It is evident that arson attacks on schools in the North and Northeast of Thailand recently were acts of political instigation by those who lost power.

Such attacks were launched to attract attention and to gain bargaining power by the former regime's political underlings, and should be condemned by all peace-loving Thais.

The last time such things happened was almost half a century ago when communist insurgency was at its height. Arson attacks on schools and government offices in those days were always carried out by forces against the government.

These politicians should be reminded that torching schools represents backwardness and destroys our children's chance for a better future. Such acts are tantamount to destroying our children's lives and should be severely chastised by all.

Those who are behind such attacks should leave politics for good; they are not in the business of making life better for people anyway.

Chavalit Van

Chiang Mai

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Malaysians cooperating on problem in the deep South

 Re: "Group seeks asylum in Malaysia, alleging harassment by Army", News, December 17.

It is appreciated that the report on Thai Muslims allegedly fleeing to Malaysia to seek asylum also touched on the aspect of Thai-Malaysian relations.

On this particular point, one notable element has apparently been missing and should thus be added. That is, the close cooperation on the issue that has been ongoing between the two countries, which has been extended to the Thai authorities by Malaysian officials both in the capital and at the local level.

Kitti Wasinondh

Director-General, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Better traffic system would ease crowding on Skytrain

 Re: "Skytrain service declines to the point of discomfort for all", Letters, December 18.

Indeed the Skytrain during rush hours is so packed with commuters that any body movement while standing is almost impossible. But it is still one of the fastest and cheapest modes of transportation in Bangkok. I and I presume most people who value time and punctuality would rather stand in an overcrowded train than be late for work because of a ride that stops every 10 metres due to the seemingly unsolvable traffic jams.

Blaming the Skytrain management for the overcrowding is ill advised. The management has almost no capacity to prevent people from riding the trains or to stop commuters from hopping onto packed carriages. Proper planning of the city traffic system is still the best solution to this problem. The less the traffic jams the more the people using road transport and therefore fewer commuters on trains. The bottom line is to ease traffic congestion.

There are many straightforward measures besides expensive road construction that the city administration should at least try, if not implement permanently, to combat the city's worsening traffic jams.

One is the so-called odd-even system where private cars are only allowed on the roads (except in emergency cases) on specific days of the week, depending on the licence plate's last digit. Theoretically, this method would reduce the number of private cars on the road by half and help reduce fuel consumption.

Another measure is to strictly enforce car-parking regulations. Parking cars along streets, avenues and highways should be prohibited.

Marshall N Bernaldez

Bangkok

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Limiting prime minister's terms could backfire

 There is far too little public debate over the proposed new constitution. One of the proposals that are being rushed into with too little thought is that the prime minister should be limited to serving two terms. I understand that the purpose is to prevent someone like Thaksin being able to carry out his threat to serve for 20 years, but more thought is needed.

Consider what happened in Britain in the 1960s and 70s. Harold Wilson, leader of the Labour Party, became prime minister in 1964 with a majority of 4 seats; his government lasted 18 months before calling a new election. He became prime minister again in 1974, but without a majority, and his government lasted only eight months before calling a new election. In both cases his government gained satisfactory majorities in the subsequent elections.

Under the system being proposed in Thailand, these short-lived administrations would constitute one of the prime minister's permitted two terms, giving him a total of perhaps just five years in power.

Dom Dunn

Bangkok

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New UN chief should follow lessons from predecessor

 Re: "Tough challenge ahead at the UN", Editorial, December 18.

There is no doubt that the United Nations' new secretary-general Ban Ki-moon will have to work extremely hard to prove himself as the leading diplomat in a heterogeneous organisation of 192 members, and not only as its chief administrative officer. He has to demonstrate without delay his talent in giving tangibility to a mission which he himself called "Operation Restore Trust" - trust in the institution and trust between member states and the UN Secretariat. He must show that he can be a true "harmoniser and bridge-builder", in a world characterised by global vulnerabilities, discontinuities and perplexities.

A very preliminary evaluation of his diplomatic capacity might be done after 100 days in office.

Equipped with an ambitious agenda, and while taking some distance from Kofi Annan for major political reasons, the new UN secretary general has a solid motivation to take into account some lessons emerging from the experience of his predecessor. There are five suggested lessons which were very recently summed up as five principles considered essential for the future conduct of international relations. They are: collective responsibility, global solidarity, the rule of law, mutual accountability, and multilateralism. These lessons have been passed in solemn trust to the new UN secretary-general, who on January 1 starts officially in "the world's most exalting job" as head of an institution unique in the annals of human history.

Ioan Voicu

Bangkok

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Dirty shoreline makes Hua Hin unattractive

 Last week I returned from a week's holiday in Hua Hin, where part of my routine was to take leisurely walks along the beach from the central part of Hua Hin to Khao Takiap. But seldom did I see picturesque blue water with gentle waves lapping against the rocks.

Instead, I saw slimy, greenish foam that pulsed back and forth at the edge of the brownish seawater. I also couldn't help noticing the many dead fish floating on the waves that were then deposited on the sand. This removed all inspiration for me to plunge into the water the way I had planned. Fearing some kind of skin contamination, I was convinced that it was better to walk a course parallel to the water and definitely not come into contact with it.

Disturbingly, the once pristine sandy beaches of Hua Hin are now strewn with all sorts of trash, including a lot of broken glass bottles whose jagged edges were just waiting to snag the foot of an unsuspecting strolling holidaymaker like myself. I had to walk around plastic bags, plastic bottles, straws, candy wrappers and other miscellaneous trash half-buried in the sand and floating or submerged in the water.

In my opinion, Hua Hin's beaches are polluted to the point that it is not worth the effort of travelling there. I saw no effort by the community to systematically maintain the cleanliness or safety of the beach and I can't help but wonder if people will continue to travel to Hua Hin only to be greeted by littered shorelines and defiled waters.

James R Harrigan

United Kingdom

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School buddies aren't best possible picks for the job

 Re: "Old school, new role", News, December 18.

The article reinforced a premise that's known among anyone who follows political manoeuvring in Thailand. As it succinctly stated: "In Thailand, political and business connections and networking are everything. These connections are formed from school days."

Objectively, we can draw several conclusions from that factoid. First, that Thai graduates are all about equally adept (or equally inept) at governing positions, so it doesn't much matter who's appointed to the position. Second, appointments to leadership positions aren't predicated so much on leadership skills as they are upon chummy camaraderie with old school buddies.

In an ideal world, the people doing the appointing would search far and wide to find the best people to fill leadership positions - looking beyond the confines of their immediate circle of buddies from their alma mater.

Ironically, that great proponent of fair government, America's Republican Party, warped the rules in 2000 when candidate (not yet president) George W Bush gave Dick Cheney (one of his presidential dad's bosom buddies) the job of forming a blue ribbon committee to find the best candidate to run for vice president on the Republican ticket.

After much scrutinising and weeks of interviewing the best and brightest candidates that the Republican Party could muster, Cheney decided that best person for the job was himself.

Ken Albertsen

Chiang Rai