Re: "Hillary's 'attack' sends shockwaves through China", Opinion, August 19.
Yuriko Koike's article was truly an excellent one in its perspicacity, clarity and relevance for those who seek to understand developments in the geo-political situation in East Asia, which is genuinely in a state of political and economic flux not seen for some considerable time. It should stand as a benchmark for future contributions; hopefully we shall see many more of the same calibre.
Whilst your editorial of the 19th fittingly focuses on the gem trade with Burma and draws a parallel with "blood diamonds", given the appalling nature of this regime, why does the reporting of further collaboration about oil exploration and countless other cosy arrangements with the blood-soaked generals, go without criticism?
The junta refused to accept the result of an election won by a landslide by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, and it is therefore illegitimate. It has engineered her house arrest ever since, and ruthlessly suppressed all opposition to its rule regardless of who chooses to express that dissent. I personally found the relative silence over the brutalisation of monks peacefully demonstrating, distressing in the extreme. But at last we see something positive coming out of the Obama White House in the backing of a UN-sponsored war crimes inquiry, which should unnerve the generals and hopefully check their future behaviour.
If you wish to build further on the quality of your newspaper and be truly inspiring then you must be incessant, indefatigable and incisive in the pursuit of such lofty ideals as truth and justice. A now-and-again carp against such abominations as the Than Shwe regime in an attempt to assuage your conscience is simply not enough and smacks of lip-service. To really be a force for good, which should be the prime goal of a free press in a true democracy, takes an almost messianic commitment and can only be achieved by dogged determination and relentlessly revealing to your readership what is wrong or right, how to fix or improve it, and who needs to be punished or lauded and why.
A no-blame world is a fantasy, wrong cannot be righted by doing nothing, and as opinion formers the press has an unavoidable duty to enlighten, expose and educate, thus bringing the overpowering pressure of popular will on lawmakers to truly reflect the wishes of the people in their actions towards others.
JOHN SYMONS
BANGKOK
Unprovoked acts of war are crimes
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI) is a conservative think tank. Its stated mission is "to defend the principles and improve the institutions of American freedom and democratic capitalism". Some AEI scholars are considered to be some of the leading architects of the second Bush administration's public policy. One of its fellows, John Bolton, has come out to encourage the Israelis to commit an act of war against Iran. If this - using the Americans' euphemism - "pre-emptive strike" occurs, I hope the Israeli government is called to the War Crimes Commission along with its advocate. This is a test for President Barack Obama's Democratic credentials
RICHARD BOWLER
BANGKOK
Government gives itself a shady pay rise
The economic geniuses running the government approved a five per cent increase in salaries for civil servants, and skillfully slipped in a fifteen per cent increase for lawmakers. Five multiplied by three equals fifteen, which makes the economic geniuses running Thailand three times more important than everyone else - which I had always suspected to be the case. Wisuth Chai-narun, an opposition MP, complained, but one must realise that we are talking about economic geniuses here, one of them with a degree from Oxford. Trust them, they are geniuses, really.
GUY BAKER
BANGKOK
True Visions' asinine editing
What's with the overzealous movie editing by True Visions cable? The other evening I watched "Friday the 13th" and it was so heavily edited you could barely comprehend that it was a horror film. Later the same evening I watched "Inglorious Basterds" and the pivotal final scene (involving the use of a Bowie knife by Brad Pitt) was edited out. Given the tendency for Thai print media to show gore and violence, I fail to understand why television should be the exception. What is the point of showing these movies if they will be edited to the point that they become incomprehensible?
KURT HECK
BANGKOK