in Bangkok. What remains is the antithesis of these principles. Today, what counts in Thailand is military dictatorship and martial law. All else is fraud and pretence.

The Asian Human Rights Commission now urgently calls upon the government of Thailand to pull the country back from the very dangerous point to which it has taken it and:

1) Make an unequivocal statement clarifying the current situation and indicating why the country apparently remains under martial law well over a month after it was purportedly lifted;

2) Ensure that martial law is fully lifted without further delay;

3) Refrain from using any of the provisions of martial law to curtail basic freedoms prior to its lifting; and

4) Decline to renew the emergency decree over the southern provinces when its current period expires on January 20.

Beyond these immediate steps, the overwhelming challenge for the people of Thailand is to restore to the country the seeds for the rule of law and genuine constitutionalism from which the 1997 Constitution emerged and struggled to grow up to when it was cut down in 2006. That challenge will only be met once military rule is ended.

Asian Human Rights Commission

Hong Kong

----------------------------------------------

Designating NVDRs 'foreign' a safety measure for investors

Re: "Investors must be wary of NVDRs as they assess new law", Business, January 12.

While the writer, George Morgan, raises some interesting theoretical questions regarding the trading of non-voting depository receipts (NVDRs) on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), they may well be moot concerns and as such would just further unfairly confuse things. As for me, it is inconceivable that the NVDR status of SET-listed shares would be affected.

In any event, non-Thai investors who own NVDRs and are concerned can easily convert most of these shares to foreign designated shares and so can legally own Thai stocks, along with all dividends, right issues and, yes, even the voting privileges.

Since foreigners have sold off billions of baht worth of Thai stocks over the past few weeks, most counters now have ample room left for foreigners to convert the status of their shares to "foreign", and in doing so, these investors can rightfully and legally own their investments. There is no downside, as any foreign-status-designated stock can on a moment's notice be converted right back to a locally traded stock and then sold on the local main board.

While surely some select large- and mid-cap shares do not have any room left for "foreign"-ownership registration, the point is that mostly all smaller capitalised shares do. Individual investors would be wiser to favour those, as on average they pay twice the dividend rates and trade at nearly half the price-to-earnings ratio compared with their large-cap counterparts. For years, they have been the real investment bargains here, and for years they have outperformed the SET's benchmark index. This is the silver lining few write about, and it's been nothing short of a method for building wealth for many years, and I think this will continue, since as a group these companies on average can grow faster.

Paul A Renaud

Thaistocks.com

Zurich, Switzerland

---------------------------------------------------

Govt has yet to clearly spell out economic benefit of revisions

Re: "Foreign Business Act clarified", Editorial, January 10.

Following the Cabinet's approval of crucial amendments to the Foreign Business Act, the details regrettably remain far from clear. Also conspicuous by its absence is any statement from the government on how these amendments are expected to benefit the Thai economy or even enhance the average Thai citizen's share of "gross domestic happiness". Comments by individual ministers at the Cabinet meeting that were reported in the press seemed only to focus on whether the amendments were sufficient to deal with Temasek's nominee company, Kularb Kaew.

George Morgan

Bangkok

---------------------------------------------

Investors might start looking for friendlier climes elsewhere

Re: "Act amendments an attack on foreign direct investment", Letters, January 11.

As seen from the outside, this is a big blow to Thailand. The country now looks unstable, not only because of the recent bomb attacks and the rise of a military dictatorship, but now it appears not to be a safe place to invest in, as you cannot control your company.

The venture capital markets of China and Vietnam now seem even more appealing. There's no telling how much this has cost the nation in dollars. Portman says it all in a nutshell.

Venture capitalists are on the move, and they are not going to sit around looking for opportunities in Thailand when there are plenty of safer, well governed, investor-friendly countries to invest in, and Thailand now is very low on the list. Even Indonesia appears to be a better place to invest in than Thailand. The generals should start consulting with Somkid Jatusripitak, whose brainchildren were the former premier's economic policies, which were the best Thailand has ever seen.

China Max

Bangkok

------------------------------------------------

Panthongtae's defence of his role in Temasek sale baffling

Re: "AEC gets little out of Panthongtae", News, January 11.

So billionaire Panthongtae Shinawatra repeatedly responded to the AEC with "I don't know" when asked about the sale of Shin Corp shares, saying his mother's secretary handled all of the details and that all he did was sign the paperwork. However, he still felt obligated to tell reporters, "We did everything right". Now, if he doesn't know the former, then how does he know the latter? Perhaps his mother's secretary knows the location of the emperor's son's clothes.

Jacomo

Bangkok

-------------------------------------------------

Shinawatra kids paying the price for family's greed

Re: "AEC gets little out of Panthongtae", News, January 11.

Anyone using common sense should know the Shinawatra offspring had hardly a clue about what was happening and that they simply signed on the various dotted lines as demanded.

Because of their appalling greed, their devoted parents have probably landed their children in serious legal, and possibly financial, hot water. Being part of that ghastly elite that traditionally considers itself well above the law here, this would not have occurred to them.

David Ross

Bangkok

---------------------------------------------

Children's Day all about education and respect

Re: "Writer sickened by 'twisted' letter about Children's Day", Letters, January 10.

For more than two years, I have written to The Nation to voice my objection to every rant by Sunida Kitiyakara against foreigners residing in or visiting Thailand. However, her latest attack on letter-writer Paul Bradley was completely justified, aside from the "nightly drunken binges" reference to expats.

I want to commend her for the defence of Thai children, Children's Day and her keen insight into Bradley's senseless attack on children who cannot defend themselves. Children's Day is all about education and respect. It is beyond rational thinking that visits to the zoo, temples, museums, parks and government buildings by these children can be anything but a positive experience.

David Barkdull

Bangkok

------------------------------------------------------

US build-up in Iraq unlikely to ease tensions in region

Sending 20,000 more US troops to Iraq will not make a bit of difference. Sending 200,000 more won't make any difference. It'll just put the insurgents in business. And when the US troops pull out, the country will crumble, leaving a Shi'ite nation closely allied to Iran in the south, a Sunni nation in the centre and a Kurdish nation in the north with a million Turkish troops poised on its borders for an invasion like the invasion of Greek Cyprus in 1974.

Some wonder if a build-up of US troops in Iraq could be a prelude to an invasion of Iran, the real threat in the region. One can never be sure of what those in Washington are up to.

Edward Kaddie

Bangkok