I am one of the retail investors mentioned in this letter and I did foresee the coming measures of the Bank of Thailand.

The strengthening of the Thai baht from Bt41 to Bt35 to the dollar was worrisome to Thai exporters. The BOT's initial confidence of managing the exchange rate receded once the rate broke the Bt36 threshold. A week before December 18, the BOT warned that taxation on the inward flow of foreign funds was likely and, the morning of December 18, it gave notice that an announcement would be made that day at 4.30pm, (the SET's closing time). Was that a fair warning to retail investors of the coming slide of the stock market when we all knew that the sustenance of the SET rested with inward funds from foreign investors?

To this writer, the answer is "yes". You didn't need to be a genius to foresee what was coming. I liquidated half of my portfolios on December 15 and 18 and started to purchase "short sale" contracts in the futures exchange. Did I make a package? You better believe it, because the panic sales with a vengeance that 'Black Tuesday' drove foreign investors to was far beyond my dreams, which is the only part that this retail investor could not have foreseen. I also closed one-third of my short-sale positions in the late afternoon of that 'Black Tuesday' and recouped all losses previously incurred during the year 2006.

Spade

Bangkok

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Be wary when politicians begin to protest too much

The following appeared in Tuesday's The Nation ("Act change 'will not hit confidence' ", Business): "Commerce Minister Krirkkrai Jirapaet Monday pledged the amended Foreign Business Act would not affect foreign investors' confidence or obstruct foreign investment in the Kingdom".

First rule of politics: never believe anything until it is officially denied.

Paul Cheesman

Bangkok

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Kingdom's competitive edge hinges on foreign business law

Re: "Act change 'will not hit confidence'", Business, December 26. Whatever view one takes of last week's one-day crash in the Thai stock market and the capital control measures that led to it, the confidence of foreign investors has clearly taken a severe jolt. Now their eyes are all on the Commerce Ministry to see what form its proposed amendments to the Foreign Business Act will eventually take. The new law has potentially far greater ramifications for long-term foreign investment than the temporary capital controls.

First enacted in 1972 as a revolutionary decree by the Thanom-Prapas military dictatorship, the Foreign Business Act was broadly intended to protect Thai businesses until they could become strong enough to compete with foreign businesses on an equal footing, although no time horizon was set.

Meanwhile, the previously lesser developed Asian countries enacted their own much more liberal foreign investment laws in the 1990s and are now either in the process of outstripping Thailand's economic competitiveness, or have already done so. Surely there is now a strong case for the unconditional removal of foreign ownership restrictions in all sectors that are not deemed either strategic or traditional Thai crafts without imposing special registrations and approvals? New foreign direct investment that would provide jobs for thousands of Thais is now on hold awaiting clarity on foreign ownership laws and, of course, the end of the new capital controls which effectively prevent the financing of investments through inter-company loans from offshore. Thailand is no longer competitive as a manufacturing base in nearly all sectors except autos, and also has a rather small domestic market compared to the opportunities available in China and India. In short, most multinationals do not really need to be here and many will not bother to spend management time on minority investments in Thailand they don't control.

If the new law creates a climate that is inhospitable to foreign direct investment, there will be no circuit breakers triggered as there were last Tuesday in the stock market and no easy second chance to fix mistakes. Foreign direct investors will just retreat in an orderly manner or not come at all and it will take some time before the damage to the Thai economy and the Thai people is obvious. But let's hope the government gets it right first time.

George Morgan

Bangkok

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Official failures in tsunami disaster must be remembered

In commemorating the tsunami disaster, let us also remember the incompetence of the Thai authorities who were informed about the approaching tsunami two hours before it struck the southern coast of Thailand. Scared for the loss of revenue from the tourist industry, they decided to remain silent.

If the local people were warned on time, many lives could have been saved.

The report of the investigation about that failure was kept secret because the Thaksin regime feared many judicial financial claims from families of the victims.

Only one lower rank official was "banned" to the Thai gulag of so-called "inactive posts", overcrowded already due to the impunity of many officials, who committed crimes during the Thaksin regime.

Nick

Bangkok

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'Saving face' should not be an issue when lives are concerned

Re: "Foreign diplomats 'acted on rumour'", Letters, December 27.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman has his priorities incorrect in complaining about the foreign embassies' request for an independent audit of tsunami funds. The true damage to Thailand's international reputation is not caused by transparent and impartial investigations; it is caused by attempts to ignore or hide potentially embarrassing news. Sadly, even many patriotic Thais believe that if the embassies had not made their concerns known, nothing would have been done.

All countries have occasional corruption scandals, even those countries submitting the audit request. The important thing is how they handle them - identifying and punishing wrongdoers, or sweeping things under the carpet. The new Thai government has opted for a "clean" approach, so it is a shame the Foreign Ministry is more worried about saving face.

Disappointed

Bangkok

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Hold Thaksin and cronies accountable for airport's faults

The new Airports of Thailand (AOT) board has discovered a laundry list of problems with Suvarnabhumi, and it's likely that the brand spanking new airport will need partial closure to fix them. On top of that, Admiral Bannawit Kengrien, chairman of the National Legislative Assembly's committee on the airport, has discovered graft in almost all contracts involved.

All the time that ex-prime minister Thaksin insisted that the airport would be ready, no AOT director dared raise a peep of objection.

Even after the September 19 coup, AOT executives insisted to the Council for National Security (CNS) that the airport was ready for the scheduled September 28 opening.

The then-board and executives must be held accountable for this - with the sole exception being those, if any, who had their objections recorded in the official board minutes or an official memo. Yes, opposing then-prime minister Thaksin might have meant being fired, but with high office comes high responsibilities.

The Office of the Attorney General should, on behalf of all Thais, sue the then-board and executives who reassured the CNS for the cost of setting everything right, plus damages for lost time and opportunity caused by the mistakes and damage done to our national image: we should make the "Guinness Book of World Records" for being the world's first airport to be short 300 toilets. The directors and executives should be covered by AOT's liability insurance, but when that's exhausted, they should be held jointly liable and accountable.

Burin Kantabutra

Bangkok

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Smooth transliteration not as important as preserving Thai

Thank you Bernard Walker for pointing out the basic complications when representing Thai script into English ("Rules for written Thai account for transliteration difficulties", Letters, December 27). There are other details that were not mentioned, such as the differences between how Britons and North American English speakers interpret Thai sounds.

However, Thais could very easily develop a standard system of transliteration that is consistent and makes life slightly easier for all the foreigners who continue to complain about this issue, but I hope this will never happen.

The homogenisation of languages is already happening in our world. The beautiful Thai language could be next, as this has already happened to many languages in Indonesia, Vietnam and other countries as a result of colonisation by Western powers.

The colonial masters spared the Laotian and Cambodian languages probably because their populations and exploitable wealth were not sizeable enough to make it worthwhile. Those readers who are bothered by these inconsistencies in transliteration and who plan to be in Thailand for a while would be better off learning Thai.

Thais are too clever to jeopardise the long-term viability of their language for the convenience of foreigners and too polite and hospitable to explain this to you so directly.

Rolando Jubis

Jakarta

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