BANGKOK — An elderly couple and their 8-year-old grandson have been diagnosed with the Covid-19 infection, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Thailand to 40.
A grandfather, grandmother, and their grandson tested positive for coronavirus after the couple took a trip to Japan, health officials said, without identifying them by names. The boy’s school, Phraharuthai Donmuang School, has postponed class for two weeks in fears that the infected student may have spread the virus to his classmates.
The grandfather and grandmother reportedly took a Hokkaido trip from Feb. 16 to 20. He went to the hospital on Sunday because of a cough, but did not tell the doctor that he had gone to Japan until being admitted to the hospital for a night.
The grandfather, 65, works in the air force. The last time he visited the school was on Monday, when he dropped his grandson there for class, officials said.
Attaphon Truektrong, sec-gen of the Office of the Private Education Commission, said Wednesday that students should refrain from visiting at-risk countries.
The entire school and staff are being tested for the coronavirus. The boy’s class has 30 students and is taught by 11 teachers.
The boy’s father, a bank teller, also underwent testing for coronavirus. Although the results reportedly came out negative, he had to take two weeks off from work.
The Ministry of Health Wednesday said that the grandpa is not considered a “super spreader” at the moment, unlike a woman in South Korea who’s believed to have infected almost 40 people.
BANGKOK — Students at Thailand’s elite high schools on Wednesday announced they would stage rallies in solidarity with similar protests held in universities across the country.
Satriwithaya School students are urged to gather at 3pm at their all-girl school, which is located right next to the iconic Democracy Monument.
Using the hashtag #SWStandsWithDemocracy, the organizers said there would be speeches and raising of the anti-military three finger salute at 4pm, before marching to join a similar protest at Silpakorn University down the Ratchadamnoen Avenue at 4.30pm.
After school management forbid them to rally inside the school ground as planned, a group of Satriwithaya students move their anti-government protest to Democracy Monument. #สวที่อยู่ข้างประชาธิปไตย
Triamudom School also sheds its studious, “nerd” image today with the announcement by its student activists that a rally would be held at their school football field on Thursday morning. A popular hashtag used by the students said they will not “bow to dictatorship.”
The news mark entry by high school students into the ongoing wave of protests, which had been largely organized by university students so far.
The rally initially broke out in response to the dissolution of the Future Forward Party but have since evolved into a public display of dissent against PM Prayut Chan-o-cha’s government.
In what many netizens see as an attempt to discourage students from joining tomorrow’s protest, Triamudom management released a statement urging students to go home immediately after they receive their exam results on Thursday. Non-students will also be prohibited from entering the school ground.
The school cited concerns over coronavirus outbreak and PM2.5 pollution for its measure.
Students sing along to music during a protest at Chiang Mai University on Feb. 25, 2020.
BANGKOK — From scores lifted from a Western musical to ‘70s leftist anthems, students are adding music to their voices at the ongoing protests against the dissolution of the popular Future Forward Party.
Protest songs have always been part of rallies organized by every stripe of political groups in Thailand, and the “flash mobs” breaking out in universities across Thailand are no different.
First there’s “Do You Hear the People Sing,” a theme from the stage play Les Miserables, which saw the latest film adaptation in 2018. The song was used in a rally at Chulalongkorn University on Monday.
Top: Students at Chulalongkorn University on Monday sing “Do You Hear the People Sing?”
Naturally, lyrics from the rebellion-arousing song were often posted on social media by supporters of the Future Forward Party after its disbandment on Feb. 21.
And then there’s the revival of protest songs popularized by leftist student movement that challenged Thailand’s military regime and traditional elite in the 1970s
They include Phuea Muan Chon (“For the People”), written by Mahidol University student band Kammachon in 1973 – the same year a student uprising brought down a military junta after over a decade in power.
The piece extolls the self-sacrificial revolutionary zeal with a touch of Buddhist belief in reincarnation, and remains a popular protest song throughout the years, including a rally on Tuesday night at Mahidol University.
“Phuea Muan Chon” (For the People)
If I was born as a bird, flying overhead I would fly far, far away I’d ask to be a dove To lead the people to freedom
If I was born as a cloud on the mountains I would bring cool shade and peace to the fields If I was born as grains of sand I’d give my body to the people Give my life for the suffering people I’d give myself up, no matter how many deaths I die
Another protest song written by the same band, called Ruk Nong (“Love You”), was also used in Mahidol University rally. The song tells a story of a bird flying to seek freedom.
“Ruk Nong” (Love You)
Oh little bird, flying over from the land of indigo seas Loneliness tramples and tortures Against harsh winds with challenging strength to the far-off goal Just seeing your face each day, I brim with happiness like flowers (*) Flowers peeking petals open, blooming in my heart May the fragrance be everlasting, not fall from our hearts I will give you my love from my loyal heart, my life is yours to safeguard Goodwill save us in both sleep and wake
Of course, getting a group of students from the same university in one place is a chance for showing a communal spirit. At the Chiang Mai University protests Tuesday, students sang their eponymous university song written by the late ‘national artist’ Eua Sunthornsanan.
A protest at Chiang Mai University on Feb. 25, 2020.
BANGKOK — Citing fears of possible coronavirus infection, the Ministry of Higher Education on Tuesday urged students and teachers to stay away from the ongoing protests.
The notice was released alongside seven other measures recommended by the ministry, including avoiding overseas travels and disinfecting teaching facilities. But a physician criticized the statement as overreacting and politically motivated.
“The Ministry of Public Health maintained that the epidemic is still in Phase 2 (infection from overseas) and not yet Phase 3 (domestic epidemic). This warning is therefore an overreaction,” Cha Na Hospital director Supatha Suwannakit wrote online. “It does not have any academic basis, and it has a political intent. This is inappropriate.”
Instead of trying to discourage students from participating in the protests, Supatha said the government should hand out free face masks for the demonstrators.
The ministry’s statement is the latest attempt by the authorities to put a stop on the series of protests breaking out in Thailand’s universities after a popular opposition party was disbanded on Feb. 21.
Police spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen on Tuesday also said the students should think carefully before joining a protest that might violate the laws and liberty of others.
Any legal violation would be dealt with severely and strictly in accordance with the laws, Col. Kissana said.
Today’s rallies are scheduled to take place at Srinakharinwirot, Thammasat, and Silpakorn universities, among several others.
Employees at a botanical garden in Chonburi province express support for China’s effort against coronavirus on Jan. 31, 2020.
BANGKOK (Xinhua) — A massive event will be launched by the Thai tourism sector to give moral support to all Chinese people in the wake of the outbreak of COVID-19, said Chairat Trirattanajarasporn, president of the Tourism Council of Thailand, on Tuesday.
“Three thousand representatives of the Thai tourism sector will gather on March 1 for the event to send moral support to all Chinese people and their leaders,” said Chairat. “We in Thailand are very confident that the COVID-19 outbreak will soon be over, maybe just after the Thai Songkran New Year.”
The event will include a concert by Chinese and Thai artists and a candle-lit ceremony, among others, in Bangkok, Chairat said.
The tourism council president said that in times of economic trouble as a result of massive drop in tourism revenues during the virus outbreak, it is the time that Thais should help Thais to spur the economy by traveling and spending money in Thailand.
Tourism-related operators will offer big discounts of at least 50 percent on air tickets, restaurants and hotels to stimulate domestic tours as much as they could, especially during the Songkran festival, said Chairat.
Chairat also asked the government to give assistance to the tourism sector to boost confidence among tourists and set up a fund to help the tourism sector.
Giant panda twins Mengbao and Mengyu are seen at their new home at the Beijing Zoo in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 13, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Xin)
CHENGDU (Xinhua) — In a chat group on WeChat, a patient made a wish: after recovering, he wanted to see giant pandas at the giant panda breeding base.
The patient is in a make-shift hospital in Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in central China’s Hubei Province.
When Zhang Zhihe heard about the wish, he was determined to make the dream come true in a “special” way.
“I wanted to make a video of the giant pandas so that the patient can see them,” said Zhang, director of the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu, capital of southwest China’s Sichuan Province. “I believe that the chubby bears will bring joy and strength.”
The number of captive pandas stood at 600 globally as of November last year. There are fewer than 2,000 pandas living in the wild, mostly in the provinces of Sichuan and Shaanxi.
The project began on Sunday when Zhang and his team started to choose a panda for the video. They also wrote a script for the video, which included all the inspirational words they wanted to share with the patients.
The video’s star turned out to be female panda Chenglang. She was born only 42.8 grams and was about the size of a human thumb, making her the lightest giant panda baby at birth in the world.
Experts at the center had never seen such a small panda before and worried about her growth. Now, Chenglang has grown into a healthy female panda weighing 18.7 kg.
“When she drank milk for the first time, Chenglang displayed a strong sense for survival,” said a member of Zhang’s team. “This is why we chose her to be the leading character in the video: we want her to bring comfort, strength and confidence to the patients suffering from the virus infection.”
Zhang said all the giant pandas are waiting for patients to recover and visit them in Chengdu.
The video took 36 hours to make and will be presented to the patients soon.
“Besides the video, we also plan to do a live-streaming session for the patients,” said Zhang. “We hope to give inspiration to people through the images of the warm, cute pandas.”
“I am really touched by what they did for the patients,” said Li Xin, with Sichuan’s national emergency medical rescue team. “Even though the patients could only see the panda in the video, I am sure it will bring them comfort.”
TOKYO (Kyodo) — Two all-boy idol groups — NEWS and SixTONES — will postpone their respective concerts scheduled for this weekend and early next month due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus in Japan, their talent agency Johnny & Associates Inc. said Tuesday.
Three NEWS concerts slated for March 7 and 8 at Sekisui Heim Super Arena in the suburbs of Sendai in northeastern Japan will be put off until May 27 and 28, while three SixTONES concerts planned for Ecopa Arena in Fukuroi, central Japan, on Saturday and Sunday will be rescheduled to April 15 and 17, the agency said.
Democratic presidential candidates, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., left, and former Vice President Joe Biden, right, participate in a Democratic presidential primary debate at the Gaillard Center, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020, in Charleston, S.C., co-hosted by CBS News and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Democrats unleashed a roaring assault against Bernie Sanders and seized on Mike Bloomberg’s past with women in the workplace during a contentious debate Tuesday night that tested the strength of the two men at the center of the party’s presidential nomination fight.
As the undeniable Democratic front-runner, Sanders faced the brunt of the attacks for much of the night, and for one of the few times, fellow progressive Elizabeth Warren was among the critics. The Massachusetts senator pressed the case that she could execute ideas that the Vermont senator could only talk about.
“Bernie and I agree on a lot of things,” she said. “But I think I would make a better president than Bernie.”
A group of moderates, meanwhile, fought to emerge as the chief Sanders alternative.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, who is seeking a strong win in South Carolina to keep his campaign afloat, argued only he has the experience to lead in the world. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota repeatedly contended that she alone could win the votes of battleground state moderates. And Pete Buttigieg pointed to Sanders’ self-described democratic socialism and his recent comments expressing admiration for Cuban dictator Fidel Castro’s push for education.
“I am not looking forward to a scenario where it comes down to Donald Trump with his nostalgia for the social order of the 1950s and Bernie Sanders with a nostalgia for the revolutionary politics of the 1960s,” the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, declared.
But the moderates did little to draw separation among themselves, a dynamic that has so far only benefited the Vermont senator. Sanders fought back throughout the night, pointing to polls that showed him beating the Republican president and noting all the recent attention he’s gotten: “I’m hearing my name mentioned a little bit tonight. I wonder why?”
The intensity of Tuesday’s forum, with candidates repeatedly shouting over each other, reflected the reality that the Democrats’ establishment wing is quickly running out of time to stop Sanders’ rise. Even some critics, Bloomberg among them, conceded that Sanders could build an insurmountable delegate lead as soon as next week.
The 10th debate of the 2020 primary season, sponsored by CBS and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, was just four days before South Carolina’s first-in-the-South primary and one week before more than a dozen states vote on Super Tuesday. The Democratic White House hopefuls will not stand side-by-side on the debate stage again until the middle of March. That made Tuesday’s debate likely the last chance for some candidates to save themselves and alter the trajectory of the nomination fight.
Though Sanders was at the center of the attacks, the night was actually something of a high point in his political career. After spending nearly three decades as an agitator who delighted in tearing into his party’s establishment, that very party establishment was suddenly fighting to take him down, a clear sign of his rising status as the leading candidate for the nomination.
Bloomberg also faced sustained attacks that gave him an opportunity to redeem himself after a bad debate debut one week earlier. Warren cut hard at his record as a businessman, bringing up reports of one particular allegation that he told a pregnant employee “to kill it,” a reference to the woman’s unborn child. Bloomberg fiercely denied the allegation, but acknowledged he sometimes made comments that were inappropriate.
Bloomberg “cannot earn the trust of the core of the Democratic Party,” Warren said. “He is the riskiest candidate standing on this stage.”
But Bloomberg will likely remain a force in the contest even as other candidates may quickly face tough choices about the sustainability of their campaigns. Bloomberg has already spent more than $500 million on a national advertising campaign, and his fortune ensures he will remain a factor at least through Super Tuesday.
From the earliest moments of the debate, Bloomberg sought to portray a clear contrast with Sanders. He said Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agree that Sanders would be the best outcome for the Democrats.
“Vladimir Putin thinks Donald Trump should be president of the United States and that’s why Russia is helping you get elected so you lose to him,” Bloomberg said.
Last week, Sanders acknowledged that he’d be been briefed by intelligence officials who said that Russia is attempting to interfere in the elections to benefit him. He responded to Bloomberg on Tuesday with a direct statement for Putin: “Hey, Mr. Putin, if I’m president of the United States, trust me you’re not going to interfere in any more American elections.’”
But the skepticism for Sanders was a constant.
Buttigieg raised concerns that a Sanders nomination would cost Democrats the House and make it harder to retake the Senate.
“We’re not going to win these critical, critical House and Senate races if people in those races have to explain why the nominee of the Democratic Party is telling people to look at the bright side of the Castro regime,” Buttigieg said.
And Bloomberg said Sanders wouldn’t be able to build a winning coalition that includes Republicans unhappy with Trump’s performance in the White House.
“Can anyone in this room imagine moderate Republican going over and voting for him,” he said. “You have to do that or you can’t win.”
Warren, who raised questions about Sanders’ electability earlier in the night, intercepted that criticism, arguing that a “progressive agenda is popular.”
The South Carolina contest offers the first real look at the influence African American voters play in the Democrats’ presidential nomination process. Biden is trying to make a big impression in in the state, where he was long viewed as the unquestioned front-runner because of his support from black voters. But heading into Saturday’s primary after three consecutive underwhelming finishes, there were signs that the former vice president’s African American support may be slipping.
One reason: Tom Steyer. The billionaire activist has been pouring money into African American outreach, which threatens to peel away some of the support Biden badly needs.
Steyer noted Tuesday that he was the only candidate on stage who supported reparations for descendants of slaves.
Bloomberg, who for years defended New York City’s stop-and-frisk policing policy that a federal court struck down, made an overt appeal to the nation’s black voters.
“I know that if I were black, my success would have been a lot harder to achieve,” he said. “That’s a fact that we’ve got to do something about.”
The attacks against Sanders did not slow as the night went on.
He was forced to defend his position on Israel, having condemned the American ally for its treatment of Palestinians.
“Sadly, tragically in Israel, through Bibi Netanyahu, you have a reactionary racist, who is now running that country,” said Sanders. who would be the country’s first Jewish president. He added: “What you cannot ignore is the suffering of the Palestinian people.”
And Biden slammed Sanders for his record on gun control, seizing on the Vermont senator’s support of the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, legislation that protects gun manufacturers and sellers from laws that attempt to hold them liable for dealing firearms that end up in the hand of criminals.
“My friend to my right, and others, have in fact also given in to gun manufacturers absolute immunity,” said Biden. “Imagine if I stood here and said, ‘We give immunity to drug companies. We give immunity to tobacco companies.’
“That has caused carnage on our streets. ”
Sanders proudly highlighted his “D minus” rating from the pro-gun organization. And just last week, several gun control advocates who survived the Parkland, Florida, school shooting endorsed him.
Moving forward from the fiery debate, there are questions about the Democratic Party’s ability to unify behind a nominee .
Klobuchar perhaps summed up her party’s challenge best: “If we spend the next 10 months tearing our party apart, Donald Trump is going to spend the next four years tearing this country apart.”
Protest at Mahidol University Salaya Campus in Nakhon Pathom province on Feb. 25, 2020.
NAKHON PATHOM — Anger at the dissolution of a popular opposition party spilled into a call for PM Prayut Chan-o-cha to resign at a student protest on Tuesday evening.
Coming on the heels of yesterday’s simultaneous rallies at Chulalongkorn and Kasetsart universities, at least 600 people gathered at a plaza inside Mahidol University’s Salaya Campus west of Bangkok. The crowd held banners and flashed the anti-military three finger salute to protest the disbandment of the Future Forward Party.
“I’m very excited to see the very large turnout here,” organizer Bunkueanun Paothong, who studies international relations, said. “We want Mahidol students to express their own grievance over the government and the Constitution Court’s decision.”
“We want them to feel that this is their duty to come out and say that this is wrong. We want to make sure that the government hears our voices,” he said.
But some of the loudest cheers came when a student activist from Thammasat University led the shout of “Prayut, get out!”
The escalation followed an outburst of fury on social media after the youth-oriented Future Forward Party, which campaigned largely on progressive platforms, was disbanded by the Constitutional Court on Feb. 21.
The protest, billed by organizers as a flash mob, was mobilized by a group called “Coalition of Salaya Students.” Supporters turn to the hashtag #MUNeedsDemocracy and #SalayaDoesn’tEatColorfulDesserts to prompt social media-savvy students to come out in the show of solidarity.
The reference to “colorful desserts” denotes a Thai dessert called salim, whose name has been adopted as a derogatory term for the pro-establishment faction.
Parit Chiwarak, the Thammasat activist, said he was invited by the organizers to address the crowd today.
Protest at Mahidol University Salaya Campus in Nakhon Pathom province on Feb. 25, 2020.
He said it was his “duty for the sake of students’ solidarity for democracy to support any effort of our fellow students to demand back our future, our right, our power, and our government.”
Another student, Bee, from the Faculty of Science, said she joined the rally because she wants to show the spirit of her university against what she perceived to be an injustice.
“I’m proud to see everyone come out to demand democratic values for this country,” she said. “People should come out and join students in a fight against injustice.”
The protest went peacefully. The protesters dispersed around 7.15pm.
Protest at Mahidol University Salaya Campus in Nakhon Pathom province on Feb. 25, 2020.
Salaya’s rally is one of the university protests held nationwide today. Joining them today are Bangkok University, Ubon Ratchathani University in the northeast, as well as Chiang Mai and Maejo universities in the north.
Each of them employed different catchy hashtags to call out classmates, but there is no apparent link that they are organized in a coordinated effort.
The wave of student-led rallies also caught many by surprise. Thailand has not seen a large scale pro-democracy protest organized by students for decades since the uprising against a coup government in May 1992.
Similar protests are planned for tomorrow at several colleges, including Thammasat University, an institution long associated with democratic struggles and student activism.
Telecommunication officials visit the government Anti-Fake News Center on Nov. 24, 2019.
Update: The Anti-Fake News Center reached out to Khaosod after this story was published to offer an explanation about what happened.
According to an official in charge of the Anti-Fake News Center, its intention was to inform the public that the message published by the Thai Embassy in London was not yet vetted by the Prime Minister’s Office as required by ministerial regulations, and therefore should be considered ‘unofficial’ statement. Due to procedural errors, the entry ended up incorrectly rating the Khaosod story as false, the official said.
The official added that the center had no intention to accuse Khaosod of spreading fake news, and promised to improve its protocols in combating false information in the future.
BANGKOK — Who fact checks the fact checkers?
A government initiative that set out to combat “fake news” in the media was forced to remove one of its entries on Tuesday after falsely rating a report by Khaosod website as hoax news.
The Anti-Fake News Center earlier today said Khaosod Online made a false claim in its report that the Thai Embassy in London said Thai nationals who traveled to the United Kingdom may be quarantined for up to 14 days if they show symptoms of coronavirus infection.
In fact, the statement was taken from a Facebook page run by the Thai Embassy in London. The statement said those who have fever, coughing, and respiratory difficulties may be held for medical checkup.
It also urged Thai nationals to avoid unnecessary travels to the United Kingdom while the virus outbreak is ongoing.
But on its website, the Anti-Fake News Center branded Khaosod report as false and said such measures are not in place.
Khaosod is part of Matichon Publishing Group, the same company that owns Khaosod English.
When reached for comment, an official at the Anti-Fake News Center, which is operated by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, said the Thai Embassy’s Facebook page is a fake one. An official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed to Khaosod the page is indeed run by its London mission.
The center later removed the entry without any explanation. The center did not make any attempt to reach out to Khaosod editorial team before rating the Khaosod report as false.
The state-sponsored fact checkers were part of the Ministry of Digital Economy’s effort to counter misinformation on social media. But critics raised concerns that the center could be weaponized against legitimate news coverage deemed unfavorable by the government.
