Your articles and essays tell of severe air pollution and deforestation caused by uncontrolled burning of fields and forests throughout Chiang Mai and the northern provinces. Yet these problems are usually ignored by local officials and administrators. When pressed on these issues, they warn against "scaring away tourists". They don't try to solve these problems by instructing police officers to fine or arrest those who violate the existing laws against starting fires in open fields or forests.

You also have done well in reporting and criticising the Songkran violence, which adds to Thailand's terribly high rate of highway accidents and deaths. They discuss and deplore how Songkran has degenerated into an orgy of violence and mayhem by drunken louts.

Chiang Mai badly needs a daily newspaper or at least more news coverage. The weekly Chiangmai Mail has articles and photos about environmental and public-safety problems here but does not urge local governments to take serious action. Songkran is merely described as a ceremony that "always brings together people of all nationalities for a week of sanuk and friendship". Readers were also assured that the air pollution would go away before Songkran because "restaurants with open grills would be closed".

There is also the year-round problem of rampant air pollution from vehicles, where the violators usually get off after paying a Bt100 bribe to police officers. It's always "mai pen rai".

I hope that you start to give a lot more coverage to the serious problems in Northern Thailand. Chiang Mai province has nearly two million residents, and its number of registered vehicles is growing by at least 100,000 per year. So it deserves more attention from print and broadcast media.

Until Chiang Mai gets more coverage from established and reputable news organisation like yours, the problems up here, if anything, will get even worse.

Dan Swift

Chiang Mai

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Buddhist teaching does not back call for national religion

 I agree with Constitution Drafting Committee chairman Prasong Soonsiri. Most people in Thailand are Buddhist and there is no need to declare Buddhism the national religion in the new constitution.

It is of utmost importance that people follow the teachings of the Lord Buddha, and then Buddhism will flourish.

We have seen many Tibetan monks killed due to conflicts with China and Vietnamese monks setting themselves aflame during the Vietnam War. Therefore, please keep Buddhism out of Thai politics. There is nothing to gain from it. Those monks who went out to protest in front of Government House should be defrocked because they did not follow the teaching of the Lord Buddha.

Surasak Piputtana

Bangkok

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Having no official religion would be the best solution

 How about Thailand putting a clause in its new charter stating that there is no state religion? After all, aren't all religious beliefs used to control the masses?

Furthermore, organised patriarchal religions, of which Buddhism certainly is one, have become specialised in suppression of women's sexuality, a practice in which far too many women acquiesce willingly, as "unclean".

Just how much damage have violence-inducing, patriarchal beliefs caused civilisation throughout history?

I say the life-enabling star above, the Sun, is the only "God" we need, and the planet Earth the only nirvana (or hell) we'll ever know. Maybe it's best to get back to the Garden and start worshipping only those things that are real!

I don't need fear to be good; why do so many others seem to?

Christy K Sweet

Phuket

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Let people choose between draft and alternative charter

 Apparently, the humble best the constitution drafters can come up with is a document that deliberately restores many shortcomings that the 1997 version took out, eg the 90-day rule locking MPs to their parties before elections has been cut to just 30 days, encouraging MPs to hop to the highest bidder. The drafters forgot Ronald Reagan's statement: "Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realise that it bears a very close resemblance to the first." (The "oldest profession" is prostitution.)

Also, Article 76 guarantees the military a role in "national development". So, the military will ensure that we follow a path that those with guns think is wise, a la the dwifungsi [the double-function military] of the Suharto era (1967-1998)? We're advancing to the past?

The least that Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont and the Council for National Security can do is to tell us our choice: if we reject the draft charter, which one will they give us? We can then study both alternatives and make an informed decision.

Burin Kantabutra

Bangkok

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Pridiyathorn wrong to say land deal was acceptable

 It's unbelievable that former finance minister and Bank of Thailand governor MR Pridiyathorn Devakula testified that Pojaman Shinawatra's land purchase from the central bank's Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF) was acceptable because the FIDF was not immediately supervised by her husband Thaksin, the then-prime minister.

Even if the FIDF was not directly overseen by Thaksin, the wife of a government leader buying land in this way would be completely morally objectionable in every democratic country.

Moreover, a prime minister like Thaksin, who boasted that no decision could be made without his consent, cannot wash his hands of this affair. As prime minister, he was - and wanted to be seen as - responsible for his government's actions. Thaksin's power was felt at every government level and we all know what happened to his opponents.

Of course it was Thaksin's influence that made this land deal possible. To testify that this deal is acceptable means there is something wrong with Pridiyathorn's concept of morality. And this from a man of his stature. Unbelievable!

Egon

Bangkok

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Heat-blocking technology would bring big savings

 With the ongoing heat, I wonder why it is that heat-reflecting windows are virtually non-existent in Thailand? Given the local climate, such windows would pay off in a much shorter time than in the moderate climates where they are widely used.

There are several kind of such windows, ranging from the simplest double-paned windows, with the air between both panes removed to reduce the transmission of heat, to high-tech thermo-reflecting windows. There are heat-reflecting foils for car windows, but I haven't seen them used for buildings.

The reduced consumption of electricity for air-conditioning would not only pay off the higher cost for such windows, it would also reduce the heat generated by power plants and reduce the overall amount of power needed on a national scale, not to mention lower the environmental damage from power generation.

In addition, there are ways to build houses with heat-reflecting or heat-isolating materials and technologies, all of which would save lots of money in the long run. I have heard there is even a paint using nano-technology that reduces the heat passing through to the walls.

Where are the Thai architects to propose and use such materials and technologies?

Sam Munich

Bangkok

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Dreaming of the day Asian countries form a union

 Does Thailand or any other country in Asia really need tourists at all? At this point in time, of course they do. All the government would need to do is close its borders to all foreigners for two months and see what happens. The country would collapse into chaos.

But consider what would happen if Thailand and all other countries in Asia were to be united as one country, with each one as a state in an Asian Union. There would be no need for tourists because their economies would change radically. A unified Asian system would work well if economic, environmental, agricultural, political, social and religious ideologies were harmonious. We all want the same things right? Less differences, less restrictions, a freer way of being.

I don't care what anyone says, the most beneficial way of "being" on this planet requires the application of Buddhist concepts. The depth of understanding, wisdom, insight, tolerance and all-round spiritual brilliance of this religion is a clear characterisation of Asian being.

China would be very interested in a unified Asia, as this would relieve it of its present overcrowded condition, and all countries surrounding China would also be very interested in this prospect. The opposition to this would be people holding on too much to nationalist pride, set beliefs, set ways of living, cultural and racial concerns (inter-Asian racism).

It is definitely in the best interests of Asia to become one, in a gradual, peaceful and productive way. The main hitch in all this is China is a communist country and has a well-known record of human-rights violations. The Chinese are a brilliant race, but also very brutal. I see the immediate target for China as "toning down" of its strict, inflexible ways, so that it can peacefully manage integration with the rest of Asia. For success, it should not take the position of mighty ruler but of a benefactor working to bring about unity.

Asian Union spokesman

Bangkok