Can Abhisit be trusted with the economy?

He graduated from Eton College, which has produced 18 British prime ministers. London Mayor Boris Johnson, his classmate at Oxford, said he is "a man of intense integrity and of high intellectual gifts".

But I am scared when I think of an incident two years ago in which Abhisit's maid stole his ATM card and made off with about Bt800,000. It turned out that Abhisit wrote his four-digit personal identification number on the card so he didn't have to memorise it!

Meechai Burapa

Chiang Mai

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Blame for airport chaos lies with inept governments

Re: "Airlines correct to sue for damages and losses", Letters, December 17.

With due respect to Burin Kantabutra, who stated that the PAD should bear the cost of the Suvarnabhumi Airport closure and airlines' lost revenue, I totally disagree with his opinion. The closure of the airports was due to incompetent Samak government and the subsequent inept Somchai administration. As you and I know full well, they bought the election, as proved by the Constitution Court's verdict. Therefore, they were not legitimate rulers of the country in the first place. They are the root of all the problems the PAD caused. The Samak and Somchai administrations, and their non-actions, are a disgrace to all Thais no matter what colour their shirts.

S. Piputtana

Bangkok

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'Dubya's' security detail slow off the mark

President Bush says he will have "A front row seat to history". That's great, but lets hope he doesn't get hit by another pair of shoes. I am still appalled at the poor security on the day President Bush was almost hit by not one, but two shoes. It was only when the second shoe was in flight that a security person finally went to the president's aid. I think the president's security detail let him and the American people down, especially on hostile foreign soil.

Theodore Carl Soderberg

San Francisco

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No cure for Thailand's endemic corruption

Re: "Ministry must revoke Thaksin's passport", Opinion, December 17.

You rightly direct invective at the Foreign Ministry for its tardy and sheepish withdrawal of the fugitive ex-PM Thaksin's red passport. That that farrago of inaction continued for so long is nothing short of a national disgrace and has reinforced in the international community at large - if it really needed to be - just what sort of country Thailand is: namely riddled with abuse and corruption to the core, even at the highest levels.

Yes indeed the Foreign Ministry officials were utterly spineless, but for the reason that if they were to act against the "big noodle", destruction would befall them. I have read many articles over the years about how criminal suspects could not be apprehended because they were being "protected" by powerful figures. There is a two-tier system at work in the Kingdom. Those who have power abuse it shamelessly, and those who have no power get abused.

You continue in your article to assert that "It is important that the new government restores some much-needed professionalism to the ministry (Foreign) at all levels." Good advice but you fall short of suggesting how this can be achieved and, sadly, magic wands are standard issue only at Hogwart's.

You have not addressed the root cause of this kind of behaviour as it runs through Thai society from top to bottom and is endemic. So sadly the new government cannot achieve a magical change of behaviour that you wish for. And indeed I can offer no advice as to how it can be attained as, sadly, it is a cultural norm.

John Patterson

Bangkok

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Wear white so the injured can be seen

The red-shirts have vowed to block entrances to the Parliament building on the day the government announces its policies. That worries me; this time the police may not be as lenient as they were with the PAD. And if there is bloodshed, it is going to be difficult to tell if someone is bleeding badly.

If the protests must go on, and I hope they don't, may the protesters wear white shirts with red wristbands or headband.

Somsak Pola

Samut Prakan 

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