You reported that on the first day of Songkran the "National Road Safety Centre said there were 435 accidents on Wednesday, killing 41 people and wounding 514 others".

This despite the police stopping some two million vehicles for not being able to present their driver's licences or not wearing helmets, or not wearing seatbelts in cars. Can anyone explain to me what effect stopping those two million vehicles had on the accident rate? Two million people were stopped in one day with zero affect on the accident rate.

Motorcyclists are making millions of errors and violations that lead directly to accidents.

According to studies 30 per cent of motorcycle accidents involve alcohol, however 40 per cent involve poor vision and visibility (no mirrors), failure to use headlights or taillights, unsafe speeds, unsafe positions, too many passengers or following too closely.

Many motorcycle accidents are caused by the other vehicle not seeing the motorcyclist, failing to yield to the motorcycle, or ignoring traffic signs. The most common accident is when a motorcycle hits the rear of a car or truck. It is time for the authorities to consider poor visibility to be one of the major causes of accidents and do something about it.

If I could only do one thing to reduce accidents in Thailand, I would attack the problem of visibility or obscured vision.

Instead of arresting 33,719 motorists in one day for not having their licences with them or other such infractions, I would ask the police to stop every bus, truck or car with a sticker, obstruction, film or opaque material on its windshield or other glass areas and have the visual obstruction removed immediately.

 Poor vision or visibility is involved in nearly 90 per cent of all accidents.

Thai traffic law, in fact, prohibits anything on vehicle windows that will reduce visibility - why can't the police enforce that law?

Then their hard work would help to reduce the number of accidents and consequently the number of deaths and injuries. As long as most drivers on the road are driving blind, the road toll will continue to soar.

 I admire the hard work of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, which warned people of eight dangerous routes that have had the most accidents over the past three years.

But, paradoxically, in the third paragraph of your article you stated: "Some 85 per cent of accidents involved motorcycles and most took place on straight secondary roads between 4pm and 8pm."

Those were not the areas that the department warned about!

Richard Stampfle

President, Safe Driver Education Co Ltd

Nong Khai

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Holiday water-throwing wrong in the face of drought

Considering that most of Thailand's northern provinces are currently experiencing drought conditions, it is terribly irresponsible for us to be wasting billions of litres of one of our most precious resources.

I live in Lampang and we haven't had any rain since October.

The Wang River hasn't actually flowed for many months now, and once again this year we will shut down our brains and throw water like there's no tomorrow.

I think that everyone has the right to have fun, but as a society we need to recognise that having a national water fight during a time of extreme water shortages is inherently wrong.

Droughty

Lampang

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Retail Business Act off target by not focusing on 7-Eleven

Re: "Reveal the whole draft: big players", Business, April 13.

I read with interest your article today on the proposed Retail Business Act, however I am surprised to read that "The draft sets out to regulate the expansion of large-scale shopping complexes and control their effect on small traditional retailers".

This is completely missing the point as far as I can see and can be clearly demonstrated: small traditional traders - mom-and-pop stores - are being wiped out by the ever-aggressive 7-Eleven network, not the likes of Tesco Lotus and Carrefour. You only have to walk around an average Bangkok neighbourhood such as the one I live in. Twelve years ago there were dozens of mom-and-pop stores, one every 100 metres or so, and a few 7-Eleven stores. Now the 7-Eleven stores abound (six within walking distance of my home) and almost all of the mom-and-pop shops are closed or have been converted to hairdressers. We still await our first Tesco!

Paul Cheesman

Bangkok

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Investors looking to cash in on country care about little else

The letters in yesterday's edition of The Nation included "Act threatens to shut out huge revenue source for country", "Negative ramifications will be felt over long term", and "Finalise Foreign Business Act and let investors decide".

Yes, it seems that the dogs of foreign business were out in force on Friday the 13th this year.

All letters had one thing in common though: they all attempted to scare Thailand by pointing out that if Thailand doesn't succumb to their subtle threats, its neighbours will jump at the chance to have all of that wonderful foreign business.

Let's get down to basics. Why would someone want to invest in a foreign country? Answer: to make a profit. In other words, they intend on taking more out than they put in. They would argue: "Look at all of the jobs it creates for the host country." True, it creates jobs, but to manufacture things that are sold in that country and purchased with that country's money. The profit goes out of the country so all the host country is doing is turning dollars or baht. Where's the profit?

As for retail operations, I won't even get into that. Foreign goods sold to Thais by foreigners. So a few Thais get jobs that are paid for by Thai money. (The Thai consumer). Or Thai goods sold in Thailand at a discount because the chain can demand a discount. Talk about a fleecing.

As for the real estate market, the Thai real estate market is one of the few realistic markets in the world because foreign money has not yet contaminated and inflated it yet. Most Thais can still afford a house at some point in their lives.

Foreigners who retire here and whose money comes from a foreign country but stays in Thailand, don't want to live in a house because it is too much work. They prefer condos, which they can buy with no problem. The only reason they would want a house is if they have a wife and children. If they do, all they have to do is put the home in their wife's name. Can she take it from them at will? Absolutely.

But so what?

If you have children, don't they belong in the house?

Wouldn't you want to assure that they had a home should something happen to the marriage?

Let's get serious. The only reason foreigners have to want to buy property in Thailand is to speculate, and speculators create a runaway market. A lot of money is made initially by the speculators and those in the country that are already rich. The poorer citizens spend the rest of their lives living in an apartment so that the rich can get even richer.

If foreigners are trying to convince you that you need their money to survive remember one thing. You didn't invite them here to help you.

They came of their own free will to make their proposals.

What does that tell you?

John Arnone

Yasothon

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New Year's hopes for new leaders in Burma

Many Burmese do not understand why the government of Singapore is trying to prolong the sufferings of the Burmese people by providing world-class medical care to two world-class criminals from Burma.

Than Shwe and Khin Nyunt selected Prime Minister Soe Win because he was a major in the Light Infantry Division that killed thousands of Burmese students in 1988.

Soe Win was also the operational commander of the May 30 massacre. Soe Win was also alleged to have killed General Maung Aye's personal staff officer in a confrontation at the War Office in Rangoon.

Soe Win has been hospitalised at the Singapore General Hospital for two months reportedly suffering from Aids or Leukaemia.

Than Shwe is a fool who pretends to be Burma since he is an unelected, illegitimate dictator.

This is why Than Shwe ordered the May 30th massacre and tried to assassinate Aung San Suu Kyi.

This is why a political settlement is not possible in Burma.

Burma's future may be decided in Singapore, where Than Shwe and Soe Win may face final judgement from the highest authority - God.

May the Burmese New Year provide Burma with a fresh start. May God Bless Burma.

Myint Thein

Senior Adviser to the Burmese Resistance

Dallas, Texas

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Charge aeroplane armrest hogs more for their seats

Re: "Exorbitant shipping rates hit tourists and small businesses", Letters, April 12.

Ken Albertsen of Chiang Rai asked an interesting question of the airline industry: why should it cost six times more to send a 220-pound package overseas than a person weighing the same (based on return economy airfare). Now, let us go a step further. Why is it that a person weighing 160 pounds has to pay exactly the same amount of airfare as a 220-pound person, especially when that large person's elbow always intrudes into the smaller person's armrest all the way from Bangkok to New York?

Vic Phanumphai

Bangkok