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Published on January 25, 2008

Short memories indeed. There was a time, not so long ago, that feudal Thailand respected the idea of respect; now it respects only wealth. If Sondhi had amassed a fortune, he would not now be languishing in the dark. Instead, he would be the proud owner of an English football club, with the brass balls to return to a country in which he sinned so transparently. When enough behind-the-scenes trading has been secured, Thaksin will return in triumph to face what Kafka described so long ago as three levels of justice: absolute guilt, ostensible guilt and postponement - and postponement is what these guys are paying for.

There are no regrets with these people because the memories of yore are long lost in the modern-day respect Thai society pays to circumvention via bribes. And the most obvious way to cheat the justice system is in the Neanderthal ritual of walking under the belly of an elephant holding a golden spear.

James Groveway

Bangkok

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It's enough to turn you to drink

Re: "25 things to cheer up Democrat supporters", Opinion, January 23.

Surprisingly - or maybe not - I still do not feel cheered after reading your article. I resent the boos and jeers around the globe and cannot accept the patronising complacency of the outside world, and the way the world media (BBC in particular) seem to equate this with the defeat of the Thai elitists and monarchists, giving us little lectures on how we should now expect to change our outlook. To that, I would like to stress that we have long known whether we should render things unto Caesar or unto God.

You see how your article has made me grouch. Perhaps I have never been an overly keen supporter of the Democrats, either. It is just that there is not much choice.

For a start, democracy is far too overrated. How can we naively rejoice its return when we know it has come to mean the way to promote self-interest. Remember how our last democratically elected government seized full parliamentary power and used that power towards its own end?

I cannot accept a man who revels in retorts such as "and who did you f-- with last night!" I do not wish to turn into a sycophantic chameleon like the entire "October" movement, as you called them. The likes of those chameleons just prove that what we have is not democracy but dirty political manoeuvrings.

Nor do I like the way the world media - or our own - broadcast the news of The Wife, as if she was making a triumphant return of the righteous. The media is truly ill-informed if it does not know that both Husband and Wife have been ignoring court summons' for several months to return to Thailand to answer scam charges.

I do not think I can continue to consider all your 25 points without first getting several good, stiff drinks - a session which may last the whole night long. Are you coming to join me?

An old killjoy

Bangkok

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Force is the only way to train elephants

Re: "Elephant 'training' is tantamount to torture", Letters, January 24.

It is absolute drivel for Mr and Mrs Richard Kean to suggest that the elephant abuse they witnessed was an isolated case and that "Elephants are trained all over the world to perform in circus shows, zoos and animal parks without 'crushing their spirits' ".

Anyone who knows anything about elephants knows it's practically impossible to train an elephant to perform unnatural acts without the use of force or the threat of force. That is why the late Princess Galyani Vadhana wanted to ban forcing elephants to perform "unnatural acts".

Even ex-elephant trainers have testified that beating elephants is a basic part of their training. (Although most of them are smart enough to hide their brutality from tourists such as Mr and Mrs Kean.)

A few years ago People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) showed on videotape baby elephants being hideously tortured in northern Thailand. Yet the Thai government couldn't care less. As long as people such as Mr and Mrs Kean are willing to pay to see elephants forced to serve tourists (and then assuage their guilty consciences by writing letters to the editor), this abuse will continue forever.

Eric Bahrt

Chon Buri

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Air travellers prefer experienced staff

Like many foreigners, I find the Thai Airways flight attendants' reaction to a comedy funnier than the comedy itself.

I was recently told by someone that at first they were shocked that Air Canada has such ageing flight attendants. This person said that after they thought about it, they appreciated this fact and realised that flight attendants don't need to be single, young and beautiful to do their job well. Up until that point I hadn't noticed that our airline was different to many other countries' airlines. I had answered that perhaps it was because in Canada it is illegal to fire someone for getting old, fat or ugly. Obviously it has to do with unionisation too, but in Canada it is not considered appropriate to attach a photo to a job resume and it is illegal for landlords and employers to ask for a picture, for details of race or religion, and to discriminate based on appearance, age, gender and sexual orientation.

I personally appreciate the fact that my flight attendants look like normal people who've been around the block a few times and look mature enough to know how to settle an unruly drunken passenger with grace; or that they have already handled more than one emergency situation in their lives. I also appreciate the fact that they can laugh at the skits on "Saturday Night Live" and don't confuse entertainment with reality.

Having flown Thai Airways many times and having lived here for some time, I can see several reasons why the Thai Airways flight attendants have an issue with a comedy that has flight attendants fighting for the affections of a pilot and why Thai Airways management takes them seriously. Perhaps the show resembled the truth too much for them to be able to appreciate the humour. Older Air Canada stewardesses would have found it hilarious.

I lived in Thailand before, and at that time I remember reading an article in The Economist that started: "In Asia democracy is a young and fragile flower..." The article was about how the educated middle class Thais were going to boycott Thaksin's election because he would win; because the poor and uneducated supported him and there were more of them. They ended up going the coup route. Perhaps it is this lack of understanding of democratic principles that prevents people as intelligent as those in the management positions at Thai Airways from understanding the benefits of freedom of speech and having the audacity to ask a television station to cancel a show intended to make people laugh.

Whatever the reason, fact can be stranger than fiction and to many people the Thai Airways reaction is funnier than the show.

Kate Canuck Martin

canada

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Double standard at national carrier

The battle over TV violence between the producer of a soap opera and THAI flight attendants raised my eyebrows. This is quite a double standard adopted by THAI staff after they did not voice any concern at a TV commercial for a capital increase by THAI which appears to advocate family violence. Just because a husband forgot to subscribe to THAI shares, his wife slaps the man at the airport terminal. 

Sai Sima

Harrisburg, USA

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