Cape Margo's assertion that no punishment for transgressions against public safety rules seems to exist in western countries is quite wrong and points out a fundamental difference between the application of public safety laws in Thailand and in those countries.

In most developed western nations, companies or individuals that flout public safety laws can be successfully sued for damages by the victims or the victims' families under the laws of "tort" concerning negligence.

Damage claims in favour of individuals for vast sums of money are regularly upheld by courts in the United States against the very largest organisations that fail in their duty of care to the public. Because of this, most companies or professionals find it necessary to conform very closely to applicable national and international standards for their businesses and take out very large and expensive insurance policies to cover themselves against such claims.

In Thailand, such a recourse for private individuals, especially those who are poor and are victims of company negligence, high standing or wealthy individuals, is rarely available under the law and even when it is available the amounts conceded by those who are culpable are generally exceedingly small and of little consequence to their business or reputation.

The law of tort has been highly successful in the US particularly because the attorneys representing these cases get a very large revenue from prosecuting successful claims.

Until we have such progressive legal rights for victims of negligence in Thailand I fear that the poor will continue to be victims of the rich.

Jonathan Peter

Pathum Thani

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Chiang Mai haze will get worse before it gets better

The air quality in Chiang Mai may have improved slightly, but the haze has most definitely not lifted yet. It is nice to know that we are no longer living in an official "disaster zone" here in Chiang Mai, but the AQI remains close to 100 (double the acceptable level in some other countries) and we still can't see Doi Suthep from the city.

Close to 7,000 patients a day have been seeking treatment for respiratory problems and we have six aircraft seeding clouds every day in an attempt to improve the situation. These are nowhere near acceptable levels of air pollution.

At our school here in Chiang Mai we have had to cancel physical education classes, and keep students indoors during recess. Some families have already opted to take their children back to Bangkok to enjoy the cleaner air there.

Fires continue to rage in the forests, farmers carry on burning their fields, local residents still burn their rubbish in the streets, and poorly maintained vehicles belch out diesel fumes throughout the city every day. Add innumerable roadside barbecues, nightly firework parties, plenty of smoky lanterns and you have a haze that looks like staying for some time. The rainy season may wash it all away for a few months, but this problem is not going to go away so easily. Unless the people of Chiang Mai are prepared to make some fundamental changes to their way of life, the situation is going to get worse. Air pollution is a year round problem here, and until we do something about it we are going to see more and more hospital visits, and fewer and fewer tourists.

Martin Foakes

Chiang Mai

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Stupid ideas to reduce the air problems in the North

I was glad to read early last week that Thailand's deputy PM declared an emergency alert for Chiang Mai. Thailand's Cabinet had earlier postponed a decision on declaring an alert, but he finally decided to act after hospitals and clinics throughout northern Thailand were filled with patients having breathing problems.

The emergency alert seems to have forced police officers in the Chiang Mai area to take action against illegal burning throughout the city and in the surrounding areas. So the air quality started to get better for the next five days.

This Sunday morning, however, the air appeared as dirty as before the alert. I'm convinced that the police in Chiang Mai and vicinity stopped enforcing the law on Saturday. They were encouraged to relax by statements from the mayor of Chiang Mai and other officials that the smoke would go away when Korean-style restaurants were forced to turn off their barbecue grills and that cloud-seeding would cause rain before long. The mayor also proposed starting the Songkran festival on April 1 because a lot of water on the sidewalks and roads would somehow make it rain even more.

Lax law enforcement by officials, however, continues to ignore extensive and accelerating deforestation throughout northern Thailand from illegal fires and from cutting down of trees on public land. Antics from local officials like blaming Korean restaurants and encouraging people to throw water at each other are especially annoying.

This environmental crisis should be addressed by the Thai Department of Environment with the constant and full support of the Cabinet. Local officials obviously do not have the concern or ability to act by themselves on this urgent matter.

Dan Swift

Chiang Mai

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Drug companies are not interested in public health

Abbott Laboratories' actions have precipitated the beginnings of a global boycott and unwanted exposure of the dark side of its corporate reputation. It seems to me someone inside Abbott should understand the global patent protection system is in place fundamentally not to protect profits, not to provide a source of revenue to do research for and create an even greater array of "lifestyle" pharmaceuticals, but rather to ensure public health in all countries, not only the wealthier ones. At some point, perhaps tragically only when the Abbott-caused death toll is high enough, we will want to re-examine the pharmaceutical industry's corporate structure and patent systems themselves to see if they really do continue to serve "the global public interest".

As well, a pharmaceutical industry official derided the boycott as follows: "If Thailand is leading the global crusade, I don't put a lot of stock in its success." Global racism, in the past implicit in the pharmaceutical industry's actions, now has become fully explicit and apparent. Shame on Abbott.

Dr Bob

Miami, Florida

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Time for Sonthi to stand up and be counted

Re: "Pro-Thaksin allies gain ground with bold moves", Opinion, March 25.

The September 19 coup-makers have only themselves to blame for failing to recognise the rebellion brewing at Sanam Luang on Friday. By not nipping it in the bud, the uprising can be expected to balloon and become a national calamity in the near future. We all know that Thaksin is now being driven into a corner: corruption and tax evasion indictments have been brought against him and his family; his fight against the coup that he alleges has toppled his rightful and democratic government is being ignored by the world - partly because of his past misrule and partly because powerful countries see him as a spent force. Thus, an effort to stir up trouble that possibly results in bloodshed is the only option for the scheming former leader.

 General Sonthi has tried to portray himself as an accidental hero for his part in the September 19 coup. Now an urgent situation has emerged for him to show his true heroism. You have all the power to stop this bloodletting; act now or our nation perishes, General.

Chavalit Van

Chiang Mai

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Courts should throw the book at King Power

Airports of Thailand (AOT)'s board of directors did right when they cancelled contracts with King Power that the Council of State found null and void. To proceed, I suggest that AOT select the duty-free operator best able to attract the maximum revenue to Thailand. This criterion is very different from selecting the operator giving AOT the most revenue - the former objective benefits the entire country; the latter, AOT only. Thus, an operator bringing in those spending, say, B10 million would be favoured over one whose target market would spend B5 million over the same period - even though the former group might spend only B2 million at the airport and the rest at resorts, and the latter were all transit passengers.

Suvarnabhumi's shopping should become a key part of a bundle of synergistic, highly attractive experiences, making Thailand more amazing and enticing than ever. I see little, if any, difference between operating a duty-free shop vs running a large shopping mall. Thus, those with sufficient mega-mall success should be considered - including those with offshore experience. The Council of State found that King Power deliberately twice understated contract values in order to by-pass the law, and it is guilty of numerous other major transgressions, eg, violating the commercial area limits by a staggering 50 per cent. AOT should not negotiate with a firm that has shown abundant bad faith.

AOT's former board is at fault for approving a contract the Council of State had to later declare null and void. On this and other matters, the then-directors should be held accountable for neglecting to protect stakeholders - unless they had recorded their objections in writing when the decisions were made. Thus, they should be held jointly and severally liable for any damages suffered by AOT.

Burin Kantabutra

Bangkok

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Coup leaders put their feet in their mouth

I was interested that General Sonthi, when denying that General Prem had any hand in the coup, said that the general was "clean and innocent". Does that mean that those involved are tainted and guilty?

Dom Dunn

Londo