Guilt is 'irrelevant'

re: "Anupong dodges criticism in speed gun fiasco" (BP, October 21)

Dear editor,
As the responsible minister who signed off on the deal, the general's defense is every bit as solid as Yingluck's when found guilty of failing to exercise proper oversight of the rice pledging scheme she was responsible for overseeing and signed off on. When will the equally impartial prosecution of the Interior Minister be forwarded to the court for political office holders?

But we see now how very prescient were the ruling politicians unelected to generously award themselves, immediately after overthrowing the highest rule of law of the Thai nation, a full amnesty for past, present and future acts: guilt is irrelevant, not being subject to any test in the same courts of law that apply to the political players on the "bad" side who have no such amnesty because the outraged voice of the Thai people, democratically heard, rightly prevented such a corruption of justice.

 Felix Qui

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The above letter to the editor is the text as submitted by Felix Qui to the Bangkok Post.

The text as edited was published in PostBag on October 28, 2017, under the title "Guilt is 'irrelevant'" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1350050/proud-to-help-out
  

Facing up to roadmap

re: "Facebook denies PM-Zuckerberg meeting" (BP, October 19)

Dear editor,
It is all another misunderstanding put about by those with bad attitudes to the politicians so selflessly serving the Thai nation these last few years.

According to the road-map based on the reformed calendar for Thailand 4.0, Mr. Mark is arriving as promised on October 37, a couple of days after the elections that will definitely take place no later than November 33 of 2018 according to the reformed Thai calendar 4.0. When so correctly understood, all reforms are coming along exactly as promised by the road-map.

 Felix Qui

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The above letter to the editor is the text as submitted by Felix Qui to the Bangkok Post.

The text as edited was published in PostBag on October 21, 2017, under the title "Facing up to roadmap" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1346554/not-feeling-blessed
  

Not the people's pick

re: "Don't knock the polls" (Postbag, BP, October 8)

Dear editor,
The recent series of letters by Jack Gilead and others arguing whether polls accurately reflect the PM's popularity misses the more important point: however popular he might truly be, even if he has the same truly massive popularity as North Korea's ever smiling dictator, that cannot alter the fact that he remains not a man elected to govern the Thai people by the Thai people according to the will of the Thai people under the good morals of democratic principle.

He is truly popular? Quite possibly! That signifies nothing of worth, certainly nothing equivalent to sound democratic credentials or good morals, neither of which are entailed by doing incredibly well in a popularity contest under a rule of law characterized by censorship and intimidation that has forced respected academics into exile, and that has imprisoned such exemplary Thai citizens as the international award winning Jatupat Boonpatararaksa (Pai Dao Din) in strict accord with the rule of law made up for such purposes.

If popularity in polls were a reliable indicator of moral stature, that would make both Thaksin and Yingluck paragon's of excellence, something that I would have trouble conceding, although they do at least have the virtue of having been elected by the formerly free Thai people to govern the Thai nation, and unlike a popularity poll, that is of some worth deserving respect.

 Felix Qui

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The above letter to the editor is the text as submitted by Felix Qui to the Bangkok Post.

The text as edited was published in PostBag on October 10, 2017, under the title "Not the people's pick" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1339883/not-the-peoples-pick
  

Justice doesn't last

re: "Corrections chief eyes reform" (BP, October 3)

Dear editor,
It is a welcome hint of reform of bad old thinking to see a chief of prisons who acknowledges grave defects of long standing in Thailand's antiquated prison system. When a society imprisons citizens, those citizens do not stop being human beings and must be treated with the respect any human person deserves, which means that society has an obligation to provide decent conditions for those it locks away to protect itself from them.

And as the new chief says, many of those unjustly crowded into Thailand's prisons should never have been sent there in the first place: it only harms them, their families and Thai society to imprison them when other options would be both more moral and effective in reducing harms to society. As the Portuguese and other evidence consistently shows, for example, we know that decriminalizing drug use (all drug use by adults) is a far more effective solution to the harms of drug abuse than is throwing mainly young offenders of poor means into prison for indefensibly long periods at great cost to all concerned, save of course the mafia scum and their loyal officials who are the sole beneficiaries of such a misguided response to very real drug problems.

With such sound reforms in mind, how long can this man of vision last before being shunted out to avoid upsetting the mafia scum and their colluding officials in all areas of the "justice" system?

 Felix Qui

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The above letter to the editor is the text as submitted by Felix Qui to the Bangkok Post.

The text as edited was published in PostBag on October 5, 2017, under the title "Justice doesn't last" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1336927/religious-business