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Published on February 26, 2008

Noppadon's stirring letter yesterday, asking us to stand up and be counted against corruption and tyranny mirrors all of my current frustrations with the government. But on a practical note, what can we do? What can I actually do apart from write grumpy letters to The Nation, tear off stickers and election campaign posters around my office, forward scathing emails to my associates, and rant and rave to my friends?

Tell me what to do Noppadon, and I will indeed stand up against this nonsense. The noodle vendor down the road, the mail delivery man this morning, the cleaning lady at the office and the tuk tuk driver who lives next door don't care (the economy, to them, comes before human rights or democracy), so what can we actually do?

Pim Kemasingki

Chiang Mai

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NYC cabbies not exactly exemplars of diplomacy

Re: Towards a 'bill of rights' for Bangkok taxi riders, Letters, February 25.

Bangkok taxi drivers following the example of New York cabbies? I would like to hear some opinions from New Yorkers on that!

Sunida Kitiyakara

Bangkok

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Taxi drivers offer a great bargain and deserve tips

While I agree with many of BF's adaptations of his taxi-rider bill of rights, not all of them should be applied in Bangkok. The Bangkok taxi fare is the best transportation bargain in Asia. If I didn't understand human nature as well as I do I would be outraged that BF and his band of Thai friends don't tip at all. I once was told by an American acquaintance that he "now tips the European way", meaning that he leaves nothing despite great service. Of course his underlying reason for going "European" was that he is a cheapskate to the core.

I suspect BF simply was talking with his taxi driver using the tenor and condescending attitude found in his letter when he asked that the music be turned off. I would suggest that he politely ask that the radio be turned off or the volume reduced. Taxi drivers are people too and usually deserve our respect for performing a difficult job. Of course there are a few taxi drivers who will attempt to cheat their foreign customers but many more perform their service admirably. Think about the rising cost of fuel and the low-cost urban transportation these taxis provide. I ask that you tip appropriately and often. Most of the time they deserve our thanks and support for a job well done.

David Barkdull

Bangkok

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Booze ban means money lost, not better voters

Once again, we've survived an election-inspired dry weekend. Like most of those who stay in Thailand long term, I have learned the workaround. So no recurring farang whine here. But perhaps we should spare a thought and some sympathy for the small shop and bar owners. No, not the bars and lounges and nightclubs at the five-star hotels - do you think they have a problem with the regulatory drought? Think of the small bars on Khao San Road or Sukhumvit, the small shops in the sois, the vendors who depend on traffic in the area, the walking vendors and even the beggars. Those bars and streets are empty, the customers gone and not supporting the Thais who depend on them.

They lose regular income, not for just one night, but for an accumulation of weeks! December elections, Makha Bucha, the Senate advance polls and the upcoming "real" polls. How many small businessmen and entrepreneurs at "home" would survive a regulatory clamp on their earnings like that?

The purported reasoning behind the ban is to prevent alcohol-induced or influenced voting at the elections. So there's an easy regulatory solution: in order to vote, Thais must show a national ID card; in order to drink, foreigners must show a foreign passport.

This, of course, makes sense, so what are the chances of it being implemented here in Thailand?

Les Thompson

Bangkok

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Burmese vote likely to be carefully choreographed

Here is a possible framework for the upcoming constitutional referendum in Burma

1) The secret ballots will be cast - and possibly counted in public - at the polling station. The poll numbers will then be forwarded to the township election commissions, and then to the national commission. The representatives of those for and against the constitution and the independent election commission will be required to make, in public, a report of poll tallies from the polling stations to the township commission, and then from the township commission to the national commission. The election commission will be required to make a certified, written report.

If the polls are counted at the polling station under the watchful eyes of the public and campaigners, the ballot structure - casting a ballot into yes/no ballot boxes or marking yes/no on the ballot - matters less. The latter is less vulnerable to vote-rigging but more vulnerable to an increase in the number of invalid ballots and in voter abstention in areas with low literacy rates.

2) Those for or against the constitution will be given non-live, public air time in the radio, television and print media for two weeks (or three weeks or four weeks) before the referendum date.

3) Campaigners and campaign organisations will be required to

register so that they can be allotted public airtime.

4) Ground campaign activities most likely will not be allowed.

5) Ground campaign activities, if permitted, will most likely require campaign permits - in the format of pro-government rallies - confining their activities to a specific place, time, and set of speakers, be based on a constitution-related theme, and limited in terms of the number of maximum participants. Door-to-door campaigns or even voter education programmes will not be allowed.

6) Civil liberties like freedom of speech, assembly, association and press will not be guaranteed as in an established liberal democracy.

7) Anti-regime political leaders and activists already under detention will not be released.

8) Poll watchers will most likely be local, not international or not even regional, although both sides of the referendum should watch the polling station, poll counts and make their own poll tallies.

9) Campaigners might be allowed to buy copies of the drafted constitution at public print shops and distribute them to the public as long as other materials are not included in their distribution.

10) Campaigners might be required to declare their campaign expenditures and the sources of their campaign funds.

A free and fair referendum in Burma, with the same civil liberties granted as in an established liberal democracy, would only seed false hope among regime opponents. Their attempts to disrupt the constitutional referendum and topple the military regime will only lead to the destruction of the leading party of the Burmese opposition, at the expense of every Burmese.

Jean Marc

Bangkok

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