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Sopon Onkgara wrote a very hard-hitting piece but sadly to my mind not nearly hard enough on those who should be condemned for what was allowed to take place at the PAD rally in Udon Thani on 24 July.

We cannot expect much from the governor as he is just another politician, and as we have seen with monotonous regularity the vast majority of politicians in this country are devoid of any decency, shame or any other redeeming human attributes. When accused of any misdeeds they scrabble around desperately trying to evade justice or responsibility while clinging on indecorously to their positions protesting their complete innocence, as the indicted lottery scandal ministers have now chosen to do.

 However, to my mind, where the real condemnation should be directed is at the responsible state servants; in this case the police. They have a duty to uphold the law and protect the citizens of Thailand. This they wantonly failed to do. Their shameful inactivity in this matter is nothing short of an insult to the Kingdom.

If what Sopon Onkgara wrote in his piece was true and police action was only started against the thugs alleged to have perpetrated this obscene uncivilised act because a retired police officer filed a complaint, then I am utterly aghast, but I am equally sure that no one will be held in any way accountable for this total disgrace of utter dereliction of duty.

This black act goes down in an ever-lengthening hall of shame for the Royal Thai Police along with the infamous day a seventy year old man was bloodily beaten to the ground by thugs in a shopping mall in Bangkok while they again stood idly by and did nothing.

I have lived in Thailand for many years and when I first came to the Kingdom I was surprised by the ordinary citizen's total lack of respect for their police. These and other events over the years have made it abundantly clear to me why that is so.

John Patterson

Bangkok

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Shameless, squirming politicians: step down now

Despite the Supreme Court's decision to accept a lawsuit against them, three ministers who approved Thaksin's lottery scheme have refused to step down. Their argument is that under the 2007 Constitution, as they no longer hold the same positions they did before, they are entitled to continue their current duties.

There are 36 Cabinet positions. By the ministers' "logic", above, they can commit a crime, switch seats before the court accepts the case, commit new crimes, switch posts before the court accepts the new cases, etc - until each person has filled every seat in the Cabinet before being forced to step down. Truly a novel idea, and one that makes a mockery of being a minister.

The problem, ladies and gentlemen, is that by accepting the case against you, the Supreme Court is indicating there are grounds for suspecting that you are guilty of abusing the immense trust that we the people have placed in you, to the tune of misusing B15 billion from ticket sales. In your current posts, you still control vast sums of our funds - and if we suspect you of being a fox, should we allow you to guard the henhouse?

Step down now, help speed up your trial, and you will soon have plenty of opportunity to serve us again - if you are innocent as claimed.

Burin Kantabutra

Bangkok

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Thai have much to learn about their own history and culture

Re: "Khmer influence evident throughout Thailand ", Letters, July 29.

I have two comments on the letter by Khun Songdej Praditsmanont.

Khun Songdej said, "Khmer culture played a great part in our architecture and various ceremonies. Many Thais wrongly believe that they copied us." Actually, Thais do not "wrongly believe", but are "wrongly instilled" with the belief that the Thai alphabet, architecture, ceremonies, arts, customs, rituals, classical dances, are entirely our own inventions. For example, when I was in high school, I was led to believe that the Ramakien is a Thai epic. In fact, it is adapted from the Ramayana, an Indian epic written some 2,000 years ago.

Finally, if Khun Songdej mentioned Thai-Cambodian history to the PAD mob the way he did in the letter, the mob would probably call Khun Songdej a traitor and seriously question his nationality before throwing him out, literally.

Meechai Burapa

Chiang Mai

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