More Than 10,000 could catch swine flue

Thailand could expect more than 10,000 A(H1N1) infections nationwide as the swine flu had already spread across the country, Witthaya Kaewparadai, the public health minister, warned.
Authorities reported that the number of infections in Thailand rose to 89, with 43 new confirmed cases added yesterday.
Dr Prat Boonyawongvirot permanent secretary for public health, said the latest confirmed cases came for Bangkok, Songkla, Phuket and Pattaya.
The Health Ministry also sent officials to collect virus samples from 50 kindergarten students in a school in Pathum Thani for checking after they got high fever.
The lab test results were expected to released today.
Education Minister, Jurin Laksanavisit said the executives of each school in Bangkok can make their own decision whether to suspend classes during this period.
Mahidol University's Faculty of Public Health yesฌterday suspended their classes after learning that one of the students, who recently returned from the US, had been infected with the influenza A (H1N1) and was undergoing treatment at hospital.
Meanwhile, the Thai Hotels Association (THA) has urged entertainment venues, pubs and restaurants in the tourist resort of Pattaya to close their outlets temporarily in order to help prevent the spread of A(H1N1) influenza.
THA president Chatchawal Supachayanont said bars and restaurants are usually overcrowded so they better suspend business to avoid widespread infections.
Earlier, two Taiwanese visitors and local staff were found to have been infected inside a Pattaya discoteque.
The World Health Organisation on Thursday raised the level of influenza pandemic alert from phase 5 to phase 6, the highest level, but it recommends no restrictions on travel and no border closures.
Phurit Maswongsa, Phuket Tourism Association's vice president for marketing, warned that the WHO should be careful that travellers and the general public could be frightened by the higher level of alert.
To inform the public of proper measures to cope with the flu, the public health ministry will distribute manuals to all department store and other public venues initially in Bangkok areas.
Individuals are also advised to keep themselves fit and if they develop mild symptom sof influenza virus, they should have immediate treatment.
Health minsiter Witthaya said the governmenty has ordered two million doses of vaccines from drug manufacturers.
The Disease Control Department also has a stock of antiviral Oseltamivir drug for 420,000 people, while Government Pharmaceutical Organisation is preparing to produce an additional 100,000 antiviral drugs for flu pandemic.
Oseltamivir will be prescribed only to children age under 5 yearold, people age over 65yearold and patient with chronic disease as they do not body immunity against flu virus.

Cambodian PM expresses regret on Thai PM comment on Preah Vihear temple

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday expressed his regret with his Thai counterpart's comment who wanted the Preah Vihear temple to be jointly registered as the world heritage site.

"I think that his words on behalf of the Thai Prime Minister have disturbed the peace of another country," Hun Sen told reporters at the Cambodian foreign ministry.

Thai newspaper The Bangkok Post reported Wednesday that Prime Minister Abhisit would request that the temple be registered jointly as a World Heritage Site by Thailand and Cambodia.
"I am so regretful for his comment and his aim," he said, adding that "when he (Thai PM ) visited Cambodia (last Friday), he did not raise that issue with me. But I think his purpose is not successful."
The premier said that "first of all, we have to speak about the verdict from Hague Court (in 1962) which ruled that the Preah Vihear temple and land surrounding the temple belongs to Cambodia. And secondly, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee already registered the Preah Vihear temple as the World Heritage Site (in July 7, 2008 ) for Cambodia."

Critics slam Cambodia's rulers on free speech

An international rights group has criticised Cambodia's ruling party for allegedly stifling free speech through the use of legal action against government critics.
New York-based Human Rights Watch called on Premier Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party to stop "its threats, harassment and spurious legal action against members of parliament and lawyers defending free expression".
Cambodian authorities have lodged at least eight criminal defamation and disinformation complaints against government critics since April.
"These lawsuits are a clear attempt to intimidate the opposition and prevent members of parliament from exercising free expression," said Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch.
"Even by Cambodian standards, the state of freedom of expression and democratic rights is growing more fragile by the day," he added.
The National Assembly is expected to decide next week whether to strip parliamentary immunity from Mu Sochua, a lawmaker from the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, so that a criminal defamation case against her can proceed.
The charges stem from a now dismissed lawsuit she filed against Hun Sen for allegedly making derogatory comments about her.
The UN's human rights office in Cambodia also issued a briefing Monday warning the spate of lawsuits against critics could nurture "fear, frustration and anger, with the risk of leading to further conflict and violence".

New UN rights envoy in Cambodia

The new UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Cambodia, Surya Subedi, is making his first visit to the country.
Professor Subedi has said he wants to establish fruitful and constructive dialogue with the Cambodian government.
But his predecessors struggled to do that, and Prof Subedi's visit comes as civil society groups have said they are concerned about the rights situation.
The government has consistently defended its human rights record, noting recent democratic elections.
This is a chance for a fresh start in the relationship between the Cambodian government and the UN's human rights organisation.
But that may require diplomacy and patience on both sides.
UN concern
Prof Subedi's predecessor resigned last year after enduring months of snubs and insults from the government.
Ministers declined requests for meetings, and one called the envoy a long-term tourist.
The new rapporteur is keen to avoid a repeat of that situation.
He has indicated that his first visit will concentrate on establishing contacts with key officials and it seems the government has been receptive.
But Prof Subedi will also be meeting the leaders of local organisations who say they are worried about recent developments in Cambodia.
The UN's human rights office in Phnom Penh has just issued a statement expressing concern about the use of defamation and disinformation laws to silence government critics.
Other organisations have criticised land grabs and corruption.
But the government has consistently defended its human rights record, pointing to the success of several democratic elections since the return of peace in the 1990s.

New face mask campaign launched

The Public Health Ministry will next week launch a massive campaign urging doctors, nurse, medical worker and patients to wear face masks and wash their hands frequently as more and more people get fearful of catching TypeA(H1N1) influenza.

"This is the best and easiest way of preventing infections," Deputy Public Health Minister Manit Nopamornbodi announced yesterday.
The ministry will distribute a million masks to cover staff at all 834 hospitals nationwide.
At the same time, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned manufacturers not to increase the price of face masks or hoard the product.
"Many more people need to buy the masks to protect themselves," FDA secretarygeneral Dr Pipat Yingseri said.
Citing a World Health Organisation study, Manit said wearing face masks could reduce the spread of diseases by 80 per cent, while washing hands frequently would prevent the spread of respiratory infections.
The Public Health Ministry's permanent secretary, Dr Prat Boonyawongvirot, said there were direct and indirect ways for infections to spread. For instance, people could get directly infected if they come in close contact with patients; while indirect infections could be caused by coming into contact with contaminated things.
The number of people who wear face masks at medical facilities has increased from 50 per cent in 2007 to 90 per cent last year since the Public Health Ministry first launched a campaign urging people to keep their faces covered.
About 86 per cent of patients think that wearing a face mask could prevent the spread of disease, while only 20 per cent said they found wearing face masks disgusting.
Thai pop star, Nicole Theriault has also joined the campaign saying it was each individual's responsibility to prevent the spread of disease.
"Good personal hygiene such as wearing a face mask and keeping your hands clean can protect you and your family from infectious diseases. This is your responsibility," she said.
Nicole was a presenter for the face mask campaign when it was first launched five years ago.
Meanwhile, Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai has also urged relevant agencies to clean public spaces, such as pubs, bars and cinemas, at least once a month to cut the risk of infections.
Doorknobs, tables, chairs, glasses, telephones, railing and toilet flush handles should also be sanitised, he advised.

Two Russians arrested for allegedly stealing info via e-bankin

Police Tuesday arrested one Thai and two Western men for allegedly stealing information via the e-banking system and pilfering money from a Krung Thai Bank branch in Chon Buri province.
Though Russian national Anton Soldatenkov and Ukraine's Vnuchenko Oleksandr denied any wrongdoing, Prakiat Bunmoh admitted to the crimes and implicated both of them. Police are expanding their investigation to determine whether they had stolen money from five clients of KTB and Siam Commercial Bank totalling around Bt10 million.
Acting on a complaint filed by the SCB that it had lost Bt1.5 million possibly to the three men, Crime Suppression Division detectives decided to monitor the three in a series of stakeouts. The suspects were positively identified through security-camera footage last week when Prakiat went to open an account at the Bang Lamung district branch of KTB.

Duch, Khmer Rouge defendant, says own staff also killed

The man accused of running a torture center for the Khmer Rouge testified Monday that its own guards and interrogators were among those executed, sometimes for making minor mistakes.
Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch (pronounced Doik), commanded Phnom Penh's S-21 prison, where as many as 16,000 men, women and children were tortured before being sent to their deaths when the communist group held power in 1975-79.
Duch, 66, is being tried by a U.N.-assisted tribunal for crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture. About 1.7 million Cambodians died from forced labor, starvation, medical neglect and executions under the ultra-communist regime.
He said Monday that more than 100 personnel from S-21 and the Prey Sar prison -- a reeducation center on the outskirts of Phnom Penh -- were arrested, tortured and executed, in some cases for simple irregularities and mishaps in carrying out their duties.
Duch said he was the one who reported such incidents to his superiors.
He identified one of those killed as an S-21 staffer named Huy, who was in charge of radio communications but was arrested and killed because he allowed one of the prison's radio operators to run away.
The arrests of staffers were approved by two of the regime's senior leaders, Nuon Chea -- who is also in the tribunal's custody -- and Son Sen, the group's defense minister, who was killed during a power struggle in 1997, Duch said.
Those killed included torturers, security guards and interrogators. Their wives and children were also arrested and executed because they were considered the regime's enemies, he said.
While Duch was testifying Monday, another defendant at the tribunal, former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan, 77, was taken to the hospital for a medical checkup, said tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath.
Duch is the first senior Khmer Rouge figure to face trial, and the only one to acknowledge responsibility for his actions. Senior leaders Khieu Samphan, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary and his wife Ieng Thirith are likely to face trial in the next year or two.

Confirmed Type-A (H1N1) flu cases rise to 310

The confirmed case of Type-A (H1N1) influenza cases in Thailand has risen to 310, Deputy Public Health Minister Manit Nopamornbodi announced Tuesday.He said the Public Health Ministry will Tuesday hold a meeting of doctors nationwide to make preparations to cope with the more outbreaks.Despite the increase of the cases, Manit pleaded the public not to panic.

Prime Minister to meet press somewhere else

Fearing for the safety of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the security team has suggested he change the venue of his weekly press conferences from today.

Instead of meeting the media outside the Cabinet secretary-general's premises they will move to inside the Naree Samosorn Building, because people waiting to file complaints with the PM manage to get too close.
Recently, a woman verbally abused the PM during his weekly press conference, while last week a group of villagers from Saraburi noisily told Abhisit they were disappointed in his failure to address their problems. The villagers are suffering from industrial-waste landfills near their communities.

Rubber worker beheaded and burnt

Leaflet claims brutal killing was retaliation for 'mosque attack by officials'
A rubber-plantation worker was beheaded and burnt beyond recognition in the southernmost Yala province yesterday in what police say was revenge on Buddhists for last week's massacre at a Narathiwat mosque. Kimxiang Saetang's headless body was found in a plantation in Than To district at about 10am yesterday. He may have died two days earlier, police said.
Police found the head in a bamboo hut in front of the plantation, metres from the body.
Also at the crime scene was a machete and a leaflet written in Thai saying: "This was revenge for innocent people killed by officials at the mosque."
Last Monday, a group of assailants killed 11 Muslims at prayer and injured a dozen others in the mosque in Narathiwat's Joh I Rong district.
Two days later, a Buddhist monk was shot dead and another injured in Yala. Police believed the militants targeted the Buddhist monks to create a rift between the region's Buddhists and Muslims.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, during yesterday's House of Representatives meeting, said that his government would allocate funds to the deep South in a way that would be truly in line with the local residents' needs.
He said that he would measure success in solving the region's problems by the ability to reduce the security forces sent in. "I don't think we will keep sending in people and money endlessly to tackle the problems," he said.
The premier stressed that ensuring justice to the locals would be the key in his government's efforts to end insurgent violence in the deep South.
In neighbouring Pattani province, a janitor was shot dead while riding a motorbike to work at a school in Saiburi district yesterday, police said.
Prom Wichianrat, 59, was attacked by a gunman on a motorbike who fired at him with a pistol at around 7.30am.
In another incident in Narathiwat yesterday, Museng Masu, 40, was shot dead in a drive-by shooting attack in Bajoh district as he was walking along a road.
Police said the attack might have been motivated by personal conflict, or was more of the violence that has plagued the predominantly Muslim region since 2004.
Former prime minister Chuan Leekpai has called a meeting with members of Parliament from five southernmost provinces to consult with them on seeking a solution to the violence.
The meeting agreed the structure of ground operations needed to be changed, said Democrat Party spokesman Buranat Samutrak, to boost the civilian role - rather than emphasising military operations.
Deputy Interior Minister Thaworn Senneam, a Democrat, proposed the Office of the Southern Border Province Administrative Centre run the region, replacing the military-run Internal Security Operation Command. The military opposed the idea.
However, the meeting suggested all agencies should work in close cooperation, Buranat said.
Thaworn did not set a time frame for pushing forward the restructuring, saying the existing structure could work for the time being, with the military and government in tandem.
MPs in the meeting said they were confident about the government's plans to solve the problem, but it would take time, he said.

Cambodia, Thailand Pledge To Avoid More Border Clashes

The prime ministers of Cambodia and Thailand agreed Friday to endeavor to avoid any further military clashes along their two countries' border, Kyodo News reported.
The commitment was made during a meeting in Phnom Penh between Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Thai counterpart Abhisit Vejjajiva, Hun Sen's spokesman Eang Sophalleth told reporters.
The armed forces of the two sides have on occasion exchanged fire along the border since Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in July last year, leaving a number of deaths and injuries on both sides.
The situation has recently eased, but the military presence in the area remains.
The Cambodian government insists that Thai troops have deployed on Cambodian soil, while Thailand says its troops are only in a disputed zone. The border dispute stems partly from the use of different border maps.
According to Eang Sophalleth, Abhisit agreed with Hun Sen's suggestion that military officers based along the border of the two nations should hold regular meetings to deepen understanding and ease tension.
Since the border issue erupted last year, many rounds of talks at different levels including defense and foreign ministerial levels have been held, but a solution to the border issue has proved elusive.
Abhisit's visit to Cambodia was his first since coming to office late last year.
As part of the visit, seven pieces of artifacts that had been stolen by smugglers were returned to Cambodia. Cambodia has asked Thailand to return 36 more pieces.

Cambodia becomes 94th member of International Renewable Energy Agency

Cambodia has become the 94th state of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) that was established early this year, according to a press statement released Friday by the German Embassy in Cambodia.The statement said Cambodia signed for the membership of the agency on Friday in Berlin, Germany, which has become the 21st country from Asian nations, with 35 other countries from Africa, 29 from Europe and nine from Latin-America, the statement said.IRENA was established in Bonn, Germany on Jan. 26, 2009, and Germany is a depository state for this international agreement.The agency, originally, intends to facilitate access to all relevant information, including data on the potentials for renewable energies, best practices, effective financial mechanisms, and state-of-the-arts technological expertise.Following the global voice for renewable energies, IRENA is mandated to become a main driving force for promoting a rapid transition towards the widespread and sustainable use of renewable energy on a global scale.It is also envisaged to provide practical advice and support for both industrialized and developing countries; thereby helping to improve framework and built capacity.The agency will consist of an Assembly, a council and a secretariat.

Cambodia becomes 94th member of International Renewable Energy Agency

Cambodia has become the 94th state of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) that was established early this year, according to a press statement released Friday by the German Embassy in Cambodia.The statement said Cambodia signed for the membership of the agency on Friday in Berlin, Germany, which has become the 21st country from Asian nations, with 35 other countries from Africa, 29 from Europe and nine from Latin-America, the statement said.IRENA was established in Bonn, Germany on Jan. 26, 2009, and Germany is a depository state for this international agreement.The agency, originally, intends to facilitate access to all relevant information, including data on the potentials for renewable energies, best practices, effective financial mechanisms, and state-of-the-arts technological expertise.Following the global voice for renewable energies, IRENA is mandated to become a main driving force for promoting a rapid transition towards the widespread and sustainable use of renewable energy on a global scale.It is also envisaged to provide practical advice and support for both industrialized and developing countries; thereby helping to improve framework and built capacity.The agency will consist of an Assembly, a council and a secretariat.

Five more schools affected with H1N1 - Thai totally rises to 150

Public health authorities yesterday expressed worries that the new influenza type-A (H1N1) virus could mix with the upcoming seasonal flu strain, possibly making it more dangerous to humans.
At least five more schools in Bangkok and nearby provinces as well as in the northern province of Chiang Mai would also partially or completely close starting today as the swine flu has spread.
The annual flu season runs from this month to September.
The government reported 44 fresh cases of swine flu, bringing Thailand's confirmed tally to 150.
Suankularb School, Satriwitthaya 3 School and Rajvinij School in Bangkok, and Chiang Mai Christian School will close for three days for sanitation to prevent a flu virus outbreak.
Assumption College Samrong, located in Samut Prakan, a province adjoining the capital, said it would suspend one class today after a student was found infected with the new flu.
Chiang Mai University also reported that one student, who just returned from the US, had come down with the disease.
Dr Kamnuan Ungchusak, a senior health expert with the Disease Control Department, said scientists will be watching the development of A(H1N1) and seasonal flu viruses closely.
"We do not have any information yet whether it will be more virulent in humans if the virus mixes with the seasonal flu strain," he said.
According to the Public Health Ministry, 30,000 to 40,000 people suffer from the seasonal flu every year. To detect other possible mutations, Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai has ordered officials to check for avian flu and other flu viruses infecting humans for 90 days. Thailand has reported no human case of bird-flu infection during the past three years but it is possible that the new flu virus strain could mix with the seasonal flu strain during the rainy season.
Kamnuan said the Public Health Ministry would have to consider changing the medical treatment scheme for patients in case a new strain emerges.
"There's no sign of any novel influenza virus mutation yet," he said.
Jetsada Dendoungboriphan, a science lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, said a study shows that the character of the virus may not change, but its genetic material has been modified.
"There have been gradual alterations but no sign of resistance to antiviral drugs nor an increase in its severity," he said.
However, overuse of the antiviral oseltamivir drug would promote drug resistance and the new vaccine, which is now being produced, would be less effective as the virus could mutate into various forms. The World Health Organisation last Friday reported 29,669 cases in 74 countries and 145 deaths.
Dr Tawee Chotepita-yasunon, chairman of the ministry's influenza academic team, said Thailand was at level B, an outbreak in a limited circle with only 10-15 patients to a group.
But it was expected that the situation would be upgraded in one month to level C, with extensive outbreaks as seen in the US, the UK and Japan, he said.
However, the virus is not as dangerous as feared as only 10 per cent of people exposed to it fall ill and only 0.01 per cent die, mostly due to previous medical problems, he said.