Uncharted seas

re: "Stop chaos in its tracks" (PostBag, October 29)

Dear editor,

When Dusit Thammaraks appears to extol the new army commander for threatening a coup on the grounds that "He made it clear that the army would uphold the monarchy and protect the constitution," he seems to overlook that a coup necessarily, by definition, overthrows the constitution, the supreme legal foundation of the nation, and that in Thailand's case, the constitution so overthrown is what also founds the democratic constitutional monarchy of the Thai nation. To be loyal to Thailand's form of democratic constitutional monarchy, you must, indeed, uphold and protect the constitution of the Thai nation.

Mr Thammaraks goes on to suggest that voters in the upcoming election, which might well come to pass sometime next year as promised, ask themselves some very pertinent questions. They are solid questions of the sort that voters should indeed be asking themselves of politicians who aspire be leaders of their nation. He specifically asks us to consider whether these "politicians have a proven record of loyal service to their country, coupled with dedication, honesty and integrity? Did their wealth result from hard work, or from the benevolent hands of parents and family? And what might be their real motivation and agenda?" Since they appear to be threatening to continue their own political careers, I was, I confess, a bit disappointed that  Mr Thammaraks did not also go on to answer his own very pertinent questions for the currently ruling politicians who seized power in 2014 by overthrowing the constitution of the Thai nation.

 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 30, 2018, under the title "Uncharted seas" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1566814/coup-ban-can
  

Butchers' logic

re: "Organ-less kitty 'needs necropsy now'" (BP, October 24)

Dear editor,

If true, the alleged killing by torture of the kitten warrants all the disgusted outrage it has occasioned. But honestly, is it any worse than the treatment meted out on a daily basis to the factory farmed pigs and chickens that chicken and pork consumers pay others to inflict on those animals for no better reason than to feed a lust for tasty animal flesh? In 2018, we do not need to eat meat, certainly not in the vast quantities that, contrary to medical advice, we tend to shovel into ourselves.

Whilst understandable, it is irrational moral hypocrisy to get in a tizzy over one person brutally killing a kitten for money whist happily paying others very well to inflict similar suffering unto death on far more animals on a daily basis. And whilst I'm not a vegetarian, those who advocate vegetarianism on the grounds that eating meat causes needless, and therefore unjustifiable, suffering do make a point that we meat eaters need to address. Even more challenging to reflect on is what justifies treating other animals that can suffer differently to how we treat humans when it comes to killing them. It is telling that, when philosopher Peter Singer followed through the logic here, the response from those incensed at the implications of how speciesism, which proffers only the lame excuse that "we're human and they're not", not only fails to justify the mass daily slaughter of non-human animals, but that the only sound answers to it require that both abortion on request and euthanasia under some circumstances be accepted, he received death threats!

Sound, rational thinking, as Socrates discovered in democratic Athens in 399 BC, can be a deadly business. The recent murder of Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi state operatives for engaging in rational discussion illustrates the same point, as do the shameful episodes of Thailand's October 1973, 1976 and Black May killings by state officials. These modern events reflect the same feudal mindset against the good morals of critical inquiry that continue to underlie the imprisonment or self-exile of patriots for such "crimes" as engaging in critical discussion or merely liking on Facebook an article from a respected media source whose accuracy has never been rebutted, and the even more brutal media and online censorship that some nations engage in to enforce ignorance of national issues, history and figures. Contrary to the propaganda of despots, contrary even to much traditional majority consensus, respect for critical reasoning goes hand in hand with other good morals.

 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 25, 2018, under the title "Butchers' logic" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1564142/pilots-in-a-pickle
  

Moral quagmire

re: "THAI union leader slams pilots' lack of 'the right spirit'" (BP, October 22)

Dear editor,

Thai Airways International labour union president is right on both counts: the pilots who wilfully damaged their employer, their nation, and paying customers had a legal right according to the rule of law to a first class seat, but good morals demanded that they not exercise that purely legal entitlement.

Exactly the same is true of politicians and those playing at politics. Thaksin had, for example, along with Singapore's morally challenged leaders among others, a strictly legal right to file law suits to stifle opinions found offensive, but healthy moral norms for a democracy ask such people to refrain from using the force of law to protect themselves from insults and other abuse, however tasteless or of dubious veracity.

Thai International's pilots, it appears, have learned all too well their selfishly bad morals from the example of Thai political leaders, past and present. The spirit of the Buddha's teachings is better than this arrogant imposition under the guise of strict legalism that contradicts good morals.

 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 24, 2018, under the title "Moral quagmire" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1563406/bell-tolls-for-coups
  

Trotting excuses

re: "Army chief says no need to intervene if politics stable" (BP, October 17)

Dear editor,

There were a couple of troubling statements in the new army chief's recent news conference as reported in "Army chief says no need to intervene if politics stable." First, when he says that "We [the army] cannot let politics use us," the general appears unaware of the fact that it is, on the contrary, army generals who have persistently played at politics, repeatedly using the weakest of excuses to overthrow Thailand's democratic form of government.

Second, when he asserts the conditional that "If politics does not create conflict like in the past, there is no need for us to intervene," he fails to  forswear absolutely such unjust intervention in Thailand's evolution of political solutions to political issues. His loyalty should be to Thailand's democratic constitutional monarchy, which loyalty would seem to preclude a coup against that form of government of the Thai nation.

There are excuses trotted out for every coup against the democratic aspirations of the Thai nation, all of which fail to pass scrutiny. That there is corruption in politics is certain: it is there in both civil and military governments, but only one of these forms values the transparency essential to identify and eradicate the cancer of corruption. It is also certain that protests sometimes turn violent. But to think that these or any other defect in politics can be solved by a non-political intervention that destroys what little democratic maturity has evolved  is a mistake. It is equivalent to a Victor Frankenstein who, quite possibly from the best of motives, decides to treat cancer by cremating the patient. This might well give a deceptive appearance of working since, although continuing to infest others, the cancer in those prejudicially targetted subjects who are cremated will indeed be destroyed; but reasonable people might prefer a solution that  seeks to treat the cancer in all those infected in a way that is less certainly destructive of what truly matters.

As the history of the US, the UK, Australia, Italy, Japan and all others show, every democracy has problems. As history also shows they can be, those problems should be solved by political means, not by suppressing such solutions: cancer patients are not well-served if doctors who use chemotherapy, radiation therapy or surgery are banned from assisting those in urgent need, who are instead thrown onto a bonfire to the vanities of self-styled saviours.

 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 19, 2018, under the title "Trotting excuses" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1560694/trotting-excuses
  

The coupist straitjacket

re: "20-year National Strategy comes into effect" (BP, October 13)

Dear editor,

On reading the wondrous promises of The first National Strategy, which is intended to lock Thailand up until 2037, one is not only reminded of the equally wondrous promises that Stalin's and Mao's national development plans made for the Soviet Union and China; one wonders also how collecting luxury watches from dead best friends is an example of sustainable sufficiency economics. While ever more are needed, the supply of dying best mates to collect them from is not obviously renewable; unless, of course, a new crop of such willing contributors comes with each new coup or extension thereof, thereby ensuring the desired sustainability providing a sufficient number of luxury pieces for flapping wrists.

Meanwhile, the rude reality of historical evidence, with such exemplary failures as China under Mao and the Soviet Union under Stalin and his successors, shows a strong correlation between democratic liberties and healthy national development, which is not surprising since, unless people are free to experiment with new ways and critically question old habits, customs and dogmas, mistakes cannot be corrected, wrongs cannot be righted, corruption cannot be eradicated, nor new circumstances adapted to. The coupists' straitjacket is a recipe for stultification and retarded growth. But they have certainly paid themselves sufficiently well to make it up.

 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 16, 2018, under the title "The coupist straitjacket" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1558626/support-young-mums
  

Enduring legacies

re: "2 great kings to be feted this month" (BP, October 10)

Dear editor,

King Chulalongkorn, Rama V, indisputably deserves the admiration accorded him for decades. Not least among his achievements that earned him the title "Great," are those reforms that helped to move the Thai nation firmly into the technologically and morally developing twentieth century. Not only did this great king willingly act to abolish the ancient tradition of slavery, as early as 1873 (Royal Gazette), he ended the feudal practice of prostration, arguing that such relics of a bygone era did not suit the modern nation he sought to forge for the Thai people. Like other great leaders, he welcomed ideas from outside to strengthen in all ways the nation he led, including the democratic values of the Enlightenment.

Who would not respect this great Thai reformer whose visionary mindset revised old ways to more fully respect the human dignity of all of his subjects?

Thailand is fortunate that this great king's example of modernizing has been followed by his successors, including such tireless advocates of progress as Prince Mahidol Adulyadej, who was instrumental in bringing modern medicine to the Thai nation, and the Prince's son, the late King Bhumipol Adulyadej, whose wisdom, as seen for example of his comments on Thailand's lese majeste laws, made in his birthday speech of 2005, must earn the respect of those who value human rights and decency. These descendants of King Chulalongkorn shared both Western education and their great ancestor's willingness to embrace ways of thinking beyond Thai tradition, thereby following in and confirming Rama V's enduring legacy to the modern Thai nation.

 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 13, 2018, under the title "Enduring legacies" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1557322/egregious-whistles
  

'Democratic' dictators

re: "Democrats 'may back regime'" (BP, October 10)

Dear editor,

The problem when "Mr Abhisit insisted that the party under his leadership would not support dictatorship," is that supporting dictatorship is exactly what the Democrat Party under his watch did in the lead up to the 2014 coup that overthrew Thailand's form of democratic constitutional government. Under Mr. Abhisit's leadership, his party has earned its international reputation as being "hilariously misnamed" (Time, November 2013). Either Mr. Abhisit fails to accurately state his own leanings, or he is a wash out as leader, having spectacularly failed to lead his party to respect anything like democracy, democratic values or democratic process.

 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 11, 2018, under the title "'Democratic' dictators" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1555874/get-tough-on-poachers
  

Cops wasting their time

re: "Unit owners at 'temple bell' condo face immigration fines" (BP, October 8)

Dear editor,

The official pettiness of raging Thainess that refuses to waste scarce police resources on actual crimes like murder, rape, theft, fraud or corruption when you can harass good people who have done nothing wrong save to ignore a law that invades their private concerns is not unexpected.

It is a timely reminder that some laws, like many traditional customs, are, as Shakespeare has Hamlet put it, "More honor'd in the breach than the observance."

 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, 2018, under the title "Cops wasting their time" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1555194/a-nobel-prize-for-love
  

Voice of a junta-phile

re: "Misconstrued sarcasm" (PostBag, October 3)

Dear editor,

Thank you Somsak Pola. Your letter of September 30 was a wonderful opportunity to reply to, so perfectly capturing as it does the voice of the junta-phile. On reading it again, I can see that my sarcasm detector does need recalibration for these post-Orwellian times in Thailand. (In fact, your name under it should have alerted me. My apologies for my mistake.)

 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 4, 2018, under the title "Voice of a junta-phile" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1551774/rankings-no-surprise
  

Besting Thaksin

re: "Prayut apeing Thaksin" (BP, PostBag, 2018, October 1)

Dear editor,

In his letter, "Prayut apeing Thaksin" (PostBag, October 1), Somsak Pola might indeed be correct that the army boys who stole the nation from the Thai people by overthrowing Thailand's previously existing form of democratic constitutional monarchy are merely copying Thaksin; that would mean only that Thaksin might also be guilty of acting like Thaksin. It cannot excuse others who out-Thaksin even Thaksin's examples.

The current Minister of Defence and Deputy PM general (retired), has explicitly stated that the devices had been tested and were found to work as claimed. Now, it is entirely plausible that Thaksin also set an example of lying among his various honest mistakes, but that does not make later lies by others any the less lies or any less excusable. If the army signed off on the GT200s and persisted in their defence of the plainly indefensible, then they are guilty of, at the very least, gross incompetence that renders them unfit to serve as soldiers, let alone to dictate to the entire nation they have further corrupted by suppressing democracy and its healthy mechanisms in ways that Thaksin could never dream of. Thaksin, after all, did not amnesty himself as the politicians now dictating promptly did after giving themselves absolute power to, among other rewards of seized power, divert vast funds to the group that they have since officially retired from to become full time politicians in hyper-versions of Thaksin at his worst, absent the restraints of democratic principles and processes.

Whilst Thaksin will doubtless be pleased to note that there are those who still look backwards to his ways as exemplary, many of the the rest of us would prefer that Thailand move forward.

 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 2, 2018, under the title "Besting Thaksin" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1550382/future-learning