Re: "No questions asked", (PostBag, May 7) & "Neighbours, Asean states meet in Delhi over crisis", (BP, April 27).
To answer Sad Optimist, hopefully we will stop support for the Tatmadaw this month, if enough people vote.
Polls consistently confirm that the front-runners for both our PM and party-list MPs for next week's elections are Move Forward and Pheu Thai, neither of which is disposed towards the military.
MFP and PT have answered Les Miserables' call, "Do you hear the people sing? Singing the song of angry men? It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again...There is a life about to start when tomorrow comes." In particular, MFP has vowed to slash the military's budget.
But the junta will try to win by hook or by crook; for example, Prayut shamelessly hand-picked senators so he needs only 1/6 of MPs to hang on to his seat.
Tip the balance. Choose as though the entire election depends on your one voice -- as well it may. Accept all offers to buy your vote -- but select who's best for our country.
Burin Kantabutra
Just a mere kiss
Re: "Past expiry date", (PostBag, April 12) & "Dalai Lama regrets 'kiss' with minor in viral clip", (BP, April 11).
Although this letter is a bit dated, I feel that it's necessary to comment upon it now that I've arrived from elsewhere.
The above individual chastises the Dali Lama for sticking out his tongue and wanting to kiss a boy on the lips. If Mr King would do a little research, he'd find that, rather than being considered sexual, the act is considered a playful gesture in Tibetan culture. It should be noted that the boy actually stuck out his tongue at the Dali Lama also!
Perhaps it was a little much of the Tibetan spiritual leader to have asked the boy if he could kiss him on the lips, but the kid refused to do so anyway, and the monk later apologised for attempting to do this, so all of this is irrelevant now.
The letter writer ends his piece by saying that both the Dali Lama and the Pope should retire. Now, what does the Pope have to do with all this, I ask? One can only conclude that the mere mortal man abhors all forms of religion, in which case I ask that he keep his views private.
A Foreigner in Thailand
Reptiles unite
Re: "Actress bought cyanide 'to repel pests'", (BP, May 5) & "Ex of accused serial killer unsure how she paid off his debts" (BP, May 5).
Here we go again with more vilification of my race as pests. Then there is the unwarranted use of a poison against my friends that is equally lethal to your community and bewilderingly easy to obtain apparently.
Yes, many of us have been forced to adopt alternative diets but only because our homes and food sources are disappearing as one of your alert readers noted after my last letter. If you allow the jungle to again take over what you have previously exploited, then that's your lookout.
As such, I am in the process of forming the partisan "Kindness Outsourcing for Monitor and Other Dracones Organization" (KOMODO) which I believe will gain traction as the antipathy towards us continues unabated.
Very Disgruntled Reptile
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