You ask her why she's spending so much on things like whitening cream, laundry softener and skin lotions in pretty little packages, and she says, "The store manager is very charming and persuasive, and he says all these items are super good and that I really need them to be pretty and popular."

Yes, wanton consumerism has ingrained itself deep into the fibre of Thailand - particularly its youth. It's become as strongly entrenched as the worst weeds in your local vacant plot of land. We, as consumers, act as vanity-ridden sheep and willingly buy buy buy! Take a small tube of skin whitener, for example. The ingredients might cost Bt2, the packaging Bt6, the marketing Bt18, and it might retail for Bt75 - all for a product that is ineffective.

Young people in particular - but not exclusively - are sucked into the swirling vortex of consumerism. Are we, as adults and counsellors, helpless to sway the tide of ignorance? No, there are tangible things that can be done. Some suggestions:

Install a government department with "teeth" that scientifically tests consumer products and publishes the results for everyone to see. If a government department can't effectively do that job, have an independent private organisation do it - along the lines of the highly effective Consumer Reports in the US.

Levy fines on merchants for false claims and/or underfilled packages.

Have required courses in high schools like "Sensible Purchasing" or "Use Your Brain before You Open Your Wallet". The topics could be endless: "Why It's Better to Buy Outright Rather Than with Time Payments", "Why It's Smart to Buy Second-Hand", "Recycling Pays", "Does a Pretty Picture of Fruit on a Package of Juice Mean There's More Than a Modicum of That Fruit in the Drink?" ad infinitum.

If the powers that be don't mind poor people spending most of their tiny bits of money on worthless crap, they can continue to maintain the status quo. However, they should know that a perpetually poor populace is not content.

Unfortunately, most commercial interests care only about the "bottom line" (making money), and will do anything they can to stymie a programme that might impinge on that - including bullying anyone who has the gumption to stand up to their inferior and overpriced items.

On the positive side, companies with decent products and fair prices might welcome the scrutiny that would come with objective probing and comparisons - unless perhaps the results aren't in their favour. The crucial question is whether entrenched commercial interests are too powerful to challenge. If so, it's a sad predicament for the downtrodden masses.

Ken Albertsen

Chiang Rai

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Judges are country's last hope for solving political impasse

Constitution Court justices are deliberating whether the Thai Rak Thai and Democrat parties are guilty of hiring others to run against them, enabling them to evade the constitutional requirement on minimum votes needed to win an uncontested seat. The justices should keep our beloved His Majesty the King's sage words in mind: "If no one follows the law and righteous administration, the country will be in a shambles, as we are experiencing now … Carefully review the vows you have made."

Rule of law requires that each case be judged separately. Because if one suspect in, say, a murder case were found guilty, that would be irrelevant to the guilt or innocence of another suspect in another murder. To consider the Thai Rak Thai and Democrat cases together would be to fall into the trap that if one is guilty or innocent, the other must be, too - for political reasons. Thus, the verdict on one party's actions should be announced before deliberations on the other case begin.

Justices must heed His Majesty's advice and decide in accordance with the rule of law. In this case, punishment for violating the Constitution is very light compared with the offence and hardly means the end of the world; the guilty party will rename itself and carry on through nominees. Its leaders can still be elected as usual. But by calling a spade a spade, justices will have shown the world that crime does not pay and that parties will be held accountable for their acts. Politicians will become more careful to heed the rules, thus elevating the level of political accountability from the mud.

The justices are our country's last hope to save our country from this mess - by following His Majesty's sage advice: "Remember your vows."

Burin Kantabutra

Bangkok

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CDs useful where quality of English instruction is lacking

Re: "Technology alone will not solve challenges facing arcane education system", Letters, July 6.

My suggestion that CDs could alleviate a shortage of native-speaking teachers wasn't intended as a panacea.

It certainly wasn't meant to solve administrative problems facing an arcane education system.

Also, while I don't doubt John Mottley's claim that CDs can be used wrongly ("Technology alone is not sufficient to address shortage of native-speaking teachers", Letters, June 24), they surely aren't an inherently dangerous tool, as a hammer might be, although overuse could lead to death through boredom.

Nor did I suggest that CDs should replace teachers (though robots might), but that with a dearth of native speakers, non-native teachers could be trained in their use as a teaching aid to make up for their imperfect pronunciation.

CDs are ideal for self-study. But having taught boys, I realise motivation is a problem.

That is why I suggested providing them first to teachers. Hopefully, this would have a trickle-down effect.

This would mainly benefit the hundreds of schools that lack the real McCoy (perhaps this is not an apt expression, considering the bias that some readers have shown against a Scottish accent) or even qualified non-native speakers on their staff.

Another plus is the low cost of the CDs, if we discount the cost of development. Today's technology makes it possible for one person (or a small team) to publish a CD. So if the aim weren't to make a lot of money, the cost per CD would be little more than the cost of the plastic.

Unlike Mottley, I don't consider myself an e-learning expert, but rather the self-taught, home-grown variety.

But I have developed, for example, a 10,000-word bilingual talking pictorial dictionary, plus word games, quizzes and conversation that fits on a CD. Compare this with a pocket talking dictionary that sells for thousands of baht.

The problem lies in the distribution of the CDs and providing training to teachers.

This is why I suggested it be done by a not-for-profit organisation, which would cut out the red tape often associated with an arcane education system. The question is will our local version of philanthropist Bill Gates please stand up?

Trirat Petchsingh

Nonthaburi

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Police did nothing to protect suspects from angry relatives

Re: "Suspects set upon in re-enactments", News, January 9.

I read the story of the Burmese suspects whom the police failed to protect from physical assault during the re-enactment of the killing of a police commander's father.

I also watched the footage of that news broadcast on a television channel, and it was found that the police did not "fail to protect".

They did very little to attempt to protect the suspects. They let the suspects go first with very little security, and the angry relatives of the victim kicked and punched them.

It is the responsibility of the police not to allow any assault against suspects, no matter what crime they have committed.

All suspects are to be punished in accordance with the law, not by the relatives of victims. I am very disappointed to see such a chaotic event take place, during which the police were unable to protect the two suspects.

It is, in fact, an event of ugliness and shame for Thai police.

I also want you to make sure the suspects are Burmese, because their names mentioned are not Burmese names.

Tun Naw

Chiang Mai

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Attitudes must change before exploitation of children stops

Re: "Abuse shifting from locals to migrants", News, July 9.

Thailand prides itself on kind-hearted tolerance, but unconscionable and shameful discriminatory practices featuring blatant violations of human rights are being perpetuated against helpless ethnic minority children.

The Labour Ministry estimates at least 70,000 offspring of illegal immigrants currently live in Thailand without any legal rights or representation, constantly facing the threat of mass deportation round-ups.

Most are uneducated and being exploited in dirt-cheap jobs nobody else wants for below-minimum wage with a lack of vital basic necessities. Our mutually accepted overall aim should be to enable each and every child, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or background, to capitalise on the three A's: Actualising, Applying and Activating their full potential.

All children must be assured of equal opportunity - not to become equal, but to become different - to realise and maximise whatever unique talents lie deep within. We should view all of humanity as members of our global family. Only then can we learn to value and cherish other people's children as our own, while appreciating our broader social responsibility to help educate and expand individualised learning options for every potential future leader on our fast-changing planet.

What is needed is for attitudes smacking of insensitivity and indifference to be replaced with increased awareness, respectful understanding and dynamic, proactive solutions to this critical problem, along with generous sharing and caring support from the global family of friends.

Dr Chanchai Prasertson

Bangkok