Most Thais ignorant of the turmoil in South

The walk was organised as a peace campaign for the troubled provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat. In the article, Gothom Arya, director of Mahidol University's Research Centre for Peace Building, was quoted as saying: "There must be sincerity. If the government is not sincere, it will not be able to solve the problem. The government and the local residents must prove their sincerity…. By showing sincerity, the problem on the southern border will be solved and there will be sustainable peace."

I agree with Dr Gothom, but wish to point out an additional issue here. Muslims and Buddhists living in the restive South - perhaps with help from Mahidol's Research Centre for Peace Building - should organise peace walks to Chiang Mai and Khon Kaen.

In the North and Northeast of Thailand, few citizens are fully aware of the nature of the conflict in the deep South. Two examples: some people in Khon Kaen province perceive the insurgency as a minor problem that does not require serious attention, or think that the area below the Surat Thani-Krabi line is a Muslim-dominated, and hence dangerous no-go, area.

Peace walks and other activities in provinces located far from the restive South will increase awareness among more citizens of the Kingdom and could signal to political parties and the Cabinet that a majority of the Thai population, wherever located in the Kingdom, is concerned with reaching a sustainable peace deal. The media also have a role to play. Reports in newspapers and TV in Northern and Northeastern dialects, and on social network sites, are suitable outlets to lay bare the plight of citizens in the deep South.

One might even consider a soap opera revolving around the trouble in the three provinces. All this will further boost the sincerity of the government's efforts. Peace-building could, then, perhaps even become necessary from an electoral point of view.

Edo Andriesse

Khon Kaen University

Open telecoms to foreign participation

I agree with the Thailand Development Research Institute that we should allow 100-per-cent foreign-owned companies in our telecom market. In our recent 3G bidding, we had just three bidders, due to potential bidders' concern about the foreign cap. Having such a low number of bidders is inviting collusion or an oligopoly. Also, keeping the foreign ownership cap is just inviting companies to use nominees.

Our goal is to maximise benefits to Thai consumers, with competition as the means to this end. Thus, do away with the foreign cap, as 17 developed countries - including the UK, France, Germany and Sweden - have, with their resulting high competition.

If the National Telecommuni-cations Commission can identify clearly what specific concerns led it to prohibit foreign dominance, then we should debate the matter. If their concerns are valid, we should then issue laws specifically targeted at those concerns - using a sniper's rifle, not the blunderbuss we have now.

Of course, the same argument above also applies to nationality of top management.

Burin Kantabutra

Bangkok

Police chief needs help to raise morale

Congratulations to Police General Wichean Potephosree on his appointment as police chief. The police force has been too much in the public eye in recent years. Whilst enforcing the law, policemen have suffered long days of abuse and physical harm from hordes of "peaceful" demonstrators.

When the crowds disbursed, they received the abuse of everybody for supporting "the other side". They have seen precious few law-breakers get their just deserts. In the meantime, the law-breakers are out on bail, probably abusing the police. The police must wonder why they bother to turn out.

If General Wichean is going to lift morale, he needs a lot more support from other agencies to deliver justice at a much quicker rate to the law-breakers and to the unjustly accused, and for the sake of the police.

Richard Bowler

Bangkok

Poor man struggles to feed his children

It broke my heart to read that Thaksin said he quit his job in Cambodia because "They [the Thai government] robbed me of half my wealth and I had to do it to feed my kids." Boo-hoo.

Being the humanitarian I am, I propose that we have a major fund-raiser for Thaksin so that he and his lovely family don't starve to death. Gosh, I hope the poor man isn't sleeping in the streets.

Eric Bahrt

Pattaya