Gracious talk

re: "Paetongtarn must avoid past trends" (BP, Opinion, October 30, 2023)

Dear editor,

Veera Prateepchaikul describes him as acting "graciously" when Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin kissed the extended hand of Paetongtarn Shinawatra, duly "groomed by her handlers" as he can't help but put it. PM Srettha has clearly been equally well groomed. 

What role should such cute displays of choreographed submission have in a modern Thailand? Shows of dictated submission are part of the legacy of the previous PM, Prayut Chan-o-cha, who would stop at nothing to entrench  his vision of Thailand in the 21st century, Thailand 4.0 as he boasted. But should they be? 

Back the late 19th century, a truly wise Thai said of another traditional show of forced submission that "Since [its] abolition, those countries have become more prosperous. In Siam, the practice of prostration reaffirms the existence of oppression which is unjust." That wise man is rightly famous for his efforts to move his nation forward to take its place as both a respectable and respected modern Thailand in his own day and beyond. 

Unlike Veera speaking of a "graciously bowed" prime minister, who is supposed to represent a proud people, this eminently wise Thai leader of old spoke of traditional customs that reinforced notions of intrinsic inequality between citizens as being "severely oppressive". He sought to abolish once and for all such "harsh" practices that could only demean Thailand in the eyes of developed nations.

That wise Thai was the great King Chulalongkorn, Rama V, to whom Thailand owes much. The quoted words are from the Royal Siamese Government Gazette, 1873, as translated by the well-known Thai academic that Veera also cites in his opinion piece. Perhaps it is time the Thai people listened to those wise words from a king who had a vision of his nation getting stuck not back in Prayut's Thailand 4.0, but of genuinely moving forward to a future worth having for all Thais. To conclude in the words of the great King: "Powerful countries which have been successful in refraining from oppressing their own peoples are now enjoying prosperity." 

Is Thailand enjoying the prosperity its people have deserved these many decades past? 

 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 November 2, 2023, under the title "Gracious talk" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2676533/gracious-talk

Rules for some

re: "Caution advised before extending bar hours to 4am" (BP, October 23, 2023) 

Dear editor,

The officiously concerned party list MP Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, of that famously moral United Thai Nation Party (UTN), is surely correct that "Strict punitive action was needed against those who break the law." 

Following the UTN lead, could any such strictness be more appropriate than the identical punishment meted out to those who plot, commit, collude in or profit from coups against  Thailand's "democratic regime of government with the King as Head of State", as section 2 of the current and many previous constitutions defines it? 

But are there enough cabinet seats to dole out as strict punitive action against those whose deliberate acts so threaten the nation by allowing adults to enjoy their life as they freely choose until 4:00 AM? Could any good person stand for it? 

 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, 2023, under the title "Rules for some" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2673333/sway-of-video-games

No evidence to hand

re: "Police chief demands Thaksin health report from hospital" (BP, October 18, 2023) 

Dear editor,

If Thaksin Shinawatra were indeed as seriously ill as is being alleged, he would present the evidence. He can waive confidentiality to whatever extent is required to substantiate the claims of his conveniently serious illness. He can order his physicians and others to release MRI scans, other tests, and their expert opinions. Or he can directly release them himself. Doing so would end the ongoing suspicions. He has not done so. 

Until he does this, the claim that he is as seriously ill as insisted on is as credible as a Pheu Thai election promise to under no circumstances invite any party complicit in a coup to form a government. 

 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 22, 2023, under the title "No evidence to hand" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2669024/but-those-socks-

Unfolding failure

re: "Old and poor: Thailand sleepwalking towards ageing crisis" (BP, October 16, 2023) and "Tolerating populism for democracy" (October 13), and "PM needs to be open to public criticism" (October 16)

Dear editor,

Who could not feel deep sadness at the plight of ageing Thais such as 73-year-old Chusri Kaewkhio and her ailing 76-year-old husband. Theirs is but one of many sad stories that highlight the unfolding failure recounted in the Bangkok Post's "Old and poor: Thailand sleepwalking towards ageing crisis"? (October 16). Such demographic and economic disasters do not occur overnight nor absent causes. This Thailand was decades in the making. Prayut Chan-o-cha's ongoing decade being only the last period to sow the seeds of insufficiency that millions of Thais must today reap.  

Thailand could decades ago have joined South Korea in taking the path to democracy under just law. That would have brought economic flourishing and the wealth to provide far more decently for the ageing Thai nation of today. Such national success was not to be: myths and luxury lifestyles were at stake. They would not be sacrificed merely to enable political, social and educational development that could in turn have driven healthy, sustained, sufficient and just economic growth. 

Two recent opinion pieces by regular Bangkok Post columnists highlight contrasting mindsets that help explain why Thailand has fallen, or has been pushed, into the developing nightmare of ageing before it got rich.

In "PM needs to be open to public criticism" (October 16), Veera Prateepchaikul presents the venerated view that has endorsed coups such as that of Prayut Chan-o-cha, who, along with his predecessors, preach the deceit that "good" people such as themselves must hold the representatives of the people to account, if necessary, overthrowing the people's popular democratic government to protect the nation from wicked representatives of the people, hence Veera's citing of the magically ripe number 99. Veera expounds a classic tale of the righteous 99 economists who know better, to whom the actual prime minister must listen because they are selfless, impartial experts who have the nation's best interests are heart. Veera sincerely believes that. The auspiciously numbered 99 themselves doubtless believe it.

The plain evidence of what decades of such thinking and its fruits has made Thailand in 2023, having had stolen by the self-electing who then squandered so many opportunities whilst making pretty speeches about unity, compassion, righteousness, modesty, sufficiency and the like, shows the truth of their presumption to virtue and to competence. Theirs is the mindset that justifies coups, whether military or legalist, by an elect piously deeming itself "good" and "righteous" and even "selfless": the virtues Veera attributes to the 99 economists wrapped in the aura of numerological blessing. The fruits of all that magically inspired interference repeatedly disrupting democracy is manifest every day in Thailand as it has traditionally been for many decades: endemic corruption, systemic double standards in the legal system, and gross inequality in the distribution of the nation's wealth, leaving too many of the desperately poor uncertain of even where their next scraps of food are coming from.  

In contrast, there is the alternative presented in Professor Thitinan Pongsudhirak's  "Tolerating populism for democracy" (October 13). Thitinan honestly calls out the numerological fantasies of the 99 and like for what they are:  a mindset that has for many decades kept Thailand what it remains today. Thitinan sensibly, and I think rightly, agrees that Pheu Thai's flagship 10,000 payment scheme might well be a serious mistake, but he also knows that that cannot justify interfering in the democratic process. Societies learn from mistakes. That essential learning process has also been denied Thailand by the "good people" myth. 

Critically questioning received myths does not destroy a nation's essence. South Korea has not lost its soul since throwing off the curse of military interference in 1980; it has, on the contrary become strong. It now exports its culture along with its smartphones and air-conditioners to an avid global audience. Thailand has been denied that opportunity these past 50 years at least, since October 14, 1973 and earlier. 

Ordinary Thais who must live on charity and scraps in their old age, for which bounty they are expected to be grateful, are the victims of the mindset that continues to enable those disruptions of progress by promising wondrous things for all. They always prophesy the final eradication of corruption, an end to injustice, the healing of all social divides, and of course sufficient wealth to all. That myth-bound mindset forcing itself on all has delivered only what Thailand is today. 

 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, 2023, under the title "Unfolding failure" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2667123/unfolding-failure

Hocus pocus

re: "Tolerating populism for democracy" (BP, Opinion, October 13, 2023)  

Dear editor,

Professor Thitinan Pongsudhirak brilliantly exposes the demon besetting Thailand's politics these several decades: that 99 is Thailand's 666.

That legally mandated possession by supernatural sacredness explains much of why Thailand is what it is when its people should long have been enjoying the economic success and global stature of South Korea or Taiwan. Maintaining the numerological perfections of 99ish myth has cost the Thai people much. Unless exorcized, its insatiable demand for yet more obeisance, and US dollars by the billion, will continue to inflict its manifestly traditional harms. 

 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 17, 2023, under the title "Hocus pocus" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2665611/praise-for-milk 

How unspeakable

re: "Merciful option?" (BP, PostBag, October 13, 2023) 

Dear editor,

In his letter as published, "Merciful option?", Ilyn Payne appears to argue that if a prison system is unspeakably inhumane, that justifies killing people in order to reduce the net suffering over a prisoner's life. A more moral stance might hold that the nation's prison system be required to meet minimal standards of decency to reflect a healthier set of public morals.

In his eagerness to lop off heads or otherwise kill, Mr Payne also leaves undefined what might constitute "unspeakable crimes" deserving of "the ultimate cost [that] should be paid." He also leaves unspecified what principle justifies killing another human being. Israel thinks it is justified in killing to hold on to land it illegally occupies. Hamas clearly thinks it is justified in killing to reclaim land stolen from the people it claims to stand for. Pro-choice abortion advocates think pregnant women have the right to kill the human being in their womb. Thai law thinks it acceptable to kill people who supply a popular drug of recreation to eager customers — Thaksin Shinawatra's murderous war on drugs was egged on by the morally stunted at every level of Thai society, none of whom have ever been held to account. Uganda thinks it right to kill gay men for the crime of "aggravated homosexuality". Are all or some these unspeakable crimes? 

Does the author think that the Paragon killer has committed an unspeakable crime deserving the death penalty? Did the Royal Thai Police officer who killed 36, mainly children, a year ago at Nong Bua Lamphu commit an unspeakable crime? Did the Royal Thai Army officer who gunned down 29 in Khorat in 2020 commit an unspeakable crime? Do major drug dealers commit unspeakable crimes according to whether the drugs they deal are legal or illegal?  

But those fatal vagaries in Mr Payne's call to kill leave untouched the deeper question:  whether any punishment can ever be justified. Punishment is legalized vengeance. Should the law be inflicting vengeance, or should its just goal be to prevent some committing acts that harm others? If the former, the eye-for-an-eye doctrine encoding the primitive moral notions of despotic societies, then the death penalty is plainly called for. That follows the  ancient mindset that commanded Moses's followers to steal by military invasion the land of Canaan after their reported exodus from servitude in Egypt, thereby beginning the litany of reprisal killings that more than 2,500 years later continue to define the so called Holy Land that Israel's hard-right nationalists, now ascendant, claim as theirs by the will of God with the same fervour shown by Hamas.

Perhaps Ilyn Payne could consider that we may only be justly punished for what we freely choose to do. Since the mounting evidence is that we could never choose other than we in fact do but only ever act as strictly determined by the physio-chemical processes taking place in our brains, this would suggest that the law's sphere of justice is limited to preventing harm to others, never to engaging in crude vengeance of the primitive eye-for-an-eye type for which he advocates.  

 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 15, 2023, under the title "How unspeakable" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2664389/how-unspeakable

Beyond populism

re: "Saving the amnesty bill" (BP, Editorial, October 9, 2023) 

Dear editor,

In its call to remove Section 112 offences from Move Forward's proposed amnesty bill, the Bangkok Post fails to even mention such considerations as justice, democratic principle, or good public morals. Does the editor think such things irrelevant to good law? 

It is widely held that Section 112 of the Criminal Code, long enshrined by mythic claims in a position of impunity, is used as a political weapon to intimidate, to harass and to suppress the healthy open dialogue that is a cornerstone of any functioning democracy. This rejection of the possibility of respectful discussion has long been toxic for society, as the editorial itself attests.  

The Post claims that granting an amnesty to those who did nothing more than peacefully express an honest opinion is so "controversial ... [it] could in fact spark new conflicts." Not a shred of evidence is presented for this claim. To the best of my knowledge, there is no evidence to suggest that a solid majority of Thais do not already solidly support the reform of these socially harmful laws that are morally indefensible, with only a rag tag of very loud zealots opposing it from whatever motives. Or I have I missed some relevant polls of public opinion on the matter?

Move Forward is right to include Section 112 offenders in its amnesty bill. Unlike dubious populist policies promising easy money, this policy is deservedly popular only for good reasons: it is just, it comports with democratic principle, and it will improve public morals by encouraging the open dialogue essential to informed opinion on any topic. 

It must, nonetheless, be admitted that, as the editor notes, "the progressive party [Move Forward] stands to benefit for gaining popularity among its supporters." This is natural and proper. Policies that support justice, that improve democracy, and that strengthen good public morals, deserve support. They should be popular and political parties proposing them fully deserve support from the electorate. 

The Post should be encouraging passage of this bill in its current form. 

 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, 2023, under the title "Beyond populism" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2661013/beyond-populism