In light of recent events, I would like to comment that the world needs to understand the situation of the Hmong in Laos. I don't know if it is a fact that General Vang Pao was acting out of desperation towards the situation of our Hmong people who are still in Laos undergoing heavy persecution and being hunted like animals (www.rebeccasommer.org), but what I do know is this is happening. It is real, and the world needs to know about this.

If we are going to plaster negative news about General Vang Pao and the recent arrests of those who were allegedly trying to overthrow the Lao government, why not expose to the world what is happening to our Hmong in Laos? Please check out Sommer's Website. You will find some incredibly harrowing tales of the horrors these people have to endure. Some way, somehow, we need to help them ... or we may have another tale of genocide to tell about and to write into our history books.

Anna Yang

Bangkok

US now in a position to negotiate with Vientiane

The United States is now in the good graces of Laos following the prosecution of General Vang Pao.

Now is the time to negotiate a settlement for the Hmong it abandoned after the war.

Marc Bogerd

Bangkok

Interior Ministry keeps power from rural masses

It is a pity that rural folks throughout the country shall not enjoy another potential opportunity to express their views on political and community affairs that affect their lives. This is not because they are contented with the way they have been brought up, not to mention being instilled and bombarded with state propaganda to the effect of: "Thou shall observe state guidelines and behave accordingly so as to create a peaceful society with law and order. Deviant behaviour is not tolerated and shall be dealt with severely."

Such a tune to construct a Thai nation-state has been used since the days of General Plaek Pibulsongkram and still rings true today thanks to state propaganda machines that include the military and the men in uniform at the Interior Ministry. No wonder Deputy Prime Minister Paiboon Wattanasiritham's proposed bill to found a council for local community organisations is likely to get aborted by no one but his fellow Cabinet members, predominantly the interior minister and his deputy, both of whom I diagnose to be suffering from an "inferiority complex".

Interior Minister Aree Wongsearaya and Deputy Interior Minister Banyat Jansena, both ex-career bureaucrats who got their time in public service extended after the September 19 coup, were opposed to the draft bill. They were quoted as saying that it "would cause an overlapping of power and responsibilities between the community organisations council and the existing local administrative organisations under the Interior Ministry". The lifelong service at the powerhouse that once controlled the Attorney-General's Office, the Corrections Department, and even the police, which was dubbed the fourth branch of the armed forces, understandably has debilitated their minds and sapped their capacity to think to the point that they are now afraid to lose the power that does not belong to them.

Chamnong Watanagase

Director

The Oen Forum for Democracy Foundation

Bangkok

Libby saga unlikely to end with justice being served

The letter from Tom Finn ("Punish guilty individuals only, as in US Libby case", June 7) intentionally or not is somewhat ironically paradoxical.

He writes: "How does a country achieve democracy? I Lewis Libby Jr, who was once vice-president Dick Cheney's chief of staff, was given a 30-month prison sentence on Tuesday for lying to a grand jury. The Republican Party was not dissolved. The corrupt individuals are and will be punished ... In the West they are thrown into jail. In Thailand they go free!"

Really? Does Finn not know that Libby, if he does eventually get into prison, will in any case be given a presidential pardon for the serious crime he has been found guilty of? A crime which Bush would normally count as "a threat to national security" - if it were not committed by his close friend. If the writer wants find a better example of justice in a democracy he'd be better off pulling an example from "The A to Z of Banana Republics".

AW

Bangkok

Pojaman acting as if

she were above the law

Re: "Pojaman wants five-week delay", News, June 5.

What pressing matters does Pojaman Shinawatra have overseas that keeps her from showing up in court to address the serious criminal charges levelled against her.

It seems that she is snubbing her nose at the courts. We are not talking about parking fines here; these are crimes of mass tax evasion and of purchasing some public land for Bt700 million - when its real value was said to be Bt1.5 billion. This was allegedly a huge unaffordable loss to the Thai taxpayers and a huge windfall for this one already massively wealthy Thai woman.

In the West we'd just go ahead and issue and arrest a warrant for the lady so that she could be detained until court proceedings could move ahead.

Boris Loosebrain

Bangkok

Smoking rules lead to further govt interference

Re: "There's no smoke without fire", Letters, June 4.

It would seem that when one considers that I have been smoking for 45 years and am still alive, and yet another believes that he will die from my second hand smoke, there is a credibility gap. Particularly when one considers the daily pollution being pumped into the very air we breathe by automobiles.

John talks of smokers being in denial, but he is either incapable of seeing, or in denial of the fact that governments have used smoking cigarettes as a means of going into people's businesses and private offices and regulating them. And now they are talking about going into people's homes for the same purpose. Will the men with rifle butts and jackboots have to obtain a search warrant, or will they just be able to break down my door with those rifle butts and snuff out my cigarette? Consider the doors that have been opened by anti-smoking fanatics John and then ask yourself: what will it be next?

John Arnone

Yasothon

Airline authorities going too far with liquids ban

The Nation has reported about travellers' lack of understanding of the new liquid restrictions. I understand this very well. I travel at least once a month, often more. And everywhere I go, it is possible to bring water you buy in the airport onboard the plane.

Why is this not possible in Thailand? Why have Thai authorities chosen this over-interpretations of the rules, making it extra inconvenient for travellers? Why not do as everywhere else?

Martin Christensen

Copenhagen

Sun shines a little too brightly on airport's flaws

On a recent afternoon flight from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur, I noticed that each immigration desk had a new piece of furniture … an umbrella which was protecting the immigration officials from direct sunlight that was coming through the glass roof. Obviously the architect hadn't accounted for the sun's changing position in the sky during the afternoon. I had a chat with the official who stamped my passport and his comment about the airport was "suay, dtaa mai dee" (pretty, but no good).

The heat problems caused by the glass roof continued. After I had completed the marathon walk to departure zones C and D, the temperature was uncomfortably warm and no less than seven staff were taking temperature readings, checking those ridiculous floor-standing air-con units and having a good laugh over the failings of their airport. On my return flight to Bangkok, we had to take a bus from the plane to the terminal, presumably because there are not enough air bridges to cope with the traffic. In the baggage reclaim area, the floor is stained, cracked and dirty and looks like it has been used for nine years instead of nine months. Finally, the arrivals hall is too small and passengers end up being herded through a narrow bottleneck whilst being bombarded by taxi touts.

Andy Henderson

Nonthaburi