Since the military coup in Thailand on September 19 of last year the newly installed regime has lost no time in digging out corruption in the ousted government of Thaksin Shinawatra. Evidence of corruption has not been hard to find, thus providing some justification for the coup.

Thaksin's ruthless war on drugs in recent years, with well over 2,000 killings, many of them extrajudicial killings by Thai police in which many hill-tribes people lost their lives or were imprisoned, is one area where the police involved face prosecution. Drugs cases make up a lion's share of about 80 per cent of Thailand's prison population, currently put at about 160,000 by the Corrections Department.

Thai officials and other commentators have for years said that 20 per cent or more of prisoners in Thailand are innocent, many of them victims of corrupt police and other officials. Hill-tribes people are "soft" victims. While they comprise less than 2 per cent of the official Thai population, they make up a far larger proportion of the Thai prison population, with estimates in some institutions of 50 per cent or more hill-tribes inmates.

The new military-backed government has made recent efforts to assess and release innocent prisoners. About 8,000 prisoners registered for consideration, out of which 560 were selected for further investigation and possible release. The government is also reported to be considering the release of prisoners who have already served more than 10 years.

The post-coup government obviously realises that there are serious problems in the justice, police and prison systems that need to be addressed urgently. Deep-seated corruption in these institutions has contributed to the problems Thailand has in the South of the country, as well as to the suffering of hill-tribes people in the North.

The present political turmoil in Thailand provides a window of hope for innocent victims of corrupt police and officials, and for those suffering extremely long sentences for drugs offences. Such Draconian sentencing and use of the death penalty urgently need to be reconsidered as part of general law reforms. The treatment of hill-tribes minorities, and prisoners particularly, deserve attention, because they have been soft targets for corrupt police and officials in Thailand.

Paul Hunt

Campaign For Hilltribe Prisoners in Thailand

Bangkok

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Civilian population providing insurgents with easy cover

It appears when a suspected terrorist is arrested in the deep South, the latest tactic is for women to take their children, including babies, surround the police station in large numbers and protest until the suspect is released.

These same people block the entrances of villages where blood trails of the suspected terrorist from a bombing or shootout with the police have led the authorities.

Again the police cave in and leave. I am not advocating any violence against these women who are obviously guilty of breaking the law by possibly harbouring and protecting a criminal suspect and giving the suspect time to escape. But there are ways to disperse crowds without injury. Do the police have tear gas available to them? This is a very effective way to disperse a crowd without injury.

If the police do not want to use measures to disperse these crowds, then simply arrest them for obstruction of justice.

Everyone in this country is aware that all people who live in rural villages know everyone else's dirty laundry. There are two Thai information highways that are faster than the Internet will ever be. They are the exchange of good lottery numbers and the airing of dirty laundry. Some of these people know who are committing these murders and they are simply protecting them. Until the police start enforcing the laws against such nonsense the situation will only escalate and more innocent people will die.

Amazed in Kalasin

Kalasin

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Those leading nation to democracy fail to grasp basics

General Saprang Kalayanamitr recently said, "Everything happens by the law of cause and effect and for a coup, if there is justifiable cause, then it would take place," ("Coup could recur, says Saprang", News, 8 March"). Prasong Soonsiri, the Constitutional Drafting Committee chair, also recently stated that he would support allowing an unelected prime minister to hold office ("Unelected PM could lead to 'fresh bloodshed'", News, March 9). I suggest that both of these men should immediately go on an in-depth tour of, say, the US and UK, to see how they implement "government of the people, by the people, and for the people" - including how their systems empower the common man to correct mistakes in government as they arise.

Ask the leaders, including those in the opposition, as to how they would view an unelected leader for their countries, and whether having such a person would be the total opposite of what a democracy is for.

Ask their leaders under what circumstances they would feel compelled to stage a coup  - and why they haven't had one in ages.

Then, after their eyes have been opened, they can come back and guide us.

Burin Kantabutra

Bangkok

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Severity of the government's fine on iTV Plc excessive

Re: "An open letter to the journalists at TITV", Opinion, March, 10

I refer to the recap part of Jeerawat Na Thalang's open letter to TITV's journalists and would like to comment that there is one aspect to the legal process that has not been discussed. I don't understand why the station's former management and the media have failed to mention it.

The Central Administrative Court overruled the arbitration panel on the grounds that the arbitration process was not legal because it was an amendment to the original contract between iTV Plc and the Prime Minister's Office and the amendment was not presented to the Cabinet for approval. Therefore, iTV had to abide by the original contract, ie, Bt1 billion per year and 70 per cent news content.

At that point, I can understand why iTV has to pay Bt 1.7 billion in backdated concession fees. But I don't see how justice is served by imposing a fine on iTV. The magnitude of the fine suggests that iTV changed its programming content covertly with criminal intent, which was clearly not the case.

The Prime Minister's Office was fully aware of what iTV was doing. If anybody was at fault, it was the officials at that office for failing to present the contract amendments to the Cabinet for approval. I don't know if this falls under the category of dereliction of duty. As for the original intentions of setting up iTV, I totally agree that it has been lost because it changed ownership and the new owners had different ideas for the station.

Coldcrab

Bangkok

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Employees now have a second chance to serve public good

TITV employees have no right to receive this exceptional treatment. All employees should count themselves blessed and lucky that they have received their pay to date and severance packages. They should quit complaining and begin behaving like mature people instead of lying about how much iTV has done for the Thai public etc.

Start showing us your commitment the right way this time! No more complaints! Let this be a severe warning to make sure that you're not led by your noses by questionable leaders in the future.

iTV Plc should have announced bankruptcy like any other private enterprise in this country.

Tom Yam Koong

Bangkok

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TITV distracting public from stalled corruption probes

Re: "Government has more important duties than TITV", Letters, March 10.

PathFinder comments in today's newspaper about the current TITV issue.

[I agree that] despite the seriousness of the situation at TITV it must be considered as a distraction from the pressing needs to make progress on the long-running corruption cases of those enjoying notoriety in freedom.

It must be running through the minds of many, and not only of this writer, that the government is merely playing for time, hoping they can spare the suspects facing justice through the statute of limitations.

Is it that the government really feels that prosecutions of those formerly or presently in high places are against the national interest and do they seriously expect the Thai people to accept such a betrayal?

Yet there is the possibility that if one or two of these villains were incarcerated the domino effect could kick in and change Thailand forever. That could bring about a justice system in Thailand of truly international standards and there are those who would view that as their worst nightmare.

David Harrison

Bangkok

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Short-term restrictions in country's best interests

Re: "Chalongphob coy on capital control move", News, March 10.

Those threatening to move their assets out of the country should do so as they are not the types of investors Thailand is looking for.

As investors you also have responsibilities and if you are willing to destroy the Thai financial markets for a short-term profit then you are a speculator and speculators are no more than players.

The fate of the country and its people's welfare are not a game! So please move on. Short periods of restriction are often worth it so that we can develop wisely.

Nampetch

Bangkok

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