OPINION

A monumental loss

It is with the greatest sorrow that I, and all of us at the Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia (ERIA), learned of the passing of Dr Surin Pitsuwan. A statesman without parallel, a man of both vision and warmth, a leader for Asean like no other. Asia, in fact the whole world, suffered a great loss today. At ERIA, he was a most engaged special adviser to the president who provided guidance and inspiration. He will be greatly missed.

It is impossible to measure the impact of someone like Surin whose aspirations for the region blossomed far into the future, while his kindness and caring touched the hearts of each person he met.

As a true leader of Asean, even well after his term as secretary-general, he gave himself fully to promoting the dream of a peaceful and prosperous region where every person could be a member of a caring and sharing community, a people-oriented Asean. He was also a strong believer in Asean centrality and the need for the region to promote intra-regional trade: "We have to do more of our own integration and globalisation. It is the only way to go forward in the next half century," he said at an ERIA symposium in June. And Asean must know itself as a global player and contribute to the common goods within the global community.

Never one to shirk the duty of visionary: "Asean has to transform this planet for all people," he said.

Now with heavy hearts we must say goodbye to this true gentleman, statesman, friend and leader who gave so much to all of us.

On this sad occasion, to those closest to him, we grieve with you.

While I give Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha full credit for restoring some semblance of law and order to the anarchic situation we had before he executed his coup, I think many people, Thais and expatriates included, would now consider that he has outstayed his welcome.

The problem as I see it is that the PM cannot shake off his military background and training. He is military-trained in the old school.

"Jump" says the general. "Yes, sir, how high?" shout the recruits, the soldiers, the subordinate officers, and as Gen Prayut would have it, the whole of the Thai civilian population too. This style of issuing orders that cannot be disobeyed under any circumstances became illegal in most modern armies decades ago. And it certainly has no place in the governance of a country like Thailand that supposedly wants to move forward to some form of democracy.

Gen Prayut talks often about discipline, but sadly lacks personal discipline, as evidenced by his repeated public displays of anger thrown not only at the media who get up his nose with their annoying questioning, but at the most innocent of bystanders. And he overreacts to genuine democratic processes like demonstrations on valid social issues by endorsing police actions against the perpetrators.

Prime Minister, you have done a good job. Now please go, for the sake of your own integrity and the future of Thailand.

I was not surprised to read that the Thai government spends some 15 billion baht on road construction and maintenance per year and nearly 2.5 billion baht on dealing with road accidents.

The solution to this egregious expenditure is, apparently, to tax motorists from other countries who wish to bring their cars to Thailand and take their chances in the life-or-death lottery that Thai highways and byways represent. Again, this is a classic example of Thai authorities missing the key points that need to be addressed if anyone is genuinely interested in solving what is a major national and international scandal.

Of the 15 billion baht allocated to roads, it would be particularly interesting and incredibly pertinent to discover what percentage of that total sum is actually spent on building and improving roads, and how much is simply siphoned off into the private and corrupt pockets of government officials and those contracted to actually do the work to a sub-standard level?

Furthermore, if the government is serious about wanting to reduce the financial, let alone the human and social cost of road accidents and fatalities, then perhaps they might emulate other countries and introduce an advanced-country-style driving test for all existing and potential drivers -- ie no "tea money" or "under-the-table" bribes to officials.

This, coupled with diligent and honest enforcement of Thai highway laws, rules and regulations by the Royal Thai Police, would do wonders to reduce accidents and casualties and concomitant expenditures, as would preventing under-aged, uninsured drivers and motorcyclists from using the highways as their playground!

Dec 1's editorial cartoon on 50 years of our "friendship and co-operation" among Asean is spot on. Why are we (Asean members) still investing so much of our budget for ridiculous military weapons like jet fighters, destroyers and submarines while our commercial vessels still being robbed by pirates in our own seas? Moreover, we still have bush fires in our precious forests, which destroy our resources and produce tremendous amounts of pollution.

May I ask all of the Asean leaders to stop the arms race and use your budgets wisely to protect our commercial vessels from pirates and protect environment?

The news reports about Pope Francis' recent apostolic visit to Myanmar deserve to be completed with an important and highly topical idea emphasised in his address to government authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps.

In the Pope's prophetic view the future of Myanmar "will depend on the training of its young, not only in technical fields, but above all in the ethical values of honesty, integrity and human solidarity that can ensure the consolidation of democracy and the growth of unity and peace at every level of society".

This idea is in full harmony with the Bangkok Declaration: Global Dialogue and Dynamic Engagement adopted by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in February 2000.

This strategic document says inter alia that solidarity and a strong sense of moral responsibility must be the guiding light of national and international policy. They are not only ethical imperatives, but also prerequisites for a prosperous, peaceful and secure world based on true partnership.

I think it's unfair to attack Pope Francis for not using the word "Rohingya" when he was in Myanmar (PostBag, Nov 30). Probably the Pope was concerned that if he used that word it might have caused a backlash against the Catholics living in Myanmar.

I believe he did a decent job of striking a balance between bringing attention to the plight of the Rohingya (without using that word) and not wanting to bring suffering to his fellow Catholics.

Re: "Linguistic enrichment", (PostBag, Dec 1).

Kudos to Paul Sweeny who at 72 years old speaks, reads and writes Thai. However, it does not work the same way for many others. A friend in Bangkok who is fluent in Thai, learned Japanese in a few months while working there, and now is picking up Myanmar in a few short months while working in the neighbouring country. It is not a matter of age or laziness. It is simply that many people have an ear and an ability to learn languages; others do not.

After going through several Thai programmes with different Thai teachers, both individual and classroom mode, I was told to save my money.

I simply will not get past the basic comprehension stage. I'm neither too old, nor am I lazy. That is simply the way the cookie crumbles. And, I function very well among my Thai peers, fully language comprehensive or not. I do not feel "linguistically deprived" for lack of a better term.

I agree with Paul Sweeny's assertion that learning the local language would be a life-enriching experience.

Unfortunately, some of us just don't have what it takes. I'm an American who has tried and failed to learn five different languages over the past 55 years: Spanish, Chuukese, Chamorro, Japanese and Thai.

In spite of thousands of dollars expended and thousands of hours spent, I have never had a conversation with anyone in a language other than English.

I've lived in Thailand for 12 years. Although I can read Thai script, I understand almost nothing of what I hear and have never been able to speak well enough to be understood.

I agonise every day about how much richer and more fun my life would be were I able to converse with the people around me.

Re: "Forget Trump and discover world", (Opinion, Nov 30).

The columnist brings a fresh perspective to what is happening around the world. The dizzying frequency of Twitter talk by President Donald Trump is taking its toll on the American psyche. The tide is turning away from the rusted industrial-military power of America.

The handwriting is on the wall. With leaders like Mr Trump, America is bound to see its role and dominance in world affairs diminish.

China and India, which are also fully nuclear states, are heading to counterbalance America's role. After firing ICBM Hwasong-15 on Wednesday, North Korea has also declared itself a nuclear state. Mr Trump's only response "I can only tell you that we will take care of it".

Now is the time for all Americans to unite and take care of the belligerent and mentally unstable president or they will be mired in another unnecessary war. And this time, the war will not end on the shores of Hawaii.

The most terrifying thing about Donald Trump is not the man himself, but his crude followers. Without them he would still be nothing more than a carnival act, a barking, swindling, friendless, spoiled rich kid.

A man so uneducated and incurious about the world is willing, just like his gullible followers, to buy into any right-wing talking point or conspiracy theory that makes its way into his "very smart brain" via the Fox & Friends pipeline.

Fox began decades ago as a 24/7 Republican infomercial disguised as "Faux News" and ended up turning a generation of Americans into bitter, fearful, misinformed, right wing, liberal-hating combatants. They let Fox & Friends do the thinking for them.

I call it the Fox cult of ignorance.

It grieves and horrifies to say it, but he is the right president for these low-info fan boys.

Re: "Travelling butts' duo may face 7 years", (BP, Nov 29).

I am not amused, or impressed, by the behaviour of the two Americans who travel to many countries around the world and have photos of themselves taken with their bare buttocks on the sites they visit.

How would these two have been treated had they visited Iran and took similar photos of themselves exposing their buttocks in the Grand Mosque of Isfahan? I would assume they would receive many lashes from a rattan cane to their buttocks and spend many years in Evin Prison.

They deserve whatever punishment they will receive from the Thai courts. They need to learn their lesson and respect other cultures and the laws of the countries they visit.

Life lessons occur at different stages in life. One of mine was "mooning" at school. Being cheeky, I did it once and my mother was called to the principal's office. It was embarrassing and asinine, but I learned my lesson.

I assume these boys and their butts are about to learn the same life lesson, albeit in their 30s. Nobody really cares about seeing your buttocks.