The PM should look no further than seeking advice from Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bien, who is facing similar circumstances.

Both leaders are facing a mounting people's power movement to topple their governments due to alleged corruption and favouritism in the administration. Both of them have created greatly polarised and divided countries during their tenures. Both are defiant and will not give up.

They also have assassination plots in common. Chen was shot prior to election day, and subsequently won the election by a marginal number of sympathy swing votes. Our PM was a bit lucky and managed to escape the alleged car bombing with just a bit of a sweat when finding out about the plot afterwards. But whether both men can continue to stay in office is anyone's guess, and it seems that we won't have to wait too long to find out.

Yingwai S

Bangkok

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Violence never a justifiable means to depose of a leader

Re: "A sniper would have been better for an assassination", Letters, August 3.

Sure, one bullet from a sharpshooter may be easier to achieve the goal and make it harder to trace the assassin. But that is not acceptable in the civilise world. Why use violent means to get rid of him? There are peaceful ways to deal with him such as the non-violent demonstrations staged by the People's Alliance for Democracy on several occasions over the past few months, filing complaints to the courts and letting the judicial process take care of the rule of law. There are many cases against him and the Thai Rak Thai Party in court right now.

 He made promises about solving the trouble in the South within three months, and traffic in Bangkok within six months; he not only failed badly, but these problems have reached a critical point. He also failed to pursue figures of dark influence.

He also flip-flops so much that with his reputation he no longer has legitimacy to govern and lead anymore. Case in point: he promised he would not dissolve the Parliament, which he did; he said he would take a break on April 5, which he didn't do. The Temasek deal, the Kularb Kaew probe, the CTX scanner corruption case, the assets concealment and so forth put a stain on his reputation. All in all, he makes Tossakan (a character from the Ramayana story) look like an angel. His cronies, the three ex-EC commissioners, have had a taste of jail and who knows who might be next.

 No matter how bad a leader he is, let karma take care of him, assassination is not in my book!

Surasak Piputtana

Bangkok

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Thaksin should heed Anand's warning and take his leave

Re: "Failed-state danger is real", News, August 31. Former Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun hit the nail on the head when he remarked that Thailand is at risk of becoming a failed state. Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra needs to be warned that he has done much already to ruin our country. His propensity for using money to solve deep-rooted and long-standing problems, such as poverty and education, proved unintelligent and perilous.

His insouciant and overbearing manner is unbecoming of a democratic leader. Such behaviour has created deep division among the Thai public. Because of his arrogance of power, the southern separatist unrest may never be solved so long as Thaksin remains in power.

He has destroyed our unique social norm which accentuates self-sufficiency and respect for each other, and our long-established tradition of peaceful coexistence irrespective of ethnic origin or creed.

Thaksin personifies decadence and corruption.

He should realise this and pull out of politics, or Thailand risks becoming a failure just as Anand suggested.

Thaksin should show his courage and responsibility by pulling out of politics.

Chavalit Van

Chiang Mai

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University rankings should be used to country's advantage

Last week was a chaotic week for those who were supposed to be "in the know". Thammasat University's rector Dr Surapol Nitikraipoj was opposed to the rankings of Thai universities which had been carried out by the Commission for Higher Education ("Rector rejects list of Top 50 universities", News, August 31).

Thammasat was deemed to be eighth in terms of research sixth in terms of teaching in the Commission for Higher Education's rankings. What Suraphol will have to say about this is anybody's guess. But whether the rector knows it or not, Thammasat is also listed in the Webmetrics Ranking of World Universities at number 73 among the Asia's top 100 universities. In this particular ranking, the highest-ranking Thai universities were Chulalongkorn University at 40, Kasetsart University at 43, and the Asian Institute of Technology at 53. Compared with other Asian countries such as South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, this does not bode well for the claim that Thailand is presently the regional hub of education in this part of the world.

Rankings of universities can indeed serve a useful purpose for parents and students trying to select schools.

University rankings do influence the behaviour of our educational institutions. A university that finds itself ranked lower than its peers for any reason might, for example, beef up its curriculum, do more research or hire more qualified professors. For better or for worse, creative administrators have occasionally found ways to report their data in a way to make their institutions look better. But if they do not, the blame cannot be laid upon the Commission for Higher Education.

All in all, I think the exercise is a good start. It could lead to a better system not of experiment but one of a definitive technique the next time around since we will be more experienced.  Dr Suraphol should be open-minded and accept the rankings which were done by Thais and not foreign agencies such as US World and News Report and the like. After all, regardless of what other people say, all those Thammasat students and alumni would not accept anything less. Thammasat is still Number 1 in their hearts.

Prachyadavi Tavedikul

Bangkok

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Israel's neighbours out to destroy a state, not create one

Re: "To put it simply, Muslims resent land theft by Israelis", Letters, August 31. Richard Moore responded to my letter by claiming Israel stole the land from the Arabs. But who attacked whom? The Arab nations waged war with Israel and lost. Israel kept the land to secure its borders. When Anwar Sadat after failing in war decided to make peace he was given all the conquered land back including a large oil field that was discovered and developed by Israel.

Israel also gave back the territory it occupied in Lebanon and Gaza to its regret, as after they got their land back they still sent missiles into Israel. I think it's clear Israel wants secure borders next to a Palestinian state. Unfortunately it appears that those who have such a large influence with Israel's neighbours are bent more on destroying a state than establishing one. I don't think this conflict will ever end.

Lester Parker

Bangkok

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Democracy hardly 'free' for Arabs living under Israeli rule

Re: "Israeli Arabs enjoy high standard of living, citizenship" Letters, August 25.

I stand corrected on the issue of citizenship for Arab-Israelis in the state of Israel. The point I was trying to make, however was that The Nation, in referring (correctly) to Israel as a "Jewish state" (where Israel, according to its Supreme Court, is not the state of its citizens, but of Jews in Israel and the Diaspora) the term itself - "Jewish state" - explicitly rejects the "existence" of ethnic minorities living in Israeli society. And on the point of "free democracy" - maybe someone can explain to me what was so "free" and "democratic" about the revised Family Unification Law. In May of this year, this law upheld the decision to deny the right of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories to join (ie be granted citizenship) their Arab-Israeli families/spouses in Israel, leaving them separated and without state benefits.

And further to the point of Palestinians who are denied rights and citizenship in Syria and Lebanon, one might be entitled to wonder what they are doing there in the first place. Maybe they were driven there by that "free democracy" that continues to illegally occupy and expropriate Palestinian land, as well as invading sovereign states and kidnapping members of a fellow, freely elected government. And yes, Arab-Israeli MPs do make fiery speeches, just like the ones given by Azmi Bishara, who was then stripped of his parliamentary immunity for two political "anti-Israeli" speeches. It's "free democracy and free speech" according to US-Israeli rules.

JFW

Bangkok

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Cliches will continue as long as prostitution is commonplace

Re: "Hollywood insults more than just our intelligence", Letters, August 30.

Brian Elkey was recently put off by a joke in reference to Thai hookers in the Hollywood movie "Snakes on a Plane". This is old news: almost a decade ago an Australian movie "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert", featured a Thai women and a Ping-Pong show. The movie was highly acclaimed and released internationally, yet there was no outrage that I can recall. I doubt that many thinking Thais would be offended because most of them know that, as a recent editorial in The Nation ("A perfect lure for paedophiles", Editorial, August 22) pointed out that "prostitution continues to flourish around the country, especially in Bangkok and other cities with large numbers of tourists".

Thais generally know that Thailand will always have this reputation because of its massive sex trade.

It is an embarrassment for Thais, and Thai women have to deal with negative stereotypes around the world, but this is because of how commonplace prostitution is in Thailand. It is Thais who need to speak up, not foreigners.

Watson

Pathum Thani