The Thai style of censorship is an out-of-date method based on the idea that authorities decide what is okay for Thai citizens to see. It should be replaced by a rating system (common throughout developed and democratic countries) whereby people, parents in particular, can decide for themselves.

"Syndromes and a Century" opened last week in New York to critical acclaim, and will doubtless receive more awards in Cannes this year. Apichatpong Weerasethakul is widely regarded as one of the world's best film-makers - one of only a handful of talented Thai artists in any category.

The government could have used this film as an opportunity to promote the Thai film industry and repair some of the damage caused by their recent bizarre behaviour.

Mark

Bangkok

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Movie industry not a top priority for most people

Members of the general public in Thailand mostly just shrug and accept all that's thrown at them. They are too busy earning and just surviving. They have little free time to luxuriate in worrying about censorship. You can't eat such things. Maybe in a few generations' time such topics might receive more attention. Right now the masses are worried about the basics of their daily lives.

Public Voiceless

Bangkok

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Global-warming deniers twist science for selfish ends

Not all scientists are ethical, as we know from the tobacco story. Many can be persuaded by either money or media attention to oppose the main consensus and therefore spread doubt and confusion amongst the public.

This is particularly easy to do if it allows the public not to feel guilty about all the oil and coal they are burning or the forests they are destroying. Many people are in denial. They can see global warming happening, yet deny human responsibility, because to accept responsibility and do something about it would have to involve a major change in lifestyle.

The fact that certain natural phenomena are contributing to global warming allows them to play down the human contribution. For me the evidence that human activity is a major contributor to global warming is so overwhelming that to debate it is as silly as arguing with a neo-Nazi who claims the Holocaust never happened. Thirty years ago there was less evidence [of the human contribution to global warning], and I would have argued the case against it; today the evidence is so strong that to have to argue the case means you are dealing with a person so stubborn or so ignorant that it becomes a waste of time.

Ian

Bangkok

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Weather patterns have always been cyclical

In one of my favourite parts of London, the house where the South American revolutionary Bernardo O'Higgins lived for a while is on a street called the Vineyard. It's on a hill. Why is this street called the Vineyard? Because a few hundred years ago there were vineyards on it. Temperatures supported the growing of grapes. A few hundred years later the Thames used to freeze over regularly. It was very cold in the winter. It's all cyclical - hot, cold, hot then cold again. At various intervals in Earth's recent history, humans have messed up the environment with disastrous results.

Global warming however, is not man-made, it is sun-made, cyclical. The elite are trying to find ways of reducing the need for oil. This is one of them. It is also a good "industry" for producing jobs for their chums.

Yuri Velasquez

Bangkok

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Saga around next election inspires verse from reader

Latest word from on high

Is that Thailand will get an election

We haven't heard nor seen candidates

So we're wondering what's the selection?

The people were told in September

Of elections held in twelve months

Now we're told it will be in December

A year now becomes fifteen months

Are there any new policy issues

Or is everything peaches and cream?

Will southern unrest keep churning

Or can a light in the tunnel be seen?

Seven more months of campaigning

Yet nary a candidate seen

Who will debate serious issues

Or will policy stay as its been?

Now we're sailing with nary a rudder

And the paddles chopped up for kindling

We don't need too meek, and don't need too strong

Just maybe some leaders not swindling

Ken Albertsen

Chiang Rai

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Immigration officials offer an unfriendly welcome to visitors

Thailand is a beautiful country with delicious food and a wonderful culture. Thais are also so friendly. To any foreigner though the people that ruin the image of the country are immigration. I leave my hotel, the receptionist and porters give me smiles, a student passing on the street gives me a smile, the taxi driver to the airport gives a smile, the toilet-cleaner gives me a smile, but when I get to immigration I get nothing but a look of contempt. Immigration officials are the first people that any foreigner meets when he arrives in a new country and Thai immigration really sends the wrong message across. Another foreigner told me lately that Thai immigration have to do a training course on being polite to foreigners. If this is true then I dare not imagine what they would be like otherwise.

Their new policy on giving out 30-day visas has changed matters so that you need to show a ticket out of the country. The problem is they change regulations without telling anyone in advance. Last week, I went to Cambodia by land to get a new 30-day visa and when I came back into Thailand I was refused entry because I didn't have my onward ticket with me. I tried to explain that it was in Bangkok, but they were so rude and refused to allow an old man like myself back in because of a stupid policy. In his eyes I could have been left to rot in Cambodia with not a single dollar on me. In the end I had to phone my wife to ask her to fax a copy of the ticket through. I was very lucky.

Thailand's immigration officials are the most impolite, rude and arrogant that I have ever dealt with in Southeast Asia.

Tiger Trevor

Bangkok

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Refugees may miss home after staying in Thai facilities

The North Koreans, trying to flee from what we are led to believe are terrible conditions, to get somewhere where they can pursue a happier life, must have had a terrible shock when they were thrown into the disgusting conditions of Thailand's Immigration Detention Centre. Unless one has experienced that place, one cannot understand just what these unfortunate people are going through. There are the usual whitewashing claims by the officials; that conditions are "up to standard". Unfortunately Thailand's standards are way below what is acceptable.

If South Korea has agreed to accept these refugees, why has it taken so long for the Thai authorities to arrange for their release and transport there? It would be interesting to know how much cash and other items they have been relieved of to pay the extortionate prices they are charged for food and basic necessities. They certainly can't get enough nourishment from the scraps that are so graciously provided by the Thai government.

The overcrowding and unbearable heat, with no exercise or fresh air, must make them think of Thailand as hell. If the Thai authorities can't cope with the numbers, then why not simply let them go to South Korea and to hell with all the paperwork and bureaucracy? That can all be filled in to fit their requirements later.

It is obvious that the detainees, along with thousands of others who have passed through Thailand's disgrace to humanity, will spread the word. Regardless of what the Thai people or Thai authorities think, the reputation of this country is already one of the worst in the world, although it is always glossed over by the tourist-industry promoters. The truth is not something that people here like to face. To be fair, in many instances they don't know. It is kept from them. The rest of the world may, however, know already.

David Amaan

Bangkok

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Interests of US spokesmen cast doubt upon statements

Re: "Downgrade of trade standing not tied to drugs: Boyce", News, May 1.

The US has downgraded Thailand's trade status for several reasons. The press quoted the American ambassador to Thailand, Ralph Leo Boyce Jr, who said that the US downgraded Thailand's trade status because, in so many words, it is a more of a copyright pirate now than it was before. That might be true, but Boyce, who is on the payroll of numerous American lobbying firms for American alcohol and tobacco companies, is hardly the one to discuss this matter. Neither is the former American ambassador to Thailand, Darryl Norman Johnson, who is on the payroll of lobbying firms for American pharmaceutical companies and in Bangkok recently to lobby for the firms. The State Department is having problems coming up with representatives. It should look farther than Virginia for one.

Taphrapon Ramasri

Bangkok