Risky and unsafe
Re: "New train tunnel closes for clean-up", (BP, July 30).
The closure of the brand new railway tunnel on Sunday is a classic example of how untidy, nay dangerous, Thai builders and building sites are. It is a miracle that there was no accident. If any qualified health and safety inspector from a developed country inspected any Thai building site he would have a heart attack! And he would certainly close the site for an immediate and thorough cleanup.
I fear the Thai workers every time I need any work done on my house. Whilst they do or repair something they inevitably damage something else. And the mess they leave behind is unbelievable. Thai builders are extremely messy destroyers in disguise.
Nato overreach
Re: Nato's blame game", (PostBag, July 3).
I agree with Colin Roth's letter. Nato's overexpansion for years is the provocateur. The US and German commitments and promises back then were clear, explicit, and repeated: there would be no Nato expansion post the break-up of the Soviet Union, which, as a result, Russia agreed to and ended the Warsaw Pact.
As was assured then, among others, Secretary of State James Baker said: "Not one inch Eastward". By far, the majority of Russia's public opinion is aghast on tolerating US-led Nato missiles and weapons in time to be placed on the 2100km long Russian/Ukraine border.
Big win for 7-Eleven
Re: "Supplementary bill to pass with 'flying colours'", (BP, July 28).
PM Srettha's claimed goal is to maximise the fiscal multiplier effect of the digital wallet (DW), but his actions speak otherwise. He says DW recipients will buy from local vendors, who will hire more local staff, who will, in turn, buy more food, clothes, etc -- stimulating our almost-dead economy.
So, PM Srettha says recipients must buy only from SMEs -- yet the 14,500 7-Eleven convenience stores have been deliberately and explicitly authorised to accept the handouts. This inclusion will dramatically lower the fiscal multiplier effect by at least 1/2 because the stores are all branches of the CP Group, as is their main supplier, Makro.
Parliament should exclude branches of all SET-listed companies and their subsidiaries from accepting the DW handout.
Decoding sport
Like most of the world, I am watching the Olympics. There are sports that I know well and have participated in, such as athletics, tennis, and soccer. There are others I know but haven't participated in, such as equestrian, diving, and gymnastics, but there is one I don't know anything about -- skateboarding.
Australia has some excellent skateboarders, so I watched it but didn't understand the scoring except the zeroes for falls. I could judge based on the number of slides, turns and balance, but it wasn't always right. There is a need for an explanation of the probable difficulty, as with the diving where you were told what moves it was composed of. We want a factual commentary, not a colourful one, as it is always more interesting if you understand what is happening.
Also, could someone explain how solo synchronised swimming (84-92) worked?