Foolish to judge Thailand by Western standards
Re: “Vegan line is unconvincing”, Have Your Say, yesterday.
It seems Mr Robin Grant thinks that Britain’s NHS rules the world (“Britain’s National Health Service advises that meat and dairy products eaten in moderation as part of a balanced diet provide us with the nutrients we need to stay strong and healthy”). I hope he has given up smoking on its orders.
I am able to get a doctor’s appointment here in Thailand without delay and find the medical staff to be helpful, friendly and kind. The same goes for dental treatment.
The UK slaughterhouses are strongly regulated, a matter of necessity in the light of the BSE outbreak and current concerns over African swine fever (ASF). However one of my enduring memories from years ago is of a health inspector holding a bucket. In the bucket were tumours and growths he had cut out of the carcasses.
Thai slaughterhouses are not so well regulated. If Robin watched a water buffalo getting its head smashed with an axe he may be well inclined to become a vegetarian.
Personally I found the taste of most meat vile. The flavours come from herbs and spices, and it was no accident that centuries ago seafarers made perilous voyages to the East in order to obtain those spices.
Ian Martin
Bangkok
