Let the SRT go bankrupt and start again from scratch

The SRT (State Railway of Thailand) needs an entire overhaul - let it go bankrupt and start afresh. We should learn from recent history that GM and Chrysler were bailed out by the US government twice, but it didn't bear positive results. Billions of dollars were sucked up in the black hole and the firms finally ended in bankruptcy. PM Abhisit must be decisive in solving this problem.

People should come first, not the brat union members of the SRT. I love to travel by train and they shouldn't hold me hostage. Any agreement with them will not improve the status of the SRT, as indicated by their long history of poor service, stinking bathrooms, and filthy and under-maintained passenger bogies. They lose money year after year. There's no point in any negotiations. It is a lost cause.

SURASAK PIPUTTANA

Pointless applying sticking plaster on problems at SRT

PM Abhisit Vejjajiva must show his long-term vision and strong leadership by insisting that Transport Minister Sophon Saram fix the SRT problem at its roots, rather than slapping on superficial bandages like his proposal to hire 171 staff to stand in for the strikers. What happens when the strike's over?

The SRT will be stuck with the new recruits forever, since the union insists that nobody be fired - even for callously stopping work without a care as to the Bt15-million damage done to SRT by each day's stoppage, plus the doubled logistics costs of SRT freight clients.

Sophon set up four committees to study the SRT's problems, with findings due within three weeks. The problem's been studied to death, and - if it hasn't been - three weeks won't produce anything in-depth. These committees are another of the minister's skin-deep Band-Aids.

I applaud Abhisit for insisting that SRT staff must be held responsible for their actions. Sue the union for losses to SRT caused by the wildcat strike, and punish strikers according to law and SRT regulations for non-union authorised strikes. Call in substitute drivers and, if necessary, military engineers to keep trains running on schedule and safely. Update past reform proposals and implement that which bests protects our national interests, not the vested interests of the union, road contractors, carmakers and politicians.

PM Abhisit, sir, show us that you know what Confucius meant when he said, "The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions."

BURIN KANTABUTRA

Writer insolent and wrong in attack on Hun Sen

It is good to slap and to kick the backside of a robber who is expert in evading the rule of law, even though taking the law in one's own hands is never recommended by lawyers. Why should a land robber be spared from being slapped on the face or from being kicked? Why should a pervert be treated with reverence? PM Abhisit Vejjajiva has had the mind of a robber and a pervert since the days of his association with the yellow shirts. His brazen bravado to lead the yellow shirts to conquer Preah Vihear Temple and the 4.6 square kilometres of Cambodian land in the vicinity of the temple, and his crusade to claim and repossess "territories lost by Thailand" earn him a name and a reputation of a robber and a pervert.

Abhisit's manner is deceitful when dealing with Cambodia.

You don't have to be a "big bully" to deal with a robber and a pervert … and an incompetent. As I exposed the truth and the facts about Thailand's territorial ambition on Cambodian land and cultural heritage, and demonstrated that Cambodia has caught Thailand red-handed so many times during the past century - with the December 1863 Treaty between Cambodia and Siam, the occupation of the Preah Vihear Temple in 1954, the drawing of the unilateral, falsified and secret map by the Royal Thai Survey Department with the intention to steal 4.6 square kilometres of land near Preah Vihear Temple - Sophon Onkgara of The Nation is turning itchy and irritated, and he becomes insolently irrational.

Hun Sen spoke his mind at Hua Hin, not to steal the limelight from a robber, a pervert and an incompetent. Don't ever say that Thailand is a champion of human rights with the yellow shirts, the red shirts the white shirts taking turns to protest on the streets. That is incompetent in finding and establishing reconciliation and harmony.

Sophon must know how to distinguish between an invited guest at the Asean meeting and a leader who protects the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of a country, and who is entrusted by his people to lead and to protect. As an invited guest, Hun Sen has brought friendly participation and contribution to Asean's meetings - a fact that can be proven by the statements of Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya.

Sophon was completely wrong and irrational when he attempted to slander Hun Sen as a man "in the jungle" feeling uncomfortable about rubbing shoulders with leaders of foreign countries. On the contrary, Hun Sen has all the confidence of the world for the simple fact that he has been and is a true patriot serving his country and his people for almost half of a century already from "below zero" to what Cambodia is today - to the amazement and the "hidden" disdain and jealousy of the Thais. Thailand, according to Sophon, Abhisit and his kind had lost its opportunity to snatch and to steal Cambodian land during almost 30 years of war in Cambodia. A unilateral, falsified and secret map had been drawn, and would be imposed on the "weak" winner of that war, which is a repetition of the December 1863 treaty.

Honouring the facts and the truth, being a patriot to his country and people, Hun Sen is well versed in dealing with a back-stabber, a robber and a pervert.

PANCHA SEILA

Neglected waterways at last get much-needed attention

Growing up along a waterway, with my younger brother and I once paddling a boat all the way from Samut Sakhon to Nonthaburi, I am overjoyed to hear |that our country's grossly neglected |rivers and canals will finally get some attention under the Thai Khemkhaeng scheme.

However, I would like to point out to the Water Resources Department, which will be handling this multimillion-baht project, that this attention should not just cover cleaning and dredging. The department also needs to address the issue of so many things swamping the waterways, ranging from big hotels and shopping centres to small and dangerous disused fishing traps, and all that this would require cooperation from other departments in order to realise this important project to its fullest.

VICHIT PHANUMPHAI

BANGKOK

Teaching methods need to change, not just content

I endorse the changes that Dr Chanchai (Letters 19/10/09) said need to be introduced into the Thai education system. But there is a danger in the current moves to change the curriculum. The danger is that it is just rearranging the deckchairs on a sinking ship. The issues which Chanchai raised - free oral expression, communicative competence, digital savvy, problem-solving logic, creative/abstract thinking, and ethical humanistic values - are not related so much to curriculum content as to learning methods. It is encouraging debate and discussion, allowing self-discovery of rules and reasons, that will make the students able to think, develop opinions, express themselves and argue and think logically. In a sense the content taught is secondary. It is a vehicle for the students to develop these self-sufficiency skills which will enable them to keep learning long after they have left the formal education system.

Have formal debates in the classroom at upper-primary and lower-secondary levels, choosing topics which are topical for the kids at the time. Have them experience multiplication by measuring and marking out areas on the classroom |or playground floor and counting the number of unit squares in the area. Finding that seven times eight equals 56 from a 7-by-8-metre rectangle on the floor is much more meaningful than rote learning the tables which say so. Discussion and debate in themselves are not bad, rather they help to enrich thinking and understanding. It is when it is assumed that anyone who does not agree with your view must be wrong and evil that the problem arises.

GARETH CLAYTON

BANGKOK