It is the Pali injunction "Sabbe dhamma nalam abhinivesaya" -"Nothing whatsoever is to be clung to".

Why not? Because, as Buddhadasa explained, "Nothing is worth getting, nothing is worth being". And why is that? Because nothing lasts, everything is impermanent. Also, since there is no permanent self, ultimately there is nobody who can get and nobody who can be.

Nothing to be clung to, nobody who can cling: this is pretty stern stuff for a nation whose national pastime is shopping. No wonder no one mentioned it: it's much easier to lavish flattery on Buddhadasa than to come to grips with the central point in his teaching.

Paramananda Pahari

Bangkok

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See bureaucratic faults as motivation for change

 Re: "An unpleasant experience of Thai bureaucracy at NESDB," Letters, May 28.

We were quite disturbed by this letter from a Thai student of Columbia University (CU) in New York concerning the ills of Thai government agencies. As master of public health students from CU interning this summer at the Population and Community Development Association (PDA), a Thai non-governmental organisation, we respond in order to provide an alternate view to his complaints.

While certainly there are problems within the Thai bureaucracy, to make a sweeping generalisation that the entire institution is both "incompetent" and "pathetic" is misguided. The powerful forces that pull government strings for self-motivated reasons are the true source of our dismay. Additionally, the pursuing of a master's degree and two weeks of an internship are not, in our humble opinion, sufficient credentials to be imposing such far-ranging judgements.

The intention of our letter is not to attack our CU colleague. We fully understand his frustrations, and we encourage him to expand his scope and time scale for creating change. Working under Khun Mechai Viravaidya, chairman of PDA, we have learned that the path to change requires an unrelenting focus on positive and creative solutions. Long-term plans concentrated on replacing political apathy and ignorance with transparency and informed action are key to moving Thailand towards better governance.

As interns we should not brandish undue expectations of our experience. Opportunities to learn from the inside of institutions should generate new ideas for our future endeavours, not the grounds for myopic criticism.

Heather Anderson

Jun Mitsumoto

Bangkok

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Politicians must condemn attack on EC protesters

 The destruction of the tents of protesters outside the Election Commission (EC) by a pro-government group led by Shinawat Haboonpad, president of a taxi drivers' association, last Saturday struck me as most significant. It was a repeat of an act of the same nature only 10 days or so ago that surprised me. To think that it occurred again in such a short time!

This time I must call it a lynching - an illegal punishment committed brazenly, right before the eye of the law! The pro-government group had the right to disagree with the protesters, to hate them, to express their indignation and their support for Thaksin administration and the EC. They have the right to lodge complaints with the police. But they absolutely do not have the right to enforce the law.

It is a sad development indeed. Just imagine what our society would become if organisations like the Ku Klux Klan and Nazis emerge here. We must not ignore the signal of danger from this incident.

Such lynching is absolutely unacceptable in a democratic society. It must be condemned, first of all, by caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, his deputy Chidchai Vanasatidya and caretaker Interior Minister Kongsak Wantana, who are advocates of playing by the rules. They must take immediate action to bring this outlaw group to justice.

Abee

Bangkok

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Crackdown needed on thuggish behaviour

 Surely something must be done to stop-pro government thugs like this president of a taxi drivers' association, Shinawat Haboonpad, and his cohorts from taking the law into their own hands.

Amazingly, the police stood around doing nothing while peaceful protesters were assaulted.

Chiang Mai Mike

Chiang Mai

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Give southern residents a say in solving violence

 I fully agree with Privy Councillor General Surayud Chulanond's urging that agencies dealing with the problems in the South "emphasise exploring ideas from locals to solve their own problems, blending information and local views in proposing solutions through an integrated approach, not focusing on material but rather human resource development". Or, as Kofi Annan put it, "reaching out to the poorest and most vulnerable people … listening to their problems, and empowering them to take their lives into their own hands".

PM Thaksin, use information from the South and elsewhere, but listen closely to the southerners proposing solutions for locals to decide upon. Empower and educate them to solve their own problems. Security personnel - especially the commanders - should not only know local dialects and culture, they should come from the South itself, and thus have a big stake in a solution.

Burin Kantabutra

Bangkok

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Clear up problems with ethanol promotion policy

 The current problem in the supply and demand of ethanol fuel was anticipated by some professionals from the start. However, there are measures to correct it.

1. The policy makers believe there is enough raw material to support the new ethanol industry. A study of the market, from farmers to millers to consumption, shows there is no excess for ethanol production.

The output of almost all sugar-cane and cassava farmers is committed to nearby sugar millers or starch factories. Therefore farmers must be encouraged to plough more land or switch from other cash crops to sugar cane or cassava.

Policy-makers believe the nation can increase cassava production to 18 million tonnes per annum from 8 million tonnes currently. However most farmers have no more land. More importantly cassava tuber was sold at 50 satang per kilogram 30 years ago but today it is sold to nearby mills at Bt0.80 to Bt1.2, depending on starch quality and degree of dryness.

Also, many farmers are confused by the promotion of dairy farming and rubber plantations as an alternative to the conventional cash crops sugar cane and cassava.

2. The retail price incentive, Bt1.50 for gasoline mixed with 10 per cent ethanol (gasohol) over premium gasoline mixed with MTBE (an oxygenating additive) is not justifiable in terms of the heat values. That of gasoline is 6,900 kcal/litre, ethanol 4,700, and E10 gasohol 6,700 - the gap of 200kcal/litre is exactly equivalent to Bt1.50.

Also, in energy theory, lower-calorie fuel means higher consumption, so the Bt1.50 price advantage is negated. Also ethanol producers must be paid on the basis of calorie value at least. That is, if premium gasoline retails at Bt28 per litre, ethanol should be at least Bt18 (the difference in the heat values of 6,900kcal/litre and 4,700kcal/litre).

3. Policy-makers try to extend more incentives but these merely reach consumers and producers, not farmers. This goes against one of the important targets of the ethanol policy - improving farmers' income. There are also certain irregularities in the trading route from farmers to market which policy-makers must address.

4. The fuel business seems liberal but is in fact monopolised by state- and private-owned big retailers that own large and networked logistics facilities in all cities and remote corners of the country. They have no room to improve earnings from the value-added production of ethanol producers and farmers. Therefore, retail licences for ethanol producers and farmers' cooperatives should be considered.

It is ironic that the primary producers, the farmers, cannot access ethanol fuel at an advantageous price near their farms. Government initiatives and funding should be directed to small or medium scale (SME) ethanol plants set up with investment from farmers' cooperatives. Their output could range from 1,500 litres per day (such as the King's patented pilot plant) to 50,000 litres per day.

This is a more efficient, pragmatic method to develop the SME and the One Tambon One Product schemes, but mainly to win the struggle against poverty.

Promoting ethanol as an alternative or supplementary to polluting MTBE gasoline imports is the correct policy to utilise local resources. However, Thailand needs more efforts to create an equitable, streamlined trading system and clear and transparent policy and attendant legal measures in order to convince farmers and investors to draw up 20-year business plans. Many are worried that a change of government may change the policy, and those who will suffer are the farmers and investors in ethanol production.

Jay S Yoo

Bangkok

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Britain needs more MPs of Galloway's calibre

 Re: "British MP's statement shows lack of decorum", Letters, May 29.

Even his enemies admit that George Galloway is probably the finest orator in the British parliament, which is no doubt irks the likes of Ron Goodden

Galloway has been vilified in the UK press and expelled from the Labour Party for telling the truth about the Iraq wars and their devastating effects. If more MPs had followed his code of conduct rather than their own self interest, then Blair's war would never have been authorised and thousands more Iraqis, Americans, British et al could still be alive today.

John Ward

Bangkok