POSTBAG
I am writing with regard to Gregory Poling and Alexandria Sander's commentary, ''EAS offers Cambodia chance to restore its reputation'', (Nov 14), which is full of ignorance and misunderstanding.
I wish to clarify and respond to a number of issues raised in the commentary to ensure that the readers have factual and balanced views, as follows:
First, it is not correct to say that ''Cambodia used its prerogative as Asean Chair to block the inclusion of the South China Sea in the Joint Communique'' (JC).
There were four paragraphs on the South China Sea in the draft JC, and the only paragraph which we did not have consensus on was paragraph 16.
As Asean Chair, Cambodia tried to negotiate a consensus-based text for paragraph 16, but two of the Asean member states insisted that paragraph 16 must either include what they had demanded on their claims in the South China Sea or the JC could not be issued at all. In fact, one of the Asean member states even went further to state that the issue was completely ''non-negotiable''.
Cambodia's position is that we must have consensus for the text on the one hand, and to ensure that what we do would not further contribute to the rising tensions in the South China Sea, on the other hand. Therefore, to state that Cambodia blocked the JC is purely calumnious.
Second, on Cambodia's image, there is no need to really focus on this issue, given the fact that Cambodia today is characterised by peace, security, stability and development.
Cambodia's economic growth was about 6.9% in 2011. For the next several years, Cambodia's economy is expected to grow at about 6-7% annually in the next several years and in the medium term. This is certainly unlike the recent chaos in one of its neighbouring countries.
Third, Cambodia is an open society. It has invited investments from around the world; investors from around the globe have invested in Cambodia, not just those from China. This is the reality!
At the same time, Cambodia exports its products to the big markets of the EU and the United States, which are the two largest markets for Cambodian exports. In addition to Japan and China, the US and the EU have been providing quite substantial amounts of assistance to Cambodia as well. Can we say the same of the EU and the US that they exert great influence and pressure on Cambodia, like that of China? China also has invested heavily in other Asean member countries as well as in countries such as the United States and Australia. So, can we also say that China has influence or pressure over those countries as well?
I would suggest that the two writers should do their homework more seriously in the future before writing and publishing such an article to mislead readers.
MADAM YOU AY
Ambassador of the Kingdom of Cambodia to the Kingdom of Thailand
Missing maintenance
Reading articles and recent contributions in the Bangkok Post about Thailand's poor infrastructure, whether it be the railways, the roads, water supply or telecommunications, it seems as though the causes are fairly fundamental.
On the one hand, Thai authorities seem incapable of ''big-picture'' thinking and an understanding of the need for long-term, holistic and logical planning. This is typified in the way in which the BTS and the MRT have both failed to increase rolling stock in line with the growing demand for their services.
Furthermore, there seems to be an endemic lack of awareness about one simple truth: today's development initiatives are necessarily tomorrow's maintenance issues. It is all very well for the government to announce bold new transport initiatives. But meanwhile they allow the existing rail network to deteriorate, pedestrian walkways to decay, and add to gridlock on the roads by enabling new car purchases and subsidising fuel prices.
I am at a loss to explain this fundamental contradiction, except perhaps that the opportunities for greed, graft and grandstanding by government officials is greater and more easily achieved and concealed through the announcement of new cities and mega-billion baht projects than through the more mundane and affordable task of keeping what we already have working effectively.
GMT
Tripling incomes a joke
I read with interest and amusement your story about the government envisioning Thailand as a ''high-income'' country, by nearly tripling the per capita income of its people in 15 years.
This will entail a whopping increase of 20% per year for more than a decade. Lofty as the idea is, wouldn't it just be possible to bridge the huge income gap?
Your editorial, ''Rice trade area plan has merit'', talks of the pitfalls which are likely to be caused by the ill-planned rice mortgage scheme. The huge burden it will place on the state and the taxpayer needs to be considered, given the warning from MR Pridiyathorn Devakula. This policy has never aided the farmers. As the TDRI has also pointed out, the farmers get only a small part of the 15,000 baht per tonne which has been promised.
Thailand's forte is agriculture, with rice being the major player. If the government continues this ill-conceived plan, it will only increase the fiscal burden and create a morass of debt.
The government has a moral obligation to plan and implement policies which are practical, and to stop fooling the people who put it in power.
R SRINATH
SRT barriers to action
Can someone out there help? The SRT railway traffic-stopping barriers across the road in Prachin Buri have not functioned for nearly a year. These barriers come down randomly on their own volition, day or night, train or no train, and block traffic in both directions for 30 minutes.
I personally have reported the problem to the SRT at Hua Lamphong Station in Bangkok. The SRT has done absolutely nothing. A frustrated truck driver will soon just drive through these barrier arms and simply remove them, solving the problem forever.
JACK GILEAD
Stop the gas guzzlers
Why the misconception that sitting in an oversized pickup truck is happiness?
Thailand needs to be proving to itself and the world that its traditional values of community sharing, respect for elders, Buddhist non-materialism and willingness to absorb from elsewhere while staying independent still have meaning and merit.
The path to self-immolation most of the modern world is clearly on need not be the way here.
We all love having gas-powered vehicles, but we're going to have to pay more to use them. We like convenience, but must accept that we can't have everything. If we don't do more to protect nature and biodiversity, we will lose the good things we have through selfish short-sightedness.
One way or another, the days of rampant self-indulgence are ending.
JOEL J BARLOW
Palestinians need a state
I wholeheartedly endorse the Palestinian's renewed push for enhanced UN status, which deserves the full support of the global community.
The draft resolution distributed to all 193 members asks for recognition of their legitimate claim to become an independent sovereign state including the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War.
In the General Assembly, there are no veto powers to thwart their long-overdue just cause for freedom. The draft resolution ''reaffirms the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination on the basis of the pre-1967 borders'', and recognises the need for negotiations and a willingness to compromise in order to achieve a two-state solution that can only be possible through peace talks and fair-minded negotiation, headed by the Quartet of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States.
Israel desperately needs a two-state solution if it is to remain essentially Jewish and democratic, a position passionately advocated by Simon Peres, Ehud Barack, Tzipi Livni and 81% of Jewish Americans. Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is also a vital part of the US national interest. It's high time for President Obama to pave the way toward a fair-minded two-state solution to resolve the unsettling stalemate, for the sake of Israel, Palestine and the Middle East as a whole.
CHARLES FREDERICKSON
Too much teen violence
As a teenager, every time I read the news about teenage lovers killing each other because of jealousy, I feel ashamed. Why didn't they think more carefully before doing this? I sometimes have careless thoughts too, but I still think about the consequences and about my parents.
Teenagers nowadays are living in a world of violence. They see violence and bad behaviour every day and everywhere, so they think they can do it to anyone without thinking if it's against the law or not.
It's the weakness of Thai laws that makes everyone think that they can do bad things without being arrested when they have enough money.
And when the media publish all kind of violent news every day, it makes teenagers think it is commonplace. I think the media should be more aware of what they should or shouldn't show to children.
KIRANA KUSUMANON
Beware of 'stealth' TPP
While in England, Prime Minister Yingluck spoke eloquently about democracy. While she was there extolling the wonders of democracy, the Pheu Thai-led government was busy weakening the foundations of democracy by agreeing to give up its sovereignty in favour of ''super rights'' granted to foreign corporations as required by the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The TPP has been labelled ''a stealth attack on democratic governance'', and leading members of the US Senate and Congress have expressed outrage over the extreme secrecy surrounding the negotiations. The people's representatives are in the dark as to the status of negotiations and the Obama administration has refused to release the negotiating texts to our elected representatives. Mr Obama's trade representatives and their counterparts from Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam are negotiating with representatives of 600 global corporations. The 600 corporate representatives have access to the negotiating texts but the elected representatives of the people of the USA do not. Why hide what is being negotiated from the people likely to be the most affected?
The TPP will establish ''super rights'' for investors in previously sovereign countries. Countries who sign on to TPP will give up their right to protect the health, safety, and economic well being of their citizens. Any attempt to legislate environmental, pollution, health or wage protections will result in that country being sued by the corporation affected by the legislation. This lawsuit will not be tried in accordance with the sovereign laws of the nation and will not be heard in that country's courts. Instead, an arbitration tribunal established by the TPP will have the sole authority to hear and settle disputes. If the tribunal finds the country in the wrong, the people of that country will be forced to pay tens or hundreds of millions of dollars to the corporation. The signatory countries must pledge to elevate global corporate rights over human rights in order to participate in the TPP.
Before Thailand jumps off the cliff, there should be a fully transparent discussion about the extreme consequences of TPP. Members of parliament should demand copies of the negotiating texts. The manner in which the TPP is being negotiated has no place in a democratic society.
MIKE PIRSCH
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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2012/11/17/cambodian-clarification/
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