I have hesitated to express any political opinions, but now feel constrained to humbly express my observations.

My wife and I were in the United States when the military coup occurred. I was somewhat disappointed to read of the almost immediate condemnation of the coup by the American Embassy in Bangkok. I had stayed in Thailand from October 2005 until May 2006, the "winter of discontent". During that time, I read The Nation religiously, and was aware of the blatant abuses of power by Thaksin Shinawatra, along with his arrogant style of leadership, his condemnation of all those who disagreed with him, and the almost daily additions to the list of his alleged acts of corruption.

I remember well the impeachment trail of our former president Bill Clinton. Many people were unaware that the charges were not about his affair with Monica Lewinsky, but rather that he had perjured himself before a grand jury. The final decision of the American Senate was that his crimes did not rise to the level of impeachment, and he was permitted to serve out his term.

Given the unwillingness of Thaksin to admit to any wrongdoing, and his stacking of the political and judicial decks in his favour, making it virtually impossible to have a fair and free election, I agreed with the military leaders that a coup was the only way to end this reign of corruption, and it was in the best interests of the kingdom.

It has been over two months since the coup, and I have been back in Thailand for one month. Now, even former prime minister Chuan Leekpai has urged that the coup leaders justify their seizure of power by spelling out what had gone wrong with the Thaksin regime.

I know that the wheels of justice run slowly, but it seems to me that two months have been enough time to justify the coup by pressing formal charges against Thaksin and company. While he is enjoying golf in China and basking in the beauty of Bali, the country waits for justice to be served. This justice should be swift and fair.

If the powers that be cannot justify his removal from office, he should be welcomed back to the kingdom as prime minister. But if the alleged crimes rise to the level of a military coup, he should be held accountable for his deeds, be brought back to Thailand to face justice, and should receive punishment equal to his crimes. This, to me, would lift the cloud that now hangs over the country.

I am sure that most Americans love Thailand, but a pat on the shoulder of Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont (whom I believe to be an honourable man) by President Bush at the Apec meetings does not mean that the matter has been settled and justice served.

Dr Johannes Maas

Jomtien Beach

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America is in no position to judge others on democracy

Chuan Leekpai said the Council for National Security (CNS) should be sensitive to domestic sentiment instead of worrying about judgements from Washington. He warned the CNS not to pay much attention to the cautious reaction to the coup from the United States because its real problem was how to secure the public's trust.

The present government of the United States of America does not care about democracy in Thailand or anywhere else on the face of this earth, including in America itself.

I have been reading "A History of Thailand" by Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit. On page 148 they detail Sarit's second coup in 1958: "Elections in December [1957] created a parliament with many leftists which Sarit found difficult to control, even with generous use of bribes.

In early 1958, Sarit went to the US for medical treatment and held consultations with Eisenhower and Dulles. On 20 October 1958, he carried out a second coup, declared martial law, annulled parliament, discarded the constitution, banned political parties, and arrested hundreds of politicians, journalists, intellectuals, and activists. The United States cheered and granted US$20 million in economic aid. The State Department [Dulles] memorialised that this was not a coup but an 'orderly attempt by the present ruling group to solidify its position."

As I write this, I am reading about the neo-cons next phase of degradation in Iraq. They are apparently about to engineer a coup to overthrow their puppet "democratic and sovereign" government there and to install the murderous CIA asset Iyad Allawi as "strongman", coming full circle from Saddam Hussein and back again, right to where they were when they initiated their aggressive war against the people of that nation more than three years ago.

The United States under the present regime does not even have the interests of its own people at heart, much less the interests of the Thai people. It is morally as well as financially bankrupt and no more than the minimum diplomatically acceptable gestures need be made in its direction. After the crash, when we American people find ourselves in the same position as the Thais, perhaps then we too can struggle to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps.

As it is now, we have the governments we do in America and here in Thailand. Caesar Chavez and the campesinos said that hope dies last. So yes, we still hope for the best.

John Francis Lee

Chiang Rai

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Police force needs to be made an honourable profession

I support the government's move to reform the police force and welcome the seminar organised by Amnesty International Thailand, at which representatives from the police force, the Justice Ministry, the Lawyers Council of Thailand and others will be able to brainstorm and propose ideas.

I suggest that our goal should be to produce and reward only those cops who are accountable for their actions (no forced confessions, abductions, bribe-taking etc); who have such good standing in their community that locals volunteer information; and who are role models of what it means to abide by the law. They should be beloved by our children, and we should not be able to use cops to scare our kids with.

Towards that end, I support National Legislative Assembly member Sangsit Pirirangsan's idea that police in a given province should come under the authority of the area's governor.

To prevent mini-police states, there must be strong checks and balances, especially within the judicial system and provincial legislature, and each governor must be answerable to the local population.

Let's make it a badge of honour, once again to be a policeman.

Burin Kantabutra

Bangkok

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Tsunami victims and money conveniently forgotten

There seems to be a lack of remembrance for the victims of the December 26, 2004 catastrophe in southern Thailand, now Thaksin has been removed. It is a known fact the Thai weather department knew of the impending tsunami two hours prior to it striking. Why should the chief of this department inform his daughter and not the entire nation? My belief is the Ministry of Tourism made the decision not to inform hotels for fear of losing business and the almighty tourist dollar.

The government should be held responsible and pay compensation to the families who lost their lives and property. A class action lawsuit should be filed in an international court. Where did all the monies donated by the public disappear to? Let us not forget the victims.

FJ

Bangkok

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Alcohol policy will surely backfire on the government

I'm a marketing man and I can tell you that the ban on displaying alcohol ads is very dangerous for young people. Over the next five years drinking will increase. I'm pretty sure this ban will have the opposite, adverse effect on young Thais. We will see!

Clive

Bangkok

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Husbands change more than marriage survey indicates

Re: "Foreign husbands bring big changes to Isaan", News, November 17.

There are so many faulty conclusions in the Khon Kaen study of foreign marriages, one doesn't know where to begin. So, let's point out a few glaring ones:

First, I would love to meet the Isaan lady who says she eats hamburgers and pizzas because it's a "symbol" of her adjustment to Western culture. She eats this food simply because she likes it. Second, many Isaan women have never honoured Buddhist Lent; the fact that they don't do so now has no bearing on their marriage to a foreigner and that they like celebrating Christmas. Who doesn't like to celebrate a holiday where you receive presents? Third, the independent streak you now see in women throughout Thailand has much more to do with the influence of popular culture and Thai soap operas than it does foreign husbands. Fourth, any Western man who has married a Thai lady and settled in Isaan will tell you that they have adapted far more to the customs and culture of their adopted land than their Isaan wives have adapted to them. And they've done so gladly.

David Tapila

Sakon Nakhon

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Death toll in South requires an accurate daily count

Please consider putting an accurate daily death count of the killings in southern Thailand in a box, upper corner of the front page. Every day the comments in reports on the South read "more than 1,700 have been killed in the last 2 years" or "over 2,500 have been killed since early 2004".

Make it a very accurate and prominent display on the front page. We owe them (the street sweepers, ice-cream sellers, postmen, teachers). Make an accurate daily count like the media does on US deaths in Iraq.

Al Eberhardt

Bangkok