Just not feasible
Re: "Chemical solution", (PostBag, July 25) and "Halting tilapia invasion 'a priority'", (BP, July 23).
First let me say that the use of rotenone to control invasive fish species is not feasible due to its toxic properties -- it is harmful to humans, animals, and lethal to fish and insects, while remaining active for up to four weeks in the environment.
Second, after reviewing Thailand's Department of Fisheries website, it is apparent that its primary focus has been on illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing for decades, and its capacity to use modern genomic methods to control invasive species has not been developed.
Compare this with the US National Fish Hatchery System, which raises and stocks 100 million fish each year "to support the recovery and restoration of imperilled species, recreational fishing, and Tribal subsistence fisheries. National fish hatcheries use aquaculture to raise threatened, endangered, or at-risk species in a safe captive environment for eventual release into a natural setting. This work, along with habitat restoration and other federal protections, can help boost and support wild populations of fish and aquatic wildlife."
The fish and seafood market in Thailand is valued at US$8.57 billion (300 billion baht) in 2024.
Surely, this would justify the Thai Fisheries Department's establishment of a state-of-the-art aquaculture and genomics facility on a large site capable of adequately fighting the ever-present hazards of invasive species and protecting national resources.
A sentient being
Re: "A new zoo vision?", (PostBag, July 24).
While most people are repulsed at the conditions under with Bua Noi has lived for the past 30-odd years, Rose Bellini should not try to impress us by using obscure words.
An oubliette (from the French "oublier", meaning to forget) is a dungeon accessible only through a trapdoor in the roof. It was a particularly evil form of imprisonment and torture used in the Middle Ages, with prisoners thrown down through the trapdoor into a dark and airless cell and often left to starve to death.
Having said that, let us not forget that Bua Noi is a sentient being and deserves a better life than to be confined behind bars in a department store, gawked at daily by human apes.
No fan of dogs
Re: "Khon Kaen man bitten to death by American bully dogs", (BP, July 26).
How many more times do we have to see headlines like this?
Dogs are not "man's best friend" (except for those who cannot get a girlfriend). All dogs, from the smallest to the largest, have one and only one desire: to be the top dog.
Whenever they perceive a weakness of their halfwit owner or some innocent passing by, they will attack.
Domestic (pet) dogs kill over 30,000 people every year, according to a report "Deadliest animals globally by annual number of human deaths 2022", published in Statista.
Sacred immorality
Re: "FGM and the need for Islamic scholars", (BP, Opinion, July 20).
In his opinion piece on the evil that is female genital mutilation (FGM), Gwynne Dyer usefully observes that the traditional practice was endemic to the region long before the Abrahamic religions took hold.
Those religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, merely enshrined the cultural norms of that time and place. They had no concern for good or bad, right or wrong, just or unjust, except to use talk of such things to entrench their despotism.
Although Mr Dyer is correct that a clear statement from Islamic religious leaders and scholars of the Koran that their religion does not, in fact, teach any such thing as a need or even acceptance of FGM is still not enough.
Even if the Koran explicitly commanded it, that would not make FGM one whit less evil. No more does the Bible's explicit command to commit genocide, to kill and to sexually use children make that acceptable to any morally decent human being.
And contrary to the solidly Bible-based arguments of the pro-slavery South in the US Civil War, that book's consistent endorsement of the venerably traditional institution of slavery did not and does not make slavery morally acceptable.
As Mr Dyer also notes, those things are in the ancient sacred texts because they were part of the cultural context at the time the texts were written to serve the ideology of their societies' reigning masters.
It is no accident to take a different example that the first four of those infamous Ten Commandments given to Moses just after the slaughter of the innocent children of Egypt and as a reminder before the imminent genocide of the Canaanites, including the divinely commanded slaughter of their children, the divine one handed over those commandments.
And they were commands. They were not reasoned moral arguments.
Monotheistic religion, as both its sacred texts and its well-known history consistently attest, is no place to look for decent moral guidance.
The persistence of FGM in areas still under the thrall of such religious ideologies is no accident.
Expats not critical
Re: "Expat explains", (PostBag, July 21).
First, Phil Cox misrepresented my view on a mass exodus of expats. Never in my mind, irrespective of the outcome of the issue, could there be a mass exodus. The view of the mass exodus came from those expats who wished for that result because of the thought of the Revenue's head of taxing world income to follow the global trend of closing tax loopholes.
Secondly, even when world income is applicable, in my humble opinion, there could only be a trickle of outward-bound expats (only a drop in the ocean) because of prior commitments, attachments to the land irrespective of the country's faults, and easy solutions to the hassle of its rules by googling on the treaty of the country that income is originated from or paying a small fee to any respectable international tax advisers in town.
Thirdly, the property market in Phuket is already tilted mainly towards buyers from Russia and Eastern Europe. In Bangkok, from the business pages of the Bangkok Post, surprisingly, China and Myanmar are two big buyers.
Just like Russia, because of authoritarianism, they seek to protect their assets by taking refuge in the safe land of Thailand.
Both property markets are flourishing, and their citizens need not fear a world income rule since its effectiveness depends on the cooperation of signatory members on disclosing income to each other's tax territories.
China, Russia and Myanmar are not signatory members.
Finally, long-stay expats are not the lynchpin of the Thai economy. They are important, but not to the degree that some expat writers have claimed.
If one has to choose either the inward funds per year from 40 million tourists or from a few hundred thousand long-stay expats in Thailand, a sane man will always pick the 40 million tourists anytime.
City's constant roar
After three years, I have finally decided that I can take no more of Bangkok's horrendously awful engine noise. The noise is almost constant and hard to avoid, even with firmly fitted earplugs.
I have no idea why massage shops, restaurants, and salons choose to line Sukhumvit, where the never-ending roaring of engines must make what should be a pleasant experience a stressful one.
I'm convinced that if you went in a flotation tank 100m below ground, it wouldn't be long before you hear a motorbike, tuk-tuk, whistle, old bus or truck.
I haven't experienced anything quite like it in 30+ cities over the past 20 years. Even within the city's beautiful parks, the noise reverberates amongst the trees, condos, and skyscrapers; it is inescapable. This incessant roar of engines represents a blatant disregard for laws designed to control engine noise and a lack of police presence or concern about noise pollution.
A BBC article published a month ago highlighted that "road traffic noise is among the most damaging environmental factors to health, second only to air pollution. It has been found to increase chronic stress, cause disturbed sleep, and raise blood pressure. Noise and noise annoyance have been linked to mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, and noise exposure has been associated with a greater risk of diabetes".
Are we missing something? Is there any particular reason why it is allowed to escalate? The article also highlighted the impact on children and learning.
Whilst some exhausts have been deliberately modified to be loud (for reasons I'm sure only a qualified psychologist could explain), some drivers may genuinely have older, noisier bikes and cannot afford to fix or replace them, which is understandable.
However, I cannot comprehend why it is allowed to reach this point when traffic police could easily give drivers 30 days to fix their noisy bikes before implementing fines, as was done in October 2022.
The introduction of Muvmi tuk-tuks is one way to reduce the number of polluting and noisy traditional tuk-tuks, which are irritatingly and unnecessarily loud.
While China seems to have no noisy engines at all, there is a lot of beeping there, so I must say, in contrast, Bangkok has very little beeping, although this does seem to be getting worse.
If the government and decision-makers value the health and well-being of Thai people, especially children, they should act now before Bangkok chokes under the besieging shroud of noise which begins as soon as you leave either airport and only ends when you leave Bangkok.
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