Postbag
Another excellent article was published in the Bangkok Post by Voranai Vanijak on Nov 11.
Mr Voranai has rightly pointed out the importance of the rule of law in a constitutional democracy. But the pictures on the street make Thailand look like an anarchy.
It is only in amazing Thailand that the yellow shirts _ and now Pitak Siam _ believe that Yingluck Shinawatra's government is not legitimately elected.
For most of the last century, politicians in America have used fear as a tool to sway voters. Fear of Soviets during the Cold War, fear of communist Cuba, Sandinista and China worked miracles. George W Bush got elected twice raising hell about Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. Politicians in America have mastered the art of creating fictitious external enemies just to win elections.
Unfortunately, in Thailand there are lots of fictitious enemies within. And every other month a new enemy emerges. Enemies from within a society are always much more dangerous and destructive.
As mentioned by Mr Voranai, trampling the will of the people is nothing but trampling democracy and it always comes with a very heavy price: Innocent people die.
Thai people need to work towards creating a civil society where the losing side accepts defeat and comes up with a better agenda and policies for the sake of unity. All factions _ whether yellow, red, or now Pitak Siam _ should not act like hooligans in a soccer stadium.
It is not the way to win a game or bring progress to Thai society.
The Thai media very graciously and enthusiastically covered the Nov 7 US election late into the night. They should show the same vigour discussing the problems and shortcomings of Thai democracy. Although not perfect, there is lot to learn from US elections, especially how to concede an election defeat and move on. Maybe, the opposition factions in Thai society should listen to Mitt Romney's concession speech, just for some inspiration.
DR KULDEEP NAGI
Yingluck should speak out
The Nov 12 editorial, ''The Trouble with Krabi'', points out not only the trouble with Krabi, but with the entire system.
''Chumphol Silapa-archa, the minister of tourism under two governments, questioned whether the incident could be considered rape. After all, he reasoned, the woman had dined with the accused man,'' it said.
Where is Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's voice on this?
No doubt she is silent because she has been instructed by the de facto PM Thaksin Shinawatra not to make waves, or she is too busy prepping for her trip to England and her audience with HM Queen Elizabeth II.
This is the same Ms Yingluck who boasted how she was a champion of women's rights.
BERELEH
Krabi cops outclassed
Re: ''Krabi cops try spin control on YouTube'', (BP, Nov 12).
Hats off to the Krabi police for being modern enough to use social media to try to get their message out to the public.
Unfortunately, however, Cees Koldijk, father of the 19-year-old Dutch tourist who was raped in Krabi and creator of the rival YouTube clip, Evil Man From Krabi, seems to have the upper hand in terms of video production and musical ability, even though the police video does feature some tasteful classical music.
The score to date is: Evil Man from Krabi, 417,431 hits, 2,815 likes and 108 dislikes; while the home team's Truth from Krabi has netted 3,560 hits, nine likes and 227 dislikes.
Of course Mr Koldijk has had a rather unfair headstart with his clip and there is still time for Krabi police to close the gap.
However, the disproportionate number of dislikes already received by the police is somewhat discouraging.
I suggest the police lose no time in adding English subtitles to their video. That could make all the difference in winning over the international audience and thereby limiting damage to the nation's tourism income.
GEORGE MORGAN
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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2012/11/13/learning-from-america/
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