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Published on November 27, 2007

There has been flurry of letters concerning the Flag Act and the impracticalities of its implementation in its present form, culminating in your editorial. Most contributors have concentrated on the symptoms, so to speak, and not the cause of this move.

In this, the 21st century, we live in a fast and ever-changing world. Indeed, for many, the speed and sheer scale of this change is disconcerting. They see few things of permanence and value impervious to this breakneck change. I suspect this is why attention has fallen on patriotism or nationalism and the desire to have it displayed publicly. The nation seems somehow, in the eyes of those who seek this change, not to change; as an idea it sails through time seemingly unaltered.

However, it does change because it does not exist other than in an abstract, conceptual form. A nation is not simply borders and land but a complex and essentially subjective summation of the hopes, fears, beliefs, structures and history of the people of which it is composed.

For centuries the ideas of nationhood, and of course religion, have been used to draw together people of differing opinions and wishes, to the flag so to speak, as something they all have in common.

However, compulsion serves to do nothing but create resentment and those who are forced to do something simply go through the ritualistic, hollow and meaningless motions without believing in what they are doing. 

It seems to me that Thais rightly show their respect and devotion where they feel it is warranted, and this is shown in unrestrained abundance towards His Majesty. For some reason they seem to have separated their King from the concept of nationhood. I can only assume that they believe the country, and more likely those that run it, do not warrant, in their eyes, the same level of respect.

When people are proud of something and believe in it, they value and support it and willingly show those feelings. When they do not, they are more reluctant. Those that are seeking this mechanical display of patriotism should not be seeking to control the population's behaviour but addressing the cause of the reluctance to show loyalty by making the nation worthy of their respect.

Mark Wiltshire

Bangkok

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Plastic floats still spoil 'green' festival

Re: "Loy Kratong is now greener", News, November 26

Your report on this year's greener Loy Kratong should be good publicity for green campaigners around the globe. But here is another side of the story.

The next morning after the festivities, I went out for my weekly windsurfing session a couple of kilometres off the Bang Saen coast and, sure enough, around a dozen or so kratongs were spotted. All were made from biodegradable materials as the campaigners had asked for.

However, while negotiating those floating green things at about 20 knots, I found myself tumbling down, head first, into the freezing sea, almost destroying my sail.

Apparently, the green campaign forgot to look at another kind of "kratong" - the airborne one [yeeping lanterns]. All of these large, semi-transparent items around me were made from plastic material that can last a hundred years.

Vic Phanumphai

Bangkok

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Navy needs to choose its toys more carefully

Defence Minister Boonrawd and Navy commander-in-chief Admiral Sathiraphan say that buying two very expensive submarines is vital to prevent violations of Thai waters and to repel invasions. Not only that, they say, some Southeast Asian navies already have subs, so we need them to maintain our bargaining power. The admiral says: "If we do not have subs, we will be the underdog in times of conflict at sea."

Just which Southeast Asian navies will we be fighting, Admiral? We just signed agreements with the other Asean counties to move towards tighter economic integration. Who are our perfidious allies that speak peace with forked tongues?

If our enemies have subs, why not fight them with our anti-sub carrier, the "Chakri Narubet", land-based aircraft, or destroyers - which we have already? Or are you envisioning an invasion by capital ships? If the threat's that dire, then, yes, we must quickly become a fearsome military power - like Germany between the wars.

But again, Admiral, where's the threat? Or are we, ourselves, planning to be the perfidious ally of Asean? Thailand, Thailand uber alles?

When the Navy wanted to buy the extremely costly "Chakri Narubet", didn't it use much the same argument it's putting forth now - only to have the ship sit in dock for most of its recent history, with insufficient fuel or aircraft to be battle-worthy, let alone not having an enemy and not being as cost-effective as land-based aircraft for its mission?

If the need for subs is so great, the Navy should be eager to trade in the unused, unusable "Chakri Narubet" towards the subs, which cost a whopping Bt40 billion. Is it willing to?

Sink the subs and find more practical toys for our boys in blue.

Burin Kantabutra

Bangkok

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Clear, fair policies will gain support

Re: "Country in dire need of sound economic policy", Letters, November 26.

Taking up Burin Kantabutra's cue, if I were a party leader, I would announce my party's manifesto as follows:

International: Portraying Thailand as a global trader. Laws affecting foreigners and tourism would be streamlined in a sincere way, and would be well understood and accepted as fair to all. Replace the 30 per cent capital reserve with better alternatives that cause the least outcry but with the same result.

Stabilise the baht exchange rate. Raise tourism to the level of Spain and Italy, where all citizens are encouraged to help the nation.

Fairer tax: More apparent, definite, efficient and least disputable. To give equal treatment to all and encourage more willing taxpayers.

Poverty reduction: Bridge the gap between the rich and poor through fiscal and economic policy. Introduce inheritance tax. Wealth tax in place of outdated and inefficient household and land tax. Fairer and more efficient excise tax collections.

Adopt economic policies encouraging efficiency and competitiveness. Populist policies with conditions for increased productivity and efficiency in monitoring. Allocate the use of national resources fairly.

Welfare: Government spending should have priority on education, research and development and social benefits.

I do not know whether my party would win the election but I do know that it would raise the standard of politics in Thailand by giving a choice to the electorate to choose not only my party's members but also my party's commitments.

Songdej Praditsmanont

Bangkok

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