It's about time the police lived up to the words of their own tune

I hope the new police reform will bring us the kind of police as portrayed in that song.

Piset Wattanavitukul

BANGKOK

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Obsolete laws don't help with law enforcement

Police corruption is a worldwide problem. The job requires time spent with unsavoury folk. With the palm ready to be greased, the police have learned to live with, if not love, the underworld they patrol. Police departments the world over go through reforms. Sometimes they succeed. But reform here cannot and will not succeed when the books are crammed with outdated or unenforceable laws.

One set of laws, relating to prostitution, make it clear why police reform is doomed. Thailand has a thriving sex industry. Enforcing laws against prostitution would maybe be a good thing, while causing a major economic slowdown for the tourist industry, and putting thousands of people out of work. Solution: legalise prostitution. That is not going to happen. Consequence: continued police corruption.

Tom Fin

BANGKOK

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Car killer's parents face a moral choice

Kanpitak Pachimsawas, the Benz killer, has unwittingly given his parents a choice. They may focus on the short-run by using their influence to get him off. Or, they may learn from then-British PM Tony Blair, who, when his 16-year-old son was arrested for drunkenness in 2000, emphasised to Parliament and the public that his son should not be treated differently from other offenders. Rather than seek special handling, Blair and his wife accompanied him to the police station to find out what legal action would be taken. This support helped the youth learn to be accountable for his actions, which I suggest is far more valuable a life lesson than learning how to get away with murder

To date, Kanpitak's parents have shown their love by threatening those who damaged the weapon used (their son's car), saying that compensation for those he killed and injured "should not be too much", and bailing him out of jail - thus enabling a killer, who they themselves say is mentally unstable - to be on the loose.

The police seem to have forgotten that their mission is to serve and protect. Granting bail to someone who deliberately killed and who is under psychiatric care does not protect anybody. It smacks of special treatment or incompetence. He is now free to possibly kill again. Police reforms should seek to eradicate cases of special treatment as well as incompetence.

Burin Kantabutra

BANGKOK

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Yet again, it's wealth and influence that counts

Kanpitak Pachimsawas' family should bear responsibility if they were aware, as they say they were, that he suffered from serious psychological problems that impaired his judgement - but, nevertheless, placed a car in his hands.

A car used as a device to maim or kill, is a "deadly weapon" under the law. In many countries, people have the right to defend themselves against deadly force by countering with deadly force. Rather than being vindictive and smug, Kanpitak and his family should be appreciative that his victims refrained from exercising their right to defend themselves with force. It's distressing that persons of wealth and influence believe that favoured treatment is a right. It's downright sad when the legal system defends, and society allows, proliferation of that belief.

Tanai Khwam

BANGKOK

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Deal with case properly for the country's sake

I read today that the police charged the errant driver [Kanpitak Pachimsawas] with premeditated murder. It was mentioned quite casually what the charge was, but it seems that no one has figured out what is going on. Because it is a high profile case, the police and courts must go through with the prosecution - so what better way out of the situation down the road than to find him innocent of "premeditated murder".

The proper charge is manslaughter. He is obviously guilty of that and it would be possible to bring in a guilty verdict, but by charging him with premeditated murder, the police have silenced all critics by what seems to be a harsh treatment of the case. More pathetic, transparent Thai justice. Just what the country needs.

John Arnone

YASOTHON

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'Mental illness' is a lame excuse for criminals

Kanpitak Patchimsawas' father states that his son's symptoms had become severe in the past three months and he maintains his son was not faking a seizure. This begs the question, why was he allowed to drive a car if his condition was so bad? Surely, any responsible parent wouldn't want their child injured while not in complete control of their faculties! What if they had an accident or worse still … deliberately killed innocent people? Too often, we hear of people trying to use the mental illness excuse for what amounts to uncaring superiority complexes. Perhaps his parents should also be put on trial for neglect and trying to evade the law.

Jeremy Hanlan

BANGKOK

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Keep this maniac away from the public at all cost

Besides the fact that Kanpitak Pachimsawas has just deliberately killed an innocent bystander with a car, surely there must be several compelling reasons why this person should not be released on bail. He is a potential danger to himself. His state of mind is obviously fragile, and he needs to be committed for psychiatric help. Are we to be surprised if he kills himself? He is a proven danger to others. Are we to be surprised if he attacks those near and dear to him or more innocent bystanders? He obviously has the ability and finance to abscond to a second country, thus avoiding trial. He may well be in danger himself from retaliatory attacks from those who have suffered at his hands. His release is definitely a danger to public order.

I feel terrible anguish for the poor souls who have suffered at the hands of this man, only to be insulted by his father. More worryingly, we now have an enormously stressed and confused nutcase somewhere in Bangkok.

N Wood

BANGKOK

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The myth behind the US's defence policy

Early this year, under the guise of preventing a Middle Eastern nation from eventually becoming a nuclear power; the US president asked the Pentagon to develop a "surgical nuclear strike" plan using the B61 "low yield" bunker-busting nuclear bomb for possible deployment on Iran's nuclear faculties. In keeping with the long-standing US "humanitarian" policy of minimising civilian casualties in using nuclear weaponry, this bomb is billed as "safe for the surrounding civilian population". 

Oddly enough though, thanks to the versatility of nuclear technology, the B61 is in fact a variation of the depleted uranium-tipped munitions (DU) that have been used for killing civilians and combatants for almost two decades - from Kosovo through the Gulf War, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq. However, DUs do not issue mushroom clouds or make a big boom - but perhaps the bunker-busting-safe-for-civilians one might. No matter, there are those of the so called civilised community of America who find the use of DUs, nuclear strikes - from the "surgical" to even the complete destruction of another nation - quite reasonable.

America made the first nuclear weapons and tested them on the people of Japan in 1945. The false justifications for the use of this WMD gave rise to the origin of a national myth that still persists in the hearts of many today. A myth that justified, under the umbrella of shortening a war and of saving lives, its use then as well as today.

However, the present nuclear sabre-rattling toward Iran has little to do with the myth of shortening a war or saving lives - the public is capable of connecting the dots as to the true intent of the war-president and his policy-makers on this issue.

World outrage has given rise to pollution and global warming action and awareness, but where is the outrage towards the only nuclear superpower that arrogantly uses nuclear weapons? When will that nation recognise the truth - that the use of such weapons runs contrary to every precept of humanity and the customs of war, rather than a myth that was created to cover the horrors of mass destruction unleashed sixty years ago? Until then, myth, the great enemy of truth, lives on.

Mr Bill

BANGKOk