Society faces a moral crisis | Bangkok Post: opinion

Opinion > Opinion

Latest updates

EDITORIAL Society faces a moral crisis

24 May 2013 : Today, as Buddhists around the country celebrate the Visakha Bucha Day to mark the Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death, it is worth reflecting on his teachings and recalling his advice on how best to continue his spiritual legacy.
TAXATIONBig business is avoiding responsibility

24 May 2013 : In recent months, people and their politicians around the world have been astonished to learn that big companies and billionaires will go to extraordinary lengths to pay lower taxes.

All Stories

Postbag
Solar power the answer
24 May 2013 : Re "PM denies blackout plot" (BP, May 23). It's a shame that a source in the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) blamed the scrapping of two coal-fired power plants, once proposed for Bo Nok and Hin Krut in Prachuap Khiri Khan, with a combined capacity of 2,100 megawatts, for the outage in the South.
COMMENTARY
Plodprasop must slow the flood scheme flow
24 May 2013 : I admit I'm totally baffled by Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi's need for speed in getting the 350-billion-baht water management master plan off the ground.
THINKBOX
Frustration starts with a queue
24 May 2013 : Every time I walk to the passport control area at Suvarnabhumi airport, I see members of staff standing next to the automatic gate system that scans passports. They always reach out their hands and ask for passports when they see passengers come close to the gate. What they normally do is open the first page of your passport and insert the book into the slot scanner. When the doors swing open, they take the passport out of the machine and hand it back to you. Then they will tell you to step in, stand at the mark, put an index finger on the finger scanner and look at the camera. Then they will speak up again to alert you that all the process is done, another gate will open and you are clear to leave the station.
DIPLOMACY
India-China border dispute offers warning for others
23 May 2013 : A half-century after the Sino-Indian War of 1962, the border between China and India remains undefined and a constant source of friction between the world's two most populous countries. Following three weeks of fighting in 1962, it was agreed to draw a Line of Actual Control (LAC). Five decades later, the map has yet to be delineated. As a result, both sides routinely send patrols up to the point where they believe the LAC should be _ the latest episode being a three-week incursion by Chinese troops into Indian-held territory that began in April.
MIGRANT WORKERS
Time to harness the remittance boom
23 May 2013 : For more than a decade, Asia's economies have been on the move _ and so have its people. The scale of migration from rural to urban areas and across international borders is historically unprecedented, and 21st century Asia is its focal point.
Abhisit is here, where is Thaksin?
23 May 2013 : Abhisit Vejjajiva sat at the Democrat Party headquarters in Phaya Thai and said, "If I’m guilty, then execute me". Whether he’s a "murderer" who ordered the killing of "innocent" civilians or not, he’s here in Thailand willing to face charges. So let the court decide.
EDITORIAL
Growth figures don't add up
23 May 2013 : When the National Economic and Social Development Board announced its latest economic growth figures for the first quarter of this year which showed a weaker-than-expected growth rate, many questions were asked as to whether the figures were accurate.
Postbag
Perils of populism
23 May 2013 : Dom Dunn says in his May 18 letter, ''Abhisit loses crop plot'', that ''Khun Abhisit's view seems to be that populist policies do not guarantee votes and that might explain his reluctance to offer vote-winning policies, but if populist policies don't work I wonder how he explains Pheu Thai's success''.
Day of reckoning nears for flawed rice scheme
23 May 2013 : It seems like the line drawn in the sand is fading with each day. Policymakers had previously insisted that the 500-billion-baht allocation to the rice pledging scheme was enough to ensure financial self-sufficiency for the programme.
WATER MANAGEMENT
Bangkok's best defence against floods is its own people
23 May 2013 : Despite its potential flaws, the 2nd Asia-Pacific Water Summit is at least tackling head-on the flooding threat faced by cities like Bangkok. But even 350 billion baht worth of fixes won't change the fact that Bangkok will some day experience a repeat of 2011's disaster, and the city needs to be prepared.