Olympic fairness
Re: "Fair play achievable?", (PostBag, Aug 7).
Michael Setter outlines well the case for sticking with the traditional gender categorisation at the Olympics: it is simple and binary. He is certainly correct that "the concept of fairness is suspect on many levels". He is also right that a more sophisticated approach than simple sex discrimination is in fact complex; sophisticated even.
Who would want to be sophisticated when a simple binary option exists?
But sex-based discrimination glosses over a host of dirty little secrets. For a start, the athletes tend to keep the most explicit sign of their sex concealed under layers of fabric as if it were a dirty little secret. What is needed is a simple black-and-white divider, one that is clearly seen. Exactly such a traditional marker for dividing humans exists.
That discriminator is the one being revitalised by the current Trump election campaign in the US, namely, identity according to skin colour. Unlike sex, this is not treated as a dirty little secret. People in most cultures do not conceal their faces or significant other bits of skin, making it a publicly revealing marker of who someone is, to the delight not only of politicians looking for a coloured card to play to their base.
Rather than making sex the basis for creating categories to allow the less naturally gifted (by Mother Nature) to have their bit of glory in the shadow of the other category, a better choice for dividing athletes is skin colour.
Of course, there will still be problems: there are murky grey cases that are not plainly, wholesomely, black or white.
And some will doubtless try to pass as white to compete in that category rather than the statistically stronger black category. There will, accordingly, need to be tests for bleaching and like deceitful practices. Would such an easy black-and-white division of athletes be any less fair than the current system?
If we must stick with sex-based discrimination, at least go back to respecting the ancient Greek Olympic tradition of athletes competing in the nude rather than concealing the bits society deems dirty little secrets. That respect for venerable tradition might even tempt myself and others to even watch a boxing match.
Suggested viewing
Re: "Why Bua Noi needs a sanctuary", (Opinion, July 17).
If the people responsible for the gorilla Bua Noi's long-term incarceration watch Animal Planet's documentary about the Bronx Zoo The Zoo, which aired today at 12pm, and its exemplary care of these wonderful primates in capacious surroundings, they might learn a lesson or two about the relentless damage and misery they have inflicted upon Bua Noi over time.
But I doubt it.
Airport ranking
Re: "Suvarnabhumi needs more than just free spaces", (Opinion, Aug 1).
If Suvarnabhumi International Airport is ranked 68th in the world, I would like to know where Phuket Airport is in the rankings.
The Bangkok Post keeps talking about tourist arrivals as an economic imperative. Certainly the tourist arrival and departure point would be of interest.
As the new government is talking about building new airports perhaps we can ask the question -- is Thailand improving in this area of global competition?