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Published on August 1, 2007

The US suspended FTA talks with Thailand when the Thai Army ousted the democratically elected government of the US president's close pal, Thaksin Shinawatra, in a coup d'etat 11 months ago and replaced him with a member of the Privy Council.

US government spokesmen have acknowledged, however, that the prospects of a Thai-US FTA looked dim even before the coup.

What they have not mentioned is the reason why US-Thai FTA talks were doomed.

Current American Ambassador Ralph Leo Boyce Jr, as chairman of the FTA talks, insisted that the talks be held in secrecy because, he explained, the Thai public would make objections if aware of the details under discussion.

Meanwhile, Boyce lobbied the Thai government on behalf of American alcohol and tobacco interests to reduce the advertising ban on alcohol and tobacco products.

And as Boyce thumbed his nose at the Thai public, his predecessor at the embassy, Darryl Norman Johnson, returned to Thailand to lobby the Thai government on behalf of American pharmaceutical interests to stop one million poor and desperate Thais with Aids from producing and distributing American anti-Aids drugs on their own at a low cost.

That was more than the Thais could take.

Prathip Gidrangsri

Bangkok

Healthy public debate should inform tax policy

 

About two weeks ago, a few professors proposed the idea of taxing capital gains from shares traded on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). I understand that capital gains from the sale of shares not listed on the SET are considered taxable income.

After this idea was floated, there were objections from many people. The Revenue Department said it never had any such idea and instead that it plans to raise more revenue by collecting tax from small vendors. We have not heard whether these vendors agree with the idea.

The US has taxed individuals' capital gains since it began taxing income. Since 1921, the gains have been subject to preferentially low rates. Sometimes only a portion of the gains was taxed. Starting from 1988, all realised capital gains became taxable as ordinary income. In 1987, the maximum tax rate on capital gains was set at 28 per cent.

Recent reports in the New York Times indicate that gains from shares sold in initial public offerings are taxed at 15 per cent.

According to the book "Federal Tax Policy", by Joseph A Pechman, published in 1987 by the Brookings Institution in Washington DC, one of the gaols of taxation is "to distribute the cost of government fairly by income classes (vertical equity) and among people in approximately the same economic circumstances (horizontal equity)".

We should do as they do in the US and encourage open debate on this issue to be fair to others who pay tax on their incomes with no chance to complain. The decisions on this issue should be based on public debate.

Prichar

Bangkok

EU not a shining example of democracy in action

Re: "European poll observers must be welcomed", Opinion, July 30.

I would tend to agree with the sentiments expressed in "Regional Perspective" that it is probably in the best interests of Thailand to welcome observers from the European Union for the referendum and elections here. However, I am not quite sure what the European Union can teach us about democracy; the EU not exactly being a paragon of democracy itself.

It is of course disgraceful that the EU and some European countries, which should have known better, have treated us with such disdain, when they and their representatives here ought to know full well the situation.

Anyway let's hope that all's well that ends well.

Observer

Bangkok

Tenacity of one policeman helped seal Wisut case

Your editorial of July 29, "A rare triumph for Thai justice", was so concise and yet so comprehensive in covering this Greek tragedy of Wisut Boonkasemsanti in which there was no winner. It almost moved me to tears and prompted me to make it known who my hero in this case is.

As revealed in your exclusive interview with Lt-General Jongrak Juthanont on July 27, though it is rare, the courts did in the past convict a defendant based on circumstantial evidence without the victim's body or proof of the time and place at which the murder took place.

I do not believe this case could have reached this conclusion without the tenacity of the police in painstakingly probing, searching, digging and interviewing thousands of sources to come out with plenty of circumstantial evidence to finally convince all three courts to render a guilty verdict. I like to give credit where it belongs.

The policeman, who tenaciously sunk into the case without letting go and even encouraged the family to take the case to the court when the public prosecutors dropped it, was Police Colonel Chayut Marnyak who was then in charge of Pathumwan area.

After the Supreme Court's guilty verdict, the plaintiff's lawyer, Veerasakdi Chotivanich, who behaved nobly right throughout the case and is a credit to the legal profession, gave full credit to Colonel Chayut for his tenacity in believing in Wisut's guilt and helped to bring about this poetic justice. A news clip of the lawyer's interview was televised on one channel and yet not ever reported by any newspapers the next morning. Colonel Chayut should be the pride of the police force and our country. We normally see a policeman of this sort in a film and rarely in real life.

Songdej Praditsmanont

Bangkok

Food alarmist turns reader off his lunch

Re: "'Ratatouille' preferable to reality of fast-food world", Letters, July 31.

It seems that ever since the great milk debacle, Erik Bahrt has taken to cover. But not before he managed to spawn a clone in the form of one Brian Elkey.

Brian's dissertation on fast food managed to hit new lows reminding us that we might be eating "faecal material, urine, vomit and insects".

It is not that I am suggesting that Brian is full of bull faecal material. For all I know he is right. But most of us are just happy to have something to eat every day, so we would rather not dwell on how it is processed. And most importantly, we don't want Brian to take charge of the supervision of its picking, slaughtering, processing or preparation. Although I am certain I could have left "slaughtering" out of there because it is fairly evident that Brian wants us all to be vegetarians, vegans or non-sectarians.

I truly am at a loss as to any suggestions of how we might rid ourselves of these food fanatics except to suggest that they cease and desist and concentrate on war, famine, crime, natural catastrophes and Thai politics. Those are subjects worthy of their consideration and that they might even be able to do something about if they really try.

As for the rest of us, we should seriously look into the cloning process and consider how we can regulate who or what gets cloned. Oh, and by the way Brian. You forgot puss, pond scum, decayed matter and putrefied organisms in your list of our daily dietary-supplements.

John Arnone

Yasothon

Expensive tuk-tuk rides the main option in Phuket

As a frequent international visitor to Phuket, staying in Patong, I am appalled at the transport services with regard to the rip-off prices offered by the tuk-tuk drivers. They offer no service and only push their own agenda.

Why is it that this international destination does not have metered, air-conditioned taxis available to tourists?

The red tuk-tuks line the foreshore road of Patong and harass passing tourists with inflated prices. One example is a two-kilometre journey to our hotel that costs Bt300.

Any international tourist destination throughout the world, even Bali, offers regulated, metered, air-conditioned taxis to tourists.

How has this monopoly of the tuk tuks been allowed to evolve in Patong and Phuket?

Do the hotels and resorts care about how their guests are treated with regard to transport?

Stuart

Darwin, Australia