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Published on September 16, 2007

I worked in emergency preparedness for over 30 years and the only thing worse than not notifying someone of an impending emergency is notifying them of an emergency that will not happen. Notifying those people of a non-event would have bordered on criminal negligence. I applaud the intelligent decision of Smith Dhammasaroj, the director of the National Disaster Warning Centre. Because of his leadership skills, judgement and wisdom he prevented a non-event from becoming an emergency.

 Seri Supprathit, director of Rangsit University's Natural Disaster Research Centre, on the other hand would be a cause of worry if he held any position where he could possibly influence any decisions affecting the public.

Robin Radford

Bangkok

Cultural differences at play over tipping

I am amused by the recent correspondence on tips to restaurant staff versus service charges. If the service charge is automatically given to the staff, why show it separately rather than incorporating it in the stated price for the dish?

Justin, the original complainant ("Service charge a rip-off for customers and staff", Letters, September 12), would not be happy with the Australian situation. You do not tip in Australian restaurants and no service charge is shown on the bill. Having a tipping system means that the waiting staff has to act in a demeaning servile manner in the hopes of getting a bigger tip. They are employees doing the job they were employed to do and should be treated as equals by restaurant customers.

They should not have to rely on tips to earn a moderate salary. They should be paid an adequate wage by their employers. The letter from two restaurant operators admits that their service charge often amounts to more than the wages of the staff, showing that they are not properly remunerated in Thailand ("Restaurant-owners do not pocket service charges", September 13). In Australia, where does this anti-tipping attitude come from? It may surprise some readers to learn that it is the position of the trade union that looks after the interests of restaurant employees. Cultural differences are at play here.

Gareth Clayton

Bangkok

TRT's policies 'social welfare', not vote-buying

Re: "Vultures gather at the feast", Editorial, September 15.

The editorial deplores the fact that "the majority of people, particularly the rural masses, have been conditioned so effectively that they are quite comfortable within the patron-client relationship" that undermines Thai democracy.

The massive successes of the Thai Rak Thai Party in the two previous parliamentary elections and the continued support for Thaksin Shinawatra from a large number of voters was shown by the lukewarm support of the referendum. This demonstrates that Thai voters are responsive to progressive policies, such as the Bt30 healthcare scheme, or the village-fund initiative.

One can argue that these programmes amount to bribing voters with their own money. Actually, they are akin to redistributive policies and are the basis of the welfare state. One wonders why the Democrats never proposed such policies? They represent the status quo and therefore are not attractive to the poor. The Democrats' failure to develop progressive policies of their own dooms them to remain in the minority.

Jean Flame

Bangkok

Spirit of litigious ex-PM found in country song

The American singer Johnny Cash once had a song, the name of which describes former PM Thaksin. That song was entitled "A Boy Named Sue".

William Reynolds

Chiang Mai

A US withdrawal from Iraq is the only way to go

Re: "War on terror more complex than media take", Letters, September 14.

"That the United States has made mistakes in Iraq goes without saying", as AJ Haupt informs the reader. Indeed, the biggest "mistake" being the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

The president has never apologised for his misleading rhetoric that paved the way for this unnecessary war, the sacrifice of American troops, the misery inflicted on the Iraqis and the financial burden on Americans. I fail to see that such a total blunder and the subsequent tragedy that followed it can be labelled as caring for the people! The same goes for his present reluctance to stop the occupation and for Congress's reluctance to confront the administration.

It seems as though today neither political party leans toward governing with the best interests of the people in mind, but rather to manipulate the system in order to consolidate political power.

Meanwhile, the president along with the White House, in their "extremely difficult and complex deliberations" continue to sink an untold number of American lives into the pursuit of the fantasy of a stable Middle East and the illusion that civilisation as we know it will come to an end if we don't defeat the greatest evil of our time.

It is not mistakes that are condemned, Haupt, but rather delusions that are exposed. Osama bin Laden wanted the "war on terror" to be understood as an existential struggle between Islam and the West. The neo-cons also challenged the entire Arab-Muslim world to fight a guerrilla war against the US and put the lives of untold numbers of American military troops in harm's way. You don't want to fight a guerrilla war on the enemy's turf, and you definitely don't want to fight a guerrilla war against people who are willing to kill themselves.

There is no doubt that the majority of Americans and the Iraqi people want the occupation ended as soon as possible.

All of the events of the last five years are a direct result of the American occupation of Iraq, and will dissipate the moment the United States leaves the country. Bluntly, al-Qaeda and the jihadists would be very unhappy to see us go. And lastly a US departure would finally show that societies in the Middle East and elsewhere can and must shape their own destinies.

Mr Bill

Bangkok

Milk intake and Type-1 diabetes link established

Re: "It's safe to drink milk, says NZ", World, September 14.

It is absolutely disgraceful for the government of New Zealand's Food Safety Authority to claim there is no scientific evidence linking milk to Type-1 diabetes in children.

 Quoting from the book "The China Study", whose author, T Colin Campbell, did an enormous amount of research into this issue, "Cow's milk consumption by children zero to 14 years of age in 12 countries shows an almost perfect correlation with Type-1 diabetes. The greater the consumption of cow's milk the greater the prevalence of Type l diabetes." Campbell notes that in Finland, where people drink large amounts of milk, Type-1 diabetes is 36 times more common than in Japan, where people drink very little milk.

Another major study showed that "cow's milk increases the risk of Type-1 diabetes five- to sixfold". In still another study: "Anti-bodies to beta-casein, another cow's milk protein, were significantly elevated in bottle-fed infants compared to breast-fed infants; children with Type-1 diabetes also had higher levels of these anti-bodies."

For any country to still claim there is no evidence of a link between consuming cow's milk and Type-1 diabetes only proves that governments throughout the world are more than happy to sacrifice the health of their children in order to increase the profits of the dairy industry.

Eric Bahrt

Chon Buri