Thailand confirms first two swine flu cases

May 12, 2009

BANGKOK (AFP) — Thailand on Tuesday confirmed its first two cases of swine flu in people who had travelled to Mexico, becoming the only Southeast Asian nation hit by the virus so far.

Public Health Minister Witthaya Keawparadai said the patients, both Thai nationals, had recovered and there were no signs that the A(H1N1) virus had spread.
"There are two confirmed cases of A(H1N1), both of them contracted from Mexico," Witthaya told a press conference in Bangkok.

The cases came to light after the patients returned separately from visits to Mexico, the epicentre of the outbreak, suffering from mild fever, but recovered after treatment with anti-viral drugs, Witthaya said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States confirmed the virus in a sample from the first patient, while a Thai laboratory confirmed the second case, he added.

Medical authorities were keeping three people who had been in contact with the first person and five people in contact with the second patient under surveillance, he added.

None had reported signs of infection, he said.

The ministry later issued a statement urging travellers returning from any foreign destination to see a doctor within seven days if they had flu-like symptoms.

Witthaya reiterated that Thailand still has a travel warning for the United States, Mexico, Canada, Britain and Spain -- the five countries with the most number of swine flu cases.

"We have advised Thais to postpone trips to those countries and also travellers who returned from them must immediately see the doctor," he said.

The cases came just days after Thailand hosted a major conference on swine flu, at which Asian nations agreed to increase their stockpiles of anti-viral medicines.

Health ministers from China, Japan, South Korea and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) also urged global health chiefs to ensure fair distribution of medicine in case of a pandemic.

Thailand has previously been hit by avian influenza, with 25 human cases and 17 deaths since 2004. The last case here was in 2006.

Experts have warned that preventing swine flu from infecting patients who are sick with avian flu should be a top priority, especially in Asia, to prevent the viruses mixing and mutating into a highly pathogenic form.

The World Health Organization's death toll from the A(H1N1) virus passed 50 at the weekend. It has reported 4,694 cases worldwide, most of them involving relatively mild symptoms.

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Campaign finance law urged

Tuesday, 12 May 2009
Written by VONG SOKHENG AND KHOUTH SOPHAK CHAKRYA
The Phnom Penh Post

Election-monitoring NGOs propose legal caps to campaign contributions ahead of Sunday’s already contentious commune council elections

ELECTION monitoring groups have begun promoting a draft law which, if introduced, would restrict the amount of campaign financing permitted by each party.

Koul Panha, the executive director of election-monitoring NGO Comfrel, said the concept was discussed by civil society groups and individual politicians after last year's general election.

"For now, we are raising public awareness and then we will urge the government to introduce the law," Koul Panha said on Sunday. "[The proposed law would] control the amount of finances [donated to] political parties during campaign time. We are pushing for this law to be introduced before the national elections in 2013."

However Hang Puthea, the executive director of Nicfec, another election-monitoring NGO, warned that the draft would require the support of the main political parties before it could become law.

"Some are still hesitant and lack the political will to submit a financial report for the election period," he said.

Comfrel issued a report last week that detailed how large amounts of funds and materials had been donated by high-ranking government officials, investors and business people to powerful politicians and the ruling Cambodian People's Party.

"SOME ARE HESITANT AND LACK THE POLITICAL WILL TO SUBMIT A FINANCIAL REPORT."

"The influence of funds in politics and in elections is a major problem, which might relate specifically to illegal business, to contributions including the use of national funds to buy votes and politicians," the report said.

But government spokesman Khieu Kanharith rejected the need for a campaign finance law, saying it would "tie up" the parties.

"While we are not able to control all of our finances, it is not necessary to have this law as many countries don't have it," he said.

Yim Sovann, a spokesman for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, said the opposition supported the proposed law "100 percent", provided it clarified the sources of financing. But he predicted the CPP would reject a law that required transparency of its financial resources.

Pre-poll controversy
The National Election Committee said Monday that the SRP had filed four complaints against the CPP protesting alleged violations of the electoral rules relating to the impending provincial, district and municipal council elections on Sunday.

"The complaints were received by our provincial election staff in Phnom Penh and Stung Treng," NEC member Som Chandyna said. "Three complaints involve allegations of vote-buying. One [in Stung Treng] refers to the use of a government building for promoting the party during the campaign."

The head of the NEC's provincial body in Phnom Penh, Lun Chheng Kay, told the Post he had investigated the vote-buying allegations and summoned both parties to a Thursday meeting to resolve the matter.

Meanwhile, the head of Stung Treng's provincial NEC body, Buoy Chan Thallas, said after his investigation both sides agreed the building was not in fact government property.

Indelibility issues
Always a contentious matter in previous elections has been the use of so-called indelible ink used to prevent voters from casting more than one ballot.

Heu Rong, head of the NEC's Operations Department, said ink for the vote had been purchased from India at a cost of US$5,000 for 550 bottles.

Lim Kim Ly, executive director of the Family Agriculture Development Community (FADC), demonstrated to journalists on Monday that nail polish remover could not be used to remove the ink and pronounced it of good quality.

FADC is one of eight NGOs asked by the NEC to observe the council elections following the refusal of election watchdog groups Comfrel and Nicfec to participate, citing the fact that councillors would be elected by party officials and not the general public.

A Comfrel report issued in February blasted the council elections for being relevant only to the political parties that won council seats in the 2007 commune council elections, adding that the cost per voter would likely exceed that of the 2008 general election.

Thai Supreme Commander.....

Thai Supreme Commander Songkitti Chakkrabat has no concern over Cambodia's demand for compensation: Thailand can explain -sic!-

Songkitti Chakkrabat

Songkitti: Army can safeguard leaders

13/05/2009
BangkokPost.com

Supreme Commander Songkitti Chakkrabat affirmed that the army is ready to safeguard leaders of Asian nations who will attend the Asean+6 summit in Phuket.

Gen Songkitti said the army will follow its rules in adopting security measures for the leaders. He, however, refused to go into detail, saying that it is confidential.

He continued that the army will follow the rule of law if it has to use weapons as part of security measures. He told public not to worry about it.

The supreme commander also said that he believes no Thais would try to obstruct the summit because it is a cooperation of 10 Asean nations to solve problems not related to politics.

On Cambodia's damanding Thailand to pay 75 million baht in compensation for damage caused to a market in fatal border clashes last month, Gen Songkitti said he believes Thailand can explain to Cambodia about the matter. There are committees working on it, he said, adding that he has no concerns over this.