Reporters at Government House are like a bunch of kids who always wait for the master to hand out candy. If the master is in a good mood, they will get some goodies chosen by the master - there is no way reporters can choose for themselves. If the master is in a bad mood, they will get nothing or only some rude remarks. When will these kids learn that Thaksin is not their master? We pay his salary, so he has to serve us.

It is his duty to provide us with information and not the other way round. If his behaviour is bad, don't talk to him, don't ask him questions. Ignore the guy for one month, and he will come back and beg you on his knees. Don't give him a chance to spread only his "news". Whenever I see this guy on television or listen to his speeches on the radio, I cannot believe this is the prime minister of the Kingdom of Thailand. He should go back to chairing companies but not the country.

The media should learn to serve the people and report only the truth. Reporters should not fall into Thaksin's traps, fabricating new headlines to divert attention away from scandals in which he is involved.

List all of his scandals every day on the front page, to remind him of his misdeeds. Follow up on all of the unsolved cases until we see some light. One question to the majority: is there real democracy in Thailand, or should we call it majority through vote-buying? I would be ashamed to vote for Thai Rak Thai and have the party live on taxpayers' money. If Thai Rak Thai has no one to emerge from Thaksin's shadow, everyone in the party should quit politics.

Raimund

Bangkok

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PM's absence might suggest a change in his election plans

Re: "Thaksin does not fear coup at home", News, September 12.

Your news of Thaksin's change of plans after Finland, to visit London instead of coming back home first before proceeding to Cuba, seems to be an omen suggesting he will not seek another term as premier.

Only a week ago, after a certain push from some of his rebels, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said that within a year, he would relinquish his premiership, paving the way for his second-in-command, Gordon Brown, to take his place.

Brown's position is somewhat similar to that of our caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak.

Again, in Cuba, due to health reasons, Fidel Castro had to transfer power temporarily to his trusted brother, Raul. The duration of the lull is dependent on the progress of his recovery from his intestinal surgery.

For Thaksin, his chances of a return to power would be far better than for these two if he decided not to run as a candidate for prime minister now.

Songdej Praditsmanont

Bangkok

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Small retailers shut out by 7-Eleven, not hypermarts

Re: "7-Eleven comes out fighting", Business, September 12.

Most mornings I walk round the corner to the 7-Eleven to purchase The Nation. On the way back, the old lady at the corner shop asks me to show her what I bought. If it is anything other than the newspaper, she tells me how much cheaper her eggs and whiskey are. Although her kids modernised the shop two years ago, the shop has lost many customers during the nine years I've lived here.

These customers are not lost to Carrefour or Tesco Lotus. These people go instead to that 7-Eleven, about 75 metres to the right of her shop, or another 7-Eleven that is only 400 metres to the right, or yet another one that is also close by.

The large retailers are not the ones leaving her shop quiet. 7-Eleven shops take a major share of her former income. Ask 100 small shops which retail outlets take their clients on a daily basis and add to the growing number of disappearing corner shops, and they will tell you that smaller shops like 7-Eleven are responsible for this. At the corner, I still can get a beer on election days, so I would hate it if the lady closed down.

Gerrit

Bangkok

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West must accept culpability in Middle East troubles

Re: "Analysis ignored joy expressed by some Muslims after 9/11", Letters, September 12.

Bouquets are due to Josh Baker for setting us straight about the causes of conflict with Muslim nations.

Until I read his letter, I had erroneously thought our current problems in the region stemmed from the fact that we had invaded and occupied several countries on false pretexts, while also egging on another ruthless invader who killed more than 1,000 civilians in a month in the name of "security".

I now see it was their fault after all. If only they would learn how to criticise themselves like we do, then we would not be provoked into rampaging through their territories.

Why won't they ever learn?

Tommy

Nakhon Pathom

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Editorial missed the mark on success of war on terror

Re: "Post-9/11 goodwill squandered", Editorial, September 12.

It is amazing that the otherwise-intelligent voice of The Nation would criticise, as a would-be authority on anti-terrorist operations (which it is not), the Bush administration for its post-9/11 actions in containing the Islamic terrorist threat around the world. The Nation echoed The Guardian, The New York Times and other mainstream media with like agendas whose main purpose seems to be to sell newspapers by printing whatever distortions of facts fit their socialistic agendas.

The Nation has always stood for accuracy and facts and has usually reserved their opinions for subjects about which the editors have first-hand knowledge. That The Nation, in this article, is still beating the anti-Bush dead horse seems presumptive, given that radical Islam has been engaged successfully and effectively. The West, along with Thailand, will win - we must win or be forever slaves to totalitarian Islam.

To intimate that the Bush administration's actions post 9/11 have been mistaken or ill-conceived requires some stretch of the imagination by The Nation, and such an assumption is patently not true.

War always exacts terrible consequences from all participants, and who on this planet knows what tomorrow will bring in such a conflict?

The West, with President George W Bush's strong leadership, has set the agenda to win, and win we will.

This reign of terror is sponsored by Islamic fascist leaders who cannot bear the thought of losing control over their millions of subjects to the democratic ideals that have provided the foundation for the freest and most successful nations the world has ever known.

The war on terror is a rather serious one, The Nation will admit, and we, the readers, would appreciate the most accurate, balanced and factual coverage of this ongoing Islamic-terrorist-inspired tragedy, which The Nation has always sought to provide.

Let other media twist the facts, and let The Nation remain true to its founding principles of truth and accuracy in reporting.

Let's not back the Islamic terrorists - let's back freedom and democracy!

JD Williams

Bangkok

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Blanket visa regulations cause unnecessary difficulties

How many more rules will the government come up with to limit foreigners without realising how damaging these rules are to the Thai economy?

How many more stupid rules are they going to come up with?

Anyone with a bit of a brain can surely see that all these new, limiting regulations will be very damaging to the Thai economy?

The latest development in this regard concerns the new rules regarding visas, which limit the time a person is allowed to stay in Thailand consecutively to 90 days.

I understand that part of this is to prevent people from staying here illegally, but surely the Immigration Department would be able to control this in some other way?

By enforcing this new rule, many will have difficulty staying legally in Thailand when there was no problem in the first place.

In our case, for example, my partner has a retirement visa, but I can't get one, because I am not 50 yet.

 I don't work, so I can't obtain a work permit, and we are not so rich that we can afford to make a huge investment to get an investment visa. So what options am I left with now?

Now there is also suddenly a new rule that says that a partner cannot be regarded as a dependent on the spouse's retirement visa. My partner and I were discussing it only yesterday.

I am staying on a tourist visa that is valid until the end of February of next year and am already getting worried by this new visa rule.

I am wondering whether I will be kicked out of the country or not allowed in any more when my current visa expires.

It seems to me that the Thai government is doing all it can to discourage people from coming here, while other countries, such as Malaysia, have excellent programmes specially set up to attract foreigners.

Foreigners coming to live here invest in Thailand and spend their money here, so Thailand's economy profits.

It's time for the government and the Immigration Department to set out the rules in a clear and precise manner, to prevent widespread panic among foreigners living here and maybe a mass exodus of people moving somewhere else that's friendlier to them.

LS Bergman

Chon Buri

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