Grace under fire
Re: "Laments of former PM Srettha Thavisin", (InQuote, Aug 15).
One has to admire former PM Srettha Thavisin for handling the devastating news against him in such a manly way, allowing reporters to question him freely and replying with a smile. That is an example to behold in a time of defeat.
Having listened spellbound to the one-hour judgement of the Constitutional Court slowly rendering on the meaning of honesty and integrity that is supposed to be inbuilt in all men, not only among professionals, unavoidably, the verdict as we now know was unavoidable. Only one question remains in one's mind to the former PM: "Why did you appoint an ex-convict who was also barred by the Lawyers' Council as your minister?"
Traffic solutions
Re: "Real action of CSR stunt?", (Editorial, Aug 14).
The Post editorial rightly points out several measures that Thai officials could take to create real "low-emission zones" if they were serious about the concept. Among these, the implementation of "congestion fees" and reducing the cost of mass transportation for commuters stand out.
Congestion fees make driving cars and trucks into selected zones more costly, typically leading to a major reduction in vehicle traffic and generating revenue from those insistent on driving into the identified zones. The revenue generated can be used to help subsidise mass transit and reduce parking fees at "park-and-ride" lots.
With the current pricing structure of mass transport in the Bangkok metropolitan area, it's actually cheaper for many commuters to drive their own cars to their destinations than to pay for mass transit tickets (especially for commutes requiring transfers across different systems). Until mass transit is made cheaper and more convenient, the city will continue to be saddled with dreadful traffic jams and appalling air pollution.
Birth rate crisis
Re: "Act to defuse depopulation timebomb", (Opinion, Aug 14).
A decline in birth rates of 5% is statistically significant, particularly for countries with ageing populations, since it poses economic problems related to increased elder care requirements and results in falling GDP.
Thailand has an ageing population coupled with falling birth rates, and many people attribute this decline to psychological and economic reasons such as depression and inflation. But do the data support this conclusion?
Thailand suffers from a very similar situation to its prosperous neighbour Singapore, although the data in Thailand is more inaccessible than in Singapore. In 2021, Singapore's natural population increase (births minus deaths) dropped by 13%. By 2022, it went down even further to 39.4%. It must be noted that Singapore ranked high globally for excess deaths in 2022, according to a report on excess mortality during Covid-19 released by the Ministry of Health Singapore in September 2022.
These figures are truly shocking, and they raise questions about the efficacy of the mRNA vaccines. They are well known to cause serious reproductive health problems, which include spontaneous abortions and neonatal death, and Singapore is the most vaxxed country in the world.