AMAZING, BUT FOR THE WRONG REASONS

On the morning of April 23, BBC national radio in Britain carried a
short graphic report on the summary execution of five drug
traffickers at Bang Kwang prison on April 18. The muffled sound of
machine gun fire and the cackle of geese in the background brought
home the horror I felt when I originally read this news item in the
Bangkok Post (internet edition) at the weekend. Let me state the
obvious about this barbaric act of state violence.

There is no credible evidence whatsoever to suggest that capital
punishment, or indeed any lesser criminal sanction, has the slightest
impact on crime reduction or deterrence. Khun Thaksin and his
apologists need to look no further than the US for proof of this
assertion as crime, and drug related crime, there has spiralled out
of control-regardless of the deterrent effect of Old Sparky, lethal
injection or life imprisonment without parole. The death penalty only
satisfies the more reactionary elements in society.

The BBC reported the Thai government's justification of the execution
on the basis of the current crime wave in Thailand and the threat
posed to Thai youth by drugs. I can only say this is extremely poor
judgment and may have very negative consequences in the long term for
the Land of Smiles.

Western liberals are appalled by this act of barbarity and some will
undoubtedly be disinclined to visit or return to Thailand as
tourists. Official acknowledgement that Thailand is caught up in a
crime wave will also influence tourists in choosing their next
holiday destination. It is confirmation of what many tourists have
long suspected. Ultimately this will impact on the amount of hard
currency upon which the Thai economy is so dependent.

This in turn will contribute to the very circumstances, poverty and
lack of opportunity, which are the real factors behind why people,
especially young people, use drugs and head into crime. I suggest
Khun Thaksin and his ministers would be better devising economic
regeneration projects than brutal stunts such as public executions if
he really has the interests of Thai youth at heart.

I can't help also but notice your reports about the carnage during
the recent Thai New Year festivities. You report in excess of 700
fatalities and countless thousands of injuries. Similar carnage
occurred in Thailand over the celebration of the western New Year.
The majority of the victims were young males. The most significant
factor in all this carnage was alcohol, a legal drug.

It seems to me that there are striking similarities with the West in
this respect. Politicians here rant about the evils of drugs
regardless of and oblivious to the fact that alcohol presents a far
more serious threat to the health and well being of a much larger
proportion of the community.

Attend an emergency room in London or any major city in Britain on a
Friday night and the majority of people seeking treatment will be in
various degrees of intoxication. It is such a problem that hospitals
in Britain have to deploy security guards to protect staff and
patients. But regardless of the true harm of excessive alcohol misuse
to our society, the politicians here address drugs as the greatest
harm of all.

I am deeply disturbed by this turn of events in Thailand and, while I
will return, it really won't be Amazing Thailand anymore.

Gerard Brett, London