Circuses treat animals cruelly.

[Guest guest]

POSTBAG - Circuses treat animals cruelly.

 

10/10/2002

Bangkok Post

P1

© 2002 The Post Publishing Co. Ltd. .

 

The report in Outlook of Oct 2, virtually a half page ad on the Royal London

Circus, where animals are made to perform for an " appreciative " audience, is

a

sad and despicable way to promote such animal exploitation.

 

It has long been recognised in Western countries that making animals perform

in circus acts is inhumane; indeed in many countries such activities are

banned. It is noteworthy that almost the only places that allow such acts

are

in Southeast Asia.

Isn't it about time that respectable journalism drew attention to the

suffering caused by these acts instead of promoting it?

 

NGOs working for wildlife conservation have spent years trying to educate

the

general public in Thailand about the precarious state of Thailand's

diminishing wildlife, and the care and protection that should be extended to

all creatures. Most certainly animal acts like those listed below are hardly

likely to enhance their cause.

 

" Scream unashamedly as you see Abdou, the lion tamer, come tantalisingly

close

to snarling African lions and Bengal tigers. " " One of the most unique and

amazing acts is the performance by dogs, cats, chickens. " - The Malay Mail,

Nov 19, 2001.

 

Isn't it about time that Thai people, who on the whole show such a general

concern for animal welfare, join the majority of the civilised world and

say,

no more? I hope many of my Thai colleagues will do as I will and boycott

this

event.

 

Yuenyong Tabsila

 

Bang Na-Trat is a danger to all

 

I'm curious to know whether private buses (the type that are hired out for

field trips, tours and to pick up employees) are licensed or even come under

any regulatory agency.

 

I would like to invite anyone who has anything to do with the transport and

safety issue to take a look at some of these drivers along Bang Na-Trat

road.

They are accidents waiting to happen, especially those buses that are used

to

transport factory workers to and from work.

 

Not only do they drive at dangerous speeds, they also tailgate and enjoy

frightening other motorists with their flashing headlights and earblasting

horns. They race each other and stop to drop off people wherever they

choose.

I would venture that the type of driver of these buses is probably of the

same

calibre as the man who killed seven people this week.

 

I live and work on Bang Na-Trat road. I see motor vehicle accidents daily,

mostly involving motorcycles, container trucks and all types of buses. To

say

the road is dangerous is an understatement.

 

I'm sad it took such a tragedy to wake people up to the dangers of this type

of driver and public services. It's true that we citizens should be up in

arms

demanding better service, more safety and any and all of the general

precautions that should be our right.

 

There is a four-digit number that you are supposed to be able to call to

report polluting cars and reckless drivers. I call, but I don't know if

anything gets done. And judging by the standards of our system, I doubt it.

 

Yes, we have the right to demand and voice our opinions. At the same time, I

would like to ask those in charge of making laws and setting standards for

our

country, why we have to ask for something so basic? It's their

responsibility

to ensure and enforce these laws. That's what they get paid for.

 

P. AsavisanuSamut Prakan

 

Hit unscrupulous where it hurts

 

Elected leaders are given the mandate by the people to help improve and

extend

the lives of their citizens.

 

When are the leaders of Thailand going to stop the carnage on the roads by

hitting the unscrupulously greedy owners of transport companies right where

it

hurts the most: their pockets and their freedom?

 

Chris Smith

 

Ministers don't require expertise

 

A number of your writers and several correspondents have placed a lot of

emphasis on ministers having experience relevant to their portfolio.

 

The development of policy is the responsibility of the government as a

whole;

implementation is the responsibility of the minister.

 

The PM is correct when he says that ministers are pilots and any pilot can

fly

the plane. They do not need to be aircraft designers or engineers.

 

DDSurat Thani

 

At Shin Corp he has his wife

 

I was amused by the Thai.2.Thai letter (Postbag, Oct 10), " Thaksin passes

statesmen test " . It was quite simply a joke.

 

Khun Thaksin is a potential dictator. Anybody can make a decision, a

dictator

like Sarit could make decisions. What is the big deal? Making the right

decision is what counts, not any decision. Panthongtae decided to bring a

piece of paper into the exam room against the rules. Was that the right

decision? Absolutely not.

 

Khun Thaksin's heart is in the right place (he cares about poor people) but

his left hand does not know what his right hand is doing.

 

A more appropriate question is, is Khun Thaksin a good prime minister? From

my

point of view, he is not. The next question is, can we afford to have him as

prime minister another 16 years? Again, my answer is no.

 

I hope he goes back to Shin Corp soon. At Shin Corp he has a very good right

hand (his wife).

 

Thaksin, a statesman? Oh please, not in a million years.

 

Soontong SwanwitSan Francisco

 

It is not right to criticise CAT

 

The Communications Authority of Thailand would like to clarify some points

in

your editorial of Oct 1, " Time to loosen telecoms control " , which could be

misleading.

 

Regarding the accusation that CAT places the internet service burden on the

consumers, we would like to explain that, at present, there are 19 internet

service providers and CAT has never intervened in the service pricing, but

lets the pricing be determined by market mechanisms. The result is that the

service fee has been lowered substantially.

 

CAT also has tried to find ways to lower the costs for ISPs. Because renting

a

circuit directly from overseas is expensive, CAT took out a lease itself and

allocated the circuit for use by ISPs to lower their costs. Because of the

economies of scale, the investment in renting a circuit directly from

overseas

is still regarded as expensive.

 

Regarding the accusation that CAT did not take any action when an under-sea

cable snapped recently, causing a disruption in the internet service, we

would

like to clarify that CAT did not ignore the problem but contacted the

parties

concerned to get the service restored. Normally, there is an international

agency responsible for repairing the cable system and normally it takes four

to five days to fix the problem, depending on the weather conditions. Also,

the damaged cable was not in Thailand but somewhere between Japan and South

Korea.

 

Pongsak PothisiriAssistant GovernorCommunications Authority of

Thailand.

 

 

 

Folder Name: Asia Conservation Cat

Relevance Score on Scale of 100: 92

 

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