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Published on August 12, 2007

Spreading hope through the activities of support

To the less fortunate in Thailand, you epitomise hope:

Your gentle smiles in the Orient sun

Shine eternally in the hearts you've won;

Among the peoples you have visited and blessed

Generous gifts through your bounty they have cherished,

The heart of this Kingdom, swollen with pride

Cannot conceal its love, nor its admiration hide

For Thailand's pride, jewel in this Orient land of rarest shine,

Generosity, dispelling pain and putting sorrows out of clime.

Birthday greetings couched in voices lilting across the land

Immortalise the life of our Queen, true grace and charm of Thailand

The Academic Community of Assumption University

Bangkok

Export sector not the only one in need of an upgrade

Re: "Ammar laments lower risk-taking", News, August 11.

Regarding Dr Ammar Siamwalla's comments, I agree that an environment that responsibly encourages calculated risk-taking is essential to achieve optimal growth. I also agree that due to previous economic crises, too many Thai people and institutions have become excessively risk-averse. However, I doubt that this the cause of the relatively higher allocation of investment to property and services as opposed to industry and manufacturing.

Thai industry and manufacturing have become less competitive. Prospective investors commonly cite a lack of suitable land and personnel as insurmountable obstacles to further investment here. On the other hand, Thai industrial powerhouses seem to have had no problems finding suitable expansion opportunities in places such as Vietnam, Indonesia and China.

Relative strength in service-sector investment should be no surprise. As an economy grows, the service sector inevitably becomes larger as a proportion of the whole. Also the great potential of the Thai tourism market is obvious to both local and international investors.

The higher allocation to property investment is due to investors' belief that this sector is relatively promising. Home-ownership levels are low, and the retirement and second-home market has great potential.

Property investment is also beneficial due to a high multiplier effect.

Focus on export manufacture, to the exclusion of other sectors, is unlikely to provide long-term benefits. A more balanced economy should be the aim.

T Mercer

Bangkok

Targeted system of exchange rates best

Re: "Ammar calls for specific forex policy", News, August 10.

I simply love Ammar Siamwalla's jibes at the Bank of Thailand's past performance on currency management and his plays on words.

His recommendation of changing our country's policy from the managed-float system of exchange rates to a targeted system would, if implemented, make certain within a short time frame that the baht and export industry would become more stable. His avoidance in using the term "fixed-exchange system" is understandable. However, that should be nothing to be ashamed of, since China, Hong Kong and Malaysia have been under this so-called target system for years.

With our limited experience and relatively small resources, our chances of "managing" and maintaining baht stability successfully and permanently against the world's investors and hedge funds are slim. Once we admit this weakness, we can see our efforts concerted purposefully and with confidence in our strengths and knowledge of our weaknesses.

Songdej Praditsmanont

Bangkok

UK's rigorous takeover rules lax in Thaksin's case

I cannot help but make a comparison betwee Thaksin's purchase of Manchester City Football Club and the purchase of a medium-sized UK company by a large Australian company with extensive international holdings I was involved in a few years ago. The amount of due diligence and scrutiny we were put under by the British government before the sale was allowed to go through was exhaustive to say the least and, considering Australia is part of the Commonwealth, a bit unnecessary. We were assured that these stringent measures apply to any foreign company or individual wishing to purchase a company in the UK.

Yet Thaksin, who is a deposed prime minister ousted by what was probably the most popular military coup in history, whose internal assets have been frozen by the present Thai government and whose family members face investigations in the courts, can quite freely purchase a Premier League soccer club in the UK. I wonder how much scrutiny was undertaken concerning where the money came from for his purchase bid. I also wonder how he managed to fit into the "fit and proper" person category.

Am I missing something here, or is it called true democracy ... UK style?

Greg Mellor

Bangkok

Thais happier without huge foreign investment

I was a teacher in England for all my adult life and moved here to Thailand when I took early retirement from ill health. I find living here extremely pleasurable, as the people are so friendly and hospitable and the weather so pleasant. I became exhausted with the way we lived in England: so much stress, so much materialism leading to so much debt and unhappiness.

I watched children I taught leave school and take jobs and try and find happiness in their lives; sadly all too many were simply caught in a spiral of earn to pay yet more and more bills usually created by consuming unnecessary "must-have" items. There is unlimited everything available in England now, but when I was a child there was food rationing - but I remember those days as some of the happiest of my life.

I read therefore with a little sadness the letter "Scuttled revisions might have caused a SET crisis" (August 10), from a George Morgan, that seemed to plead for no restrictions on foreign investments so Thailand could benefit from the boom this would cause. I am not qualified in economics, but I know that investors rarely invest for reasons other than to make a profit.

What makes this part of the world so special is that it has not yet fallen into the trap of endless consumption for the sake of it, and people remain happier for it. I hope it can remain like this for some time to come.

Elizabeth Hardcastle

Prachuap Khiri Khan