I agree that the policy of the Bank of Thailand regarding monetary management was not effective. It is still not clear to me what the intentions were regarding the implementation of this policy. Could it have been an attempt by a new governing administration to build confidence by protecting one sector of the economy or a total misunderstanding of international monetary policy? Now the mission has to be damage control. The market will recover eventually, but some pro-active measures have to be taken by the BOT and the current administration to speed up this process.

It is my opinion that the BOT and the government of Thailand must take action and be truthful to themselves and investors here as well as those abroad regarding this incident. At the very least it will display an attempt to rectify future decisions regarding policy implementation procedures. At the very best, it may be a start towards regaining some credibility.

Danuj Kamolvathin

Bangkok

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Black Tuesday the price the country is paying for the coup

Re: "2007: fasten your seat belt, turbulence ahead", Opinion, December 28.

I notice that the optimism about the coup and better prospects for Thailand is fast turning south. I never thought that anything good could emerge from an unjustified coup. Last week's horrible blunder showed the price a country is paying for a bunch of self-elected people who made a power grab. In our home every Thai institution has got its marks downgraded severely. That is the sad outcome of this coup. I must tell my Thai sons the truth about every person involved. My prospect for Thailand 2007 is weak and the main reason is the coup.

Neutral Observer

Bangkok

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Suvarnabhumi's problems a legacy of a corrupt regime

We are seeing the results of Thaksin's corrupt regime. Suvarnabhumi Airport was just one of Thaksin's cash cows. There were so many allegations of wrongdoing but what did most educated and influential Thais do? It is not a surprise for the new airport to have ended up as it is today.

What do you expect when so many powerful interests are interfering with professional judgement? It leads to conflicts of interests. The bad thing is that the professionals involved in its construction will get the blame for the airport's faults and the powerful and influential figures who are responsible will be cleared of guilt. The worst of these figures are still living in Thailand and enjoying their ill-gotten gains while their fellow Thais bow to them. Somehow I get the feeling of the current goings on in Thailand as deja vu.

Ariyachai Unchern

Bangkok

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Walkways a potential danger for distracted passengers

Last Monday, I saw two elderly women talking casually on one of the moving walkways at the airport. Unbeknownst to them, because they were looking at each other while talking, the moving walkway was about to end and they needed to prepare to return to the normal, non-moving floor. Sadly, it was too late for them to realise this. One elderly lady almost lost her balance while the other elderly lady completely lost her balance and fell to her knees. It also caused a minor bottleneck, as some passengers could not get out of the blocked walkway. Imagine if there had been more people in the walkway at that time.

I think the moving walkway is potentially very dangerous for some people and that it's time for the AOT to review its safety methods with regard to this equipment.

AA

Bangkok

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Transliteration system would help improve pronunciation

Quite what point Jubis's letter ("Smooth transliteration not as important as preserving Thai", December 28) seeks to make quite eludes me. He seems to have gone off on some erroneous path that letters concerning the pronunciation of Thai words that have been transliterated badly into English in some way were suggesting that their writers wanted the Thai language changed for their convenience.

That is certainly not how I read any of the letters. Quite the opposite is seemingly the case, foreign nationals want to pronounce the Thai word as it should be heard but are frustrated in that wish by ludicrous spellings that cause gross mispronunciations.

Indeed John Arnone in his letter "Suwannaphom one of many transliteration complexities" (Letters, December 26), points out that the village near him with the same Thai name as the new airport is transliterated as "Suwannaphom". I should like to add some more to the pot. In my 2004 "Road Atlas of Thailand", the page with the site of the new airport has the area for the airbears the inscription "Suwannaphum International Airport Project".

Malcome White

Bangkok

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A New Year's message from the Burmese resistance

On August 4 of this year, Agence France-Presse reported that Min Thein Kha, a famous Burmese astrologer, predicted that "we won't have to wait for long. Things will get better for the whole country starting in February, 2007".

The Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) on October 9 of this year reported the detention at Insein Jail of Min Thein Kha for predicting that the "Burmese military junta's new capital Pyinmana will last only two years and that there will be a change of government".

Than Shwe lost what the Chinese call the "Mandate of Heaven" when the infamous video of his daughter's wedding was widely circulated. When you lose the moral authority to govern, you are usually removed or killed.

Than Shwe's bad karma will make him suffer before he dies. First, the monsoon floods in Central Burma this year destroyed the homes of Than Shwe's relatives in his hometown of Kyaukse. Aung San Suu Kyi and U Nu are very much alike. They both are very popular and they both like to meditate in times of crisis. The National League For Democracy's strategy of dialogue with the narco-dictatorship has ended in complete failure.

Than Shwe will be removed in 2007 via the Asian Way of removing military dictatorships.

Myint Thein

Senior Adviser to the Burmese Resistance

Dallas, Texas

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Inaccuracies contained in report on murdered Canadian

Re: "Sketch of thief who killed Canadian released", News, December 28.

The victims involved in the shooting are my relatives and I am distressed to read the false information posted in your article. Mark's wife is my cousin and she did not attack the thief just to save the money.

Her act was not a foolish one just to avoid giving the money. The thief was threatening to shoot the children, which pushed her to attack him. She was shot first, which caused Mark to fight the thief too that led to his death.

Your inaccurate article, which also falsely assumes that Mark was working in Brunei when he has never even been to Brunei, is an insult to journalistic integrity. His father-in-law, my uncle, was never a minister in Brunei, but was a highly respected government official. Get your facts straight.

Aston Family

Brunei, Darussalam

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Iranian president provides a counterbalance to US, Israel

Re: "US exploits overseas pale compared to Hizbollah aims", Letters, December 27.

In his letter, Dr Abraham Z Simhony makes a number of misleading claims. First, he states that Hizbollah is trying to overthrow a legitimate government. I would have thought staging peaceful demonstrations was a perfectly legitimate action for citizens to take.

Second, Simhony claims that the rhetoric of the Iranian president is more dangerous to our health than the actions of Israel. This allows one side, the Israelis, to go on killing, unhindered by the threats of others to intercede on behalf of the victims. Simhony hasn't called for the Israelis to stop their killing of innocent Palestinians, he has simply warned the Iranians to stay out of the fight. Not very humanitarian, is it?

Thirdly, Simhony condemns another letter writer for failing to understand that the Balfour Declaration of 1917 gave legitimacy for the foundation of the Israeli state.

This is very simplistic. It was only one of a number of attempts to bridge what proved to be irreconcilable differences.

My understanding of this history suggests the British recognised the rights of both people to live in Palestine. The UK owes a debt of honour to the Palestinians to bring about their nation state.

Unthinking support of Israel has led us into a moral abyss in the Middle East. By next year our actions in Iraq will have been responsible for the deaths of more Iraqis than the UK lost soldiers killed in World War I.

That is a horrific toll. Our rhetoric and actions have undermined the very democratic principles we claim to be exporting.

We should be condemning these actions and those of the Israelis, not the words of an Iranian president who is simply trying to counterbalance our disgraceful behaviour.

Nick Ferriman

Bangkok