³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

Bangkok and Japan. There was a time when the Japan government would change its' Prime Minister ever so often. It just makes you wonder who they want for a leader of their country. Similarly, what do the Thais want ? Isn't it enough that there are some people in this country that are poor ? The money that is used for fighting can be used for their education, for their food, for their everyday lives. Should it become a full blown civil war, who will benefit from it ? Definitely not the Thais themselves. On the spot interviews are great. But they should not be lopsided like they are seen as supporting one side only. And if it is not impossible, in a language which everyone in the world can understand.

If there is one thing that brings home the breadth and diversity of the world's people, it is the vast variety of accents that speak English on the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳. I admit to having been sometimes frustrated with both British and world-wide English accents when initially listening to the World Service years ago, but my ear has adjusted, I can now identify where speakers are from by their accents, and English is much more of a "world language" to me now that I have learned the rhythms of my native language (American) spoken with the lilt of other voices. If folks want to use the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ to learn English for themselves, they can listen to the news presenters... beyond that, the rest of us are benefiting hugely by learning to understand each other both phonetically and through first-hand, different viewpoints. Thank you World Service. Keep doing what you are doing. (BTW ~ I was intrigued by Lise Doucette's recent comment that her Canadian accent would not be tolerated if she were a presenter on local British radio. She sounds great to me!! :)

Class struggle issue is just aÌýfacing to gain sympathy from foreign community and media many of whom buy into the romantic idea of grassroots uprising. Rachel Harvey, Alastair Leitheada and Vaudine England seemed to be convinced by this gimmicky punchline. No one denied that many of the protesters are genuinely dedicated to their course. But, whether their struggle is the root cause ofÌýred shirts' uprising is still a question. I agree that we never ignoreÌýgrassroots' suffering and dismissed it that it might not real because it is and we must not and cannot pretend that it isn't. Every Thai person have grown upÌýappreciated that farmers are the 'backbone' ofÌýthe nation that we could not survive without. Sadly thatÌýThai farmersÌýare mostly uneducatedÌýandÌýMPs they elected to represent them prefered to keep it that way. Most MPs have been in political all their lives meaning they have no other source of incomeÌýand yet they are insanely wealthy. The same MPs from the same political parties were elected over and over againÌýby the same provinces. Should the grassroots want to blame any one, it should beÌýtheir own elected MPs for not fighting for them. Although I'm not political enough to understand how populist policy works but after almostÌý2 termsÌýof Thaksin's admin., I didn't see any long-lasting benefit for the country only a front for his capitalising from the state which lead to conviction of assets concealingÌýand corruption.
I see that the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ has conduct its reports with huge misperception and that I think is extremely dangerous. International correspondants must be equipped with eyes and ears for local culture and history otherwise they can never enlight the public with balanced and accurate info.
³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ must have received quite a lot of complaints regarding their unbalanced reports by now. It's amazed me that you have yet to try defending your point by seeking further the truth and providing more comprehensive account of events and issues they have experienced. The only response from Ms. Harvey was to asked viewers to change channel!