When will the international gateway size be increased enough to eliminate congestion? What other international gateway providers are currently available?

 And, since CAT seems so committed to cutting Internet service providers' costs, when will CAT return the 16-32 per cent of equity (TOT has some, too) "expropriated" from the ISPs in the first place? Giving the ISPs back their equity will enable them to boost their capabilities and efficiency significantly, thus lowering costs to users. Why should the state be collecting more than the normal business taxes from ISPs anyway? Have the ISPs sinned in some way?

 Precisely why is CAT necessary anyway? The private sector has more than enough capital and technical capability to handle anything and everything CAT does, whether telecommunications in general or the Internet in particular. Retiring CAT would be a great boon to Thailand, since CAT no longer has any function other than to absorb a huge amount of money that could go to social areas such as education and health.

 What users want are low charges and high speed. Telecommunications, including the Internet, are a primary tool of business and personal life. The lower the cost, the greater the usage, and the greater the boost to domestic and international business, generating lots of revenues to be taxed, far more than expropriated equity pays. Thinking in terms of the total revenues to the central government, rather than to an organisation like CAT, needs to be the mentality of all state enterprises. There is no reason why ISP equity yields should have to pass through CAT (or TOT) and get depleted, when they could go straight into the general tax fund via taxes and support other sectors.

 May Minister Sitthichai soon realise that CAT and TOT are obsolete, and programme them out of existence. The staff of both organisations could easily be absorbed into a rapidly growing industry with a tight labour supply. He ought to know; he founded and ran his own technical university: Mahanakorn University of Technology. There's no need to worry about the public interest. The National Telecommunications Commission is there to pursue a policy of levelling the telecommunications playing field with clear and enforced regulations applied on a consistent, constant and reliable basis. No need for any state enterprises with 70 per cent of equity in state hands. A pretty expensive indulgence at the expense of the public and the kingdom.

A telecom dependent

Bangkok

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Kids get a cold, hard lesson in racial discrimination

I am a Frenchman who has been living and paying tax in Thailand for 13 years and I thought I had seen it all until Monday 11 December. I was on my way from our home in Buri Ram to Bangkok with my 10-year-old daughter and my 4-year-old son, both Thai citizens from their mother's side. Their mother had to stay behind to take care of some business upcountry. We thought that taking a break at the famous Pang Si Da Waterfall would be fun.

The kids were all excited about the trip - until we got to the gate. There were two signs there: one in English that read "Entry fee Bt400 per person", and one in Thai that read "Entry fee Bt20 per person". I found that paying 20 times more because I am a foreigner was already outrageous as I pay tax in this country, but this was nothing: the guard told us (and we were having this conversation in Thai) that unless I could prove my kids were Thai, the entry fee would be Bt1,200 for the three of us, and not 440. I did not have this kind of money to spend on a roadside break, and so I had to back out my car 100 metres as the guard would not even let us do a U-turn inside. My daughter broke down in tears and it took me an hour to get her to stop sobbing. After she was done crying she got angry and told me that if she ever went to France and set up a business there, she would charge her fellow Thai citizens 20 times the regular price as well. I told her that she should not do that for two reasons: it is bad to discriminate against people for revenge or other reasons, and it is illegal to do that in France. She asked me why Thailand did not have laws against discrimination as well, and I told her to take that up with her teacher as I was running out of arguments.

The bright side of this story is that my daughter now understands what it feels like to be discriminated against and has promised me never to do that to anyone.

A frog in the mist

Bangkok

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Education is the key to the democratisation process

Recently, there was a coup d'etat in Fiji. I wonder if the Thai government published an official response, somewhere along the lines of, "We deplore the forced removal of a democratically elected government by military might, and look forward to the time when Fijians can return to a healthy democratic process". Of course, such a statement by military-appointed Thai officials would be ironic. In spite of poking fun at the coup in Thailand, I understand it was needed to throw out the miserably corrupt administration of the former PM.

I support the promise of elections as soon as is reasonably possible but suggest the current administration begin an intense educational programme throughout Thailand explaining why democracy and fair elections are good. For starters, individuals should be taught that payment for votes is illegal and ultimately undermines their well-being. They should understand that, even if they accept money, they can vote for whomever they please. The ex-PM and his self-enriching, damaging-to-Thailand policies are living proof that vote buying is bad. TRT was successful in purchasing votes, but their governing style was awful.

The current leaders should implement changes to the election process that enact the following: penalties for offering payments for votes; praise rather than penalties for whistle-blowers; mandated debates among candidates - hopefully focusing on issues and proposed policies.

And please, let's rescind the silly rule that mandates only university graduates can run for office. Should future leaders be required to prove they can sit still in classrooms for 6,000 hours? Given that there's a tolerant attitude toward cheating on exams, and that students from higher class families get preferential placements in schools, how can we be sure that university grads are as good as their grades indicate? Incidentally, the former PM's most lasting legacy will be 'lying and cheating are okay, especially if it makes you richer'. That's a tough lesson to undo, and it comes from a university graduate.

Ken Albertsen

Chiang Rai

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Burmese workers need help before they need democracy

Re: "Thailand's cynical ploy on Burmese migrant workers", Opinion, December 11.

This was excellent, humane and economically sound advice on how best to handle Burmese migrant workers for the mutual benefit of Thais and the Burmese themselves. The government should please take note.

As for Kavi's concluding remark, and I quote: "It is about time we supported the hard-working Burmese and those who have aspirations for democratic development." My suggestion is, let's focus on supporting the workers and keep democracy out of it. Nothing has been more exploited than democracy. Look at Iraq.

Prapa Smutkojon

Bangkok

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No surprise if some foreign firms use defensive tactics

Re: "How foreigners swipe Thai assets", Business, December 11.

I read this article by KI Woo with no small amount of amusement. It seems rather obvious that the foreign companies accused of misdeeds in this article see little value added to their enterprise by being forced to create a joint venture with a local partner, of which they by law must be a minority stakeholder. If these foreign firms felt otherwise, they would not seek to terminate the annual renewable contracts mentioned.

Meanwhile, given the 51 per cent Thai ownership rule, it would be foolish for foreigners not to behave as some do: let someone else establish your brand at their expense, then try to move to a distributor with whom you can get a bigger part of the pie. Naturally this leads some to set up illegal nominees, but the legal option is compelling enough.

The situation is hammered home with this statement from the article: "However, we must also remember that in most cases, these same Thai businessmen would not have received the original distribution rights if they had refused to sign the annual 'renewable' one-year contracts."

Apparently the "expertise" needed for distribution isn't such that it can demand more than a one-year contract. So, who exactly is swiping whose assets?

Jason Kenney

San Rafael, CA

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The US and Israel are as big a danger to world peace as Iran

Re: "World must unite to tackle Iran's nuclear ambitions", Letters, December 13.

Josh Baker is a consistent champion of the neo-con cause. If Armageddon is approaching, it is coming at the hands of the neo-cons in the United States and Israel who are the ones who have been waging the wars.

There is real reason to be concerned about Israel's nuclear stockpile, the world's third or fourth largest, and about Israel's demonstrated willingness to attack its neighbours. Iran does not at this time have nuclear weapons and their manufacture would require another ten years.

Also, the ability of the neo-cons to direct the United States military at the targets of its choosing is much more cause for alarm than Iran's non-existent threat. Iran has not attacked another country in years. The United States and Israel manufacture reasons to do so.

John Francis Lee

Chiang Rai