I have just visited YouTube and viewed some of the videos about His Majesty. For the handful of videos that were offensive to His Majesty, there were many more expressing love, respect and concern for him posted by both Thais and foreigners alike.

On the other hand, the offensive videos showed a crude, sick, childish, anarchistic, uncultured mindset which simply couldn't understand, nor fathom, the kind of respect and love Thai people have for the King. To them, Thailand must fit their model of "democracy", and "free speech" or else it's wrong in their eyes.

As to whether Thailand is right to block YouTube, on the one hand, being half-Thai, I say that Thailand has every right to block it and I fully support the country in doing so.

However, on the other hand, allowing citizens access to the site might serve the purpose of showing the majority of Thai people the true colours and low character of those who preach freedom of speech on the Internet. It would show them as people who will only allow freedom of speech as long as it is in line with what they agree with. In fact, there was one video that condemned the hypocrisy of those claiming to stand for freedom of speech.

Basically, these people have no power to affect any change in the physical world, or what I refer to as "real space" so they take cowardly take refuge behind pseudonyms in cyberspace.

Charles F Moreira

Malaysia

--------------------------------

Impossible to edit content to suit each nation's sensibilities

Re: "Google shows its insensitivity by refusing to cooperate and comparing Bush to the King", Letters, April 10.

I wholly disagree with this contributor with regard to Google's policy toward Internet content. His Majesty the King quite rightly deserves the utmost respect, but it should not be the responsibility of an Internet provider to examine every country's particular sensibilities and tiptoe around them.

Too much time is given to worrying what offends one nationality or another - in one country it will mean taking care not to offend Muslims, in another, taking care not to offend those who love their monarchy.

Respect is earned by action and never destroyed by words.

Why be so worried what others say? Rise above it. Respect does not need censorship to protect it. Satire changes nothing.

Timothy A Taylor

Bangkok

--------------------------------------

YouTube furore simply drew more attention to the site

There is a story of a devout woman who wanted to show her exceptional devotion to the Buddha. In order to outshine all the others in her village, she would go to the village temple and, rather than placing a candle near the Buddha image, as everyone else did, she made a little platform in order to place her candle directly in front of the Buddha image's face. However, by doing so, the soot of her candle blackened the image's nose.

So too, overly protective antics by government censors have created a mini maelstrom. Instead of ignoring the YouTube clip and letting it fade to obscurity, they chose to draw attention to it. By doing so, they've unleashed an uncontrollable backlash, and contributed to many more hits than the video would have ordinarily received.

Ken Albertsen

Chiang Rai

-------------------------------------

Source of offensive video must be exposed and condemned

Re: Principle of freedom of speech works both ways, Opinion, April 7

It looks very likely a certain domestic political group have a hand in attacking Thailand's respected, age-old traditional institution on the Internet for their own political ends - to create disunity by using opinions from the outside world to influence a political consequence within the country.

This group of political derelicts who have lost power because of their corrupt and abusive practices should realise that their actions are not going unnoticed.

Even though Thailand could hardly be said to be an ideal democracy in the eyes of the world, we are developing in that direction in our own terms and at our own pace. As for the September 19 coup, the vast majority of Thai taxpayers were glad to witness the toppling of this group from power even though our democratic development was temporarily disrupted in the process.

These armchair rabble-rousers should be exposed and condemned widely. Thailand's democracy should be seen as an internal affair that should be allowed to mature within the realms of reality and tradition, by the willingness of the majority of the Thai people.

Chavalit Van

Chiang Mai

-----------------------------------------

Greed for amulets is against essence of Buddha's teachings

Re: "Woman dies in amulet crush", News, April 10. It is so sad to see fellow Buddhists struggling to get Chatukam Ramthep amulets and one women dying as a result of the ensuing stampede.

I'm certain that many of those people who stampeded this woman do not have faith in the amulets, but in money. Chatukam Ramthep amulets are a phenomenon now and they can sell. Whether they are fake or real, they will make a lot of money for people, at least for a certain period of time. Greedy, business-oriented people produce these amulets for public sale without worrying about the consequences of their actions. It is a shame to learn that Buddhist monks themselves are also making a business out of this despite knowing deep in their hearts that they are going against the teachings of the Buddha. I cannot help but question where do these profits go anyway? Is the money used to fund the teaching of the Dhamma in temples? I doubt it.

So, what do the teachings of the Buddha teach us? A direct quote from the Dhammapada may help: "To speak no ill, to do no harm, to practise restraint according to the fundamental precepts, to be moderate in eating, to live in seclusion, to devote oneself to higher consciousness, this is the Teaching of the Buddhas."

Yongyut K

Pathum Thani

-----------------------------------

Merit, not blind luck should determine school placement

Over the past few years, there have been articles showing that Thai students fall behind other Asian children in intelligence rankings. However, I believe that this is the fault of the school system, not the children. The recent school admissions process made it clear how crazy the education system is. It's no wonder that Thai society remains superstitious - it is implanted in generation after generation. Drawing lots to study in a famous school is completely insane. Adults teach their children to believe in luck, rather than their abilities and the attempts they make.

Thai children have the right to study don't they? It is something they all deserve and it has nothing to do with luck, status or who they are.

I really hate the way the education system in Thailand is shaping Thai children.

Nattaporn Luangpiat

Bangkok

--------------------------------------

Ubiquitous cameras could be used to protect public safety

Bombs in Bangkok are meant to cause fear among the public. However, the public can help to counter these efforts. The police did not find enough information about who did it. The CCTV pictures were not clear enough to pinpoint suspects. We, as citizens, can help by looking through the pictures of public places we visit and continue to do so during Songkran.

Taking pictures and movies during New Year's Eve and Songkran celebrations is common now. Some people taking their own videos during New Year's celebrations and might have accidentally taken a photo capturing suspects' faces.

For Songkran, the public can help by taking photos of other people visiting the same places as them, especially those with bags.

Where there are bombs, the police should announce the exact place and time on television or the radio and ask anyone who took photos of the place at around that time to send those photos to the police by email.

Those who intend to bomb the city may reconsider their actions since they would be concerned to have their identities exposed to the public. This may help us win back our sense of safety.

Walker

Chon Buri

----------------------------------------

'Craziness and danger' ruin serene Songkran tradition

The once peaceful period known as Songkran, replaced in some parts of Bangkok and elsewhere by "Water Wars", is almost here once again. Some people simply leave the country for a week or two. Others stay at home. Some brave the water and go out for a while, or try to find the last remnants of this celebration.

Sadly, with the introduction of ice cubes, dyes and stinging powders braving the water can be painful. The official holidays are Friday through to Tuesday but there are always those - like the bars in Soi Cowboy - that will ignore the officially sanctioned days and start on Thursday, catching the work crowd on the way home, as they pass that way.

It is a pity that this once peaceful and reverent time has been corrupted by craziness and added danger. Sadly, I expect the directives of the government will be ignored and the drunk-driving road toll will be high once again.

This is one Thai holiday period where many people abandon tradition and culture and Thailand is poorer for this.

Christian Lloyd

Bangkok