BANGKOK — Thai public health officials have reprimanded two private hospitals for refusing to accept patients who were suspected of having Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

According to Boonrueng Trairuengworarat, director of Thailand’s Department of Health Service Support, staff at the two private hospitals turned away patients from Middle Eastern countries because they were afraid they might be infected with MERS coronavirus. Boonrueng did not identify the two hospitals by name. 

"In the past week, there have been cases of staff at the two private hospitals who have refused to admit patients as soon as they realized that they came from risk-countries. They then called taxis to take those patients to [state-owned] Bamrasnaradura Infectious Disease Institute instead," Boonrueng told reporters yesterday.

The director said the practice violates both medical ethics and the laws like the Disease Control Act, which carries a penalty of 6 months in prison and a 10,000 baht fine for rejecting patients with dangerous communicable diseases. 

"Soon there will be a random inspection of private hospitals and clinics to prevent this from happening again," said Boonrueng. "I have already reprimanded the staff in this case." 

Thai public health officials are currently working to contain a potential MERS outbreak after the first case – a 75-year-old man from Oman – was detected in the Kingdom on 18 June. 

The vast majority of MERS infections have originated in Saudi Arabia, but the coronavirus has killed at least 27 people in South Korea in the past month. There is no specific cure or vaccine for the disease. 

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Minister of Public Health Rachata Rachatanawin said he has asked all hospitals to quarantine suspected MERS patients for 14 days, instead of turning them away. He told reporters that the Ministry of Public Health will cover the costs of the quarantine procedures. 

Rachata stressed that Thailand still has only one confirmed case of MERS infection, and that some of the 176 people who have been quarantined for suspicious symptoms have already been released.  

"It won't affect tourism because we won't bar any travel to Thailand,” Rachata said. "We also have a health inspection system for people who travel from South Korea and the Middle East, which are considered risk-countries." 

BANGKOK — Thailand's Transport Minister said he was surprised to see the United Nations' aviation agency announce a safety downgrade for Thailand-based airlines on its website yesterday.

Air Chief Marshal Prajin Janthong said he was informed by a Thai official that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) would not make a public announcement about the downgrade, which Thailand had been given 90 days to address.

ACM Prajin said his assistant, Arkom Termpittayapaisith, traveled to the ICAO headquarters in Canada to negotiate for more time to address the agency's safety concerns, and sent him a text message that the ICAO had agreed not to publish  any information about Thailand's failure to meet the agency's standards. 

"But yesterday the ICAO ended up putting red flag on Thailand on its website," ACM Prajin said yesterday. "That means the president of the ICAO did not do what he told Mr. Arkom. I am really confused why this happened. I have to admit that there was some miscommunication, but whether it was a miscommunication between me and Arkom, or between Arkom and the ICAO president, we are still checking about that."

He told reporters that he has already instructed the head of Thailand's Civil Aviation Department to get in touch with Arkom, who is still on a trip abroad, and clarify what was said at the meeting with the ICAO.

ACM Prajin also said a formal press conference will be held by the Ministry of Transport on 22 June to explain the red flag's implications for the Thai aviation industry.

"I have to admit I am very stressed about what happened, but we will continue to solve the problems," ACM Prajin told reporters.

Thailand is now one of 13 "safety deficient" countries that have been flagged by the ICAO. The others are Botswana, Uruguay, Angola, Djibouti, Eritrea, Georgia, Haiti, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Malawi, Nepal, and Sierra Leone. 

In its January audit, the ICAO found serious gaps in safety standards at some airlines operating from Thailand, including Thai AirAsia, Thai AirAsia X, Nok Air, and the state-owned Thai Airways. The agency cited concerns about a lack of personnel training and licensing, and other lapses in the oversight of airline operations.

In March the ICAO granted Thailand a 90-day reprieve to rectify the issues, but ACM Prajin admitted in April that Thailand would be unable to meet the deadline.

According to the Transport Minister, Thai authorities have spent the past three months working hard to improve aviation safety measures, such as re-organizing the bureaucratic structure, transferring directors, and compiling new manuals to oversee airlines' licenses. State officials have also traveled around the globe in an effort to convince foreign aviation authorities not to ban Thai airlines from using airports in their respective countries. 

"In the past, I have created understanding with many countries, but it's impossible to talk to 50 countries in a single month," ACM Prajin said. "We have to wait and see results from this day first, because now that ICAO has already announced [the red flag], it's pointless to travel to talk to any more nations." 

The air chief marshal added that he has already informed junta chairman and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha about the incident, but the junta leader has not yet personally shared his opinion on the matter. 

BANGKOK — All sixteen of the student activists recently charged with illegal assembly have defied police's orders to report to authorities today.

Nine students in Bangkok and seven students in Khon Kaen province were ordered to surrender to police by 3:30 pm today to formally hear their charges of violating the junta's ban on public protests. The students were charged after attempting to stage rallies in Bangkok and Khon Kaen to mark the first anniversary of the military coup d'etat on 22 May 2015. 

However, none of the activists showed up their respective police stations in Bangkok and Khon Kaen today. 

There was no immediate reaction from the Thai authorities, but officials have warned that a failure to surrender before the deadline would result in arrest warrants issued by military courts, which have been authority by the junta to prosecute anti-coup dissidents and other suspects in "national security" cases. 

Col. Winthai Suvaree, a spokesperson for the junta, known formally as the National Council for Peace and Order, said yesterday that if the nine students did not surrender themselves by 19 June, their bond money would be forfeited, and arrest warrants would be issued. He warned that families of the students may also be summoned by authorities.

"Officials may consider inviting the guardians of the students to meet with police officers," Col. Winthai said. "I'd like to tell their families: please take care of your children. Do not do any action that violates the laws." 

He continued, "These students have attempted to stage symbolic actions to incite conflict and unrest in society. They violated the laws and justice system. In the past, security officers have always compromised with them, but if they still do not understand, security officers are required to enforce the laws." 

Prachatai news site reported that the seven students in Khon Kaen – who belong to the progressive student network Dao Din – said they will not report to police as a display of "civil disobedience." The students were quoted as saying that authorities are welcome to come and arrest them on their own. 

"It will be quite funny if we go to jail and the people in prison ask us, hey, what landed you guys in here, and we tell them, oh, I was holding a banner," one of the students, Wasan Setsith, told Prachatai. 

Earlier today, three other student activists were briefly detained after they placed signs bearing cartoon characters resembling the seven Dao Din activists at Democracy Monument in Khon Kaen. The trio was held for several hours at the 23rd Army District headquarters for "attitude adjustment" and later released without charges.

BANGKOK — Thailand's Transport Minister said he was surprised to see the United Nations' aviation agency announce a safety downgrade for Thailand-based airlines on its website yesterday.

Air Chief Marshal Prajin Janthong said he was informed by a Thai official that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) would not make a public announcement about the downgrade, which Thailand had been given 90 days to address.

ACM Prajin said his assistant, Arkom Termpittayapaisith, traveled to the ICAO headquarters in Canada to negotiate for more time to address the agency's safety concerns, and sent him a text message that the ICAO had agreed not to publish  any information about Thailand's failure to meet the agency's standards. 

"But yesterday the ICAO ended up putting red flag on Thailand on its website," ACM Prajin said yesterday. "That means the president of the ICAO did not do what he told Mr. Arkom. I am really confused why this happened. I have to admit that there was some miscommunication, but whether it was a miscommunication between me and Arkom, or between Arkom and the ICAO president, we are still checking about that."

He told reporters that he has already instructed the head of Thailand's Civil Aviation Department to get in touch with Arkom, who is still on a trip abroad, and clarify what was said at the meeting with the ICAO.

ACM Prajin also said a formal press conference will be held by the Ministry of Transport on 22 June to explain the red flag's implications for the Thai aviation industry.

"I have to admit I am very stressed about what happened, but we will continue to solve the problems," ACM Prajin told reporters.

Thailand is now one of 13 "safety deficient" countries that have been flagged by the ICAO. The others are Botswana, Uruguay, Angola, Djibouti, Eritrea, Georgia, Haiti, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Malawi, Nepal, and Sierra Leone. 

In its January audit, the ICAO found serious gaps in safety standards at some airlines operating from Thailand, including Thai AirAsia, Thai AirAsia X, Nok Air, and the state-owned Thai Airways. The agency cited concerns about a lack of personnel training and licensing, and other lapses in the oversight of airline operations.

In March the ICAO granted Thailand a 90-day reprieve to rectify the issues, but ACM Prajin admitted in April that Thailand would be unable to meet the deadline.

According to the Transport Minister, Thai authorities have spent the past three months working hard to improve aviation safety measures, such as re-organizing the bureaucratic structure, transferring directors, and compiling new manuals to oversee airlines' licenses. State officials have also traveled around the globe in an effort to convince foreign aviation authorities not to ban Thai airlines from using airports in their respective countries. 

"In the past, I have created understanding with many countries, but it's impossible to talk to 50 countries in a single month," ACM Prajin said. "We have to wait and see results from this day first, because now that ICAO has already announced [the red flag], it's pointless to travel to talk to any more nations." 

The air chief marshal added that he has already informed junta chairman and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha about the incident, but the junta leader has not yet personally shared his opinion on the matter.