Thailand heads back to the old days

It is true that Thaksin is a sociopath who consistently looks out for number one. It is also true that the PAD is using Thaksin as an excuse to drown democracy in the bathtub.

The PAD is a much bigger threat to Thailand than Thaksin, and it is threatening to make this the place it used to be.

John Francis Lee

Chiang Rai

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Treachery that will tear the country apart

I never thought I would think this, but PM Somchai is as much of a tyrant as Thaksin.

There is going to be a bloodbath. The economy is in ruins, and civil war and curfews loom unless there is another coup. Idiots! Instead of dealing with the credit crunch and protecting the domestic market from the onrush of the financial turmoil, Thaksin and Somchai invoke civil war.

I am a great disbeliever in coups, but this is just too much to stomach. And all over one stupid little man. It's a disgrace that will turn Thailand into the new Burma.

If there's anything that represents pure treason, it is this. Thailand is finished. Will the last person to leave please turn off the lights.

Arun Singh

Bangkok

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Re: "No moral motive on Britain's part", Letters, November 12.

Contrary to Chris Jeffery's contention, I found the British government's action in revoking the visas of Thaksin and his wife as mighty noble.

Historically, Britain has always been home to political fugitives like Karl Marx, Benazir Bhutto, and General Pinochet. But once that fugitive turned into a political activist against his home country or was judged by a fair court as criminal, then his guest status in Britain would not be tolerable. Thaksin's phone-in damning all his unidentified enemies and the judiciary in Thailand while hiding in Britain was an affront to his host. That phone-in must have caused the UK home secretary and foreign secretary to scratch their heads about what to do with this man. Leaving temporarily for China just gave Britain an opportunity to shut her doors against the couple without further ado.

Songdej Praditsmanont

Bangkok

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Bad habits for a lifetime rooted in education

As one who has studied the Thai language using the same books that schoolchildren use, I believe that it is easy to see how the young, impressionable child is indoctrinated at an early age to believe that Thai citizens, and the country, are always right. The origins of xenophobia begin in these textbooks.

Learning by rote (not always bad, especially in maths) fails to encourage students to think for themselves. There appears to be little emphasis on critical evaluation.

Several children near me ask them to help with their homework, especially mathematics. What they mean to ask is whether I'll do their homework for them. They simply want me to write the answers for them to copy. They do not want to learn how to do it themselves. When I ask them questions, they are at a complete loss. They are quite happy to begin learning about plagiarism.

As for taking responsibility for one's actions, the practice of tea money to schools and teachers encourages children to accept the practice as normal. Start off in life accepting bribery as a standard practice and it will be perpetuated ad infinitum. It deeply saddens me that illegal actions and low moral standards, regarding honesty and fairness, continue to keep this country divided and its poor people subjugated.

The Thai people should be proud of their country, but not be blind to its faults or to other countries' successes.

Bernard Walker

Chon Buri

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