Give opportunities

Re: “Myanmar still a ticking time bomb”, (Editorial, Nov 19).

Rather than confine Myanmar and other refugees to camps for years, we should offer them a chance to contribute to our economic development and Thai citizenship based on merit criteria. As a hyper-ageing society, we must rapidly increase our national productivity and people to support our elders.

Our governments have told us to have more babies, with little attention given to making having more children desirable. For example, we’d would want our offspring to have a quality education — and our public education leaves so, so much to be desired. Also, unlike infants, adult immigrants can be productive almost immediately, with language training as required. For example, two of my friends just moved to Australia based on their IT skills and English competency, were fast-tracked to citizenship. We should do likewise with the world’s refugees — such as those from Myanmar.

BURIN KANTABUTRA