On sex and gender

re: "Breaking gender barriers in the clergy" (BP, Opinion, July 22, 2023) 

Dear editor,

It was a pure joy to read the erudite and humane Sanitsuda Ekachai on how those claiming to be Buddhists use the letter of the law to promote their inherited bigotry towards women and LGBTQ people. As she explains, they legalize their sacred texts to flatly contradict Buddhist principles. That same legalization of the Buddha's wisdom seems part and parcel of the Thai religion that presents itself under his name. If people in Thailand or any other country actually followed even the First Precept of Buddhism, their lives and their society would duly reflect that, both on a daily basis in the political realm. Thai customs and behaviour reflect no such commitment to the Buddha's teachings, which appear to be reduced to either strictly inhuman legalization or rampant superstition and trading in merit to bribe the karmic powers. 

For a start, were most Thais genuinely committed to the wisdom encapsulated in the First Precept, we would not see to many eagerly paying good money as they command others to commit a mass slaughter of animals every day for no better reason than to sate a lust for tasty animal flesh. No one needs to eat such unhealthy amounts of meat obtained cheap from the morally dubious infliction of suffering on and killing of sentient beings. The scale of that daily slaughter in Thailand does not seem particularly Buddhist. It isn't. But a legalized interpretation of the First Precept, one that focuses on the strict letter of the law as written, neatly manages to corrupt the plain intent of the humane and compassionate First Precept. The corrupting excuse by legalization is well known: I didn't kill any sentient being, I merely ate the meat after someone else killed it; they killed it on my orders; I paid them well to kill for me. And Don Corleone is not guilty of killing; he merely orders hits by his paid underlings on business associates who fail to freely see reason his way. He never pulls the trigger himself. And of course, there are those in politics who love to insist that all they do is in strict accord with the law, as they blatantly weaponize that law to actively and deliberately thwart justice for the Thai people. 

As to the sex and gender issue to which Ms Ekachai so eruditely and compassionately responded, if it were true that the sacred texts of Buddhism did indeed have a rule against transgender people, that would merely prove that those texts were not a reliable guide to good morals on that point. But religion never is such a guide. Just because the Christian Bible explicitly commands slaves to be obedient to their masters (Titus 2:9, 1 Peter 2:18, et al ) does not actually mean, despite slave holders traditionally citing that sacred text to support their trade in human flesh, that it's morally OK to own slaves. Slavery is wrong, and no number of biblical endorsements can change that, however legalistically interpreted or however hallowed a tradition passed down from generation to generation. 

I suspect that were he to reincarnate today, the Buddha would have the good sense and decency to sternly reprimand those who have built a rich and politically powerful institution using his name. He might, much like the Christian's Jesus is recorded doing in Matthew 21:12-13, wander into one of the impressively gilded temples awash with a true sufficiency of gold and other luxuries to inflate in the ego. And there he might politely reprimand the gathered chiefs and others in some such words as: "For god's sake learn to think. I did not found a hierarchy of tradition-bound law intent on preserving unchanging rules and regulations. Stop using my words to stifle both scientific and moral progress. I was obviously wrong way back then. Have you actually managed to learn nothing new, to make no improving reforms on my old notions in 2,500 years?" 

Bad rules should be corrected. No rule or belief is ever good merely because ancient or said by any particular human being. That it enables the correction of inherited errors of understanding in every field, without exception, is one of the lesser boons of respecting free speech and critical, open discussion on any and all topics. Surely that is the point of the Buddha's truly wise Kalama Sutta (กาลามสูตร). Unlike many who profess to follow him by enforcing strict, oppressive legalism, the Buddha appears a devout fan of critical thinking. His own life as I understand it seems one of constant reform driven by improving understanding: it was certainly not a life of forced stagnation in an idealized past of dubious merit. 

 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 July 29, 2023, under the title "On sex and gender" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2619879/smart-but-no-friends

Where blame lies

re: "Nation warned of lost opportunities" (BP, Business, July 26, 2023) 

Dear editor,

Stanley Kang, former chairman of the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce in Thailand (JFCCT), is not quite right when he repeats the wishful deceit some would put about that "there was no clear winner in the May 14 election." The perfectly clear winner was the will of the Thai people that their nation be reformed in accord with justice and democracy. That is what the eight-party coalition of pro-democracy parties represented when they agreed on a binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) and unanimously nominated Move Forward's Pita Limjaroenrat to serve in the position of prime minister. Nothing there has since changed in the past two months of forced stagnation.

If the JFCCT and others are looking to place well-deserved blame, it is not with the people's properly elected representatives in parliament. They have made every effort to implement the clear will of the Thai people. Nor is it difficult to see where the blame lies.

Following his road map that began with Royal Thai Army General Prayut Chan-cha overthrowing Thailand's popular "democratic regime of government with the King as Head of State" (Sect. 2, Constitution of the Kingdom or Thailand, 2007, 2014, & 2017), then Prime Minister Prayut (Gen.) and his are to blame for the last nine years of stunted economic performance that follows from the concomitant stunting of political, social and moral growth.

The senate and colluding bodies that PM (now caretaker, Gen.) Prayut and his road builders set up, along with the law that they had made up, are alone to blame for the ongoing desolation since May 14. 

As Section 3 of the cited set of constitutions current and past declares, "Sovereign power belongs to the Thai people." The people's duly elected representatives in parliament have done their best to realize it; the failure to have already implemented the people's will clearly lies elsewhere. 

 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 July 28, 2023, under the title "Where blame lies" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2619335/where-blame-lies

Choose wisely

re: "Pheu Thai primed to form govt" (BP, July 20, 2023) 

Dear editor,

Pheu Thai, it appears, now has an opportunity to prove to the Thai people whether it favours the boons of liberal democracy as seen in South Korea and Taiwan or whether it prefers Thailand's traditionally enforced feudal mindset where gaudily gilded demons stalk the land plucking rich pickings for themselves whilst brutally suppressing the progress needed to emulate the globally respected flourishing of South Korea and Taiwan, and of every every other nation thriving under liberal democracy. Thailand could and should have followed the path of those two nations, both of which exorcized military interference in civil matters back in the 1980s, but it was prevented from doing so at enormous cost to almost all of the Thai people, who deserve to be much better off in every way than the forced allegiance to despotic myth has reduced them to up to today.

If Pheu Thai genuinely cares for the Thai nation, it will now revise it's position on the reform of Section 112 of the Criminal Code. The abuse by self-serving parties of that law exemplifies more than any other factor what has made Thailand exactly what it is today: a nation where the rule of law is blatantly used to pervert justice for the people, in particular to thwart the Thai people's aspirations for democracy and its fruits both economic and cultural. 

Pheu Thai should now do the right thing by and for the Thai nation. It should unequivocally support Move Forward's modest amendments to the lese majeste law. That will not only protect Thailand's monarchy from the abuse it has suffered for many decades, glaringly so these last two months, by those who use the existing law made up for that most unrighteous and not remotely benevolent purpose to stunt Thailand's long deserved development. That law, as Move Forward and its supporters recognize, embodies the demon-haunted mindset backing brutally enforced ignorance that has retarded Thailand economically by persistently stunting its political, social and moral growth. Will Pheu Thai now choose what is right by and for the people? 

 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 July 24, 2023, under the title "Choose wisely" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2616451/choose-wisely

People's mandate

re: "Senators fight back against post-vote threats" (BP, July 17, 2023) 

Dear editor,

Sensible people must concur with senator Seri Suwannapanon about the intolerable threat posed by "bad behaviour that was  ruining the nation, society and the beautiful lifestyle of Thai people." However, unlike the senator and his colleagues who refuse to respect their will, the sensible voters of Thailand have correctly identified the traditional fonts of that truly "bad behaviour that (is)  ruining the nation, society and the beautiful lifestyle of Thai people." 

That is why Move Forward so quickly became so very popular with the Thai people. That is why it is the will of the nation, as unequivocally expressed through their representatives in the pro-democracy coalition with a solid mandate from the people, that Move Forward's Pita Limjaroenrat become the prime minister of their 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 July 19, 2023, under the title "People's mandate" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2613949/walk-the-talk-

Hiding behind S112

re: "Pita: ‘I’m not giving up’" & "Pita loses first PM vote" (BP, July 13, 2023) 

Dear editor,

As widely reported not only in the Bangkok Post's articles on July 13, but elsewhere both locally and globally, including by the New York Times in its front page article "Junta’s Allies Reject Thai Election Results, Derailing Top Opposition Figure" (July 13), the senators and others who voted, either directly or by abstention, to deny the pro-democracy coalition's choice that Pita Limjaroenrat become the next prime minister of Thailand did so largely on the excuse of protecting the existing lese majeste laws. For that clarification, those who so set themselves against the will of the Thai people, who are the Thai nation, are to be thanked. The Thai people has made its will perfectly clear through its properly elected representatives in the pro-democracy coalition, who unanimously chose Move Forward's Pita Limjaroenrat as their sole nominee to serve the nation in the position of prime minister. That is what was rejected by those who failed to to vote in accord with the duly expressed wishes of the Thai people, the Thai nation, that is. 

That some should hide behind the lese majeste laws as a deceitful excuse is unfortunate. That law as is exists is the antithesis of benevolence, which does not imprison for years on end those who peacefully express an honest opinion, however much some might disagree with any such opinion. Even less do the existing provisions of Section 112 of the Criminal Code comport with righteousness, let alone with justice, neither of which virtues countenance the suppression of honest, peaceful speech. 

Worse, the false claim that Thailand's monarchy needs the protection of such blatantly undemocratic law suggest that there is some inherent defect in the institution that does not apply to the even older monarchies of several flourishing, modern democratic states of Western Europe. Not least among these is the ancient monarchy of England and its fellow members of the Commonwealth, including my own country, Australia, which institution, the current head of which is His Majesty King Charles III,  thrives perfectly well in globally respected democracies that themselves respect the will of the their peoples benevolently, righteously, and justly, each under a "democratic regime of government with the King as Head of State", as Section 3 of its own current (2017), and many former, constitutions describes the Kingdom Thailand.  

How could it not be insulting to suggest, and to taint by such suggestions, that Thailand's monarchy needs anything so contrary to benevolence, to righteous, to justice and to democratic principle as the existing lese majeste laws? Those who genuinely value it would free Thailand's respected institution from such law that appears to put it in in direct conflict with good moral values and with the will of the people. In parliament today, that genuine concern for the well-being of the institution is most apparent in Move Forward, the outstandingly popular choice of the Thai nation's democratically chosen representatives in the pro-democracy coalition, whom the Thai people wish to govern their 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 July 15, 2023, under the title "Hiding behind S112" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2611881/pita-had-no-chance

Wild speculation

re: "Pita's PM hopes hang on a miracle" (BP, Opinion, July 10, 2023) 

Dear editor,

It would be rash to dispute the Bangkok Post's Veera Prateepchaikul when he says of the Thai people, who are the Thai nation, that "most are fed up with the current administration, led by the three 'Por' generals (Prayuth, Prawit and Anupong, aka Pok), and want to see changes for the better." Far less certain is his claim that "It is doubtful that many were aware of the essence of Move Forward Party's bill to amend the lese majeste law or Section 112 of the Criminal Code." 

On the contrary, many, if not most, and perhaps even all, might have voted for Move Forward precisely because that one policy towers above all others in clearly demonstrating the party's loyalty to democratic principle for the sake of the Thai nation. Veera does not know any more than I do what part well-informed knowledge of its proposed amendments to the lese majeste laws prompted Thais to vote for Move Forward. It would be extremely useful were NIDA or some similar body to conduct a series of polls to replace with precise percentages the traditional wild speculation on these issues, about which we are all equally guessing wishfully in ignorance.

Every detail that Veera goes on to list regarding Move Forward's proposed amendments to the lese majeste laws, none of which are secret, is fully in accord with justice and democratic principle. Who who values democracy and justice would not therefore vote for the party that promises such long overdue reform of indefensible law? Veera did not attempt any defence of the existing law, presumably because he knows there is none that holds up to even the most cursory critical scrutiny.

He did, however, point out the senate's sole reasons for failing to honour the mandate of the Thai nation, as expressed through the coalition of pro-democracy parties, is that hoary old slogan "allegiance to the three pillars of the country, namely the nation, religion and the monarchy." But this cannot hold. To the extent that it is anything more than a legal creation, the nation simply is the Thai people. Allegiance to the nation therefore requires that the senate vote for Move Forward's Pita Limjaroenrat as prime minister, he being the nation's choice as properly determined by the people through their elected representatives in parliament. 

 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 July 11, 2023, under the title "Wild speculation" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2609718/incompatible-views

Critically speaking

re: "Democracy practice" (BP, PostBag, July 3, 2023) 

Dear editor,

To Burin Kantabutra's, pragmatic proposals for strengthening allegiance to democracy in schools, it might usefully be added to his third set of suggestions that whether "a given teacher: provide[s] clear explanations? encourage[s] students to ask questions?" applies no less to mathematics, physics and literature than it does to students' instruction in matters of civics and ethics. 

It should be the norm that students are not merely told what is right, good, proper, moral, appropriate or the like subjective value claim, but that rational reasons for those claims be given, with opposing views and their counterarguments invited, presented and taken seriously. 

Could anything be better for society than a cohort of young citizens trained to critically question rather than mindlessly repeat or follow what others insist they value? Putting society's values to such rigorous public testing in the classroom not only practices democracy, it might also enhance student commitment to what has thereby passed the test of being consciously worth committing to. 

 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 July 10, 2023, under the title "Critically speaking" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2608898/sloppy-job

Rethink, Senate

re: "A time for unity" (BP, Editorial, July 6, 2023)

Dear editor,

The Thai Constitution, both the current and many previous, states in Section 3 that "Sovereign power belongs to the Thai people." The people have shown through their properly elected representatives in the pro-democracy coalition that they want Move Forward's Pita Limjaroenrat to be the next prime minister of their nation.  

The trivial number of shares in the non-functioning iTV media company that Pita has previously held on behalf of his late father's estate being a non-issue, the senate has not a single good reason to deny the sovereign will of the Thai people in this matter. It should, as a matter of democratic principle that demonstrates good manners, unanimously support the majority coalition's nominee for prime minister. Should the senate be so reckless as to hide behind alternative but equally lame excuses to deliberately thwart the Thai people's sovereignty in this matter, they will thereby put whatever excuses they so use in direct conflict with the majority of the Thai nation. It is hard to see how such a rejection of the nation's will could be construed as being in any way unifying, helpful, respectful, or remotely wise. 

 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 July 8, 2023, under the title "Rethink, Senate" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2607978/jumbo-torture

Proud of Pride

re: "Don't overdo it" (BP, PostBag, June 29, 2023) 

Dear editor,

Ellis O'Brien seems not to understand the many values of Pride Month. The LGBTQ+ community is proud both of their achievements and of who they are. Both testify to great progress. In mere decades, within my own life time, we have done much to reduce the suffering of fearful LGBTQ+ people desperately seeking some honest human contact while living a lie under constant threat of family rejection, of being thrown into prison, of losing a job, of being poofter bashed for sport, and so on. This is cause for celebration. 

Look at the United Kingdom's disgusting treatment of Alan Turing, for example. Having substantially helped them win the Second World War, the law of the land and its lawful executors forced him in 1952 to choose between prison or castration for the crime of loving another man in perfect accord with how nature had created them. It is only because of the protests, parades, and other efforts of proud LGBTQ+ people over recent decades that England realized very lately how morally repugnant its homophobic laws always were, so much so that in 2021, Turing was put on the £50 note, the highest honour that can be bestowed on an English woman or man. That is serious progress well worth the celebrating for a month. No one, however, forces you to participate or even to watch the celebration.

There remains, nonetheless, much to be done. In countries like Thailand, LGBTQ+ citizens are still denied equality before the law: same-sex marriage is still denied Thais who love someone of the same sex. In other places, the traditional hatred and intolerance sedulously fanned by toxic myths inherited from ancient despotisms continues to suppress, imprison, silence, stigmatize, and even kill those who would love and live each other differently to the majority or differently to the prurient commandments of fanciful deities, including those of the communist or fascist faiths. 

Pride Month in Australia, Thailand, the US and elsewhere sends a message of hope to those yet suffering in places like Russia, Uganda, the Arab nations, China, and other benighted places still under the sway of traditional darknesses. This alone is an sufficient reason for a colourful celebration of Pride Month. 

Let me assure Mr Ellis that, in the meantime, I am perfectly happy for him to hold a Straight Pride month. Why wouldn't I be? I must, however, correct a small but understandable misunderstanding. Unlike the despotic deities with their ideologies pushing hate and intolerance for millennia, I do not claim to be omniscient, however confident Mr Ellis be that I am. To claim such would be a whopper right up there with every other such claim that has ever been made by the zealots pushing their own one, true arbiters of objective reality and all things moral as determined by whatever patriarchal society of inflexible, ruthless, conformity birthed them to pillar their own position of self-satisfied men lording it over others: over their women, their children, their goats, their darker skinned neighbours, their poorer, their infidels, their witches, their fallen, and so on.

Pray tell, Mr Ellis, what exactly are you planning to celebrate in your Straight Pride month? What messages will you be sending? Please send the brochure. 

 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 July 1, 2023, under the title "Proud of Pride" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2602958/tips-on-staying-calm

Conjuring up plots

re: "Ambassador denies US conspired with any political party" (BP, June 27, 2023) 

Dear editor,

Their fanciful allegation that "the US conspired with any particular political party or interfered in the May 14 general election," having been dismissed by the US Ambassador as it deserves, the increasingly desperate conservatives against progress need a new allegation to throw around. Happily, there is one at hand.

The desperately driven conservatives can allege Illuminati interference (that triangle! orange no less!) in the stunning endorsement by the Thai people of Move Forward and its raft of policies. Oh, wait, they seriously tried that after the last election when Future Forward's impressive but less stunning popularity proved that a large number of Thais welcome the reform that has been denied their nation for decades. Fear not: the manoeuvres to outflank such a wicked election result are not yet exhausted.

Will the conservative desperadoes next allege, in their fanciful lawfare plots against the will of the people, that Move Forward was unfairly assisted by foreign super heroes? How else could a party with such radical policies as equal justice for all, let alone actual democracy, have won such respect from so many Thais unless aided by Super Man, Spiderman, Captain Kirk and Spock, and of course Professor Dumbledore. The foreign, even interstellar and supernatural, influence now starts to become clear. 

But wait, it might be even worse! What if the Buddha himself, a foreigner from Nepal of all places, were secretly supporting Move Forward merely because they blatantly and unashamedly favour his own insistence on compassion, right understanding, and all those other foreign notions he preached? Move Forward can be accused of following the Buddha's actual teachings. That'll teach those upstarts spouting foreign notions. 

 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 29, 2023, under the title "Conjuring up plots" at URL