Asean's human rights record is nothing to be proud of

Asean's commitment to promote and protect human rights, especially the rights of women and children in the region, is praiseworthy. However, Asean should not only promote and protect the rights of its nationals, but it is also necessary that it recognise and take responsibility for promoting and protecting the human rights of refugee women and children, who are the victims of civil war and human rights violations in different Asean member states.

Along the Thai-Burma border, about three quarters of the 140,000 refugees in nine temporary shelters are women and children. These women and children need as much protection and promotion as possible, for they live in abject poverty and are vulnerable to domestic violence, sexual violence and trafficking. They are being deprived of their basic human rights, including the right to legal settlement and work, and freedom of movement.

Asean's overall human rights record is bad, and human rights activists and watchdogs perceive it as perfunctory.

The grouping's recent attempt to establish the Asean Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children is a start, but it should make a more sincere effort concerning human rights regardless of nationality, ethnicity and religion. One of the first priorities should be refugee women and children across the region.

Rattanaporn Poungpattana

Bangkok

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Democrats have a legitimate mandate to govern

Thaksin Shinawatra and his people repeat the bogus theory that Abhisit Vejjajiva somehow has less of a mandate to rule because Thaksin's People Power Party won more seats in the last general election.

The PPP was disbanded because of election fraud. Since the Election Commission and the courts both found the PPP guilty of vote-buying, which everyone knows about anyway, it is actually the other way around: Abhisit's party, which played by the rules, has more of a mandate to govern and actually has more (legally obtained) seats in the House.

Also, I am tired of foreign TV reports about Thaksin being the "exiled" former prime minister. "Exiled" means "enforced removal from one's native country", "to be sent into exile", or "to be banished". None of these is true about Thaksin; in fact, the opposite is true. Thailand is supposed to be trying to extradite him. He is a bail-jumper and a criminal fugitive. No more polite misnomers.

F Goldman

Bangkok

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Thai people have been cheated out of democracy

Now Thailand has what she truly deserves: a government "elected" by the PAD, the Democrats, the Army and the powerful; a non-democratic system of government; an unhappy and thoroughly cheated populace; a totally biased media; a banana republic image in the rest of the world; and an absolutely destroyed foreign investment climate … and a guaranteed win for the red shirts in the next election.

You can cheat some of the people some of the time, but you can never cheat all of the people all of the time.

Evald Berntson

Bangkok

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New PM must be wary of poisoned chalice

Abhisit Vejjajiva singled out an 84-year old woman, grandma Nian, for praise in his speech after being officially installed as our 27th prime minister. His voice even cracked when he said the woman gave him a "magic ring" to symbolically "engage" him to Northeastern people. I sobbed.

Smart move. But this was parallel to what Barack Obama did when he picked Ann Nixon Cooper, the 106-year-old black woman who voted for him, as his inspiration in his acceptance speech in Chicago. What's next?

In the meantime, it would be a good idea for the red-shirted people to do some homework on the "magic ring". It is against the law for politicians to accept gifts worth more than Bt3,000.

Meechai Burapa

Chiang Mai

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Abhisit has no original ideas of his own

Congratulation to you, Prime Minister Abhisit. I wish I could hear your full acceptance speech addressing the nation immediately after receiving the royal command appointing you to be the next prime minister. But what I saw and read was the following: "I will work for all Thai people, both those who voted for me and against me, and I can promise you that I will be everyone's prime minister ... Only those who have ill intentions toward this country are my enemies ... Today, our country must be united."

I asked myself, don't these comments sound familiar?

Here is part of US president-elect Barack Obama's acceptance speech on November 4: "And to those ... whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president too ... To those who would tear this world down: we will defeat you ... in this country, we rise or fall as one nation, one people."

You were born in London, graduated from Oxford and have 16 years of political experience, as does Obama, but when will you stand on your own two feet? When will you have your own ideas, platforms and agendas? When will you stop hiding behind the phu yai? You could not even come up with your own original acceptance speech. Is it a coincidence? No, I do not think so. Plagiarism and piracy pop to my mind. Again, congratulations.

Max Deadhead

Bangkok

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