I will go further than that, now that Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont is in charge of the Interior Ministry the PPP will get fewer than 100 seats.
Thaksin keeps making bigger and bigger mistakes, but picking Samak to head the PPP was his biggest mistake of all. Everybody knows we northeasterners don't like Samak.
If people in our village are an indicator, villagers who accept money for their vote will refuse to take money from the PPP.
I believe Prime Minister Surayud can keep vote-buying at an all-time low by using information gained during the referendum. Village headmen and kamnans are his secret weapons. Just wait and see.
SUNTHORN SKULPONE
Kalasin
Make show of force against
Burma Sanctions against the Burmese generals are certainly well-intentioned, but unfortunatel! y won't accomplish much except compel the creeps to go deeper into their mud holes. After all, money and lust for power are what motivates the blood-splattered generals.
I recommend the United States send an aircraft carrier group and park it as close to Rangoon as possible. That's called "gunboat diplomacy" and it worked with Asian nations in the past (Japan, among others) and could work today.
Several things will happen when the generals see a carrier group on their doorstep:
1. They'll quake in their boots;
2. It will show the Burmese people that the outside world actively supports them;
3. It will show the Burmese that the generals are paper tigers who don't have a squirt-gun-in-hell's chance against such a show of force.
The Americans could then go to the second phase, air-dropping a million pamphlets on military bases across Burma. The pamphlets would tell soldiers and middle-ranked officers that they are only serving to! protect a few rich generals at the top of the pyramid and exp! lain how soldiers' lives would improve if they worked to help the public. The message could also mention that all monks detest the junta and soldiers would gain merit by doing the right thing.
The pamphlet might end showing pictures of Singaporean, Malaysian and Thai soldiers living in nice houses and owning late-model cars, and describing how soldiers' lives would improve when Burma becomes a free country including how many rich countries in the world will gladly invest in Burma when it becomes democratic.
BRAHMBURGERS
Chiang Rai
Putting sense to Chinese logic
Your article about the imbroglio in Burma ("Junta shows Suu Kyi on TV", Oct 6) reports that China's UN ambassador Wang Guangya said that to put pressure on the military rulers to achieve greater democratisation would only lead to confrontation.
That's like saying if there were roving bands of thugs terrorising Chinese cities, Beijing authorities would not want to counter the! m because it might lead to confrontation. Is that Sino-logic or what?
At the end of the article we are reminded that: "China has already opposed UN sanctions when in January it vetoed a draft US-sponsored resolution urging the Burmese rulers to free all political detainees and end sexual violence by the military."
We already know that the Chinese don't have a problem with detaining people for differing political views, but does this veto also mean that Chinese leaders officially condone sexual violence?
If the Chinese didn't approve of the wording in earlier or current UN drafts, perhaps they could submit a draft of their own for consideration.
Or perhaps they have no recommendations to propose regarding Burma's blood-splattered generals, and just hope that everyone just calms down, so that things can get back to business as usual.
KEN ALBERTSEN
Chiang Rai
Tough to get good PR for beheadings
Imtiaz Muqbil s! eems to think that the problem with Islam today is a public re! lations one. Well, it must be hard to put a pretty face on suicide bombings, beheadings and Holocaust denials.
I believe a comparison between the situation of some Muslims and Tibetans is a fair one. While the Islamic extremists are busy with violence, the Tibetans are using their suffering, which is probably much greater than any Muslim group, to cultivate metta (loving kindness) and non-violence toward the Chinese.
And the image of Tibetans on the "world stage" is much better than Mr Ahmadinejad's because of the substance of their resistance, not because they spin it better.
Bringing it closer to home, compared to the real suffering of the people of Burma, Mr Muqbil's complaints about the insults to Mr Ahmadinejad come off as petty whining.
PATRICK JOYCE
Bangkok
Memorial no-shows should be shamed
Politicians who gained prominence through their participation in the October 1973 and 1976 incidents which saw scores of people! slain should be singled out and shamed ("Politicians avoid Oct 6 memorial," Bangkok Post, Oct 7).
For these people to fail to show up to Saturday's memorial service is like people failing to recognise their place of origin, a trait deemed despicable by self-respecting Thais.
One wonders how these people can continue to play a leading role when they forget such an important event.
The no-shows proved that they took part in the October incidents three decades ago not for the good of the country but for their own selfish ends. They should be condemned.
CHAVALIT VAN
Chiang Mai
Press fails to perform vital role
In his letter (Postbag, Oct 5) Cha-Am Jamal complains that we are seldom told the outcome of promised government investigations into bomb explosions and other crimes. There are two issues here: first, the government keeping the public in the dark and, second, the collusion of the media.
The Bangkok Post,! in common with other members of the media, is constantly remi! nding us of the vital role a free press plays in a democracy and yet, whether through incompetence, laziness or collusion, it fails to follow up on stories and hold the government accountable.
Thailand suffers from press restrictions but if they were magically lifted it would still be faced with the problem of being served by a second-rate press.
DOM DUNN
Dublin
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com Visit Rick Ruiz's websites at www.reachingtheworld.biz"> ReachingTheWorld.Biz and www.positivepsyche.biz"> PositivePsyche.Biz. where ! you will find other articles of interest regarding home business opportunities, money, debt, inflation, millionaire trivia and the attainment of a positive mental mindset.
Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/081007_News/08Oct2007_news20.php
Free Business Articles Blog
No comments:
Post a Comment