Down with casinos
Re: "Govt tips 0.8 growth boost from casino complex", (BP, June 5).
The casino idea is flawed from A to Z and should be dropped. If the entertainment complex is so good as an integrated project, put it somewhere that needs a development magnet -- like the northeast or south -- not a highly developed city like Bangkok.
How will a corrupt society like Thailand avoid using the casinos for money laundering on a grand scale? Former prime minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha asked ex-graftbuster Vicha Mahakun to recommend reforming our police and attorney-general's office. It is difficult to understand why neither Prayut nor his successors dare even let us know what Vicha proposed. If we can't even discuss reform, what hope do we have for meaningful change?
Back to the casino project, the Paetongtarn government says the profits will go towards education -- yet hardly any of our governments know that "education is the lighting of a fire, not the filling of a pail" (originated from Plutarch).
No to casinos.
Solidarity forever
Re: "Why faith is indispensable to global development", (Opinion, June 4).
Alaa Murabit aptly highlights the transformative role of faith-based actors in advancing global development.
Yet even with such strong engagement, global sustainable development will remain an elusive ideal unless it is grounded in genuine solidarity -- across generations, communities, culture and beliefs. Without meaningful solidarity, development is merely aspirational.
China plan needed
Re: "Thailand's false sense of tariff security", (Opinion, May 30) & "Asean countries are facing their own 'China shock'", (Opinion, May 20).
No country can escape the effects of China's rise -- even the United States' economy, historically the most successful nation.
China's gigantic economic size and manufacturing capabilities are affecting all countries around the world, not only the US.
Thailand is merely a bump along this new Silk Road. Despite Western anti-China warmongering rhetoric, China has shown no sustained military aggressive postures, but the sheer force of its economic power through the private sector can easily overwhelm an economy like ours.
What China has introduced in less than a decade is a chaotic factor never before seen by the world. Just through the sheer proximity to this epicentre of technology and manufacturing revolution, there is a danger of our economy stalling and, just as importantly, our culture being assimilated in this process unless we develop a well-thought-out strategy and enforceable action plan.
Many economists have identified a major failure of the Western world to cope with China's rapid ascent as stemming from a lack of strategy and a coherent plan to compete effectively. What the West thought would take over a century only took China 30 years to accomplish, leaving it without a plan to compete.
Recently, the US, as the leader of the Western world and the very country that has played a significant role in China's rise, has demonstrated no coherent strategy, evident in numerous failed sanctions and President Trump's "let's-run-it-up-the-flagpole" approach.
Amid the clash of titans, the pertinent question is what a medium-sized country like Thailand can do.
In Thailand's case, rather than competing at a level beyond our capabilities, we should rely on a cooperative approach to maximise mutual benefits while safeguarding our sovereignty, independence, internationally balanced position, and key traditional industries that genuinely define our "Thainess".
For instance, China may hold the answers to reducing our dependence on energy imports or improving agricultural yields through modern technology.
However, we need to also protect some of our vital and prominent industries, such as food processing, agriculture, and the service sector -- including hotels and restaurants -- through strict regulations and rigorous enforcement.
The National Economic and Social Development Council, the government's planning arm, last issued the 13th Plan (2023–2027), which was written as long ago as it was, is no longer in sync with rapidly changing technology and the timeframe of China's recent development.
The 13th Plan did not take into account China's rise and the direct effect it would have on our economy and culture.
In other words, we are flying blind into the most chaotic world changing decade ever. We need an immediate, actionable, and clearly stated short-term plan, as well as a long-term strategy for how to address China's rise.
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