<p>Well you can’t argue facts with an Imam, can you?&nbsp;</p> <p>There’s no need to worry about crime in Saudi Arabia, he said, and he’s been there.&nbsp; Women don’t go in fear of rape because they have the death penalty for it.&nbsp; And that is Sharia law, the law of God, which cannot be changed by man.&nbsp; So that’s alright then.</p>

<p>After the first flush of pro-coup triumphalism, the Bangkok Post op-ed pages over the past two or three weeks have seen an insidious infiltration of exactly the kind of namby-pamby, woolly-minded, do-gooder insinuations that made the coup such a welcome necessity in the first place.</p>

<p>Israeli warplanes and artillery yesterday continued to pound right-wing Jewish settlements on the West Bank in apparent retaliation for the murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir.&nbsp;</p> <p>Unconfirmed reports say that the Israeli authorities are looking for suspects who are members of a right-wing Jewish group who have established a number of illegal settlements in the West Bank, many of which have since been ‘legalized’, depriving Palestinians of their homes and land.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Thai government must know how Luis Suárez feels.&nbsp; Not in the sense of sympathy or feeling sorry for the millionaire delinquent, but on the lines of empathy, suffering in the same way.</p>

<p>‘Thai Rath Online has reported that the Commander of the Technology Crime Suppression Division admits the mistake of shutting down the Association of Tennis Professionals websites (<a href="http://www.atptennis.com/" title="www.atptennis.com">www.atptennis.com</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.atpworldtour.com/" title="www.atpworldtour.com">www.atpworldtour.com</a>) due to his misunderstanding that they were gambling websites.’</p>

<p>Dear General Prayuth,</p>

<p>The media sensitivity training session was not going well.</p> <p>BECAUSE I SAY SO!</p> <p>Yes, well, perhaps we could frame that in a softer way, something a little less strident?&nbsp; Or at least just not as loud.</p> <p>What do you mean?</p> <p>Well, this insistence on ‘I’ all the time.&nbsp; Your people have already said that part of your PR problem is this appearance of being dictatorial, …</p> <p>HOW DARE YOU …</p>

<p>At last, an international survey result that the nation can take some comfort from.</p> <p>Every time you see a survey comparing various national attributes, the score for Thailand is often disappointing.&nbsp; Corruption? – persistently high, no matter whose government is in power.&nbsp; Press and media freedom? – disappearing without trace.&nbsp; Economic inequality? – a regional embarrassment.&nbsp; English language proficiency? – don’t ask.</p>

<p>Anyone who has glanced at the best-seller lists recently might be forgiven for thinking that we’ve suffered a 150-year time warp.&nbsp; Topping the charts is a hefty tome entitled ‘Capital’ by a European political economist.</p>

<p>Maj Gen Dr Rienthong Naenna, creator and leader of yet another anti-lèse majesté movement of outraged citizens, has run into some initial flak in his patriotic endeavours.&nbsp; And I don’t mean being on the wrong end of a strongly worded editorial from the Bangkok Post.&nbsp; That just proves you’ve fallen off the lunatic fringe of the anti-government, anti-democracy, anti-anything-remotely-connected-with-Thaksin movement, which was blindingly obvious anyway.</p>

<p>Readers may already be aware of the Rights and Liberties Protection Department of the Ministry of Justice, a government agency that performs such sterling work as helping victims of crimes, arranging compensation, and giving legal advice when rights have been violated (more often than not by other government agencies).&nbsp; Far less well-known is a parallel organization, the Duties and Responsibilities Enforcement Department.</p>

<p>The latest attempt to remove Acting Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra over the transfer of former, and now re-instated, National Security Council Secretary-General Thawil Pliensri has run into some legal wrangling. &nbsp;</p> <p>The Supreme Administrative Court found that the transfer of Sec-Gen Thawil, shortly after the Yingluck administration took power, was illegal.&nbsp; Thawil argued that it was motivated by the patron-client system and “if the patronage system stays strong, how can civil officials be counted on to do their jobs correctly?” he argued.</p>