The campaign, “One Thousand Nightmares can End with Your One Voice”, is aimed at increasing public awareness and encouraging participation in ending violence against children in Thailand.

The 1300 Social Assistance Centre is a 24-hour service run by the ministry to receive reports related to social problems, including child abuse, neglect and exploitation. The call centre locates and connects vulnerable children with appropriate services such as emergency rescue, medical and social service referral, professional counselling and psychosocial support for the child and the family.

According to data collected by the Public Health Ministry from 622 hospitals nationwide, nearly 9,000 children were treated for injuries from physical and sexual abuse in 2017. These cases are likely to be just a tip of the iceberg, as usually only the most severe cases are reported.

At the same time, the National Statistical Office found that in 2015-2016 some 4 per cent of children between one and 14 years old, or up to 470,000 children, had experienced severe physical punishment at home. However, only 1,200 cases a year on average are reported to the 1300 hotline.

“Violence leaves too many children living with nightmares,” Unicef representative Thomas Davin said. “But those nightmares can be stopped if members of the public who suspect or witness child abuse intervene or pick up the phone and report the cases.”

Violence can have a lifelong devastating impact on children’s health and well-being. In addition to physical injuries, violence affects the development of children’s brain, impairs their ability to learn and socialise, and increases their chance of engaging in risky behaviour and perpetrating violence themselves as adults. Children who have suffered from violence are also at a higher risk of mental health disorders, depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicide.

According to Unicef’s global studies, children experience violence across their childhood and in diverse settings, including at home, in school and in their community, where they are meant to learn, socialise and be protected by those who they know and trust. However, many cases of violence and abuse go unreported.

“Violence against children also has long-term impacts on the country’s social and economic prosperity,” stressed Porametee Vimolsiri, permanent secretary of the Social Development and Human Security Ministry. “There must be zero tolerance across society for any form of violence against children – we must not ignore it. One thing that everyone can do to address it is to report when they witness a child being abused, because children often cannot protect themselves or ask for help.”

The attack by Thanakrit Mungporn, 41, on his rival Preeda Doungphetch, 27, in the emergency ward of Lao Sua Goke District Hospital on Sunday damaged an electrocardiogram machine worth Bt225,000 but didn’t hurt any of the medical staff.

Preeda was hiding behind the equipment from his knife-wielding rival but sustained two cuts in the face and head – in addition to the head wound he received when he was hit by a broken bottle in a previous brawl with Thanakrit at a local fair earlier in the day.

After the hospital attack, Thanakrit waited for police in front of the ward. The senseless violence has caused a furore on social media.

Thanakrit reportedly confessed to the crime and acknowledged the four charges police filed against him: carrying the knife as a weapon to a public place without a sound reason, intrusion of a state office, damaging state property and attempted murder.

Apart from allegedly confessing his guilt, he also expressed his willingness to pay for the machine to be fixed.

Police then escorted him to perform a re-enactment of the crime, under the observation of hospital director Dr Thammaporn Pratpan.

Thanakrit performed a “wai” as an apology to Thammaporn and expressed remorse for what he had done.

Thammaporn said what happened had really shaken her staff. Also, the hospital only has two such expensive machines, so this episode had left them with only one machine, which also wasn’t working properly.

Happily, a kind-hearted person had offered to donate one such machine to replace the damaged one, she added.

Ubon Ratchathani deputy commander Pol Colonel Thammachak Khongmongkol said that Thanakrit had been one of the organisers of the fair and the trouble started when he tried to stop Preeda’s group from fighting with a rival group of youngsters from another village.

He picked up a microphone and made an announcement urging Preeda’s group, who were residents of the same Phon Muang village as him, to stop fighting and added that anyone who wanted to fight should pick on him instead.

When he got off the stage he was kicked in the torso from behind by Preeda, resulting in a brawl between Thanakrit’s group and Preeda’s group, after which Preeda was taken to hospital with a head wound.

Thanakrit, still furious, then followed in the pick-up truck to the |hospital, where he allegedly attacked Preeda.

A total of 51 violent incidents took place at state hospitals between 2012 and the first four months of 2019, causing a total of 10 deaths and leaving 56 injured.

The Public Health Ministry earlier this month proposed solutions to boost security at hospitals, including a review of emergency wards’ layouts and installation of double doors with controlled access, additional CCTV cameras as well as a life insurance coverage for medical personnel at the emergency wards.

The need for the change was highlighted recently when the Provincial Administration Department managed to quickly jump hurdles and grant stateless students, Yonladee Phiyatat and Nampeung Panya, citizenship almost immediately. The girls were travelling to the United States to participate in academic competitions.

However, many netizens have pointed to the different standards being applied by the authorities. For instance, cases that attract public attention are given the nationality very quickly, while most other stateless persons have to undergo long, complicated bureaucratic procedures. Plus, the outcome is never certain.

Santipong Moonfong, chairperson of the Legal Status Network Foundation, put this problem of double standards on the government agencies’ administrative systems.

“I am truly happy for Yonladee and Nampeung, as they received their nationality very quickly and could represent the Kingdom at the competition in the US,” Santipong said.

“However, there are more than 500,000 children who are qualified for citizenship and are waiting for a similar opportunities and the advantages that come with being a Thai citizen.”

He also called on relevant agencies to stop providing special treatment for cases that are in the public eye, and instead tackle the structural problems in the administrative system.

Fixing these problems will systematically improve the ability and efficiency of relevant agencies to process applications and achieve the goal of leaving nobody stateless in Thailand, he said. He added that even though Thailand guarantees citizenship to everyone born in the country, the reality is that bureaucracy are hindering the efforts.

“The first problem is the poor operational structure in the Provincial Administration Department that assigns the duty of verifying nationality and processing paperwork to local district officers. This results in an overloaded workforce and inevitably long delays in the verification process,” Santipong said.

“The lack of close collaboration between relevant agencies is another issue that prolongs the verification process because many outfits, such as the Labour Ministry and national stability agencies are involved in the process.”

Officials’ lack of understanding and awareness on the importance of solving statelessness is another major problem. For instance, it has been found that if the provincial governor or a district chief fail to address nationality issues, people in that area end up waiting even longer to obtain their citizenship papers.

Surapong Kongchantuk, a prominent human-rights lawyer, has also called on the government to urgently tackle the structural roadblocks to eradicating statelessness. He said that if the authorities continued to ignore reform of the nationality verification process, the problem will worsen as the children of these stateless persons will be born without a nationality.

“According to internationally accepted principles, every person has the right to hold a citizenship to get the protection and benefits that come with it, and they have the right to hold the nationality of the country they were born in,” Surapong said.

ONCB secretary-general Niyom Termsrisuk disclosed yesterday that since medical-grade cannabis from certified plantations was not yet ready for harvesting, the Public Health Ministry’s central committee has okayed the distribution of seized cannabis to approved organisations.

The weed taken from drug traffickers will, for now, be used to produce medicine until the certified cannabis is harvested.

However, Niyom said the seized lot of cannabis will first need to be examined to ensure the herb is not contaminated with hazardous substances such as pesticides, heavy metals or harmful microbes, which would make them unsafe for producing medicines.

The presence of the hazardous substances could also endanger patients.

However, he said, ONCB has received assurances from related agencies about the safety of the seized cannabis.

The seized marijuana has been tested for hazardous substances by the Police Forensics team, while experts from the Public Health Ministry are now working on setting out safe limits for each hazardous substance in cannabis.

“We are sure we can hand over the cannabis in our possession to registered organisations for producing cannabinoid medicines by the end of this month,” Niyom said.

The event, which will feature a series of bouts, is to be held at the Central Stadium in the town of Betong on June 29, from 6pm onwards.

Muay Thai is taught in many countries, which have introduced it as a sport.

It is also considered part of the identity of Thailand in terms of both sport and tourism.

The commanding-general of the Fourth Army Area Command, Lt-General Pornsak Poonsawat, recently inspected the venue for the kickboxing event, which aims to stimulate the local economy and tourism in Betong.

Betong, which is an important economic town in the southern border provinces, is being developed into a model sustainable-development city under the “Triangle of Stability, Prosperity and Sustainability” project.

The town boasts beautiful scenery and notable tourist destinations that attract a great number of Thai and foreign tourists every year.

In his inspection tour of Yala province on May 17, Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith followed up on progress in the construction of Betong Airport.

He said the construction project was now 85-95 per cent complete.

The Airports Department has held discussions with Bangkok Airways and Nok Air on aviation routes, linking Betong Airport with other major cities in southern Thailand and neighbouring countries, he added.

The Betong Airport project was approved by the Cabinet on October 6, 2015 with a budget of Bt1.9 billion.

The airport is scheduled to open next year and is expected to increase the number of tourists visiting the deep South.

The condo appeared to be the scene of a gay-sex tryst at the time of the incident, according to police.

A police source at Thong Lor police station on Monday said that the two suspects as of 10am appeared to still be under the influence of crystal methamphetamine, also known as “ice”, nine grams of which officers had seized at the scene on Saturday.

The two men, both in their 30s and whose names had not been not released as of press time, will be brought in front of the Southern Bangkok Criminal Court on Tuesday, when police will apply for the first 12-day detention order over an initial charge of possession of an illicit drug, the source said.

Police want to keep them in detention pending the result of an investigation into whether they had caused the death of the teenager, the source added.

The autopsy to determine the time and cause of the teen’s death is expected to take 15 days as he reportedly had a great deal of narcotics in his system, affecting the determination as to whether he had died before or after the fall from the balcony.

The 18-year-old victim, whose name has also not yet been released, was found wearing only a G-string.

Thong Lor precinct officers received the report of his death at 3.30pm on Saturday.

A police check of the building’s CCTV recordings found that the victim had entered the condo block with two older men and gone up to the 20th floor with them.

This led to their inspection of the room and apprehension of the two older men, who insisted that the teenager had become intoxicated and fallen from the balcony, the source said.

She posted photos of three defaced passports after an airline barred the holders from boarding the plane this weekend, and refused to budge even after they argued that they had travelled to plenty of other countries with the Hello Kitty stamp.

It was unclear whether the passport holders were adults or children.

Netizens related similar stories about Taiwan – apparently there is no way Taiwan will let you in if you have cartoon stamps on your passport.

Many netizens also pointed out that a passport is a document issued by the government – deface it at your peril.

Source: Thaivisa.com