• 
• 

Published on December 3, 2007

Free schooling for the first 12 years is the most popular one, despite that being required by the Constitution. One party ups the ante by offering free school uniforms, lunches and books, and even extends that to free education up to degree level. One party promises us 10 more metropolitan train routes at a flat rate of Bt15 and a canal to connect the Gulf of Thailand to the Andaman Sea. Another promises farmers and teachers a debt moratorium, while yet another says it would boost GDP by 15 per cent in one year. One party guarantees to bring peace to the South in 99 days.

The Consumer Protection Agency should conduct an investigation to see if all these are false or exaggerated advertising or both, which is tantamount to lying to consumers.

Meechai Burapa

Chiang Mai

Willingness to sell votes evident the world over

To add some perspective on the vote-buying problem in Thailand, it should be noted that university students in New York were asked recently what it would take for them sell their vote. Over 60 per cent said that they would sell their vote for a year's tuition and 20 per cent said that they would sell it for an iPod. The bribes may be more than are being offered in rural Thailand but the principle or, rather lack of principle, is the same.

Michael Clowes

Bangkok

Moralising an established failure in curbing teen sex

Re: "Having sex at 15 and without condoms", News, November 30.

I don't believe all this current hype which claims that more and more saucy teens are having sex at a younger age. For goodness sake, when did teenagers not experiment with sex? For example, many of us in the 1960s and 1970s were "on the path of discovery" from the age of 13 or younger. No sex education classes for us; we just quietly got on with it of our own accord! Like everything else in this globalised world, sexual development is being "nanny-ised".

At the same time, those who spend their time castigating young people on sexual matters probably do so out of an unconscious envy of young people, or a deep denial of their own adolescent experiences. But when hasn't this been the case?

Nowadays, of course, more teenagers are willing to discuss and admit to their sexual experiences (probably as a result of our own titillated nosiness!) and it's a pity that such youthful honesty is rarely reciprocated.

The "sex is dirty, we never did it when I was a youngster, and you're a very naughty boy" approach has never worked. The reasoning of the Catholic Church in Africa continues to fail simply because its teaching is based around lies and hidden agendas. Only when "honesty" and "sexuality" enter into a purposeful relationship will meaningful intercourse and dialogue occur, leading to the birth of a more profound and robust style of sexual education based around actuality and integrity.

However, no education is better than dishonest education.

John Shepherd

Bangkok

Burmese junta's closure of Aids temple abhorrent

We, the Global Alliance of Burmese Students, condemn the Burmese junta's atrocious action to crack down on Maggin Monastery in Thin Gan Gyun Township, Rangoon, which is actively helping people living with HIV/Aids by providing food, shelter and care with great compassion. This action is very different from the regime's propaganda and efforts to restrict the development of Buddhism in Burma.

Besides, while the global community and international organisations like the UN and UNAIDS were celebrating World Aids Day this past Saturday to raise the awareness of the pandemic disease in solidarity, such an act of abominable savagery can be construed as an utmost insult on the global community's noble commitment to fight against HIV/Aids and on all civilised human beings. So we students studying abroad call for a stop to these brutal actions and for all property to be returned to the monastery and its abbot.

If the State Peace and Development Council ignores our demand, it will face more pressure and protests against the regime externally as well as internally. We, the Global Alliance of Burmese Students, started holding regular protests in front of the Burmese embassy in Bangkok yesterday, and we will continue to do so.

Believe in the power of the people.

Global Alliance of Burmese Students (Thailand)

Bangkok

Over-reliance on foreign investment dangerous

The Western model that Thailand seems intent on following is already waking up to the fact that its modus operandi is not sustainable and that its practices have to be amended drastically. Does not Thailand or other developing nations see the folly in following the same ideological path only to have to make the same U-turn some decades hence? The indefatigable logical superiority of sufficiency over the virulent form of commercial activity that the West engages in so wastefully is undeniable, so why try to emulate it? By all means use our technological discoveries and advances to your own advantage.

The West does not "own" this intellectual property, it is the accumulation of many centuries of knowledge gained from many nations. It should never be forgotten that the West's superior economic position is based largely on exploitation of what they now call Third World or developing nations, not only for their resources but also their people (slavery). Thailand is to be complimented for resisting control by colonial powers of the past.

But it can as easily be entrapped now by relying on foreign investment for its livelihood. Its main weakness at the present being reliance on outside sources for its petrochemical industry and this petard needs alleviating. It would be a great day for Thailand and a financial disaster for the US if oil were traded for the baht instead of the dollar, something that underpins much of that country's wealth. Moves toward trading in the euro have already brought forth murmurs from that direction.

Thailand is still a country full of potential, opportunity and plenty for the Thai people, and long should it remain so. It should not be or become a utility for foreign investors to increase their profit margins at home at the expense of the Thai people.

An uncommon farang

Sa Kaew