Jailbird hippo
Re: "Let's give a hip hippo hooray for soft power!" (Opinion, Sept 25).
While it is not entirely clear how she plans to make it happen, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra's notion that soft power "promotes the elevation of Thai wisdom as a creative culture" is an interesting one.
Meanwhile, it must be conceded that South Korea and Japan have nothing to compare with Moo Deng, who easily meets the prime minister's criteria that soft power must "make money".
As many cash in on her and her family, has it occurred to anyone that Moo Deng, Thailand's premier soft power icon, is literally a foreign captive with no rights or autonomy? Could there be a more cutely fitting ambassador of Thai soft power?
Wall of worry
Re: "Myanmar talent", (PostBag, Sept 24), "Build a fence", (PostBag, Sept 22) and "Solving the Myanmar migrant surge", (Opinion, Sept 17).
Burin Kantabutra's concern is understandable and fair. But my suggestion to fence our border with Myanmar is to stop illegal migrants using the border.
They are smuggled into Thailand allegedly with the help of Thai government agencies and the border security force.
Transnational human traffickers, with logistical support from security forces and blessings from powerful political figures here, are to blame.
I have no issues with people who enter our territory legally if they have obtained a Thai visa and work permit.
As I mentioned in my letter dated Sept 22, it's not only illegal migrants from Myanmar but also runaway Rohingya from the Chittagong refugee camp in Bangladesh who are using the Myanmar-Thai border.
Also, ethnic Bengali-speaking Bangladeshis in Tak province (en route to Malaysia and Indonesia).
The most worrisome group is those banned radical Islamic terrorists who were released by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus along with hundreds of hardcore criminals from Bangladesh that no one has expressed concern about in our government.
Censorious CU
Re: "Chula bars author from using venues", (BP, Sept 24).
By caving in to military pressure and cancelling a seminar and on-campus launch of an award-winning book authored by one of its scholars, our renowned Chulalongkorn University is undermining its 2021-2024 master plan to "position the university as a leader in creating knowledge and innovations from cutting-edge research".
The most effective way to counter misinformation is to prove that what was presented was in error and how it should be corrected. Thus, the military's Internal Security Operations Command should welcome Puangthong Pawakapan's invitation to speak at a CU debate and show why her book, Infiltrating Society: The Thai Military's Internal Security Affairs, is wrong and might "stir public misunderstanding and damage the image of the armed forces".
The military's noble mission is to protect us from enemies outside the realm -- not those within our boundaries. Thus, Thais may ask why soldiers must control so many TV/radio stations aimed at a domestic audience, why they're not stationed mainly at our borders to fight invaders, and why we have the world record for coups against elected governments. CU, stand for creating knowledge.