Now, more than ever, we must heed HM's words

For its part, the court must show that justice has been done, proving guilt, if any, beyond reasonable doubt - as in the tax evasion case against Pojaman. A major side benefit of such clarity will be to severely undercut Thaksin's claim that our courts cannot give him justice.

But regardless of what the judgement is, all parties must avoid violence, and keep any protest within the law. PM Somchai has shown his incompetence in preventing police from using excessive force, while the PAD has invaded Government House and marched on police headquarters, apparently hoping to incite bloodshed and provoke the coup that PAD leader Suriyasai Katasila admits the PAD wants. Police Gen Salang wants to evict the PAD by force, and the UDD is holding a counter-rally next to the PAD.

PM Somchai should show if he has any leadership ability by ensuring that the police do their duty of keeping the peace with minimum force. Border patrol police aren't trained for crowd control, for that's not their mission; use only the metropolitan police to keep opposing parties out of earshot of each other.

The PAD should realise that if it stays within the law, it will undermine Thaksin's claim of being in danger if he returns, and so hasten his day in court - and thus should work with the police to keep the peace. Assailants are criminals, especially if they are, or were, cops, and must be swiftly neutralised by the police.

The stage is set for irreconcilable conflict, unless we heed HM.

BURIN KANTABUTRA

BANGKOK

Talk of democracy in Thailand is utter nonsense

In the North-east of Thailand, where one third of the country's population lives, corruption is rife and nothing is possible without money changing hands. This makes all the talk about democracy in Thailand utter nonsense.

There are two main reasons for this desperate situation. The first is the educational system that promotes the learning of facts instead of understanding; concentrating on education as a means of getting rich and neglecting moral values; creating people believing in authority instead of creating independent thinkers.

The second reason is the patronage system, causing a slave mentality, admiration for the rich without taking into consideration morality, and allowing politicians to profit from the poor and gullible instead of working for them.

In the letters to the editor I often read about "democratically chosen government", but the word "democracy" has no meaning whatsoever as long as a big part of the country is a society where corruption is inherent from the lowest to the highest stratum. Talking about "democracy" sounds reasonable but is in fact pure window dressing. Moreover, one should distinguish between a "democratically" chosen government and a government not "acting democratically", as such a government has no legitimate basis and should be opposed by all means.

EGON WOUT

BANGKOK

UK govt should see through Thaksin's claims

The British government can easily prove that Thaksin is abusing his stay in the UK by meddling in politics.

There is no doubt that he wants blood and that his puppet brother-in-law is more dangerous than Samak.

If the British government is sincere, Thaksin's aim to stir trouble in Thailand to prove his political asylum status must backfire.

MARC BOGERD

BANGKOK

Palin acts like a wolf in sheep's clothing

An environmental group in America is running an advert attacking vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin for having ordered wolves to be killed in Alaska. A commentator on Fox News (where else?) explained that this is necessary because the wolves were decimating the moose population.

 Now I'm confused. If the wolves have decimated the moose population, then why did Sarah Palin and her ilk find it necessary to hunt moose? On the other hand, if the wolves have not decimated the moose population, then why do Palin and her ilk find it necessary to kill wolves?

 Maybe the explanation is that hunting has nothing to do with conservation and everything to do with sadism and cruelty. As John F Kennedy once said: "Hunting will never be a sport until the deer is given a gun."

ERIC BAHRT

PATTAYA