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Published on November 15, 2007

 Are any of them addressing corruption? Or poverty? I know all counties have corruption and poverty but here corruption is not only at the middle to top levels but also on the street.

On Monday, at 12.30 in the afternoon at the Ploenchit intersection, I was stopped by a police officer and was told I was in a bus lane and that I would have to go to Lumpini police station and pay a Bt500 fine. I tried to tell him I did not know I was in a bus lane. I was behind a bus but I saw cars in front of the bus. He said a fine; I said okay, but I did not know how to get to Lumpini police station and could I pay the fine there and then? He said okay. I gave him Bt1,000 and he gave me Bt500 change. I waited for a receipt, but he said go now. I said I wanted a receipt for the fine but he refused.

These policemen should be brought to justice. Not only does it put the country in a bad light, but it also does the country out of millions of baht every year. It is stealing, whatever way you look at it. The government makes laws, but the police do not enforce them; they break them. I was in a bus lane but I was on the right side of the road, not the wrong side, as is often the case with police on motorbikes.

Carole

Bangkok

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PPP leader is a national disgrace

Samak Sundaravej must be stopped, not because he is tainted by scandal from when he was the idle governor of Bangkok, not because he represents Thaksin and is trying to bring back Thaksin's plutocracy, and not because he suffers from verbal diarrhoea from his politics of the gutter. If he is elected and commands a lot of parliamentary seats, we should set up a fund for cosmetic surgery to make him aesthetically bearable. As is, his face is a national liability.

Netirat Intira

Bangkok

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Bhutto should remain under house arrest

Elections in Pakistan have been announced for January 2008. This should please the international community especially, the US and its allies who are breathing down Musharraf's neck. The lifting of the emergency has been turned down, and Musharraf has upheld the sovereignty of Pakistan in deciding this crucial matter in a way which best serves the interest of Pakistan. Musharraf is absolutely right when he says that, given the present circumstances, emergency rule is necessary not only for the restoration of normalcy but also for the promotion of democracy in Pakistan.

Benazir Bhutto was put under house arrest and the government of Pakistan has every legal right to do so. The irresponsible behaviour of Benazir threatens the life of many other citizens who are likely to attend her mass public rallies, which will give opportunities to terrorists to gain publicity by launching suicide attacks. Bhutto's house arrest will create a level playing field for the party of Nawaz Sharif (who was expelled from Pakistan). She should be kept under house arrest till the January elections are over so that both the major parties can contest the election fairly, without both of their leaders (Bhutto and Nawaz) being present. Without the conspicuous and obtrusive presence of both Bhutto and Nawaz, their parties will rely mostly on a door-to-door campaign. This will help in consolidating the democratic culture in Pakistan.

But having said all this, Musharraf is still bent on creating problems for himself and for Pakistan. He should have announced by now that Pakistan will have joint martial and civilian rule, even after the election. This joint rule ought to be with suitable constitutional provisions. Only then can Pakistan develop a political and legal culture where martial forces take responsibility for preventing criminal violations of human rights by civilians of their country.

Musharraf has failed to realise that the ultimate jurisdiction of human rights through a martial president (of the armed forces) is a burning need. By incorporating and exercising it, he could go down in history as an unprecedented facilitator of human rights.

UN covenants on human rights are not worth the paper they are written on for the simple reason that countries do not sign an optional protocol (which empowers the UN to intervene, even militarily, in member countries when the member blatantly abuses human rights). Hence hapless citizens have no effective remedy against violations. To give just one example, the entire international community shed crocodile tears over the massacre of thousands of innocent Muslims in the state of Gujarat, India in 2002.

Musharraf must ensure that Benazir Bhutto remains under house arrest till the elections are over and announce, without further delay, that Pakistan will have joint martial and civilian rule even after the January 2008 elections.

Hem Raj Jain

New Delhi

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Retail prices should follow market demand

In setting retail pricing guidelines, Internal Trade Department director-general Yangyong Phuangrach seems to have forgotten that his department's mission should be to protect the interests of consumers. Thus, the new guidelines forbid retailers from setting "unfairly low prices" or having "all-year round discount events, where they sell a small number of goods at discount but sell the rest at high prices".

I suggest that what prices a retailer sells at are its own business. If a mega-store sold some items at a discount, while keeping high prices for the rest, smart consumers would just buy the cheap items there, and get the other things elsewhere. Since the low-priced items are those in most demand (to draw the most traffic), Khun Yangyong seems to be forcing poor Thais to pay more for their purchases. (The exception to my objections is where a firm seeks to use predatory pricing to drive competition out of business, gain a monopoly, then charge monopolistic prices, harming consumers over the long term.)

I understand that the new guidelines do not prohibit a retailer from selling at below cost (and I agree). Khun Yangyong should clarify what is an "unfairly low price" and remember one of Stephen Covey's "7 Habits of Highly Effective People": begin with the end (goal) in mind. Consumers want low prices, goods as advertised, convenient hours, etc. Among other things, Khun Yangyong should facilitate the flow of information on prices of key items, act quickly and transparently on complaints, allow opening hours to be set by the market mechanism, and prevent monopolies in a given area, whether of mom-and-pop stores or mega-stores.

Burin Kantabutra

Bangkok

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Is the Man City manager on a secret PPP mission?

I really wonder why Manchester City manager Sven Eriksson needed to fly to Bangkok at this time. It is good news to hear that his team is going to sign Thai players but it is certain that they will not be able to get work permits to play in the English Premier League right away. Is it so important for Mr Eriksson to fly here to sign these players now?

There will be international matches in Europe this weekend and it would be more important for him to watch those players he is expecting to buy in the coming winter market. Manchester City has been bought by a person who is wanted by Thailand's legal authorities. Although he has already denied it, and nobody believes there is any political purpose behind his visit, I am just hoping that Mr Eriksson will not be joining the PPP election campaign.

KT

Bangkok