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Published on February 25, 2008

Sopon Onkgara wrote an exceptionally powerful piece, but it is also woefully depressing in equal measure as it looks at the abuses of power that are already occurring under the new government.

He rightly observes that "Democracy existed on election day; the rest has been tyranny in disguise", and that "Thai-style democracy" is an utter sham. The piece predicts a particularly unpleasant future for the Kingdom at the hands of its current rulers.

Democracy does not just consist of universal suffrage. There is much more required. It needs fair transparent elections. It needs robust separate state institutions that cannot be influenced by the executive, and most crucially it needs people working within it who are either dedicated or restrained from abuse by laws and the peril of prosecution. On these vital attributes Thailand fails miserably.

In a real democracy, policemen and other state officials are not moved on the whims of politicians.

This would be seen as a gross and unacceptable abuse of power and end a political career immediately if discovered.

This disturbing piece is distilled most effectively by one of its sentences: "Here comes a new era of political arrogance without any sense of shame".

Fred Morrice

Bangkok

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Corrupt cycle will go on without public backlash

Re: "Arrogance of power returns sooner than expected", Opinion, February 24.

Sopon Onkgara's Sidelines column is an honest and correct analysis of where our nation is heading.

I admire his columns, as he gets right to the point.

By replacing the last "dark force" in power with another "dark force" we are sinking deeper and deeper into a sinkhole of despair and an uncertain future.

I, for one, will not stand by idly and let these "puppets on a string" destroy our nation's and our children's future without doing something.

I know that maybe 75 per cent of our population is apathetic to the point it borders on treason, but some of us will fight for the future of the next generation and call on those with similar feelings to do the same for the good of our nation's future.

We must put a stop to this rot once and for all.

Enough is enough. I can't take it any longer.

We must force these politically controlled entities to realise that they were elected by the people in order to serve the people, They are exactly that, "public servants", and they were not elected to serve the few privileged power brokering families in the Kingdom.

 The dismissal of the Department of Special Investigation chief is and must be regarded as a pre-emptive move made prior to bringing back the most corrupt entity this nation has ever known and ensuring he doesn't face charges.

I hereby call on the people of Thailand to join me and to act as one voice in demanding justice and insisting that politicians act for the betterment of the nation, not the betterment of their own pockets.

Wake up my Thai brothers and sisters, do not be blinded by their "populist" policies and their convenient bouts of amnesia.

Do not allow the deposed former prime minister to return and escape facing the charges against him in a court of law regardless of his sponsored appointees.

Stand up and for once be counted and show that we have had enough and don't act cowardly as the international community is also watching.

Noppadon

Bangkok

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Towards a 'bill of rights' for Bangkok taxi riders

Yesterday while I was being conveyed from one locale to another by a taxi driver, I grew tired of listening to his Isaan music - you know the type; it's the reason you avoid restaurants with karaoke machines - and asked him to shut his radio off.

You would have thought I had insulted a close female relation of his by the scowl I got in return.

Some (really not all) taxi drivers here seem to be of the impression that they are doing you a favour by giving you a ride, rather than the actual reality of you having paid for the service and, if you want a silent ride, that should be your right.

In New York city a "Magna Carta" of taxi riders' rights is posted in every cab. Bangkok is a major world city, but I think it could stand to gain from some upgrades in this area, so why doesn't the city just "borrow" New York's rules? There's no worry of copyright infringement when it comes to such things.

So here are the relevant taxi-rider rights from New York that could work in Bangkok (I have eliminated ones that were specific to New York city):

As a taxi rider, you have the right to:

1) Go to any destination in Bangkok and immediately surrounding areas; (Taxi companies would have to become more lenient in their policies of when cars have to be returned. For example a driver should not be able to refuse a fare because of the legitimate reason that he needs to bring his car back before a certain time.)

2) Direct the route taken - the most direct route or one of your choice;

3) A safe and courteous driver who obeys all traffic laws; (We are shooting for the stars here, but still it'd be nice to have that on paper.)

4) Air-conditioning on request; (This is usually not a problem.)

5) A noise-free trip: no horn honking or radio; (I can do with horn honking and that is inescapable, but turn those radios off!)

6) Clean air - smoke and scent-free air; (This is generally not a problem.)

7) A driver who does not use a cellphone while driving; (Good luck enforcing that one in Bangkok.)

8) Decline to tip for poor service. (Never a problem as I don't tip, nor do any of my Thai friends).

There are more rules in New York that put the comfort of the passengers first, and also some rules that would never apply here such as functioning seatbelts for all passengers, but these provide some food for thought for cab companies.

For me I would be satisfied if they just shut the bloody folk songs off for the 20 minutes it takes to bring me from point A to point B.

BF

Bangkok

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