Flooding Threat Hangs Over Bangkok

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30 September 2021, 14:13

Thailand Flooding — Thai people wade through floodwaters in Chaiyaphum province, northeast of Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021. Photo: Nava Sangthong / AP

BANGKOK (AP) — Bangkok and other areas of central Thailand received new warnings of possible major flooding, even as disaster relief authorities said Wednesday the threat had eased in 13 of 30 provinces elsewhere that were lashed by seasonal monsoon rains.

Seven people have died and two are missing since the weekend from flooding triggered by Tropical Storm Dianmu, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigations said. It announced Wednesday that 197,795 households in 30 provinces, mostly in the north, northeast and central regions had been affected, a 56% increase over the 126,781 reported a day earlier.

Bangkok has had no major flooding yet, but many rural areas have been severely affected. Thai television has shown villagers in several areas walking through chest-high water or being evacuated from their homes on small boats.

However, conditions have improved in 13 provinces around the country, including Chiang Mai, the disaster prevention agency said.

Heavy rains are still forecast for many areas, but the immediate threat triggering warnings to Bangkok and the provinces of Lopburi, Saraburi, Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani and Nonthaburi comes from water that has flowed down the Chao Phraya River from the north in such quantities that it overwhelmed the capacity of dams and reservoirs to retain it.

The dilemma facing planners is that the dams and reservoirs are used to store as much water as possible to help with irrigation during perennial droughts, but have to be able to cope with the unpredictable overflow during rainy season.

Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwanmuang acknowledged Wednesday on his Facebook page that because the capital is on low-lying ground, it is vulnerable to flooding from the Chao Phraya, and cannot be drained quickly. Parts of the city were inundated in a major 2011 flood, fed primarily by water released from reservoirs in the north.

The governor listed measures the city is taking to cope with flooding, including preparing water pumps that connect to a large drainage tunnel.

While large dams and reservoirs in the north have so far been able to cope with this year’s rainfall, others closer to Bangkok have approached or exceeded their capacity this month and have had to discharge water.

The most recent flood warnings follow decisions to increase the discharge of water from the Chao Phraya Dam, 190 kilometers (120 miles) north of Bangkok, and the Pasak Jolasid Dam, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of the capital.

Another crisis point is in the northeast, where thousands of people have been displaced by floodwaters.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Wednesday visited Chaiyaphum, another hard-hit northeastern province, where he offered aid packets.

Story: Chalida Ekvittayavechnukul

Thai Airways to Resume Flight to ‘High Vaccination’ Countries

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Khaosod English

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30 September 2021, 10:00

S__7258460 — The first shipment of Sinovac vaccine is delivered to Thailand via a Thai Airways flight on Feb. 24, 2021.

BANGKOK — Thai Airways announced it will soon start selling tickets for its flights to destinations with high vaccination rates against COVID-19.

The airline, which is going through the bankruptcy rehabilitation process mandated by the court, will offer seat bookings from Oct. 1 onwards. Thai Airways spokesman Chai Eamsiri told the media some of the destinations include the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan.

A “high vaccination” destination is defined by the arline as having at least 70 percent of the population inoculated, Chai said.

Flights to China will also resume some time “next year,” he said.

The company, which had total liabilities of 332 billion baht, filed a restructuring plan in May 2020 after a loss of passengers following the coronavirus pandemic that grounded its operations worldwide.

But Chai said Thai Airways’ financial situations have improved after the sale of some assets and offloading investments in the Bangkok Aviation Fuel Services Plc and Nok Air.

At the same time, Thai Airways is working to reduce up to 53 billion baht in investment costs by the end of 2022, according to the spokesman. He said the airline has saved at least 44 billion, largely as a result of over 600 austerity and cost-cutting measures.

Fighting Wave of Misinfo, YouTube Bans False Vaccine Claims

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Associated Press

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30 September 2021, 09:00

408271 — In this Jan. 15, 2021, file photo, Dr. Yomaris Pena, Internal Medicine Physician with Somos Community Care at a COVID-19 extracts the last bit of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine out of a vial so as not to waste it at a vaccination site at the Corsi Houses in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

YouTube announced a sweeping crackdown of vaccine misinformation Wednesday that booted popular anti-vaccine influencers from its site and deleted false claims that have been made about a range of immunizations.

The video-sharing platform said it will no longer allow users to baselessly speculate that approved vaccines, like the ones given to prevent the flu or measles, are dangerous or cause diseases.

YouTube’s latest attempt to stem a tide of vaccine misinformation comes as countries around the globe struggle to convince a somewhat vaccine hesitant public to accept the free immunizations that scientists say will end the COVID-19 pandemic that began 20 months ago. The tech platform, which is owned by Google, already tried to ban COVID-19 vaccine misinformation last year, at the height of the pandemic.

“We’ve steadily seen false claims about the coronavirus vaccines spill over into misinformation about vaccines in general, and we’re now at a point where it’s more important than ever to expand the work we started with COVID-19 to other vaccines,” YouTube said in a blog post.

Up until Wednesday, anti-vaccine influencers, who have thousands of subscribers, had used YouTube to stoke fears around vaccines that health experts point out have been safely administered for decades. The YouTube channel of an organization run by environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was one of several popular anti-vaccine accounts that was gone by Wednesday morning.

In an emailed statement to The Associated Press, Kennedy criticized the ban: “There is no instance in history when censorship and secrecy have advanced either democracy or public health.”

YouTube declined to provide details on how many accounts were removed in the crackdown.

Under its new policy, YouTube says it will remove misinformation about any vaccine that has been approved by health authorities, such as the World Health Organization, and is currently being administered. False claims that those vaccines are dangerous or cause health issues, like cancer, infertility or autism — theories that scientists have discredited for decades but have endured on the internet — should also be removed.

“The concept that vaccines harm — instead of help — is at the foundation of a lot of misinformation,” said Jeanine Guidry, a media and public health professor at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine.

She added that, if enforced properly, the new rules could stop bad information from influencing a new parent who is using the internet to research whether or not to vaccinate their child, for example.

But, as is common when tech platforms announce stricter rules, loopholes remain for anti-vaccine misinformation to spread on YouTube.

Claims about vaccines that are being tested will still be allowed. Personal stories about reactions to the vaccine will also be permitted, as long as they do not come from an account that has a history of promoting vaccine misinformation.

Despite tech companies announcing a string of new rules around COVID-19 and vaccine misinformation during the pandemic, falsehoods have still found big audiences on the platforms.

In March, Twitter began labelling content that made misleading claims about COVID-19 vaccines and said it would ban accounts that repeatedly share such posts. Facebook, which also owns Instagram, had already prohibited posts claiming COVID-19 vaccines cause infertility or contain tracking microchips, and in February announced it would similarly remove claims that vaccines are toxic or can cause health problems such as autism.

Yet popular anti-vaccine influencers remain live on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, where they actively use the platforms to sell books or videos. On Facebook and Instagram alone, a handful of anti-vaccine influencers still have a combined 6.4 million followers, according to social media watchdog group the Center for Countering Digital Hate. And COVID-19 vaccine misinformation has been so pervasive on Facebook that President Joe Biden in July accused influencers on the platform of “killing people” with falsehoods about the COVID-19 vaccine.

Other platforms have taken a harder line. Pinterest, for example, prohibited any kind of vaccine misinformation even before the pandemic began. Now, if users search for content about vaccines on the site, they are directed to visit authoritative websites operated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the WHO.

Associated Press writers David Klepper in Providence, Rhode Island, and Barbara Ortutay in Oakland, California, contributed to this report.

CP Foods receives Human Rights Award 2021 from Ministry of Justice

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Contributor

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29 September 2021, 17:23

Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited (CP Foods) received an outstanding award for being a role model on good human rights practices throughout supply chain from the Human Rights Award 2021.

The award ceremony was organized by the Rights and Liberties Protection Department, Thailand’s Ministry of Justice, to recognise government and private organisations, including non-profit organizations (NGOs),nationwide with best practices and performance on human rights.

Justice Minister Somsak Thepsutin, who presided over an award ceremony, congratulated all award winners and participants, and encouraged the organizations to continue to drive human rights impacts for sustainable growth of the organizations, society and the country.

CP Foods’ CEO, Prasit Boondoungprasert, said the company has integrated human rights considerations into every decision and action. CP Foods, therefore, places importance upon the well-being of all stakeholders. As a result, a large number of efforts have been made to ensure that all of them are treated equally, fairly and without any discrimination. These efforts have been audited and evaluated internally and by the third-party agencies.

He added that the company also shares “best practices” to business partners and farmers to raise the standard of human rights practices across the supply chain.

“At CP Foods, employees are heroes. We are a leading food producer that contributes to food security for the country. Our employees play an important role in making this happen. They are working hard and bravely to produce sufficient foods for all people,” Mr. Prasit said, “Hence, the company has a duty to provide safe and stable working environment for them in the pandemic,”

The Human Right Awards has been held annually for three consecutive years to give recognitions for the public sector, state enterprises, the private sector and non-profit organizations (NGOs) that are the role models on good labor management. The award criteria are based on The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

New Flood Warnings Issued for Seasonal Rain

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Associated Press

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29 September 2021, 12:20

BANGKOK (AP) — Officials in Thailand issued fresh warnings Tuesday about flooding caused by seasonal monsoon rains, after at least seven deaths were reported in the aftermath of a tropical storm that struck over the weekend.

The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said one person was also reported missing from flooding triggered by Tropical Storm Dianmu, also called Tianmu. The agency announced late Tuesday that 126,781 households in 30 provinces, mostly in the north, northeast and central regions had been affected, a 78% increase over the 71,093 reported a day earlier.

The capital, Bangkok, is among the areas issued warnings, and some businesses began piling sandbags in front of their entrances.

Bangkok Gov. Aswin Kwanmuang said on his Facebook page that heavy rain is predicted across the country until Thursday.

Residents of the the capital are used to flooding from local storms during the annual rainy season. But the city is also vulnerable to rising water from the Chao Phraya River, which flows down from the north.

Bangkok has had no major flooding, but many rural areas have been severely affected. Thai television has shown villagers in several areas walking through waist-high water or evacuated from their homes on small boats.

Flood warnings have been issued since last week and have been reinforced as rain continues. The Chao Phraya Dam, in Chai Nat province, 190 kilometers (120 miles) north of Bangkok, has been ordered to increase the amount of water it discharges to make room for more water coming from further north, the Bangkok Post reported, saying villagers downstream have been warned of the flooding risk.

There is concern that the situation could be similar to 2011, when upstream reservoirs holding water for irrigation had to release huge amounts of rainwater from several storms into the Chao Phraya, whose levels rose significantly and inundated parts of Bangkok.

AP21271490535125 — A Thai volunteer man pulls a boat carrying evacuees in a flooded area in Chaiyaphum province, northeast of Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2021. Photo: Thanachote Thanawikran / AP

The 2011 flooding, considered the country’s worst in half a century, took at least 600 lives and caused $45 billion in damage, according to a World Bank estimate.

Konlawat Sapsongsuk, chief of the National Disaster Warning Center, told The Associated Press that the major dams in the north are not yet near capacity this year, so for the time being pose little threat.

Konlawat said his agency closely monitors water levels and flows. A floodgate at Bangsai district in Ayutthaya, 68 kilometers (42 miles) north of Bangkok, provides one warning signal.

“If the water flows through the floodgate at Bangsai with a speed of 3,500 cubic meters per second, it will affect Bangkok. But at the moment, the speed is less than 2,600,” he said.

Konlawat said the Thai Meteorological Department is closely monitoring other storms that may sweep through Thailand after Oct. 8-9.

Story: Chalida Ekvittayavechnukul

Key Verdict on Same Sex Marriage Pushed to December

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Khaosod English

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29 September 2021, 11:30

LINE_ALBUM_หมอทศพรยื่นหนังสือ_๒๑๐๙๑๓ — Activists display a rainbow flag at a rally in front of Democracy Monument in Bangkok on July 26, 2020.

BANGKOK — The Constitutional Court has delayed its ruling on marriage equality to December, a fresh setback to the country’s long struggle toward legalizing same sex marriage.

The top court set the new verdict date for Dec. 14. A representative for the Foundation for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Rights and Justice, who has campaigned extensively for the rights of same sex marriage, said it was the third time the ruling was postponed.

A lawyer for the foundation, Sanya Eadjongdee, told the media that the judges did not cite any reason for the delay. He warned that the new court date is not certain either, since the court could postpone it again in December.

The group had filed a legal challenge asking the court to rule whether Section 1448 of Thailand’s Civil and Commercial Code violated the Constitution, since the section limited the definition of a marriage to consist of only a man and a woman.

The foundation said the law must also include same sex couples in order to meet the constitutional clause about equality.

If the court rules in favor of the group, Sanya said same sex couples would be able to cite the court ruling to have their marriages recognized by official registrars.

Although same sex marriage ceremonies are often performed in Thailand, the act does not hold any legal weight. Campaigners say the lack of legal recognition is proof that members of the LGBT community in Thailand are not afforded equal treatment under the law.

Some progress was achieved in recent years. In July 2020, the Cabinet endorsed a bill permitting partnership registration of same sex unions, along with legal amendments to ensure they have most, if not all, the same rights as married couples.

But many equality activists oppose the bill, on the grounds that the legislation stops short of granting all rights similar to a marriage recognized by the civil laws.

Siam Piwat benchmarks MICE industry with “Virtual Inspection” solution, To reinforce its ‘The Icon of Innovative Lifestyle’ vision

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Contributor

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29 September 2021, 09:16

Siam Piwat launches “Virtual Inspection” and “Online Reservation” for its convention spaces, a MICE industry benchmark.
Offering absolute exhibition and event destinations, now event organizers from across the globe can virtually inspect the convention spaces and conveniently make instant online reservation.
Siam Piwat marks its vision – ‘The Icon of Innovative Lifestyle’ with evolving business innovations.

(Bangkok, 28 September 2021) Siam Piwat Co.,Ltd is the owner and operator of global retail destinations – Siam Paragon, Siam Center and Siam Discovery, and joint venture partners of ICONSIAM and Siam Premium Outlets Bangkok. The company also founded Siam Alliances Management, a leader of world-class convention and event establishment. Siam Piwat recently set a new benchmark for the event organizing and MICE (Meetings, Incentive Travel, Conventions, Exhibitions) industry with ‘Virtual Inspection’ and ‘Online Reservation’ solutions. The digital services cater to the new-normal lifestyle
and facilitate event professionals from across the globe with virtual venue tour and convenient online reservation.

Mr.Talun Theng, Managing Director of Siam Alliance Management Co., Ltd. said “Siam Piwat, as a retail leader, we pride ourselves as ‘the ICON of Innovative Lifestyle’. Our business strategies focus on Co-creation and Creating Shared Values. Creativity is key to this business model as well as the Co-creation between forward-thinkers from various industries to create shared values that benefit people at large, the society and the country. For the exhibition and conventional venue business, Siam Alliance Management (SAM) is operating Bangkok’s prime event spaces including Royal Paragon Hall on the 5 Floor of Siam Paragon Shopping Center and True Icon Hall on the 7 Floor of ICONSIAM. SAM is now the first in Asia to launch the cutting-edge technology, for its site ‘Virtual Inspection’ and ‘Online Reservation.’

Covid-19 has presented challenges to mostly all businesses, and MICE industry is no exception. Now that the situation seems to be recovering, the world of MICE business has started to pick up. European countries and the US have started to allow domestic events and international scale conference like the ASEAN Summit is scheduled to take place in Cambodia.

For Thailand, as leader of convention venue business, SAM is turning the global resilience into business opportunities. The launch of our new solutions ‘Virtual Inspection’ and ‘Online Reservation,’ offers immersive and 360◦ venue scouting experience to give event organizers a full access to the venue plus all relevant information such as sizing, dimensions, floor-to-ceiling height, capacity for seated and standing events. Facilities, equipment, light and sound system are also listed to best serve different preferences. The ‘Online Reservation,’ enables event professionals to check the venue availability and make their reservation instantly.

Experience the Virtual Inspection’ and ‘Online Reservation’ now at www.trueiconhall.com and www.royalparagonhall.com

This innovative service reinforces Siam Piwat’s as The ICON of Innovative Lifestyle. The company has continuously evolved to come up with business innovations that are relevant to the world’s new normalcy. This also marks the new innovations for conventional hall industry.

“We are ever evolving to create new business innovation to best serve this digital era. Siam Alliance Management thrives forward with four core business pillars including Connection Enhancement – optimize its business networks that include government agencies and leading private organizations. Collaboration with Partners to together succeed through new business solutions and create shared values. Communication & action, providing clear communication, effective and speedy service for best customer satisfaction and Create Events, to offer new events and activities to cater to the interest of customers in this new era,” added Talun.

The government business resilience has shown a great recovery sign for MICE business. Demands have poured in for future events. From today to June 2025, our convention halls have secured over 60% booking.

The Virtual Inspection launch for SAM is a major move for Siam Piwat as the Icon of Innovative Lifestyle. It will be a game-changer for MICE business to fully tap into the digital-dominant world. It also brings pride to Thailand and to leverage MICE business standard,” concluded Mr.Talun.

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About Royal Paragon Hall and TRUE ICON HALL

Royal Paragon Hall

The Royal Paragon Hall is strategically located on the 5 Floor of the Siam Paragon Shopping Center, in the heart of Bangkok and has been a key player in Thailand’s MICE industry. Royal Paragon Hall is conveniently accessible via the BTS sky train and over 4,000 indoor parking space eligible. With a total space of 12,000 square meters, the space suits all types functions imaginable and can be divided for multi-purpose use such as exhibition, convention, receptions and entertainment events.

Bangkok has played a leading role in Asia Pacific’s MICE business. Growing business development and being a part of Asean Economics Community (AEC) drives expansion for convention center business. Located in the heart of Bangkok, Royal Paragon Hall has been a epitome of event venue in ASEAN and equipped with professional services and first-rate facilities.

TRUE ICON HALL

TRUE ICON HALL is Asia’s revolutionary stage of iconic MICEntertainment venue. Located on the 7th Floor of ICONSIAM, the mega-development project recognized worldwide as a global landmark on the bank of the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, one of the world’s most preferred destinations.

TRUE ICON HALL is a true convergence of innovative design and most advanced technology best suitable for all arrays of world-class meetings, conventions, exhibitions, entertainment, and special events. TRUE ICON HALL is the best of its kind MICE and entertainment solutions and top-notch facilities that can adeptly accommodate ever-shifting needs of the thriving MICE and entertainment industry worldwide. It is proud to be the first and only MICE and entertainment venue in Thailand that features 2,700 automatic retractable seating, fully integrated in-seat USB power solutions and state-of-the-art light and sound systems.

TRUE ICON HALL spans a gross area of 12,000 square meters and is home to 2 main halls that take up 2,775 square meters in total and 1,200-square meter foyer called Suralai Hall that overlooks the Chao Phraya River. These innovative halls are fully equipped with the most efficient ultra-high-speed internetTrue Gigatex Fiber and double operable walls to make divided halls completely soundproof. It also features 14 meeting rooms for 20 to 200 seats and can be flexibly combinable up to 520 theatre-style seatings.

Gov’t Caught Using Doctored Photo of Minister Wading in Flood

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Khaosod English

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28 September 2021, 12:20

242182005_208052614648732_8257040641506773203_n — Image: ข่าวสำนักงานรัฐมนตรี ศธ. / Facebook

BANGKOK — The administrator of the education ministry’s official Facebook page apologized Tuesday for publishing an altered photo that purported to show a senior official visiting a flooded area.

The photo was posted online yesterday by the Ministry of Education’s public relations. It seemingly featured Deputy Education Minister Kanokwan Wilawan wading through the flood, with a caption saying that Kanokwan is concerned about the safety of students and school staff in areas hit by tropical storm Dian Mu over the weekend.

“Teacher Oh is closely monitoring the flood in many areas, including the situation of schools and education facilities under the ministry’s supervision,” part of the caption says, using Kanokwan’s nickname.

But social media users soon noticed that the photo was most likely edited, with Kanokwan’s image cropped and pasted into a background image showing an unidentified flooded street.

Some users also found the exact same image of Kanokwan visiting a flooded area back in 2020, confirming the forgery.

“Will she be charged for violating the Computer Crime Act,” one person commented, referring to a law that criminalized spreading false information on the internet.

After netizens called out the obvious doctoring and flooded the ministry’s PR page with scathing jokes, the ministry deleted the photo and issued an apology on Tuesday.

The statement said the public relations team was solely responsible for the altered image, and insisted that Kanokwan was not involved in the process.

Biden, McConnell Get COVID-19 Boosters, Encourage Vaccines

By

Associated Press

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28 September 2021, 11:14

WASHINGTON (AP) — Seventy-eight-year-old Joe Biden and 79-year-old Mitch McConnell got their booster shots Monday, the Democratic president and the Republican Senate leader urging Americans across the political spectrum to get vaccinated or plus up with boosters when eligible for the extra dose of protection.

The shots, administered just hours apart on either end of Pennsylvania Avenue, came on the first workday after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration recommended a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine for Americans 65 and older and approved them for others with preexisting medical conditions and high-risk work environments.

Both leaders said that even though the booster doses provide more enduring protection against the virus, they weren’t the silver bullet to ending the pandemic.

“Boosters are important, but the most important thing we need to do is get more people vaccinated,” Biden said.

Nearly 25% of eligible Americans aged 12 and older haven’t received a single dose of the vaccines. They are bearing the brunt of a months-long surge in cases and deaths brought about by the more transmissible delta variant of the virus that has killed 688,000 in the U.S. since the pandemic began.

“Like I’ve been saying for months, these safe and effective vaccines are the way to defend ourselves and our families from this terrible virus,” said McConnell, a polio survivor.

Biden got his first shot on Dec. 21 and his second dose three weeks later, on Jan. 11, along with his wife, Jill Biden. The first lady, who is 70, received her Pfizer booster dose in private at the White House on Monday afternoon, said her spokesperson, Michael LaRosa.

“Now, I know it doesn’t look like it, but I am over 65 — I wish I — way over,” the president joked. “And that’s why I’m getting my booster shot today.”

Biden has championed booster doses since the summer as the U.S. experienced a sharp rise in coronavirus cases driven by the delta variant. While the vast majority of cases continue to occur among unvaccinated people, regulators pointed to evidence from Israel and early studies in the U.S. showing that protection against so-called breakthrough cases was vastly improved by a third dose of the Pfizer shot.

But the aggressive American push for boosters, before many poorer nations have been able to provide even a modicum of protection for their most vulnerable populations, has drawn the ire of the World Health Organization and some aid groups, which have called on the U.S. to pause third shots to free up supply for the global vaccination effort.

Biden said last week that the U.S. was purchasing another 500 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine — for a total of 1 billion over the coming year — to donate to less well-off nations.

Biden took questions from reporters about his vaccination experience and matters of the day as a military nurse injected the dose into his arm.

The president said he did not have side effects after his first or second shots and hoped for the same experience with his third.

Vice President Kamala Harris, 56, received the Moderna vaccine, for which federal regulators have not yet authorized boosters — but they are expected to in the coming weeks. Regulators are also expecting data soon about the safety and efficacy of a booster for the single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot.

At least 2.66 million Americans have received booster doses of the Pfizer vaccine since mid-August, according to the CDC. About 100 million Americans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 through the Pfizer shot. U.S. regulators recommend getting the boosters at least six months after the second shot of the initial two-dose series.

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Associated Press writers Josh Boak and Lisa Mascaro contributed.

Opinion: Israel’s Urgent Plans for Saving Planet Earth Through Innovation

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Khaosod English

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28 September 2021, 10:00

225473617_4498970213460604_5953533871352881705_n — Photo supplied by the Israeli Embassy in Bangkok

By Orna Sagiv, Chargé d’Affaires a.i.
Embassy of Israel in Bangkok

Even those of us not particularly cognizant of the climate crisis could not help but be alarmed by what has been happening around us lately.

A decade ago, Thailand faced the 2011 Great Flood, the worst flood crisis in seven decades, inundating several parts of Bangkok and other provinces. Fast forward to 2019, the country suffered its worst drought in 40 years, despite being in the monsoon season.

Nonetheless, forest fires engulfing the Northern Thailand only get worse in the recent years. Around the world, wildfires have been roaring in Australia, California, France, Israel and many other countries, while massive floods in China, Germany and Western Europe claimed hundreds of lives. These catastrophic events are escalating exponentially all around the world.

Disasters as such, both in Thailand and around the world, not only serve as serious warning signs but also highlight the urgency to transition to a lifestyle and economy that supports – rather than disrupts – planet Earth’s climate, nature, and environment.

Regardless of its small size, Israel has taken a significant step towards tackling this global challenge. In July 2021, Israel joined dozens of other countries that have already decided on a strategy for a carbon neutral economy. The Israeli government announced a newly-approved national goal to reduce carbon emissions by at least 85% by 2050. The decision also sets an intermediate target of a 27% reduction in emissions by 2030.

In order to achieve these goals, Israel has initiated several steps such as investments in purchasing electric buses, promoting charging stations, investing in reducing carbon emissions in industry, businesses, local authorities and more.

Furthermore, Israel’s climate innovation for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions provides some of the most fascinating solutions in the world in the fields of compressed-air energy storage, energy generation from sea waves, and the use of advanced computing tools for energy management.

Similarly, Thailand has also committed to cutting emissions by 20-25% by 2030. With this mutual vision, Israel certainly has a lot to share and contribute to Thailand’s needed adaptations, for the fight against climate crisis requires collective efforts.

Israel is also known for its technological advancement and innovation in the areas of water, agriculture and food security. Be it the advanced desalination plants, invention of a machine that extracts water from air or the seemingly impossible ability to make the desert bloom.

Among the latest breakthroughs is the development in the field of animal protein substitutes. Products such as meat, milk, and eggs are being produced in laboratories using methods that emit nearly zero greenhouse gases, and which allow huge swaths of agricultural land, currently being used for livestock purposes, to be freed up for ecological restoration and reforestation. As if this is not enough, these technologies are also paving the way for increased global food security affected by an era of climate crisis.

For some countries, including Thailand, an adoption of Israeli innovations may benefit both the environment and the people. Naturally, the rapidly emerging effects of climate crisis have had great impacts on Thailand’s agricultural sector.

As such, Israeli precision agricultural technologies, from drip irrigation to sensors indicating exactly when plants need to be watered, may be the ultimate solution to a more efficient and sustainable farming as well as a course to better the lives of affected Thai farmers.

Now more than ever, it is undeniably necessary for the world to unite and battle the climate crisis, shoulder to shoulder. The only way to do this is by working together, sharing information and experience, and providing mutual support.

Though the brutal truth is that the world is running out of time, we cannot afford to lose hope. Israel is proud to work on its part by taking mandatory actions and, as always, collaborate with peer countries by sharing its expertise and experience.

About the author
Ms. Orna Sagiv is the Chargé d’Affaires at the Embassy of Israel in Bangkok. She formerly served as the Israeli ambassador to Australia and New Zealand, and as a Consul General in India.

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