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Published on July 21, 2007

This article stated that several international airlines are considering moving their regional hub of operations from Bangkok to other cities in the region because of the tight capacity of Suvarnabhumi International Airport. It also states that several foreign airlines have reduced their weekly flights into and out of Thailand.

The article also states that Airports of Thailand (AOT) has, during the past 20 months, increased its fees for airport parking, airport landings and ground services by 35 per cent.

Hasn't it occurred to the AOT that the relocation of Bangkok's main airport could well be the reason that several foreign airlines are considering relocating their regional hub of operations elsewhere and reducing their flights into and out of Thailand? Perhaps it's a case of greed overruling common sense.

So much for the AOT's ambition of making Bangkok the regional hub for foreign airlines!

Barry Petersen

Bangkok

Bus drivers not always at fault in road accidents

Re: "Bus drivers face sack for crashes", News, July 18.

I spend upwards of two hours a day, six days a week, travelling on board buses in Bangkok, excluding the time I spend waiting. The majority of the time I ride the red or green buses. I have been doing so for about 10 years now. That means I have around 6,000 hours of "on board" travelling time to my credit.

I was concerned to read that the Bangkok Mass Transport Authority is going to get tough with drivers. Yes, there are some bad drivers around. The way they drive I wonder how they stay alive, let alone avoid having accidents. Everyone knows that buses have the right to go where they want, when they want because might is right. These bad drivers exploit that to the full.

But there are also a lot of good drivers around who drive safely. For those drivers, I would say the surprise is that they do not have more accidents, not because of the way they drive but because of the generally poor standard of driving of Bangkok motorists. I see cars pulling out of sois into moving traffic on main roads forcing the drivers on main roads to brake rapidly to avoid an accident. Others drive across three lanes of traffic when they cannot see what is in the second and third lanes because they are driving in front of a large vehicle on the inside lane.

It is unfair on those careful bus drivers to adopt the policy of sacking if they are involved in any accident at all. I would suggest that the people who made that policy become bus drivers in Bangkok on a trial basis. I wonder how long they would last under that policy - a week, two? To be fair to the drivers, the cause of the accident should be determined and only then should a decision be made on whether the bus driver was at fault and therefore liable to punishment.

The only time a bus on which I was a passenger was involved in an accident it was clearly not our driver's fault. We were in the centre lane of three in our direction and stationary because of a traffic jam. A bus behind us pulled out into the outside lane and caught the offside rear of our bus. Even if our driver had had the benefit of seeing into the future, the only way he would have been able to avoid that accident would have been to drive into the vehicle in front of him. He did nothing wrong and was in a no-win situation, yet he would have been sacked under the new policy. Be fair, the job is stressful enough as it is. Yes, before I came to Thailand I had several accidents as a private car driver, but I did not lose my "no claims bonus" because the insurance company assessments, witnesses and police reports clearly put the blame on the other drivers involved.

Gareth Clayton

Bangkok

Economists strong on theory, not on application

Re: "Country's finance leaders do not inspire confidence", Letters, July 20.

Meechai Burapa's observations of the economic experts' opinions on the baht remedies are uncannily correct - any student of Economics 101 could have come out with all the suggestions made by these economists to date. As they say: if you ask 10 economists for their opinions, they would come out with 10 different opinions and not reach a conclusion while the patient was dying.

The difficult part is not identifying the alternative remedies but rather picking the right remedy that will not kill the patient. Unfortunately, they don't teach decision-making in any schools of economics. Hence, the former economics adviser to former US president John F Kennedy, Walter Heller, said out of frustration at one time that "An economist is a person who when he finds something that works in practice, wonders if it will work in theory". Or, conversely, if he knows of a theory, he will wonder whether it would work in practice.

Songdej Praditsmanont

Bangkok

Govt should stay out of teachers' private lives

Re: "Adulterous teachers face the chop", News, July 20.

Why not a scarlet "A"? Where I come from that's what we did in the 17th century. Hester had an affair. The scarlet letter "A" for adultery was sewn on her clothing. So the Committee for Teachers and Education Personnel have nothing else to worry about other than the morality of teachers?

Only the finest, most talented and dedicated teachers are in the classroom? The students leave school well educated and ready to face the modern, flat world? If the private lives of teachers in any manner negatively have an impact on their ability to teach, then there is reason for concern. Otherwise their private lives are and should be private.

Concerned about morality? Clean up the prostitution, corruption, drugs that flow through the clubs. Looking into the bedrooms of teachers is a waste of time and money.

Tom Fin

Bangkok

Plastic bags doled out at environment's expense

Everyday in Thailand, I am given so many plastic bags, by every store, for things I don't even need a bag for. Multiply that by all of the people making purchases in Thailand and it paints a very sad picture - such a waste of the earth's resources.

All of the major convenience store chains I visit are doing very good business and they give plastic bags even for a bottle of water. Some do not even have a bin outside their shops. Please help raise awareness of the environment and this senseless waste of resources. Thailand is such an amazing place and I'm sure a government initiative would make a very big difference.

Veronica Barrett

Nelsson, New Zealand