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Published on October 30, 2007

Now their offspring are running for offices, including those running under the Democrat banner and others. There are so many names mentioned in The Nation and it can be confusing. Please print all of their names and leave them there until December 23, so that voters will know. In Thai politics, the offspring are usually the same as their predecessors.

I can also guess that when we "meet the new boss", he'll be "same as the old boss" as The Who sang in "Won't Get Fooled Again".

Manas Thananant

California

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EC's campaign rules will hinder democracy

Re: "EC should show common sense", Editorial, October 29.

That group of headstrong bureaucrats at the Election Commission (EC) has done it again. Their recently announced regulations covering the run-up to the December 23 general election are certain to hamper rather than encourage democracy.

These regulations - ranging from prohibiting candidates from making campaign speeches freely to cautioning TV stations and other public forums from interviewing candidates in a way that could be interpreted as favouring them - could be described as petty and irrational.

The EC is not only preventing political neophytes from showing themselves worthy of voters' consideration, it is also enabling the moneyed and well-known candidates to use their influence to win the election more easily. The result will be the same old money politics over again.

Since these regulations are extreme to the point that making changes to them would only make the EC and the Surayud government lose face, the best way out would be for the commissioners to resign en masse, in order to save the system. Any face-saving compromise - an occurrence often seen in our society - would only lead to further squabbling. These people at the EC are too rigid for a job that requires balanced judgements.

Chavalit Van

Chiang Mai

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A Baha'i prayer of healing for the Royal Family

My wife and I recently moved to Bangkok from Rochester, New York. Like millions of Thais and well-wishers around the world, we have been closely monitoring the progress His Majesty the King is making at Siriraj Hospital.

His Majesty, through his dedication and by example, has earned the respect and trust of millions of people from all corners of the world. He is the soul and the guiding light of this nation. Without His Majesty's gentle guiding hand, and love for his people, Thailand would not be where it is today. To wish His Majesty and Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana, who is also in Siriraj Hospital, a full and speedy recovery, we offer the following healing prayer, revealed by the prophet founder of the Baha'i Faith, Baha'u'llah, nearly 160 years ago. This prayer is very powerful. We would urge all the readers to recite this prayer during their days of recuperation.

"Thy name is my healing, O my God, and remembrance of Thee is my remedy. Nearness to Thee is my hope, and love for Thee is my companion. Thy mercy to me is my healing and my succour in both this world and the world to come. Thou, verily, art the All-Bountiful, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise."

We wish His Majesty the King, the world's longest-reigning monarch, and HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana a swift and healthy recovery. May God Bless His Majesty and the Princess.

Nat Yogachandra

Bangkok

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Than Shwe inviting his doom by targeting monks

Than Shwe committed political suicide when he ordered the mass murder of Buddhist monks in Rangoon.

The Rangoon regional commander and the southern regional commander in nearby Pegu refused Than Shwe's order to murder Buddhist monks. Three other regional army commanders supported them. The end is near for Than Shwe as army commander-in-chief General Maung Aye has refused Than Shwe's order to remove the Rangoon and southern regional commanders.

Than Shwe's order to murder Buddhist monks was carried out by Major-General Nay Win who deployed troops from rural Burma to Rangoon. He is officially listed as the military adviser to the State Peace and Development Council, the same title held by former military intelligence chief Khin Nyunt. Almost all the officers in the Burmese army are graduates of the Defence Services Academy or officer training school. But there is a third officer training school secretly organised by General Ne Win called "Tayza". Tayza recruited sons of non-commissioned officers who are high school graduates. They served three to four years as sergeants in the Burmese Army and were then commissioned as second lieutenants. Most of them did not rise above the rank of captain and were primarily assigned as personal staff officers to senior officers. This is how General Ne Win spied on senior officers. But Nay Win was a good fighter and rose up to the rank of general officer. Army Commander General Maung Aye refused to give Nay Win regional or division command since he was not a college graduate.

It is common knowledge in Burma that you go straight to hell if you murder a monk, let alone oversee the mass murder of monks. Than Shwe's mass murder of Buddhist monks and the subsequent crippling banking and financial sanctions will force the Burmese army to remove Than Shwe in the near future. It has become clear to everyone in Burma that a political solution in Burma is not possible without the removal of Than Shwe.

Myint Thein

Senior Adviser to the Burmese Resistance

dallas, texas

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Thai Buddhists silent on terror facing Burmese

Re: "Boycott Chinese goods as well as Olympics", Letters, October 28.

From various readers' letters there seems to be nothing more futile than futility itself. But more to the point, shouldn't Thailand be asking itself some harsh questions, both in government and business, about the shrugging of its pseudo-Zen shoulders with regard to Burma?

Okay, I understand that the sacking of Ayutthaya several hundred years ago still runs deep due to blinkered education, but the murder of Buddhist monks by a cruel secular regime should provoke far more of a profound reaction than it has.

Probably the world's greatest and most genuine proponent of pure Buddhism, His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet, deserves more support. China has vilified him since his exile in 1959 and still continues to do so over his recent visits to America and Canada.

And the PTT as well as ordinary citizens seem to shrug their shoulders at this.

Should not the Sangha be more concerned about their fellow monks in Burma and His Holiness' welfare, rather than local monks reacting to a piece of art depicting a real situation in which they profited from selling amulets?

Buddhists in general, even atheists, must bring the Chinese regime to book and not resort to an abrogation of the five precepts in line with economic cowardliness. The failure to do so also abrogates Buddhism's heart.

James Groveway

Bangkok

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Far outside of the rat race, but happy nonetheless

I choose not to own a car, a computer, a mobile phone, an iPod or a camera; I'm not in debt, I don't eat fast food and I don't celebrate Christmas, New Year's Day or the most awful of awfulness - Halloween. Yet, I feel generally content and happy with my lot. Am I weirdly old-fashioned or am I a true visionary? Do I have cause to be worried or should I become a missionary? Maybe it's simplest just to return to my own planet and observe at a distance!

John Shepherd

Bangkok

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