Chalerm and Abhisit: A poor comparison

Never in my most lurid nightmares could I have imagined that a major publication would compare Chalerm Yoobamrung to David and Abhisit Vejjajiva to Goliath. Adding the qualifiers "imperfect" to David and "newbie" to Goliath does little to blur the absurdity of the comparison.

In Jewish legend, David was the good guy and the underdog. Goliath was the big bad giant. When I think of Chalerm Yoobamrung, the terms "good guy" and "underdog" do not readily come to mind. And the mild-mannered Abhisit can hardly be considered a big bad giant.

Chalerm, in fact, has long impressed me as being a second-rate Joe McCarthy. In the wake of the May massacre of 1992, Chalerm claimed to know where all the bodies were buried. I don't recall that he ever told us. Perhaps PM Abhisit would be good enough to ask him in the upcoming debate. If you think Thailand's stock is low now, wait till PM Chalerm makes his debut on the world stage and his past history gets around.

There are better images than David and Goliath to project upon these two combatants. I suggest Beowulf and Grendel's Mother. No prizes for guessing which is which.

YE OLDE PEDANT

BANGKOK

Start by sorting out the pavements first

Re: "Nana, lower Sukhumvit a dangerous place now", Letters, March 14.

I concur with what Nick said, but also add the following: The mayor of Bangkok and MPs should be forced to walk on the sidewalks and take local buses for one week. The mayor made a comment a few weeks ago about looking up at the wonderful city of Bangkok. It is impossible to look up. You have to look down, because of all the broken sidewalks. Then we have the buses, where the drivers, rarely fully stop for people to get on or off. Plus, some like blaring music. Bangkok has enough noise with the traffic people blowing their damn whistles. Why can't they just use hand gestures or batons?

 Welcome to a new and improved Bangkok! I have been coming here for 24 years and nothing is getting better. What a shame.

RICHARD BERGMAN

MIAMI

In our system, PMs are never directly elected

Re: "The wrong man to talk about democracy", Letters, March 15.

What Somsak Pola disregards in his rhetoric claiming that Abhisit was not democratically elected by the people, is that in a parliamentary democracy the prime minister is never directly elected by the people but by a majority of his parliamentary colleagues. What the Thai people witnessed last December when Abhisit was elected by parliament was, in fact, democracy in action.

Loud shouts of "democracy" by people whose understanding of the subject is so meagre, deserve to be ignored.

JONATHAN W PETER

PATHUM THANI

Bring him back or let |him fester in limbo

Convicted felon Thaksin made phone-ins to two red-shirt rallies this weekend. Special Branch commissioner Thiradej Rodpothong says the phone-ins were to encourage the reds to protest against the government. Protesting within the law is a constitutional right. However, the red-shirt leaders have been unwilling and/or unable to keep their followers from violently trampling upon others' rights. I see no reason to let their arch-supporter hold a Thai passport while urging protest he knows will turn violent.

I suggest that Foreign Minister Kasit cancel all of Thaksin's passports immediately. The fugitive should thus have three options: (a) Report to the nearest Thai embassy, to be arrested (since he will then be on Thai soil) and deported to serve his sentence; (b) be marooned wherever he is when the cancellation order is issued, since invalidating his passport will invalidate any visas therein; and (c) Accept an offer from countries whom he claims are clamouring to give him citizenship, e.g., the Central African Republic (2008 GDP per capita: $US700).

BURIN KANTABUTRA

Bangkok