The foreign policy of this government is and always has been based on Thailand's best interest. 

Wittingly or not, unfounded conjectures for domestic political purposes, such as those raised by Khun Prachyadavi, have broader repercussions. 

These actions compromise Thailand's ability to conduct foreign policy and could adversely affect our relations with other countries.

Dr Kantathi Suphamongkhon

Minister of Foreign Affairs

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Media displays reverence for statue, disregards human life

Newspapers have reported widely on the destruction of the Erawan Brahma statue and the grief it has caused devotees.

They have gone on about its colourful garlands, its history and the importance of the Hindu deity it depicted. Oh yes, and by the way a man was beaten to death for having caused the damage.

Where are your priorities? Where are those of the administration? Before Deputy Prime Minister Surakiat Sathirathai visited the site, did he also visit the family of the murdered man? Did he ask how it was possible for someone to be beaten to death on the street in Bangkok's hotel district?

As a pretender to the top job at the United Nations, would he please answer the following: does the right to exist of a statue outweigh the right to life of a person?

In Cambodia gangs assault and kill motorcycle thieves. In parts of India they lynch rapists.

The common feature of places where mobs retaliate for ordinary crimes is that the rule of law is in collapse: justice is perverted in the hands of whoever can band together and carry out whatever bloody act will slake their thirst for vengeance. Few in Thailand would see their society that way.

But why are there no questions about how someone could be killed under such circumstances and what could be done to prevent such acts in the future?

And why is the media more interested in the plaster and gilt of a statue than the flesh and blood of a human? Where are your priorities?

Nick Cheesman

Hong Kong

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History shows the danger of appeasing tyrants

To those well-intentioned people who propose compromise and appeasement, remember that Neville Chamberlain also used such lofty language in the late 1930s in regard to Adolf Hitler.

PM Chamberlain sent a trusted envoy, Lord Halifax, to Germany.

Halifax reported: "Although there was much in the Nazi system that profoundly offended British opinion, I was not blind to what Hitler had done for Germany."

All this appeasement took place months before Hitler invaded Austria and Poland.

Granted, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is not a warmonger, nor is he remotely as evil as Germany's  Hitler.

However, the point here is that there are times when compromise is too bland, and peaceful protest is in order.

Brahm Burgers

Chiang Rai

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Shin deal is business as usual for Singapore's top family

Speaking of the Shinawatra family's sale to Temasek, you state (News, March 18): "The Bt73.3-billion share sell-off by Thaksin's family has outraged many Thais because it was tax-free and amounted to surrendering sensitive sectors to foreign investors."

The sale was to a foreign firm, albeit one "owned" by its government officials.The outrage may well be at the Shinawatras' treating Thailand as the Lees treat Singapore - as their personal property.

John Francis Lee

Chiang Rai

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Compromise is the only way out of the political crisis

I totally empathise with, and respect Veharachan's position (Letters, March 19). However, the fact still remains, a hard-line stance may or may not break the stalemate, but it could potentially cause irreversible, devastating results. Both sides have very emotional wants, these wants pose short-term expectations and do not take into consideration long-term results.

Is it really as simple as Veharachan states: either we send postcards to the caretaker or we send money to the People's Alliance for Democracy?

I wish it were that simple. Even when it was not popular, I have always stated my dissent publicly regarding the Thai Rak Thai administration. But I firmly believe that there has to be a more rational way to restore a more legitimate administration.

I really don't care about the politicians involved in this crisis. I do care about the people of Thailand and do not want to see anyone injure themselves or others because the leadership on both sides lacks the flexibility to do what is best for Thailand.

Richard D Kamolvathin

Bangkok

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China needs more weapons to protect its rising wealth

Some readers may be misled by the editorial "What is to be done about China" (March 19). There are many views that are likely to be expressed about the emergence of China as a world power, both economically and militarily.

I don't understand all the fuss about the Chinese defence budget. Sure, the United States would prefer that China did not even attempt to match them militarily, but no amount of bleating by the US administration will have any affect on China's spending.

As more and more Western investment comes to China, China's defence spending will increase. As the value of one's assets increases, so shouldn't the amount one spends on protecting those assets?

China's defence budget quoted in the editorial is US$33 billion (Bt1.28 trillion). Compare this with $439 billion for the US, a hefty 4.8-per-cent increase from the previous year. Simply put, this is more than 13 times what China will spend. This amount excludes the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As for Australia's relationship with China, your author's comments are again misleading. If the US can offload to China the whole hi-technology personal computer division of an iconic American company like IBM, then Australia selling coal to China shouldn't even raise an eyebrow.

China's defence spending will continue to increase in line with its increasing wealth. We should not expect China to behave any differently from those they seek to emulate, or those who have set an example to follow.

Steve Pedrotta

Bangkok

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Immigration ordeal inflames sense of isolation

Recently, I was at Immigration, trying to update my visa. To fill out the forms, I had to borrow a pen. When I had finished, I thought it very important that I return the pen. So trying not to interfere, I quietly stepped between two people and gently tossed the pen on the desk. Whoa! Big mistake!

Immediately I was told that I had been very rude in throwing the pen. I apologised profusely for not knowing that throwing pens was taboo.

Then, the Immigration officer began to ask questions, off the record, about my personal life: "Are you married? Do you have children? How many? How much money do you make?"

All extremely rude questions! If a foreigner had asked these questions, I would have been very angry, but I understood that the officer was Thai and didn't know she was being very rude.

Yes, I am a visitor here, not because I want to be, but because Thai law keeps me an outsider. Not like other countries, where people who came from somewhere else can be accepted, even with their differences.

I could become a citizen of almost any country in the world, within three years, by using almost any type of visa to enter, but here, foreigners are ostracised.

Why do I stay? Because of my family, because of the culture, because of the differences and because most Thais are very courteous, pleasant and polite. Only a few, like the female officer at Immigration, are rude.

Michael Weldon

Udon Thani

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Israeli justice permits brutal treatment of Palestinians

Re: "Media glossing over the faults of Palestinians", Letters, March 20.

To deride Palestinians contemptuously as "thugs, criminals, militias and terrorists" was as inane as Israel equating its "justice" with Western justice ("The justice gap", What Others Say, March 17).

Israeli justice is basically nothing more than vengeance, practising the ancient law of an eye for an eye. Mordecai Vanunu spent 20 years in Israeli prison for courageously exposing Israel's secret nuclear-weapons programme funded and supported by the US, not to mention infamous Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard.

Some 8,000 Palestinian prisoners are being held in Israeli jails without charge or trial. Many of them are tortured, as documented by Amnesty International.

The Israeli raid on a Palestinian prison was typical of Israeli hubris intended to show that they are the masters. Israel has occupied the Palestinian homeland for almost 40 years with the tacit backing of the United States. As always, the Jerusalem tail wags the Washington dog with total impunity.

Justice? What justice? There is no justice for the Palestinians.Pre-emptive attacks, targeted killings, detention without charge or trial and torture are all part and parcel of Israeli justice.

Israel loves to portray itself as a paragon of Western jurisprudence. But let's not be deceived.

The real justice gap is between sanctimonious Israeli pretence and the brutal facts on the ground.

OG Pamp

Prachuap Khiri Khan