All Abhisit needs to do is cancel Thaksin's passport

This time Abhisit can call Thaksin's bluff. The Foreign Ministry has the right to revoke any passport held by a Thai who has committed a crime or been barred from travelling abroad. All the government has to do is void all Thai travel documents the bail-jumper holds, which will cancel any visa therein. The convict can then apply to the nearest Thai embassy for a travel document, which will only be good for returning home or going to a country that has offered him citizenship, like a republic in central Africa.

If he returns, he should be handled like any other VIP felon - under the observation by the National Human Rights Commission and the international media - so the world knows that he is being treated no better and no worse than any other criminal. Similarly, his trials should be transparent and any guilt be proved beyond reasonable doubt. All verdicts should be explained in simple language.

Our courts have already shown that they are not against Thaksin because they acquitted his then-wife in one of her two cases. They should stick with what the US judge, Learned Hand, said: "If we are to keep our democracy, there must be one commandment: Thou shalt not ration justice."

BURIN KANTABUTRA

BANGKOK

Stop complaining: this is only his first Cabinet

"Grumbling in the Democrats' ranks", The Nation, National Affairs, December 19

To those grumbling Democrat backbenchers, thank your lucky stars that your party is now in command of our nation's destiny because:

Firstly, under the allegiances of all the parties in Parliament and based on the number of MPs of each party, your second-ranking party would never have been able to form any viable government even if those parties on the fringes gave you full support.

Secondly, you have this fortune only because of the Friends of Newin turncoats who now have no friends from their previous party, a new opposition and their lives are under threat. The faction deserves those plum jobs.

Thirdly, the defection of the "Friends" and your viability has helped fringe parties to turn to your party instead of the Pheu Thai. Oddly, the coalition led by your party has spelt the beginning of the end of Thaksin Shinatwatra's era. How Thaksin fought tooth and nail prior to voting day, even to the extent of begging, clearly showed the work of a desperate man. That party is now at a loss and does not know how to become the opposition, because they innately believe that they have the divine right to govern. You can now wait for the benefits of the expected fallout - an ingredient that will allow your coalition to last longer than thought by many people.

Fourthly, your party, through Suthep Thaugsuban, has knowingly or unknowingly opened doors for national conciliation while leaving that man - the cause of our conflicts over two years - in tears and, as he has said, "more than cornered".

He has to look through Sun Tzu's "Art of War" to find another way of unsettling this government while living abroad without a diplomatic passport.

Your party does not have to do much with this man - the fight now is between him and the Friends.

Finally, stop grumbling and take comfort in the belief that Cabinet changes are frequent and normal in Thai politics. Hence, they are calling this Cabinet Abhisit One. You can all wait your turn.

If you keep messing around within the party, you will not only be losing your chance, but you will also be burying your party for good.

SONGDEJ PRADITSMANONT

BANGKOK

Why act quickly with red shirts but not the yellows?

"Police Arrest Rock Thrower from Monday", The Nation, National Affairs, December 19

With the arrest of this "red-shirted" protester, the police have finally shown their true colours. For months the police waited on the sidelines, while People's Alliance for Democracy protesters broke the law and damaged government property with impunity.

The quick response and arrest of this red-shirt vandal proves that the police are not incompetent, they are just overtly biased.

In reality, a true national police force would be quick to respond to any disturbance of the peace, regardless of which side it was coming from.

How can anyone have faith in the virtue of a police force that is so blatantly in cahoots with one subset of society?

JOSH WOODARD

BANGKOK