1 . Thailand is to ban smoking on some of the country’s most popular tourist beaches, with the prospect of up to a year in prison for those caught lighting up, according to reports by local media. The move follows a recent survey of litter on Patong beach, Phuket — visited by millions of foreign tourists each year — which found an average of 0.76 cigarette butts (烟头) per square metre in a sample area, which would amount to 101,058 butts on the 2.5km-long stretch of sand.

The survey was undertaken by the country’s department of marine and coastal resources, which described it as a “serious problem”. Discarded cigarette butts accounted for a third of rubbish collected by the department.

“Cigarettes have a direct effect on the natural environment,” director general Jatuporn Buruspat told the Phuket Gazette. “The butts clog (淤积) the drains contributing to floods. When the cigarettes stay under the beach sand for a long time, it also negatively affects the eco-system. And then when the chemicals from the cigarette butts reach the water, it also releases cadmium, lead, arsenic and some acid from insecticide which are poison to the natural food chain.”

The ban, which will come into play in November, will affect 20 beaches including Patong, Koh Khai Nok, Koh Khai Nai (Phuket); Hua Hin, Cha-Am, Khao Takiab; Pattaya, Jomtien, Bangsaen and Samila.

After a trial period, the ban is expected to be enforced on all Thai beaches, as well as on passenger and tourist boats, to deal with the problem of butts damaging the underwater environment. Anyone found to be breaking the law will face one year in jail or a maximum 100,000 baht fine, or both.

2 . Justice in society must include both a fair trial to the accused and the selection of an appropriate punishment for those proven guilty. Because justice is regarded as one form of equality, we find in its earlier expression the idea of a punishment equal to the crime. “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” is such an example. This conception of retributive justice (报应正义) is reflected in many parts of the legal codes and procedures of modern times, especially when the death penalty is demanded for a person who has committed murder. This philosophy of punishment was supported by the German idealist Hegel. He believed that the criminal had by his own actions denied (否定) his true self and it is necessary to do something that will counteract (抵制) the denial and restore the self that has been denied. To the murderer nothing less than giving up his own life will pay his debt.

Modern jurists (法学家) have tried to replace retributive justice with the idea of corrective justice. The aim of the latter is not to abandon the concept of equality but to find a more adequate way to express it. It tries to preserve the idea of equal opportunity for each person to realize the best that is in him. The criminal is regarded as being socially ill and in need of treatment that will enable him to become a normal member. Only those criminals who are incurable should be permanently separated from the rest of society. This does not mean that criminals will escape punishment. It means that the goal of justice is to cure the person, not simply to get even with him. If severe punishment is the only adequate means of accomplishing this, it should be administered. However, the person should be given every opportunity to assume a normal place in society. His crime must not deprive him of the opportunity to make his way in the society of which he is a part.