This isn't the place it used to be

The current situation in Thai politics is painful and life in Thailand is not easy and happy like it used to be.

The responsibility and power of the media is so important and necessary, especially when society is facing confusion caused by authority out of control due to a lack of a checks and balance system. We have been in these circumstances too long.

I personally feel that the judgement by the UK Home Office on Thaksin's visa is a kind of silent pressure on Thailand to settle this political confusion, and I believe the Thai government must take prompt action on removing his diplomatic passport. Otherwise other countries, especially members of Asean will start talking about this issue soon and it will be a big handicap for Thailand as host of the upcoming Asean meeting.

Please do something to stop his next phone-in speech. I trust that most ordinary Thai people are not willing to see this happen. It is enough.

KT

PRANBURI

Please, no more publicity for fugitive ex-PM

Why do you the news media constantly push this convicted criminal in our face and elevate him to some type of hero status? Thaksin, by his latest actions, has shown to have no compassion or love for anything Thai, not for the people, not for the country as a whole, not for our revered King.

I know that this type of news sells papers, but put a limit on his exposure and delegate him and his wife to where they belong - the crime section, as that is what he is: a criminal fugitive. Stop glorifying him.

The law, now that he has been convicted, does not suit him, but suited him when he was robbing us blind.

I will bless the day when I do not have to see his face. Enough is enough

PAKORN

BANGKOK

Land deal was conspiracy to steal from the state

Chirmsak Pinthong can speculate as much as he wants on why Thaksin's visa was revoked and he'll always be partially right at least.

But the bottom line on the Ratchadaphisek land case is that whether or not the prosecution was brought by his political enemies, he and his wife stood to gain millions, by buying prime city property at a knock-down price from a Thai government financial agency.

That land belonged to the Thai people and, as such, no matter how he dresses it up, he was robbing the Thai people, as were the officials willing to sell at that price. I know that. The British Government probably knows that.

But moral issues get tangled up in legal gobbledygook on a regular basis here it seems. It's a wee bit disconcerting to see how narrow the majority was for his conviction.

If Gordon Brown allowed his wife to sneakily buy up half of Whitehall at rock-bottom prices, his name would go down in British infamy along with Guy Fawkes or Lord Haw Haw. (I have a soft spot for Fawkes' revolutionary skills).

Now all we have to do is hear more of why a Thai prime minister wanted to give Burma's notorious military junta subsidised loans - which, yes, somebody has to pay for.

I'm not surprised many of the people are protesting. I'm not sure that the US and British media should be so down on them. After all, the Americans had their War of Independence. They knew not to ask politely. The English had their Civil War and lopped off King Charles' head. Both got their versions of democracy. But neither had to form governments afterwards with Thai politicians.

So what hope are you leaving us Scots?

ROB ROY

BANGKOK

Phone-in was the last straw for UK authorities

Re: "Withholding evidence of crimes is also a crime", Letters, November 12.

Mr Burin, irrespective of whether Thaksin has a PhD in Criminal Justice, the fact is that you are presuming that he is going to reveal wrongdoing to the authorities. All he said was that "I am going to name names", which does not necessarily mean "I'm going to name the names of those involved in criminal activity".

Furthermore, you make the bold statement that Thaksin could be seeking to blackmail the British government. Eh? By naming of names do you think he has some hidden evidence relating to crimes committed by Jacqui Smith and David Miliband and is going to blackmail them?

To my mind, the foreign and home secretaries revoked Thaksin's visa because the phone-in was the last straw, and as Taptim Tulsathit rightly pointed out, he was an acute embarrassment and was causing social conflict in his home country while hiding behind another country's walls. And, yes, intelligently the British government did take the smart route in changing the locks. He severely underestimated the Pinochet precedent on that one.

But I don't believe the timing of the revocations was entirely due just to his criminal conviction; I don't think it can be de-coupled from the political salvo he delivered last weekend. It was probably just the last straw. He would surely have been under surveillance for the past two years and, to use Thakin's own phrase, they thought: enough is enough.

JAMES GROVEWAY

BANGKOK