The speaker, not the venue, is responsible for speeches

I like to laud the Foreign Correspondents' Club as an effective outlet of free speech. I remember well the days of our military junta, pre-1970s, when the FCCT was looked up to for its independence.

However, in our relatively free society now, it is somewhat childish for anyone to suggest that speeches at the FCCT should be free from prosecution, similar to speeches at all foreign embassies. The FCCT is an informal forum. It is ludicrous to suggest that it should be held responsible for the uttered words of its invited speakers. Like the old saying goes: words are your servants, but once uttered, they are your masters, and the responsibility is with you and no one else.

Songdej Praditsmanont

Bangkok

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Interior minister lacking in basic legal knowledge

Chalerm Yubamroong, allegedly with a PhD in law from Ramkamhaeng University, embarrasses not only the university where I teach but also the whole Thai nation.

It is not the issue whether he faked his dissertation - rampant in many higher education institutions - or the exposed contradiction of his dissertation in the Thai language that proclaimed it as a "qualitative" study (but its English foreword says it is a "quantitative" one). When he ordered provincial governors to crack down on local cable-TV operators who relay the signal from ASTV's live broadcast of the PAD rally in Bangkok to their subscribers, it apparently shows that he does not deserve even a pre-law degree.

When I first studied law as a second degree, the first thing I was taught was a Latin proverb that I later found as the state motto of Missouri, where I went for further education. It says: "Salus populi suprema lex esto", meaning "The welfare of the people shall be the supreme law."

So I would not hesitate to flunk him from Day One. Not only that: Interior Minister Chalerm breaches the Thai people's human right of access to information. The UN Declaration of Human Rights is also violated. What would be the official stance of the Thai government led by the foul-mouthed prime minister on this matter?

Chamnong Watanagase

Bangkok

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Banks hold millions of baht from defunct charities

Some time ago I learnt that there is at least Bt1 billion belonging to defunct charities held on deposit by various banks. A lot of this money has been held for years, earning interest, even though the charities are no longer functioning.

If I recall correctly, when a charity is registered, it must have a bank deposit of Bt200,000-Bt500,000, depending on its stated aims and purpose. When donations are received for undesignated purposes they must go into a bank account, and only the interest can be used for the purposes of the charity.

I recall that the law states that such unclaimed funds should be shared among other charities. If all this money is available and serves no useful purpose, perhaps it could be put to good use in some way, helping poor people for instance.

Hopefully it is not going into the pockets of corrupt politicians.

Leonie Vejjajiva

Bangkok

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Cyclone victims must be left to die

Why did the Burmese generals refuse desperately needed aid that was offered for the victims of Cyclone Nargis from American, British and French warships anchored just inside territorial waters off Rangoon?

The Burmese generals would have gladly accepted the aid, from any source, simply because it would enrich them. They would take the aid and sell it to their relatives and closest associates, who would sell it at high prices to the victims or to anyone else willing to buy it. The dying cyclone victims would, in fact, see little of it.

Representatives of the American military-industrial complex are in the pay of the Burmese generals. They enjoy the big bribes and kickbacks. Less than 17 years ago, American and French oil and gas companies enslaved tens of thousands of Burmese people to construct the Yadana gas pipeline in the same cruel and inhumane way that the Imperial Japanese Army enslaved Asians and Allied prisoners of war to build the Burma-Siam "Death Railway" in World War II.

American business interests and stupid politicians like George W Bush are not concerned about the Burmese people or about human rights. They are interested only in money and power.

Dick Fabius

Holland, Michigan