Well said, indeed, as we seem to be discovering more and more ignorance every day. But as far as I am concerned, some types of ignorance may be worse than most and must be done away with.

I am referring to the General Education Development (GED) exam.

Thailand prides itself as the hub of international education in this part of the world. In all, we now have some 90 international schools with standards on par with those in the West and elsewhere. We also now have many prestigious state universities, along with private institutions of higher learning that offer international programmes, some leading to PhDs, in various fields. Students from many corners of the world are coming to Thailand for their education, not only to explore the world but also because of the quality education we provide.

Then out of the blue came the GED, which has been causing students, from abroad and here, to drop out of high school and turn to the GED as an alternative to an international high school diploma. Worse still, prestigious state universities as well as private institutions of higher learning are increasingly accepting those who pass the GED test, but who do so without a high school diploma.

As the president of an international school, I do not wish to criticise anybody, the Education Ministry included, which is the ultimate authority in judging whether the GED is good for Thailand or not. Universities that open international programmes need students to fill them, and that is fine with me.

But what is not fine with me is the danger of Thailand being downgraded insofar as our effort to provide quality international education is concerned. We will in the very near future not be able to claim to be the hub of international education if this practice is to be continued and accepted by the Education Ministry. It is my firm belief that this practice adversely impacts the standard of education here and seriously damages students' chances of successfully completing a college degree.

In the first place, the GED was instituted in the United States to open opportunity for adults who could not finish high school to be able to receive an equivalent of a high school diploma. It was not intended for juniors or seniors who are already in high school.

The GED is not a simple exam. It is a battery of five tests: reading, writing, science, social studies and maths. It takes over seven-and-a-half hours to complete. Lyn Schaefer, of GED Testing Services says in a recent issue of Time, "Six out of 10 enrolled high seniors who do trial runs of the exam wouldn't be able to pass the real thing." These are American native-English speakers.

Many researchers believe that more and more students are viewing the GED as an easy way out - just attractive enough to lure them out of high school, but not alluring enough that they actually end up taking it and go on to college.

"They drop out thinking, 'Okay, this will be easy'," says Duncan Chaplin, a senior researcher with Princeton, New Jersey-based Mathematics Policy Research in the same article. But many dropouts quickly abandon their plans to take the test. "They just don't get around to it," he says.

Time and CNN International in their research do not take the GED too kindly. They reported: "In the cases where students do get the GED certificate, a rash of studies over the last decade have found that life outcomes for GED holders are similar to those of dropouts themselves. 'The GED is not a substitute for a high school,' said Mary Reimer of the National Dropout Prevention Centre. 'And most employers would tell you that too. They would pass up a GED holder for a high school graduate any day'."

The Department of Defence has come to the same conclusion. Their studies show that half of all alternative credential holders, typically GED holders or correspondence-course graduates, quit or are expelled from the Armed Forces before the end of their first tour of duty.

In summary, as a parent myself, I would think that the statistics speak for themselves. Fortunately for me, though, all of my children graduated from prestigious universities both here and in the United States. They did not take the GED, not because it did not exist in their time, but because it just wasn't right even if it existed then. There is no shortcut in education. Those who take the GED are more likely to end up in more ignorance rather than seeing the light of day.

Dr Prachyadavi Tavedikul

President, American School of Bangkok

Bangkok

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Possible paranormal activity ignored in 'lemon' story

Re: "Fed-up owner holds funeral for 'lemon'," News, May 6.

The lady who held a mock funeral for her defective Toyota Camry in front of the Toyota showroom in Pathum Thani is making a mistake.

My personal spiritual advisor, the famous Chinese shaman and necromancer Dr Shen Jingbing, has conducted an extensive study of Thai ghosts (phii). He believes that the hissing sound the lady hears coming from her car is actually the moaning of a phii khruan (groaning ghost) living in the engine.

The mock funeral will have upset the ghost and make it cause more trouble. An exorcism would be excessively confrontational. Dr Shen recommends luring the ghost from its lair with succulent segments of mangosteen. His reasoning is that dead people don't get to eat many mangosteens.

Hope this helps.

Constance Beasley (Mrs)

Bangkok

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Amnesty and negotiations doomed to fail in the South

Without mentioning names, a top general stated that the Thai Army doesn't need "outside help" in controlling the problems in the South. I am wondering what planet he lives on. It is obvious to everybody that the Thai police and military don't have any control whatsoever with what is going on daily in the South. Trying to deal with those militants is like trying to have an intellectual discussion with your cat; and offering amnesty is so bizarre that it is maddening, as they are simply criminals who need to be punished.

For argument's sake, let's just say that they can have the entire South, to do with it as they wish, and Thailand adopts a hands-off approach toward them. I would like to know how and what the people in the South would do to support themselves? Doesn't anyone want to know the answer to this question?

Bangkok is the only real showpiece in Thailand, and not indicative of anywhere else in this country. Foreign companies set up shop here for one reason only - cheap labour!

There is no trickle-down of wealth. People still work 10 to 12 hour days, seven days a week, for a mere pittance, and no visible health or safety standards for most labourers.

The baht is so unrealistically high, that I wonder what kinds of minds are running the financial end of things. With the mess that this country is in right now, trying to trying to stay in line with other Asian country's monetary levels is eventually going to end up stinging Thailand in a big way.

This may be called "The Land of Smiles", but I am afraid that that is only a facade, unfortunately. This is more like the Land of Oz.

Hyde Parke

Chon Buri

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Spokesman's comments on Iran minister's exit juvenile

Re: "What put Mottaki off his food?", World, May 5. "Iranian officials did not immediately comment on the incident", reported the reliable Agence France-Presse in this story.

Well done Iran! Saying nothing after the utterly juvenile and inflammatory remark attributed to American state department spokesman Sean McCormack after Iran's foreign minister walked out of a dinner last Thursday after being seated opposite Condoleezza Rice. The Iranian claimed that another woman present had "inappropriate dress". Well, he would say that, wouldn't he?

In the place of the Iranian minister, we crass Westerners would have told the truth, and maybe quietly, later, poured a bottle of claret over the idiot who organised the seating plan to emphasise the point.

Crass? Did you read the reported response of McCormack? "I am not sure which woman he was afraid of: the woman in the red dress or the secretary of state."

A few years ago, a response like that from a British government "spokesman" would have ensured that he spent the rest of his career counting paperclips in Croydon. Today, sadly, our esteemed British Prime Minister in his twilight days would probably promote the man and send the bottle of claret to Rice with a grovelling apology.

Until very, very recently, as a Brit born one year after World War Two ended and thus free to learn English, I used to thank God for America. Now I can only ask: "Who polices the world's self-appointed policeman?"

David Hardcastle

Chiang Mai

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Intellectual property theft nothing new in the US

One cannot but help have a wry smile when reading about the Americans getting all upset about Thailand copying some of their products without express permission.

When America was an upcoming country, in a similar way to which Thailand is now, literary theft was endemic and Charles Dickens, for example, had an enormous grievance because his books were pirated by publishers there. The wheel turns full circle!

Observer

Bangkok

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Officials seem content to do little about copyright violation

The "Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 24 April 2007" reported that a deputy prime minister and the minister of social development and human security conducted an inspection of Pantip Plaza and seized one illegal VCD.

I have forwarded the article and my comments about rampant and growing intellectual property rights, in Thailand, to the US Congress and US Senate and an individual letter to the office of the (USTR) United States Trade Representatives who elicit comments on decisions involving the (GSP) Generalised System of Preferences. I hope to one day see where those in power in Thailand take responsibility for their ineptitude.

Anthony

Chiang Mai