Hardly democratic

re: "Other names could be put up for PM's job" (BP, June 26, 2023) 

Dear editor,

Senator Akanit Muensawad and his colleagues play a blunt game by threatening to use the proposed modest amendments to the lese majeste laws in the direction of justice as an excuse to deny Pita Limjaroenrat the opportunity to serve the nation as prime minister.  Move Forward's proposal, which may well already have majority support, no one having solid evidence to the contrary, is certainly in the best interests of a respectable and respected future for the institution that the lese majeste law is supposed to protect in an evolving Thai nation that aspires to a healthy "democratic regime of government with the King as Head of State," as section 2 of the current and multiple former Thai Constitutions describes it.

The senate should not have any say in the nomination and appointment of the prime minister of Thailand by parliament. Move Forward should require only the support of 251 members of the House of Representatives, which it comfortably has. That Pita Limjaroenrat, the popular choice for prime minister of the coalition parties working to form the next government of the Thai people, requires not 251 votes of support in the House of Representatives but a much higher 376 votes from the combined houses of parliament is one of the undemocratic defects built into the current constitution made up at the behest of those who committed a coup that overthrew the previous constitution of the Thai nation along with its  "democratic regime of government with the King as Head of State."

The requirement for 376 votes is, nonetheless, the law as it now stands, manifestly unjust though that law be in contradicting democratic principle. If Pita is not elected as prime minister as nominated by the representatives of the Thai people because the senate refuses to comport themselves in accord with the clear will of the nation, then the excuses the senate gives for that denial of the will of the people will rightly be blamed for that outcome. The senate, therefore, would seem to be threatening to undermine existing faith in and respect for the excuses it uses to justify rejecting the people's will. It is, therefore, the senate that is perhaps the more likely to inflict greater, more enduring and more immediate damage on what it professes to value so much that it cannot support Move Forward's Pita Limjaroenrat for the position of prime minister of Thailand. 

 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 June 28, 2023, under the title "Hardly democratic" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2600841/keep-it-timely

Uniformed approach

re: "Conflicting values" (BP, PostBag, June 23, 2023)

Dear editor,

In his discussion of the historical and current pros and cons of school uniforms, Sam Wright makes points that are both accurate and pertinent, and with all which I agree. I would, however,  make one correction. In my letter as published, I did not mention school uniforms, nor  express any opinion on either their merits or demerits. I went to private schools for all of my primary and secondary education, and we wore uniforms. As private institutions, I think my schools had the right to set such policy and expect it to be followed. Later at university, it was rather fun to don academic robes for special occasions, but my education there proceeded perfectly well in regular dress.

In my letter that Mr Wright cited, there was precisely one comment referring to uniforms. It was in the sentence: "Should respect for the rights of others be expected of school children but not of social leaders got up in pretty uniforms, or vice versa?" For some reason, PostBag's editor decided in their wisdom not to publish that sole comment on uniforms. As the sentence suggests, I agree with Mr Wright that values matter more than dress, both in and out of school. 

Therein lies the problem with uniforms in Thailand. They are associated with the ugly mindset of being superior, with being a member of a "better", even a sacred, group in society. In many cases that presumed superiority is an empty illusion, however prettily dressed up. The uniform that doctors and nurses wear does rightly reflect that the wearer is more competent in the field of medicine. In the case of politicians dressing up like army officers on a formal mess night, it is not clear that those uniforms reflect anything of value and perhaps contradict the fact that the wearers represent the great variety of the people who elected them. Uniforms for elected politicians should be abolished. 

As for schools, teachers should stop setting the unfortunate example of sometimes dressing up as though they were military personnel, complete with ribbons of rank and gilded epaulettes. That aping of military discipline sends entirely the wrong message to students. 

 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 June 24, 2023, under the title "Uniformed approach" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2598541/stirring-the-pot

Drastic options

re: "Prophetic talk" (BP, PostBag, June 22, 2023) 

Dear editor,

Vint Chavala, is correct that "Mr Thanathorn deserves an accolade for being such an influential model on freedom of expression in Thailand." He will be thrilled to hear the good news that on May 14 last the Thai nation bestowed that justly deserved award when it voted in such stunning numbers for the Move Forward party. That was a solid accolade for free speech that lights up the dark places where corruption thrives sequestered from the light.

After decades of authoritarian, legalistically enforced darkness, patriotic Thais such as the young Thanalop “Yok” Phalanchai and the hundreds of others unjustly imprisoned in strict accord with bad law that criminalizes honest, peaceful speech have courageously brought forth some glimmers of light upon the nation. Should the traditional forces of darkness succeed in denying Move Forward the task of serving as prime minister, which assault against the Thai people's choice is currently being waged by lawfare that perverts justice, they might well win next month and go on to  to maintain their beloved gloom over Thai society for the immediate future, but at a high cost to themselves. Such acts lucidly laying bare just how unhinged from justice, benevolence and other good values are Thai law and the authoritative systems it serves might also open a lot more Thai eyes to the light. 

Let us indulge one scenario: perhaps by the offer to the exiled Thaksin Shinawatra of a jail-free return to the bosom of the elite, Pheu Thai might be tempted to pull a Democrat Party and betray its own base by joining with those traditionalists tainted by complicity in coups; but Pheu Thai's base, like that of Move Forward, long for real democracy. Would Pheu Thai fall for a cheap lure so disastrous to themselves next election? The dark ones' immediate success this week or next in shutting down the glimmers lighting up the Thai prospect under a governing coalition led by Move Forward might well ignite a super nova that engulfs themselves. They might do better to learn to live with some grace in the world of light. 

 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 June 23, 2023, under the title "Drastic options" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2597601/conflicting-values

Slippery stuff

re: "Yok as a political pawn" (BP, Editorial, June 19, 2023) 

Dear editor,

In its editorial ostensibly railing against the politicization of the 15-year-old Thanalop "Yok" Phalanchai, who they apparently did not think to contact to directly learn her side, the Bangkok Post concludes with talk of "upholding the moral values expected from most students." Oddly, or typically, there was no discussion of what those moral values might be. There was no discussion of whether those moral values might be decent or not. Even more oddly, or typically, there was no indication of whether the rest of society, for example teachers, parents, national leaders, heads of state, and so on, should uphold the same moral values.

Does the Post think that there is one set of moral values for students and some other set of moral values for other groups? That would be an interesting position to take. Should honesty be expected of doctors and other professionals but not of school children, or vice versa? Should respect for the rights of others be expected of school children but not of social leaders got up in pretty uniforms, or vice versa? Such moral relativism by social group quickly gets weird.

And then there is the issue that the Post's editorial oddly glosses over. At the heart of the issue that the courageous and arguably patriotic Yok has raised is that Thai law criminalizes peaceful, honest speech. That is, after all, the reason that led to Yok being arrested, thereby leading to the just public outrage, including editorials from the Bangkok Post. Exactly what sort of moral value is it that criminalizes peaceful open dialogue on matters of national importance, even to the extreme of arresting children? What sort of society, or group within society, condones law that enshrines that sort of moral value? 

Perhaps the true lesson that the Post failed to draw is that the traditionally upheld moral values forced on others by those preaching rather than following them are in serious need of an update to bring them into line with good morals. Or perhaps the same set of moral values should apply equally to and be upheld equally by all? 

Since open dialogue is a necessary condition for correcting errors and improving our understanding in the moral realm as much as in the scientific, I would suggest that, however offensive some might find honest opinions that are soundly supported, respect for such free speech that critically questions is foundational.  We might not have to change the law to follow the passionately advocated positions some might hold, but unless they are listened to and their arguments addressed, there can be no confident holding that the law or the moral values it purports to uphold are in fact morally decent. 

 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 June 22, 2023, under the title "Slippery stuff" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2597120/slippery-stuff

Protests on horizon

re: "New govt may face street protests: poll" (BP, June 18, 2023) 

Dear editor,

It should be seen as a healthy sign that a NIDA poll suggests that, irrespective of what who forms it, many believe there will be protests when Thailand's new government takes office. Protests show that members of society can and do disagree. This is normal. It is honest. It is also a lesson that those who falsely claim universal agreement with or unquestionable righteousness for their pet ideologies would do well to learn, and to accept. Save in logic and mathematics, there are no such infallible truths, hence the need to insist that all substantive claims be open to debate. 

Since no society worth the name has or even could have universal agreement on all matters that matter deeply to its individual members, strong disagreement is not to be run from in fear. Some will be theists insisting that theirs alone is the one true god, others will be atheists preferring reason and reality to mythic tales. Some will be royalists, others republican: both have an equal right to expression. Some will be libertarian, others communist: no big deal provided the equal right of all to peacefully present their case is strongly protected by law. Some will even think that regions of the nation should be able to discuss why they should be expected to remain a part of that "one and indivisible kingdom" (Thai Consts. 2007, 2014, 2017, et al. Sect. 1). Again, the best way to resolve such very real differences of opinion is by open dialogue where reasons are presented by both sides to persuade. The use of repressive law to shut down dialogue is no recipe for unity or for peace, nor does such  suppression respect democratic principle. 

Provided they are peaceful and not like the PDRC mobs of 2014, who boasted of their intent not only to "Shut down Bangkok, but to overthrow Thailand's "democratic regime of government with the King as Head of State" (Thai Consts. 2007, 2014, 2017, et al. Sect. 2) by instigating yet another coup against the nation, protests should be, if not welcomed, at least accepted as a sign of political, social and moral maturity. 

 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 June 21, 2023, under the title "Protests on horizon" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2596161/lacking-mandate

re: "No Culture for Alienated Men"

re: "No Culture for Alienated Men" (The New York Times, June 17, 2023)

Whilst he might not offer solutions, Mr Douthat does at least delineate a problem with traditional conceptions of masculinity. 

If any of the gods existed, it would be their fault for having made such seriously botched men, and for then failing to update their products. In their absence, mindless nature is the prime culprit, one from which we can't escape. In the absence of divine creators, blind nature, accidents of insemination and environment, makes us all exactly what we are, including the Kaczynskis, the Berlusconis and the Cormacs, along with the Jesuses, the Socrates, and the Cormacs. 

Nature, in the meantime, continues as it always has.  

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The above comment was submitted by Felix Qui to The New York Times article.

It is published there at https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/17/opinion/ted-kaczynski-silvio-berlusconi-cormac-mccarthy.html#commentsContainer&permid=125804646:125804646

Back poll claims

re: "Not the majority" (BP, PostBag, June 13, 2023) 

Dear editor,

As an essential premise in his argument against the very popular Move Forward Party, which is known to have won 36% of the vote in the recent election, Vint Chavala asserts that "According to the polls, most Thais want Thailand to be a country with the King as the head of state as stipulated in the constitution." He then declines to give the all important percentages or to cite the sources for that bold claim based on those uncited polls. 

Encouraging as it is to be assured that such polls have in fact been done, Mr Chavala really does need to cite them. It will also help his argument to report the exact percentages for the different questions polled. It would, in addition, be extremely useful to see the direction and speed at which those percentages are changing by comparing the results of polls done at different times. 

Vint Chavala, please share where those polls you had in mind can be accessed. 

 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 June 16, 2023, under the title "Back poll claims" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2592951/wage-frustration

Wrong examples

re: "On Chiang's orders" and "Just for defence" (BP, PostBag, June 10, 2023) 

Dear editor,

If I might defend by slightly revising Eric Bahrt's more important point in this instance against the useful historical corrective provided by Przemo Kranz, Taiwan, like South Korea, only truly flourished from the 1980s on, after it had managed to free itself of the curse of military interference in civil matters. In this regard, Burin Kantabutra's timely letter published on the same day, "Just for defence", is yet another reminder that Thailand's growth, culturally and economically as well as socially and politically, has been severely stunted for many decades because the Thai people have been persistently denied that same exorcism of unholy military interference in matters having nothing to do with the defence of the realm from external enemies.

In his letter, "On Chiang's orders", Mr Kranz makes the highly pertinent point that Taiwan has very dark deeds in its history. This makes Taiwan the same as every other nation. As a personal example, my own country, Australia, continues to grapple with the genocidal policies against our Aboriginal people, whose outright abuse by the British colonizers, later joined by other Europeans fleeing brutish lives for better, continued well into the 20th century, and arguably beyond. Nor did Australia escape the institutionalized depredations of socially respected clergy of the imported Catholic sect of the Christian religion preying on children. These are indeed evil. Such evil needs be recognized and called out as such, irrespective of the fake, undeserved good name of perpetrators from the political or other institutions that committed it.

This is where the difference between Taiwan and China is salient. The people of Taiwan can freely investigate, discover, speak out about and memorialize the victims of abuses formerly committed by their nation's institutions, such as those cited by Mr Kranz. The people of China are denied that basic human right. They are kept in ignorance of their own history by despotic rulers who know that the truth damns them, hence the desperate need to viciously suppress free speech. China ruthlessly censors the commemoration by Chinese citizens of the evil committed at Tian An Men in 1989. 

If it is to flourish as they have, Thailand should follow the progressive examples of Taiwan and South Korea, not the repressive lead of China or North Korea. 

 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 June 14, 2023, under the title "Wrong examples" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2590459/questions-remain

Radical stuff

re: "And the winner is — Thai Buddhism" (BP, Opinion, May 31, 2023) 

Dear editor,

Stephen B Young’s opinion piece explaining the result of the May 14 election was highly informative. It was, in fact, enlightening, presenting as it does a radical new analysis of some traditional aspects of the pillars of Thai culture. 

The first telling insight Mr Young provides is that “those with baramee have willing and loyal followers; those with such followers win elections.” On this measure, it would be hard to imagine any Thai of recent decades, arguably since 1932, incarnating baramee so thoroughly as former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose well-known election successes exceed those of all others.

This endowment with baramee is further confirmed by the qualification that “Those who do so [provide balance and moderation in their living] reliably can provide stability and sustainability for others who, in turn, respect their charisma and take them for personal patrons.” Again, no one so much as Thaksin, who was re-elected precisely because his devotees saw in him the ability to bring a modest sufficiency of stability and balance to their hitherto highly precarious lives subject to official whims demanding service and submission to the uniformed of all stripes, exemplifies this quality so clearly as Thaksin. 

It was presumably the Thai Buddhist notion of making merit that can be transferred via proper propitiation of the karmic bureaucracy that subsequently lead so many good Thais to believe that Thaksin’s serious accumulation of baramee had been transferred to his chosen family members of the blood, which transfer of merit was responsible for the great success, first of his sister Yingluck, and most recently of his daughter Paetongtarn, albeit with significant diminution of the family sufficiency of baramee and other virtues.

It is here, in Unging's less stellar performance, however, that Mr Young shows the subtlety of his analysis when he introduces the opposing concept of bossism (we can dispense with the quotation marks). Mr Young is surely correct when he equates bossism with “the paternalistic hierarchy of the military/bureaucratic complex revolving around the central government,” which he further clarifies as being “that social structure [which] depends on submissive feelings of grengchai in relation to organisational seniors and social patrons and mentors."

This demonstrates that both baramee and bossism can reside simultaneously in the same individual, as they clearly did in the case of Thaksin, who was also famous for his dubious respect for democratic principle, in particular for free speech. The same is apparent in the recent election’s rejection of those who similarly claim to be imbued with baramee or other positive virtues such as benevolence, whilst at the same time relying on such pure bossism as law that explicitly rejects the notion of respecting peaceful free speech that alone can lead to freely given respect. 

Using the law to command, under pain of serious punishment, nothing less than a show of submissive grengchai, is, as Mr Young has rightly elucidated, the very antithesis of baramee. 

The alternative explanation for the election results of May 14 is not that Thailand suddenly converted from the supremely hierarchical religion known as Thai Buddhism to the Buddha’s actual teachings some time between 2014 and 2023, but that an increasing number of Thais had their eyes opened and decided in favour of liberal democracy founded on justice. 

I can’t recall when I’ve read anything so inspiringly radical in the Bangkok Post. 

 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 June 12, 2023, under the title "Radical stuff" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2589775/the-people-speak

Pointless bans

re: "MFP slams holiday booze ban" (BP, June 5, 2023) 

Dear editor,

Move Forward is right that the current bans on the sale of the drug alcohol on Buddhist holy days should be ended. Buddhists who take their religion seriously already abstain from alcohol and other drugs on such holidays exactly as they do on every other day of the year for exactly the same reason: that such drug use is contrary to their deep religious beliefs. That a small percentage of Thai adults actually follow that Buddhist principle is no just reason to force their religious precept on everyone else in society. If such reasoning for a ban were actually sound, it would be equally reasonable to ban the eating of meat, which typically involves a meat eater paying others to kill for them for no better reason than to enjoy the delicious taste of purely recreational meat consumption, often to a medically harmful extent, a reality that plainly violates the First Precept of Buddhism as largely ignored by Thai Buddhism.

The pro-ban excuse from Phetchawat Wattanapongsirikul, a list-MP candidate for the Pheu Thai Party, is even weaker since he presents zero evidence that such a ban on the sale of the popular drug actually "helps prevent road accidents caused by drink-driving." As even Songkran Pakchokdee, director of the StopDrink Network Office concedes, "People can still stock up in advance for consumption at their homes, anyway," making any causal relationship between interfering with adults buying alcohol on Buddhist holy days unlikely. What does, or could were it enforced, prevent road deaths and carnage caused by alcohol use is the consistent enforcement of drink-driving laws.

Unlike a ban on the recreational use of alcohol by adults, which would violate their liberty to decide how best to pursue a happy, meaningful life for themselves (however foolish and self-harming the rest of us might think their choices), banning driving under the influence of drugs does not violate any right, but protects others in society from a very real threat to their own life and well-being. That is why such behaviour, but not the drug itself, may be justly banned by law, as is similarly the case for every drug in popular recreational use by adults. 

 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 June 6, 2023, under the title "Pointless bans" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2585756/hazardous-waste

We still need plumbers

re: "Is AI out for your job?" (BP, Opinion, May 29, 2023) 

Dear editor,

Tatat Bunnag blithely writes that "Jobs that involve creative thinking, complex problem-solving and human interaction are less likely to be fully replaced by AI. We do things that AI cannot do yet." He then gives not a single example of what such jobs might be. They are not Bangkok Post opinion writers, a job Chat GPT appears quite competent to do, if not last year, then likely next year.

As a quick test, I asked Chat GPT to: "write a 400 word essay for the title: 'Is AI out for your job?'" A few seconds later, I had a well-constructed essay developing sound arguments in excellent English. It included the sentence: "This can free up human workers from mundane and time-consuming tasks, allowing them to focus on more value-added activities that require creativity, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence" — including perhaps writing opinion pieces for the Bangkok Post.

But Mr Bunnag need not despair. Chat GPT also points out in another well-placed sentence that "This has led to the emergence of new job roles such as AI engineers, data scientists, and machine learning specialists." All that is needed is for the Post's author to put his innate mathematics skills to use with a spot of upskilling in that burgeoning field.

Alternatively, I suspect that Chat GPT and its rapidly evolving siblings probably can't replace plumbers yet. There might be an opening for some upskilling in that area at a local vocational college. 

 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 June 4, 2023, under the title "We still need plumbers" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2584646/talk-to-the-generals

Heart of the problem

re: "Lawyer group calls to screen lese majeste complaints" (BP, May 27, 2023) 

Dear editor,

The suggestion by the Lawyer's Association of Thailand for a panel to screen them before any lèse-majesté charge is pursued by the police and courts is to be commended. It is a constructive effort to protect the highest institution from the harm being done to it by zealots who abuse the existing lèse-majesté (LM) laws, section 112 of Criminal Code, to suppress peaceful speech that is perfectly consistent with justice and democratic principle. Their proposal does not, however, go to the heart of the problem to which the current law and its abuse exposes Thailand's monarchy at the frantically active hands of the overly protective.

The best proposal on offer to genuinely  protect the institution from the persistent harm done its reputation by headlines reporting the arrest and incarceration without bail of yet more people, including 15 year olds for "crimes" committed when 14 years of age, are the sensible amendments to the LM laws proposed by Move Forward. Unless and until that is done, the good name and reputation of the institution will continue to be undermined by charges brought to suppress peaceful and just free speech. Since it alone is uniquely in the best position to decide when such a serious threat has been made, only the Palace itself should be able to decide when it has been sufficiently harmed or threatened with harm to press such charges, not wholly unsolicited others claiming in their ruthless zealotry to be acting for the sake of the institution. 

 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 June 1, 2023, under the title "Heart of the problem" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2582754/bizarre-claims