The government under prime minister Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra always claims to rid Thailand of drugs and make it a safe place to be. How surprised was I to just hear the following story:

Three days ago, my wife's nephew, aged 13 years, went from his school on a short trip with his class to visit another school in their area in Surin province. The janitor of the school apparently owns some fighting chickens and he claimed that some students were trying to steal them. He lives in a neighbouring village of my wife's nephew. He walked up to the little boy, pulled out a gun which he pointed at him and said: "You and your friend wanted to steal my chickens. Mark your name and your friend's name." Although the little boy never did anything of what the janitor accused him of, was so afraid seeing a gun pointed at him, and wrote his and his friend's names on the paper. There is quite some commotion in the area now, but I am sure that once the dust has settled, nothing will have happened.

Really... where are we going to in this Land of Smiles? If I send this message to the Bangkok Post to insert in Postbag, they will refuse to publish.

George, any suggestions on how to make the authorities accountable?

You have posted your sad story here. I believe it's a bad teacher. To blame the government would be a bit too much...

Send a letter to Thaksin's new suggestion box outside his residence.

Just my 2.5 baht.