NAKHON RATCHASIMA — A Chilean bicyclist on a mission to cycle around the world was hit and killed by a pick-up truck in northeastern Thailand yesterday.

The 47-year-old victim, identifed by the Latin press as Juan Francisco Villa Honorato, was cycling near the 247 km mark of Mittraphap Road with his wife and 2-year-old son when he was hit and killed by pick-up truck that skid off the road and flipped on its side. 

Several hours prior to his death, highway police in Khon Kaen province hosted an event to celebrate Juan while he was biking through the province. An officer who was at the event said police and local residents gave him food and drinks, and wished him all the best for the rest of his journey. 

Tiwarat Chaipidet, the driver of the pick-up truck, has been arrested and charged with reckless driving that led to death and injury of others. 

According to an officer at Bua Lai Police Station, Tiwarat said he accidentally hit the cyclists because did not see them on the road. 

Juan's wife, Bao Ling, has yet to give any formal testimony to police, officers said. However, she reportedly told the police she intends to hold a funeral for Villa at Dharma Utthayan forest monastery in Khon Kaen province, because he was impressed with its serenity when he visited earlier this month. 

The Transportation Research Institute ranks Thailand as the second most dangerous place to drive in the world, with a rate of 44 deaths per 100,000 people, a number nearly twice global average. 

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NARATHIWAT — Thirteen people were injured when a car bomb exploded in front of a karaoke bar in the insurgency-plagued province of Narathiwat on Friday afternoon.

Several houses and other shops in Muang district were damaged by the bomb, which police believe was planted by local insurgents who have been waging a bloody separatist campaign in Thailand’s southern border provinces for the past decade.

The aftermath of a car bomb in Narathiwat province, Feb 20, 2015.

Police say the blast wounded two soldiers and 11 civilians, one seriously.

A second bomb planted on a motorcycle 500 meters away from the site of the first explosion was diffused by authorities without incident.

"The attackers wanted to lure police to the site before hitting us with another bomb," a police commander told AFP.

Insurgents have been battling Thai authorities in Narathiwat, Yala, and Pattani provinces – a region known as the Deep South – since early 2004. The separatists aim to revive the independent sultanate of Pattani, which was incorporated into modern-day Thailand in the early 20th century.

In contrast to the rest of the country, which is dominated by Buddhists, a majority of those living in the Deep South are Muslims who speak a Malaysian dialect. 

More than 6,200 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the simmering conflict over the past decade, according to data compiled by rights groups.

By Cod Satrusayang

BANGKOK (DPA) — A drug-resistant strain of malaria has spread through South-East Asia and is on the cusp of reaching India, scientists said in a study published Friday. 

The study revealed that a strain of malaria, resistant to the most effective antimalarial drug, artemisinin, had reached the border region of Myanmar and India.

The research, carried out by the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit and published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases Journal, found the most deadly form of malaria-causing parasite present in 39% of malaria cases within the region.

Scientists warn that consequences could be dire if the drug resistant malaria reached the sub continent. 

"Drug resistant malaria parasites in the 1960s originated in South-East Asia and from there spread through Myanmar to India, and then to the rest of the world where millions of people were killed," said Professor Mike Turner, Head of Infection & Immunobiology at the Wellcome Trust.

"The new research shows that history is repeating itself." 

The study also warns that the rate the malaria was spreading was "alarming" and that resistant parasites had been found in Homalin, Myanmar, only 25km from the Indian border.

"Myanmar is considered the frontline in the battle against artemisinin resistance as it forms a gateway for resistance to spread to the rest of the world," said Dr Charles Woodrow from the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit and senior author of the study at Oxford University.

It is estimated that over 600,000 people die from malaria every year, most of them children under the age of five and living in Africa. 

NARATHIWAT — Thirteen people were injured when a car bomb exploded in front of a karaoke bar in the insurgency-plagued province of Narathiwat on Friday afternoon.

Several houses and other shops in Muang district were damaged by the bomb, which police believe was planted by local insurgents who have been waging a bloody separatist campaign in Thailand’s southern border provinces for the past decade.

Police say the blast wounded two soldiers and 11 civilians, one seriously.

The aftermath of a car bomb in Narathiwat province, Feb 20, 2015.

A second bomb planted on a motorcycle 500 meters away from the site of the first explosion was diffused by authorities without incident.

"The attackers wanted to lure police to the site before hitting us with another bomb," a police commander told AFP. Police say they are studying CCTV footage to identify a suspect. 

Insurgents have been battling Thai authorities in Narathiwat, Yala, and Pattani provinces – a region known as the Deep South – since early 2004. The separatists aim to revive the independent sultanate of Pattani, which was incorporated into modern-day Thailand in the early 20th century.

In contrast to the rest of the country, which is dominated by Buddhists, a majority of those living in the Deep South are Muslims who speak a Malaysian dialect. 

More than 6,200 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the simmering conflict over the past decade, according to data compiled by rights groups.