As a former shareholder of Fin-One and only yesterday tore up a chunk of Fin-One share certificates, I do not know whether I should be pleased with Pin Chakkapak's article. He one-sidedly blamed the Bank of Thailand for the 1997 financial meltdown and held himself as blameless even though his "institution" was part of the engine for that meltdown. In his view, the incompetency of the then BOT and the uncontrollable factor of economic shock should excuse him. I find the following holes in his arguments:

First, without a doubt, the blame should be placed on the then BOT but certainly not without those culprits who lent dubiously the funds from public depositors.

Second, he implied the Thai authorities blamed all managers of failed institutions. Correction! Only a few managers of the 56 failed finance companies were on line for prosecution since there were no dubious transactions in those others. Mismanagement is still not a crime in Thailand.

Third, he opined that people like him having made one mistake should be a sought-after commodity since he would not get it wrong twice. I beg to differ and believe that most people would not give a second chance to a person who had failed as a captain of a ship. The captain of the Titanic did not have a second chance because people rightly believe there could be another situation dissimilar to the iceberg that the captain could make a mistake again.

Fourth, he revealed that he attempted to take over Thai Danu bank in order to change his finance company to a bank since the BOT had always rescued a wobbly bank. The BOT has already been blamed on that score for a lack of the principle of moral hazards. His statement is indicative of his survival tactics and fortunately the then BOT was on alert and made it hard and unsuccessful for him to take over the bank.

Finally, in hindsight, he believed he should have resigned in 1994 when the market rejected Fin-One's huge capital increase, "knowing that without additional capital, finance companies could not survive the impending crisis". If he had resigned, my fortune would not have been depleted. He must be truly a financial whiz kid to know in 1994 there would be a coming crisis in 1997. If he had that knowledge, then he should doubly be blamed. As a matter of interest, can he tell us now how many Fin-One shares are still held by him, his family and his cronies? I wish he could have stayed low and left me in peace to nurse my wounds for my temporary lapse of good sense.

Songdej Praditsmanont

Bangkok

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Former executive passes the buck

Re: "Pin blames incompetent central bank," News, June 25.

Pin Chakkapak of pre-1997 Finance One can get in the line of people wanting to blame the Bank of Thailand. To prevent a run on banks during financial turbulence we need deposit insurance. This measure has not been fully explored. If Pin forms an alliance with Thaksin, also in exile in London, they will have a solid united front to blame all others.

Netirat Intira

Bangkok

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Thai kids are all right and polite, too

Re: "In fact, the kids in Thailand are not all right, after all", Letters, June 25.

The kids are fine in Thailand. But Richard Sproat is suffering from something pretty complex. Inferiority complex in reverse, most likely.

I don't know where he sprang from, though, and why he felt he could make those blanket accusations of students in his letter, so vicious to the point of saying they are unhygienic. What does it have to do with our history, the views we hold and how we choose to think and behave, anyway? For his information, ignorant and hopeless we may all be, but we all retch when we have to stand next to a sweaty know-it-all in the BTS. We are too polite to show it.

Sunida

Bangkok

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Only education can solve Thailand's problems

Can we say no to both Thaksin and the coup at the same time? Yes. Thailand does not have a narrow choice of two evils. Thailand has given itself this devil's choice because the people shrug shoulders and say coups are what we do when government goes bad. Corruption is an ingrained part of our system, Thais say. Freedom loving people cannot tolerate coups under any circumstances. Coups are never an acceptable method to a resolution of a political problem.

Previous comments by Stephen Cleary and Richard Sproat correctly pinpoint the need for education and critical thinking. If an educated Thai does not know or cannot access recent history, he will be incapable of making an informed decision today. Nothing happening in Thailand today is unique. Divisions between the haves and have-nots is as old as recorded history. Keeping people subservient is easy when the populace is poorly educated and incapable of cognitive thinking. The government must reinvigorate the education system. Then, citizens will be able to appreciate the importance of a constitution that allows freedom. Only then will coups become history and corruption reduced.

Tom Fin

Bangkok

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Media employees should count their blessings

TITV employees are complaining over the strict government rules under which they have to operate. Amazing! After six years operating under Thaksin's rules, one would assume they were used to this.They should be happy to still have a job after such biased reporting under Thaksin's regime.

Egon Wout

Bangkok

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Get with the hemp programme

In a recent letter, I was too quick to judge when I said "Thailand is out to lunch" on the topic of allowing hemp to be farmed in here.

I now see a report that HM the Queen herself is encouraging research into hemp farming possibilities. As mentioned in The Nation's article of June 10: "The Royal Project Foundation is looking into developing strains ... containing levels of THC lower than 0.3 per cent." While it's commendable for Thai plant breeders to be looking for new strains, there are currently strains available that are below that level.

Incidentally, comparing hemp to ganja is akin to comparing tomatoes to belladonna (deadly nightshade). Both are very closely related, although belladonna leaves are hallucinogenic when smoked. The same people who want to continue to criminalise hemp should perhaps criminalise tomatoes and belladonna's other immediate relative, potatoes.

Last year, Canadians grew 120,000 rai of industrial-grade hemp and averaged 3,000 baht per rai net profit. Farmers in China grew 5 million rai last year. Much of that hemp was processed into construction materials, paper, reinforcement fibres in plastics for auto products and floor coverings. In Sweden, companies including IKEA, Volvo and Saab use hemp fibres for use in vehicle interiors and furniture. In the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, hemp composites are in auto parts for BMW, Chrysler and Mercedes. What sort of research and/or applications are being done in Thailand regarding hemp products?

Another practical use for hemp: Thai officials are seriously considering building a nuclear reactor. A cheaper and safer way to heat water (that's basically what a power station does) would be to burn hemp stalks. They're renewable and grow like hardy weeds on poor soil. On second thought, that's too tacky for Thai planners to consider. More prestige in joining the world's nuclear club with a shiny new reactor. Building contractors would certainly prefer that option - just hope it's not the same contractors who built the airport.

Ken Albertsen

Chiang Rai

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Football deal sounds unfit and improper

Yesterday, The Nation ran a story on its website "Thaksin Man City takeover could lead to review" in which Mr Keith Harris of Seymour Pierce Investment Bank was cited as the broker of the deal. Mr Harris was quoted as saying that the funds Thaksin is proposing to use to purchase the club were "legitimately and transparently transferred to the UK. [Thaksin] was the prime minister then and was exceptionally popular. He was also a successful businessman."

If the current Thai government, the Bank of Thailand and the Assets Examination Committee are not sure yet that these funds were transferred "legitimately and transparently", then how does Mr Harris know? Who is Mr Harris anyway? Well, in a quick web search he comes up as a prominent rogue personality in "Crooked Knight: How It All Went Wrong", a book by David Alexander described as an "expose of corporate fraud, greed and deceit by the City of London's 'finest'.

Birds of a feather ... All on the up and up, eh Mr Harris? Cheerio.

Brits Beware

Bangkok