Thailand Travel News

Thailand should brace itself for second wave of H1N1 influenza which could occur as early as July of this year – warns a leading viral expert.

Dr Thirawat Hemachudha, director of the World Health Organisation’s Collaborating Centre for Research and Training on Viral Zoo noses says that this outbreak is similar in to Spanish flu which broke in 1918 killing 20 million people worldwide.

Scientists say that there are four steps to indicate that disease can cause pandemic. The four steps are a) a new strain of virus b) humans contracting virus c) virus is non-seasonal d) the virus spreading quickly and widely.

The H1N1 virus has gone through the three steps and it remains to be seen when it reaches the last step.

In related new, a Thai boy was admitted in a major hospital on May 13th after developing flu symptoms. On conducting laboratory tests, it was concluded that he has normal flu and not influenza flu. More and more people have started getting done their physical checkups after developing flu like symptoms and as a result the number of quarantined patients had gone up and is expected to rise further.

Meanwhile the Thai health ministry has distributed several thousands of antiviral Oseltamivir nationwide to hospitals and public health stations and further plan to import new antiviral Zamamivir as a precautionary step.

Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has called on exiled and ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra to return home and face the charges of corruption, tax evasion and other charges but ruled out granting amnesty. He stressed that Thaksin would face justice in a proper manner but should be ready to face full responsibility of his actions.

The premier further added that amnesty being granted to the members of the opposition as part of the reconciliation process to restore peace in the country could be considered but Thaksin would not be among them.

Speaking at a press conference in Hong Kong, Abhisit said that he wanted to see a stimulus package rolled out, Thailand’s ASEAN chair fulfilled at the end of the year and a “cooling off period” in Thai society.

Demonstrations and protests have crippled the country’s tourism industry though Thailand is in better economic position to face economic slump than it was during Asian financial crisis a decade ago.

Though the government took a tough stand against the protestors, majority of the population are losing patience with the government over job losses and weakening of Baht. The government has warned that economy may by shrink by 5% during the year.

Thailand has again confirmed the postponement of next month’s proposed ASEAN summit. This summit already got cancelled due political unrest and demonstrations. This decision was made after it was found that the ASEAN and dialogue country leaders would not be available for the next month ASEAN summit.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said that the postponement was not due to demonstrations carried out by anti-government protestors but due to unavailability of ASEAN Plus six leaders for the summit.

The 10th ASEAN plus 6 summit was initially scheduled to be held in December but got postponed to April after protestors blocked Bangkok’s two airports for 8 days. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva cancelled the ASEAN summit to be held on April 11 after anti government protestors stormed the hotel where the summit was supposed to be held.

Kasit said that some countries have by-elections, some have general elections and other leaders have schedule of foreign visits to be made which is why all the country leaders would not be available for the summit.

The summit was supposed to be held in Phuket which is quite distant from the capital and is more politically inclined to the current government. The summit is likely to be held in October 2009 which is 10 months later than originally planned.

Senior government officials from ASEAN countries will now works towards making sure that all the ASEAN plus 6 leaders would be available to attend the meeting.

Suthep Thaugsuban – Thai deputy Prime Minister in charge of security affairs said that Thailand is fully ready to host the ASEAN summit and other summits in mid-June. He has also agreed to Asian leaders bringing their own armed body guards provided they have the prior agreement of ASEAN.

The final date of the summit has not been confirmed as it must be convenient for the leaders from all 16 countries. The tentative date is 13th and 14th of June at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort and Spa.

The Thai government plan to enforce the provisions of the security bill when the ASEAN + 6 summit resumes in Phuket to ensure there is no repeat of fiasco in Pattaya when the red-shirt protestors led demonstration led to cancellation of the summit.

It is reported that red-shirt anti government protestors vowed that no action would be taken from their side to disturb the summit due to be held in Phuket in June. The leader of red-shirts met with the governor of Phuket Wichai Phraisa-ngop and assured him that nothing will be done to spoil the reputation of Phuket and Thailand while the summit is being held.

In addition to the 10 ASEAN countries, leaders from China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand will also attend the summit.

The government of Cambodia has asked Thailand for damages totaling more than $2 million caused by use of heavy weapons by the Thai army during a clash at a disputed ancient temple along the border.

The Cambodia foreign ministry in a diplomatic note sent to the Thai government claimed that the attack by Thai army on April 3 caused numerous damages and set ablaze the Cambodian market located in front of the temple. The note further added that a total of 264 stands within the market were destroyed completely and as a result 319 Cambodian families lost their livelihood totaling the damages to the tune of more than $ 2 million.

The Preah Vihear temple was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO in July 2008. Although way back in 1962, International Court decided that the temple and area surrounding it should belong to Cambodia, it has been a bone of contention between the two countries. Tensions flared soon after the temple was declared as world heritage site leading to several gun battles between the two armies over time involving death of several soldiers from both sides.

Both countries have been building their respective armies along the border raising concerns of possible war between them.

Thailand government has confirmed that more than half of the 16 countries have agreed to the proposal of holding ASEAN + 6 summit on 13th and 14th of June on the island of Phuket. The Jakarta based ASEAN secretariat is working closely with all the member nations to hold the summit next month. The summit was supposed to be held in December of last year was then postponed to April. It was again aborted in April when anti-government protestors stormed the meeting venue and forced the summit’s cancellation.

Despite strong assurance given by the Thai government, many countries have expressed their reservations after the Pattaya incident where the leaders were evacuated by helicopters and the delegates by boats.

Meanwhile to make sure that summit would be held peacefully without an incident, the Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in his weekly television programme said that the internal security law might be enforced to handle the situation.

The act if enforced would help facilitate the security officials to carry out their operations as well as controlling transportation routes. The Prime minister has added that in spite of the law being imposed, the protestors can still during the rescheduled summit but within the framework of the law.

It has been reported that 2,100 local policemen would provide security during the rescheduled summit with reinforcements of 400-700 from the border patrol police and other units.

Thailand health ministry has admitted that a patient under quarantine is suspected of having H1N1 flu. They further said that the lab results of this patient have been sent to USA in order to match it with the H1N1 influenza samples as there are no available samples in Thailand. This patient is one of the groups of persons quarantined after returning from Mexico.

The patient had developed flu like symptoms since returning from Mexico. The patient has been provided with anti viral drugs and has been kept under quarantine. The results from the US centres for disease control and prevention (CDC) are expected within seven days.

Thailand has put in a collection of prevention measures to control the spread of swine virus such as heat seeking devices at the country’s main international airports to detect arrivals suffering from fevers. Since April 27, around 400,000 incoming passengers from Mexico, US, Canada, Spain and UK have been screened.

Another fact to be noted is the end of school holidays next week. Students coming from summer camps abroad would be watched carefully. The health ministry is co-coordinating with the education ministry to implement disease prevention measures at all schools. Teachers have been instructed to watch all students and have students with flu-like symptoms to be examined by a doctor.

A joint statement was released by ASEAN plus three health ministers on influenza A/H1N1. The statement included a joint effort to establish continuous medical supplies and setting up an information system including hotlines among the health ministries of the member nations. Although the Asian region has been relatively safe from the influenza, the health ministries said that they would take preventive measures and coordinate the response.

The ASEAN members clarified that they would follow the recommendations laid down by WHO on international travels instead of imposing travel restrictions in order to prevent social and economic disruption to the global and regional communities.

The meeting held on 7th and 8th confirms the commitments of the ASEAN countries towards preventing and eradicating the influenza. The commitments include implementing National pandemic preparedness plans and intensifying surveillance & response system.

As more than 90% of world vaccine production was is in Europe and USA, the health ministers emphasized on stockpiling of essential medical supplies. They requested WHO to provide more support including technical & financial help.

At the same time, the ministers did not want any restrictions on travel in the flight against swine flu. They felt that travel restrictions would have little impact in stopping the virus from spreading and further pose negative impact in the current global scenario. So far 2,000 case of swine flu have been confirmed in 23 countries globally causing 44 deaths.

Sondhi Limthongkul – The leader of People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) today blamed certain military soldiers for the assassination attempt on him last month. He was attacked on April 17th when a pick up truck with gun men with assault rifles sprayed bullets on his car. The driver was seriously injured and the leader himself narrowly escaped death when a bullet lodged in his skull.

The cartridges found at the shooting scene indicated that the rifles used were the M-16 assault rifle; such bullets are widely used by the army.

This was Sondhi’s first conference since he was released from the hospital after his recovery. He said that he was chosen for the assassination because of two reasons. One to intimidate the media as he himself is a media professional and two to undermine the mass movement since he is a PAD leader.

When asked about the suspected masterminds behind the assassination attempt, Sodhi said that he did not he did not suspect Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, Army chief General Anupong Paochinda and philanthropist Thanphuying Viraya Javakul.

Army’s role in the assassination attempt has come to the fore with the use of military weapons in the attack. The prime minister was forced to come out and deny any role of military in the attack.

Sodhi said that he would be going to USA for recuperation and expects the Police to arrest the gunmen involved in the attack soon.