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Published on February 10, 2008

Obviously if this trend continues, it will become increasingly difficult to achieve price stability.

Many economies around the world have been suffering from the ravages of inflation. The problem in many of these places was exacerbated by currencies that were pegged to, or too closely linked to, the dollar. In many cases this has caused authorities to reassess the fundamental basis of their exchange-rate policies.

Inflation is perhaps the most cruel of economic maladies. The poorer you are, the more you suffer. Unfortunately there is no easy solution. Efforts to stop prices rising completely are doomed to failure and will likely result in very costly unintended consequences. However all is not lost, as certain measures can be taken to mitigate the effects and provide a safety net to society's most vulnerable.

Generally speaking a relatively stronger currency should provide some relief. Thailand is also in a unique position. Thailand has an abundance of agricultural wealth and a large deficit of energy resources. Fortunately agricultural commodities have been the strongest performers recently. Everything should be done to maximise the benefits from these higher prices. If agricultural workers could share a larger percentage of the world prices that would help a lot.

Concrete and realistic steps need to be taken to shore up the energy deficit on a long-term basis. Thailand is still highly vulnerable to rising fossil fuel prices. Achieving energy security may be necessary to protect future prosperity.

T Mercer

Bangkok

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Pai shootings inspiring 'malicious rants'

Re: "Victim may not be as innocent as reported", Letters, February 7.

It's slightly worrying to see certain sections of The Nation, including this page, turning into vehicles for malicious rants by foreigners.

First there is Stephen Cleary who in his opinion piece (Re: "Parachute journos: look before you leap", February 1) makes reference to the killing of Leo Del Pinto in Mae Hong Son's Pai district. He refers to it as, "One murder case (which could legally be considered manslaughter)", because the female victim Canadian Carly Reisig had "according to tens of foreign witnesses living in the area", a well known history of violent drunken behaviour, which included punching policemen.

Then he went on to rant about one-sided Thai-bashing reports in the foreign press. Fair enough, but only one "newspaper" story he cited was actually ever published in a foreign newspaper. The rest came from Internet forum posters. The story he got half right said more Britons per capita died in Thailand than in any other holiday destination; an unfortunate fact.

(But that article by the way was written by a travel journalist who writes Thailand guide books, and it was published in The Independent not a 'British tabloid', as he claimed.)

Nevertheless his piece was followed by a couple of indignant readers' letters from foreigners of the "Carly Reisig had it coming to her" school of thought, writing anonymously, as most Internet forum posters do.

So now it transpires that it was not foreigners but Thai people from the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC), who suspected that something was amiss in this shooting. The policeman is not the victim of "Thai bashing". The NHRC was not prompted by foreign journalists.

Indeed the policeman is more the victim of people, such as Commissioner Surasee Kosolnavin, who care deeply about their country and who have the highest principles. The alleged behaviour of Reisig, true or untrue, months prior to the event, had of course nothing to do with the murder.

Stephen Cleary is quite clearly proud of his work. Internet bloggers and posters demand an audience and rarely admit they are wrong.

Sometimes I can almost feel their indignant flushes of anger trying to burst out of my laptop.

Not long ago The Nation had to withdraw a blog written by a British Embassy official because the site was being bombarded by malicious posters claiming amongst other things that they had seen the diplomat "in Soi Cowboy with a five-dollar whore".

In his Nation piece Cleary did however write: "But for a change, I'd like the Western media, when reporting these kind of statistics, to mention the quite obvious fact that Thailand doesn't always attract the nicest kind of foreigner." The Western press does this, all too frequently many people complain.

But I would like to repeat his warning. Thailand does not always attract the nicest type of foreigner.

The Nation's editors should now be able to detect them.

Andrew Drummond

Bangkok

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US 'hearts and minds' measure long overdue

The latest news that the US military is to introduce a "hearts and minds" section into its training manuals is welcome but it is a long time overdue.

As a young British soldier serving in Northern Ireland in the 1970s, I clearly remember being told from the outset the importance of winning over the local population by demonstrating thoughtful and restrained behaviour. Whilst the Americans have finally made this realisation over 30 years later, it demonstrates not a kindly change of heart, but a deep-seated ignorance and arrogance that military might is the answer to all things.

NWC

Bangkok

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Credibility no longer key in presidential bids

Regarding the ongoing excitement (bordering on hysteria) about the US political party nominations for president: can someone please tell me why these candidates are spending millions of dollars on convincing the electorate of their own credibility to hold the office of president, when the incumbent, George W Bush, a two-time election winner, has proven that credibility is not a prerequisite?

It would be consoling to receive any logical answer.

A Warner

Bangkok

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