Regarding Guy Baker's letter on September 2 about Preah Vihear, I think the 1962 International Court of Justice decision is neither as ambiguous as Songdej Praditsmanont would have it, nor as cut and dried as Mr Baker suggests. Rather, it is limited in scope and, as such, not fully satisfactory to either side.
To start with, the court found in May 1961 that it had jurisdiction concerning the "Temple of Preah Vihear". The following year in June it found, by 9 votes to 3, that the temple was "situated in territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia" and that Thailand was under an obligation to withdraw any forces stationed "at the Temple or in its vicinity on Cambodian territory". The court apparently did not see fit to define exactly what it meant by "vicinity" or, in relation to artefacts removed by the Thai authorities since 1954, "the Temple area".
Although not required to rule on the border, the court could hardly decide one thing without considering the other. It "therefore felt bound to pronounce in favour of the frontier indicated on the Annex 1 map" - the 1907 French map that ignored the watershed line - on the basis that Thailand, or Siam, had for many years "acquiesced" in that map's use.
However, it made no explicit order in this respect.
In short, it is the inconclusive nature of the ruling that has kept the issue alive up to the present. As it is, both parties to the dispute face an uphill struggle to reach a mutually acceptable agreement.
Chris Jeffery
Bangkok
Dangers of banter in the workplace With the sexual harassment law put in place, guys must be cautious at their workplace. Avoid these lines: "Your blouse is beautiful" or "You look sexy with your new hairdo" or "You have a nice figure. You lost some weight, didn't you?" Those comments may constitute sexual harassment.
Never look at female co-workers below their forehead. Also, think twice before asking a female colleague out for dinner. It's safe to go for a lunch date or even breakfast and always insist that her best friend tag along.
If you want to compliment women, use the following adjectives: efficient, creative, intelligent, considerate, pragmatic, ambitious.
Meechai Burapa
Chiang Mai
Westerners can be enlightened Buddhists
Re: "Practising Buddhist barred from a prayer room", Letters, yesterday.
Mr Hames mentions he was barred from entering a Buddhist temple because he didn't look Thai. The writer is on the mark when he mentions that Thais and Asians act like they are the only people who can be true Buddhists. Indeed, there are Thai Buddhists who only act devoutly when they're on temple grounds.
The rest of the time, they act like ordinary selfish people - not even slowing down their cars to enable a group of monks or elderly people to cross the street. It's like Christians in farang countries - they go through the well-rehearsed devout motions at commonly accepted times and places, like on Sundays in churches. Religion for such people becomes a sort of ritual, like putting socks on before shoes.
Christianity in Asia or Buddhist practices in farang lands often take on a deeper significance, because the philosophies are newer and more charged for the people who have discovered them for themselves. They're not practitioners because it's expected of them because of where they're born. Many Buddhists in farang lands embrace Buddhism because they've studied the world's religions and made a conscious choice. By doing so, their embrace of Buddhism takes deep personal significance.
What ultimately determines whether a person is a Buddhist of the highest order? Is it vivid spiritual enlightenment, is it secluded fasting in a cave for long periods? I've known Westerners who have had those personal experiences within a Buddhist context. Do they brag about it in order to impress Buddhist monks and abbots? Doubtful.
But just because a Westerner doesn't broadcast his/her spiritual achievements, doesn't bolster the assumption by Thai and Asian Buddhist officials that Westerners are somehow less spiritually developed, the monks who barred the letter writer from entering the temple for merely his physical appearance should be ashamed of themselves.
They should go find the wronged man and offer apologies. That's what I would do if I had refused someone entry to my property, and later found I was wrong.
Ken Albertsen
Chiang Rai
Prayer hall sign was born of ignorance
On behalf of my fellow Thais, may I offer my sincere apologies to Richard Hames, practising Buddhist for the past 45 years, who was refused entrance to the prayer hall at Wat Phra Kaew because, according a sign posted there, foreigners cannot be Buddhist.
The sign-posters forgot that there are wats full of non-Thai priests, who have also written many books on Buddhism - and that the Lord Buddha himself was not a Thai. As Christ said, "Forgive them, for they know not what they do".
That said, such an insulting sign, born of ignorance, must be taken down post-haste.
Burin Kantabutra
Bangkok
Two local heroes bring credit to Thailand
Congratulations to two Thai heroes in the news on September 4. On the front page, Dr Kittibhum Juthasmith, the outstanding rural doctor of the year. In a far flung part of the country I doubt that he gets more than the tail end of the budget, but he is "very happy" in his job and I am sure he does all he can possibly do. We should not forget the other 26 contenders, who are not losers but also heroes.
On page 10 is Somtow Sucharitkul with his unswerving devotion to the musical world in Thailand.
His fostering of young Thai talent brings credit to Thailand and pleasure to all music lovers in Thailand, including farangs, as yours truly.
RICHARD BOWLER
Bangkok
No tears for Mr T's missing billionsIt broke my heart to read (National Affairs, September 3) 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! Boo-hoo!
Being the humanitarian I am, I propose that we have a major fundraiser 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
Just call me 'No understand'
I heard the funniest story on a flight from Athens to Moscow as I was sitting beside a Brit. He had lived in Thailand and said when he first arrived there some Thais asked him his name and he said "Michael" and the Thais laughed and said, "Oh, mai kow jai".
For some reason, not knowing any Thai, the Brit thought that was the correct way to say his name so for days afterwards when any Thai asked him his name he responded: "Mai kow jai".
Guy Baker
Bangkok
Blair and the morals of today's lawmaker
Former UK prime minister Tony Blair's new memoir "A Journey" is an odyssey into moral and political corruption. The book unwittingly justifies a totalitarian mentality and explains why most of our democracies today are, in reality, thinly disguised totalitarian regimes. Blair writes: "Politicians are obliged from time to time to conceal the full truth, to bend it and even distort it" in order to force their agenda on the people.
Blair also talks of Al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein as sharing "a common set of attitudes: indifference to human life [and] the justification of mass killing...". Nowhere in his book does he express any regret for his own policies that sanctioned and advanced the use of contraceptives and the practices of abortion and euthanasia, that is, "indifference to human life [and] the justification of mass killing".
Proud of his achievements in the advancement of homosexuality, he also looks upon the illicit affairs of politicians - not with any moral disdain - but with a "fairly worldly eye".
Tony Blair is not alone. His book makes it clear that his kind is the norm in governments throughout the "free" world. A sad state of affairs!
Walter Clarkson
Bangkok