Incorrect Forbes listing of HM the King as richest in the world

Parliament or the ministry can exert authority at any time they so wish. Luckily, they have not done so. But eventually, in some distant future, when government corruption subsides, they should.

Sumet Jumsai

Bangkok

Prime minister is doomed whatever happens next

Re: "PAD has got too far ahead of itself", August 27.

This report was too quick to praise PM Samak Sundaravej on his handling of the PAD demonstration on Tuesday. Samak retained his composure because Army chief Anupong Paochinda remained an ally. If General Anupong or General Prayuth did not show up for the meeting at the Supreme Command Headquarters, you would have seen the real Samak spitting out incoherent verbal diarrhoea and contaminating the airwaves.

The situation remains very fluid and unpredictable. Samak appears to have the upper hand, but his days are numbered. He will be removed by the PAD or the courts or the military, separately or jointly. In addition, his multi-party coalition may disintegrate.

Netirat Intira

Bangkok

We have no rule of law and no justice

So our esteemed ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra tells us that the Thai court system is tainted and he cannot get a fair trial? The thousands of possibly innocent victims of his so-called war on drugs were never afforded any justice - on his orders?

No more needs to be said.

Our rule of law has double standards, no matter which way we look at it. The scales of justice in our nation are still very much dependent on the wealth of the parties involved.

What I as a Thai citizen can never understand is why no one ever thinks of the welfare of our nation.

Noppadon

Bangkok

Dark days now; but were they ever that bright?

Re: "Samak's remarks on Burma do more damage", August 27.

Your editorial was as depressing as it was accurate in its assertions that Samak is a gross liability to Thailand, and indeed, as this country's leader, is capable of doing damage beyond national boundaries. It is a constant torment, even as a foreigner, to have to endure the daily reports of this man's total incompetence and complete unsuitability for office.

However, what is infinitely more worrying is the system that permits this grotesque state of affairs to occur and then be maintained. It demonstrates beyond a shadow of a doubt that the political system here in Thailand is rotten, not just flawed, and fundamentally unable to provide leaders of anything like sufficient quality to run a country.

Therefore, there can be no quick fix by expunging one man from the political/financial/social system and thinking all in the garden will then be rosy. The whole motivation of those entering politics is highly suspect, the checks and balances are sadly deficient in both the substance and rigour of their application by those whose duty it is to protect the state. So there is an almost insurmountable problem to solve.

In all, the future does not look bright at all. Your second front-page headline warns "Dark days descending once again". I am not sure that they were ever bright here; it's just that they were not as depressingly dismal as they now unmistakably demonstrate themselves to be.

John Patterson

Bangkok

Thailand not qualified to comment on democracy elsewhere

Re: "China: What comes after the Olympics?"

The chaos in Bangkok is making headlines all over the world. I cannot help feeling that Thailand is one of the last countries in Asia qualified to comment on issues of democracy of others.

I have visited Thailand more than 20 times. I always feel the deep social divisions between the elite and the lower classes. Rarely have both sides been able to agree on any issue, as expected in a civilised and democratic society. The political scene is like a bad movie. A couple of years ago, it was tanks in the streets forming some sort of petting zoo for tourists; now, it is Government House broken into by tens of thousands protesters chanting "democracy". What comes next? Another election or yet another coup?

Unnecessary hardship caused by such turmoil only causes more self-serving agendas, none of which addresses the real problems. For example, during the protest, the PAD's seizure of a state-run television station was for the purpose of media control. How can one deal with censorship with more censorship? Can Thai people really accept bringing down the government through aggression?

Western-style democracy is not the rule in China. Whether democracy in Thailand is any more than a cycle of coups and quasi-coups remains the most urgent issue upon which all Thais should focus.

Julian Wang

Taiwan