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Published on November 16, 2007

But is he the right man for the job? On the other side is the Burmese generals, who know world opinion is against them. Their main concern is the possible impact on their wealth quotient. Their wealth is directly pegged to their holding on to absolute power. When they see those things being threatening, they do what any self-serving dictators do: they say the right thing to the right people. Currently, the best thing to say to the UN envoy is "Yes, we'll meet with The Lady in Rangoon", and "Yes, we'll consider holding elections some day", and "Yes, I guess we'll try to rein in our soldiers who kill and maim peaceful protesters".

Upon hearing such things, Mr Gambari can go back to New York to report progress, and the generals can extend their iron rule indefinitely. Who really thinks the Burmese generals will do anything beyond the minimum that it takes to keep the UN envoy whistling a happy tune?

The Burmese rulers haven't budged from past oppression when confronted by a lot stiffer resistance than Mr Gambari. The junta leaders must be snickering in their fortified back rooms - when realising how easy it's been to keep a toothless UN satisfied.

Ken Albertsen

Chiang Rai

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Fines won't stop drivers chatting on the phone

I would like to congratulate the National Legislative Assembly for the amendment to the Land Transport Act regarding the use of mobile phones while driving. Unfortunately, I am sure that the majority of drivers won't stop using their mobiles while driving, even if the police stop them. A Bt100 fine in the hand of a policeman usually solves the problem, I see that every day at the Don Muang tollway exit to Lam Lukka. Even a fine of Bt400 to Bt1,000 won't make any difference .

L Robin

Bangkok

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A million motorbike helmets, please

I constantly see police roadblocks in Surin, with officers penalising poor farmers for having no motorbike helmet or licence, and I wonder just how useful this is. It seems to achieve little except acting as an informal tax and I feel sorry for those for whom the cost of compliance is high.

Politicians everywhere win votes with popular policies and I'd thus like to suggest a positive form of vote buying. We've had a "million cows" and a "million laptops". How about a "million helmets"? Start with distribution of motorbike helmets through schools, which would then make sure pupils actually use them. Such a policy could really save lives and at a modest cost.

Andrew Hicks

SURIN

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Alternative energy sources will be a priority

Academics suggest mix of policies", News, November 11.

When looking to future energy requirements, I read that Thailand is considering nuclear power for electricityproduction. Apart from the possible inherent safety problems, which should not be underestimated (when things go wrong with a nuclear reactor, they really go wrong), the approach again is, like government, for massive central generation and subsequent distribution. But for the greater part of the Thai population this is not necessary. The power requirement I see as being necessary in most rural households is minimal and could be quite easily provided at the local, if not individual, level, through wind or solar power. This would result in a threefold benefit - cheaper electricity (free after initial set-up costs), a cleaner form of energy production and negating the need to maintain a costly distribution network.

Although many villages I have visited are quite concerned with energy conservation, and rightly so, I see very little evidence of large conurbations being similarly concerned. Once, whilst sitting in the back of a taxi, static in Bangkok's gridlocked traffic (another form of energy waste), I did a quick mental calculation regarding the power consumption of the lighting on one gigantic advertising display. I do not think that my conclusion was wildly inaccurate, in that for 24 hours use, the same consumption would provide power for all the households in my wife's village for almost a week.

HM the King's views on sufficiency economics should be given priority and not just for alleviating the lives of the rural poor; it is a credo all Thailand should heed. Except for foreign multinational corporations or homegrown enterprises, it is a win-win situation. Requiring less for a decent quality of life means consuming less, which in turn means producing less. This reduces the amount of energy and work required in order to maintain sustainability.

Regardless of the mistaken belief that technology will solve everything, the petrochemical industry is doomed. No matter how efficiently oil resources are utilised, whether shortages or depletion occur this century or the next, or the century after, it will eventually run out. His Majesty's call for investigation into the production of alternative fuel sources (ethanol?), possibly hydrogen produced by electrolysis from water, solar- or wind-generated electricity, would seem another issue demanding immediate consideration.

Uncommon farang

Sa Kaew

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Security bill could lead to abuse of power

The Internal Security Bill poses a dilemma. Either the agents of the bill are unaccountable before the law and the bill conflicts with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ("All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights", Article 1, and "All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law"). If this basis of our nationhood is destroyed, then everything is destroyed. Or, the agents of the bill are accountable before the law, in which case the bill is reduced to being little less than administrative reorganisation and adds nothing to the present rule of law, which is already adequate to deal with matters of security.

Are the proponents of the bill blind to the consequences of military rule - as shown by recent events in Burma? A country cannot be ruled by unchallengeable authority. The first draft of the Bill showed the extent of monopolistic thinking. The path of military power always progresses to an extension to new powers and greater control. The alternative is a government of the people, by the people for the people, which can only derive from civil administration supported by an equitable and accepted legal system, recognised as such in the family of nations.

Danthong Breen

Bangkok

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In Bangkok, noise is inescapable

Re "Shut down nightclubs in residential areas", Letters, November 14.

The Rajdamri end of Sarasin Road has long been a strip of music joints - Brown Sugar was there 20 years ago when much of the rest of the street consisted of little wooden shops and eateries. JD calls Sarasin "residential", but the fact is, it was probably more residential in the past than it is now, with its bars, offices, showrooms and the Channel 7 transmitter.

The social forces that have created the creep of luxury apartments down Rajdamri and Lang Suan towards the park have also had an effect on the shrinking communities in adjacent areas. The major landowner is torn between its social housing and its commercial missions, with the result that the communities face ever-shorter leases with ever-more restrictions and uncertainty, with the road fronts earmarked, often for years at a time, for large commercial projects.

To give one answer to JD's question about noise, one of the advantages of living in an old un-noiseproof wooden house is that if the noise gets unbearable on one side, you can move your bedroom to one of the rooms on the other side.

Richard Sproat

Bangkok

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