News from Thailand – July 23, 2012
The 2-year-old girl who died on Wednesday at Nopparat Rajathanee Hospital in Bangkok has succumbed to Enterovirus 71 (EV-71) or a mutated form. The girl is the first fatality this year from foot and mouth disease (HFMD).
EV-71, the virus that killed more than 50 people in Cambodia, was found in a throat culture of the girl, but this was not confirmed by a lumbar puncture and stool examination. It is now being investigated whether the virus has mutated, after which the Department of Disease Control will decide what to do next.
Also complicating the diagnosis is the lack of the side effects of HFMD, such as blisters on the hands and feet and in the mouth or a rash. The girl's heart, lungs and brain were affected.
According to Department of Medical Sciences spokesperson Wattana U-wanich, EV-71 has been previously detected in Thailand. A number of variants of the virus are known to cause serious complications, such as heart failure and respiratory problems. EV-71 is one of the two most common causes of HFMD. The other virus is Coxsackie A.
In the meantime, the health services in the country are doing everything they can to prevent an outbreak. In Mae Sai District, Chiang Rai, people crossing the border from Myanmar were checked for fever and advised to practice good hygiene. In Pichit province, nurseries and kindergartens are monitored. The Na Tan hospital in Ubon Ratchatani suspects that three patients have been admitted with HFMD. A hospital doctor warns of swine fever, a disease that usually rears its head this time of year.
– Earlier this month, the king was ill after a small cerebral hemorrhage; On Saturday, the queen became unwell when she took a walk in the Siriraj hospital, where the king has been cared for since September 2009. The doctors found a slight lack of blood in the brain, but there was no bleeding. All the Queen's appointments have been cancelled.
- Thailand and Myanmar signed three agreements today, including the joint development of the Dawei deep-sea port in Myanmar and the construction of a rail connection with the Thai Eastern Seaboard. Myanmar's President Thein Sein arrived yesterday for a 3-day visit Thailand. He first took a look at the deep-sea port of Laem Chabang (Chon Buri). Sein's visit has previously been canceled twice. His last visit was in 2008 when he was Prime Minister.
– Former Deputy Interior Minister Vatana Assavahame made his first public appearance yesterday after fleeing a 10-year prison sentence for corruption four years ago. In Luoyang (China) he opened a Buddhist temple financed by him. Some 100 Buddhist monks from Thailand and 500 guests from Thailand and China attended the opening, including Thaksin's brother-in-law. Vatana spent 200 million baht on construction, which took 2 years to complete. In recent years he has stayed in Cambodia, Hong Kong, New Zealand and China.
– Today the recalcitrant red shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan hears whether he should go back to prison because he has exceeded the conditions of his bail. The Criminal Court is considering the request of the Constitutional Court to revoke his bail because of his strong criticism of the Court's verdict in the constitutional case. The Court regards this criticism as a threat. Jatuporn keeps it to a personal opinion.
Jatuporn has been charged with terrorism for his role in the red shirt riots of 2010. After the July 3, 2011 elections, he again tasted parliamentary plush, but this time for a short time. In May, the Constitutional Court stripped him of his parliamentary status on the advice of the Electoral Council, because he had failed to cast his vote and consequently lost his Pheu Thai membership. Yesterday, red shirts already gathered at the court to support the popular and verbally gifted leader.
– The bickering about amending the constitution continues. Now opposition leader Abhisit thinks that the governing party Pheu Thai wants to change article 165 of the constitution. This article prescribes that a referendum is only binding when half of the voters have cast their vote. Pheu Thai would like to lower that minimum, but Pheu Thai spokesman Proampan Nopparit denies that this has already been discussed internally. The party will first await the publication of the verdict in the constitutional case before deciding what to do next.
The Constitutional Court recommended holding a referendum on 13 July before proceeding with parliamentary consideration of the constitutional amendment. Pheu Thai wants to create a citizens' assembly, which will be tasked with revising the 2007 constitution. The parliamentary debate on this was halted in June by the Constitutional Court. Parliament meets again in August.
– Another hot topic are the four reconciliation bills that are on the agenda of parliament. Suriyasai Katasila, coordinator of the Green Politics group, says Thaksin is likely to direct his fellow party members to deal with the proposals now that the constitutional review has run into legal complications. The aim of these proposals is to grant amnesty to all victims of political violence. Opposition Democrats and the Yellow Shirts see the proposals as an attempt to rehabilitate Thaksin. President of the House of Representatives Somsak Kiatsiranont previously proposed postponing the hearing.
– The names of five perpetrators of Friday's bomb attack in Sungai Kolok (Narathiwat) are known, but no arrests have yet been made. They are probably hiding somewhere in the province. A success was achieved in another case. Yesterday, police arrested a third suspect in the attack on a military outpost in Rueso last Tuesday. Three people were killed and six were injured.
– The hunt for opposition leader Abhisit has not ended. Now a Pheu Thai party member accuses a retired general and six colonels of forging documents so Abhisit could avoid military service. Thanks to those documents, he was able to become a teacher at the Royal Chulachomklao Military Academy, so he did not have to serve.
The case has been topical since Abhisit filed a libel complaint against red shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan. Jatuporn accused Abhisit of evading conscription during red shirt rallies and media appearances in 2010. Last week, the defense minister confirmed the accusation.
– The shopkeepers of the ancient business district of Werng Nakhon Kasem in China Town are fearful for the future, now that the land has been bought by a property developer, but they have some hope in a conversation with the big boss, whiskey millionaire Charoen Sirivadhanakhakdi.
District chairman Visit Techakasem thinks that conservation can go hand in hand with project development. The problem is that the rental income of the 440 traditional shops is low. A professor of architecture at Chulalongkorn University thinks the residents are fighting a losing battle to preserve the neighborhood.
Werng Nakhon Kasem is known for selling musical instruments, hardware, small machinery, kitchen equipment and books
– A 5-year-old boy is yesterday by his mother in the Dusit Princess Srinakarin hotels abandoned. She had asked the hotel staff to look after the boy while she went to an ATM, but she did not return. The boy said that his father is possessed by an evil spirit. If the boy is not picked up, he will be placed in an orphanage.
– Eighteen workers of a fish processing factory in Ranong became unwell yesterday after ammonia was leaked. Fourteen have already been allowed to go home, four remain under observation, although their condition is not serious.
– Thailand is one of the 40 countries in the world that still have the death penalty. As of mid-June 2012, the country had 726 persons sentenced to death: 337 for drug offenses and 389 for murder and other crimes.
The death penalty has not been carried out since 2009. Then 2 men were given a lethal injection, a method introduced in 2003. Before that, the prisoners were shot, the last time 11 people in 2002. During the lethal injection, three chemicals are injected at an interval of 5 minutes. This causes the muscles to relax and the lungs to collapse.
Cases ultimately leading to the death penalty usually take 3 years due to appeals to the Supreme Court and Supreme Court. Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung wants the appeal period for drug offenders to be reduced to 15 days.
According to the second National Human Rights Plan 2009-2013, the death penalty would be abolished, but no initiative has been taken on this point in the past 3 years. In recent years, the Philippines and Cambodia have abolished the death penalty in the region. (Source: Bangkok Post, Spectrum, July 22, 2012)
www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post