Dr Suwanchai Wattanayingcharoen, director-general of the Department of Disease Control, said his office has predicted that the country will be hit hard by flu this year.

For the first four months of the year, there have been 152,185 influenza cases – 10 of whom have died, Suwanchai said. During the height of the drought season in January and February, 46,648 people were affected and four died.

He added that as many as 200,000 flu patients are expected this year, up from last year’s 185,829 flu patients and 32 deaths.

Every year, the department provides influenza vaccines to two groups: those in the medical profession whose work exposes them to the virus; members of a “risky” sub-group that includes small children, pregnant women, elderly persons, obese people and those with chronic ailments. The budget for the first group is provided by the department, while the second group is covered by the National Heath Security Office (NHSO).

This year, the NHSO has imported 400,000 vaccines worth Bt400 million, and began providing flu shots from late April, he said.

For the 2020 fiscal year, the National Vaccine Institute’s immunisation promotion sub-panel has agreed to include an estimated 9.6 million Prathom 1 to Mathayom 6 students in the free vaccination programme. The cost of the 9.6 million doses will be around Bt1 billion, Suwanchai said.

THE APPEALS Court yesterday upheld a guilty verdict and jail term against a land-rights activist over forest encroachment.

But in the eyes of many, Nittaya Muangklang is just a victim of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)’s Forest Reclamation Policy.

Nittaya, who has been strongly defending local people’s right to till land for their livelihoods, received a jail term of at least four months and a fine of Bt40,000 for encroaching on the Sai Thong National Park in Chaiyaphum province.

According to her, she has been growing cassava in this part of the province since even before the national park was established in 1992.

“The government should consider scrapping the Forest Reclamation Policy,” Chainarong Setthachua, a lecturer at Maha Sarakham University, said as he showed up in court to express moral support for the defendant.

He lamented the fact that authorities have been citing this policy to take harsh action against hundreds of people instead of promoting mutual co-existence.

“There are laws that can be invoked to help landless people such as those governing community-land title deeds and community forests,” Chainarong said.

The court of primary instance sentenced Nittaya to four months in jail and ordered her to pay a Bt40,000 fine in 2017. The defendant appealed the verdict and was granted temporary freedom during the appellate process.

However, since the Appeals Court upheld the verdict yesterday, Nittaya is now behind bars.

“I have to study relevant laws in detail before filing a bail request,” Somnuek Tumsupap, a legal adviser for the Land Reform Network, said yesterday.

Somnuek has been helping the defendants fight their case.

Nittaya, meanwhile, has said she will take her case to the Supreme Court. “I will fight for justice right till the end,” she said.

For years, Nittaya has been speaking up for people’s rights to land for livelihood and has submitted complaints to several agencies.

Her mother and two sisters have also been campaigning for the same causes and have landed in similar legal trouble. They are among the 14 sentenced to jail and ordered to pay a fine in a similar case. Their cases are in the appellate process.

Since 2014, this biobank has compiled more than 16,000 samples from over 2,000 cancer patients.

Samples of tumour tissue, blood components and body fluids are being used by clinical professors, medical lecturers, scientists and researchers for intensive study, which is showing satisfactory progress for translational medicine, biomarkers and a successful development of 3D cancer organoids for retinoblastoma (a rare form of cancer in the retina).

Asst Professor Dr Natini Jinawath, who heads the Ramathibodi Comprehensive Tumour Biobank, revealed earlier this week that research on samples from her biobank had successfully identified biomarkers that could efficiently determine the risk of cancer in another part of the body among patients battling with head and throat cancer.

“Findings have already been published in a well-known international academic journal,” she said proudly, adding that this was the first time that these biomarkers had been identified for cancer detection.

Natini said when cancer in a second position is detected at an early stage, there is a higher chance |for patients to survive and recover fully.

Rossukon Kaewkhaw, a PhD holder and a translational-medicine lecturer at Mahidol University’s Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, said samples from the biobank also paved the way for the development of 3D-cancer organoid for in-depth studies on retinoblastoma.

“This means after doctors test the reaction of drugs on these organoids, they will know what is best for their patients,” she added.

The Ramathibodi Comprehensive Tumour Biobank is a part of the Ramathibodi Comprehensive Cancer Centre, which also operates Multidisciplinary Cancer Clinics that offer one-stop services for patients, nurse coordinator services to help patients and their family and the Ramathibodi Hospital Cancer Registry.

Natini added that the Ramathibodi Hospital Cancer Registry and her biobank shared data.

“Doctors from different medical departments have helped with the collection of samples,” she revealed, adding that her biobank had developed its own data-management software for maximum efficiency.

Professor Dr Piyamitr Sritara, dean of Mahidol University’s Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, said he was confident that the Ramathibodi Comprehensive Tumour Biobank would be useful for the development of new diagnoses and treatment methods for cancer patients.

According to Natini, her biobank has signed an cooperation agreement with the cancer biobank of South Korea-based Yonsei University.

The issue over the violation of Si Quey’s dignity became a hot online topic this week after Twitter user @ChangeSiam kicked off a debate over whether Siriraj Medical Museum should stop displaying the corpse along with a label stating that he was a cannibal.

Many netizens echoed in agreement, with over 10,000 putting their names down on an online petition at change.org calling on Siriraj to arrange a proper funeral for Si Quey, granting him some respect after more than 60 years of public humiliation.

They also called on the wider public to stop reproducing unverified rumours about his cannibalistic tendency, and instead seek the truth behind his case so that the infamous suspected serial kill can at last have justice.

Most Thais are familiar with Si Quey and the story of him luring young children out of their homes to kill them and consume their internal organs. This story is perhaps one of Thailand’s most popular urban myths.

In reality, Si Quey was a Chinese migrant who moved to Thailand shortly after the end of World War II. Though he was blamed for the murder of seven children between 1954 and 1958 in Prachuap Khiri Khan, Nakhon Pathom, Bangkok and Rayong, he was only found guilty of one murder in Rayong.

He was sentenced to death by firing squad in September 1959, and after he was killed, the Siriraj Medical School asked to use his body for autopsy study. Later, the body was embalmed and put on display with the label “cannibal” at Siriraj Medical Museum.

Cross Cultural Foundation president Surapong Kongchantuk said he agrees with granting Si Quey some human dignity, adding that the museum had no right to display somebody’s body without permission.

“In principle, Siriraj has to return Si Quey’s body to members of his family or his guardian so they can arrange a proper funeral for him. They have no right to keep the body, not to mention publicly branding him a cannibal,” Surapong said.

“It is not too late for Siriraj to do the right thing by looking for his surviving relatives and returning the body to them. In case no family members can be found, Siriraj should give Si Quey a proper send off based on his religious beliefs.”

Siriraj Hospital’s Faculty of Medicine at Mahidol University revealed that dean Dr Prasit Watanapa has acknowledged the issue and will hold a press conference on the subject soon.

Approved by the Cabinet last month, the new regulation will require expats on the long-stay non-immigrant O-A visa to have health insurance that offers Bt40,000 coverage for outpatient treatment and Bt400,000 for inpatient.

The requirement was introduced because foreign expats have piled up unpaid medical bills of more than Bt300 million since 2016.

“We will ask the Immigration Bureau, the Foreign Ministry and the Insurance Department for additional details and implementation guidelines next week,” Saowapa Jongkittipong, who leads the Health Service Support Department’s International Health Division, said yesterday.

She said that once the rule is implemented, applicants for the non-immigrant O-A visa, which is valid for one year from the date of issue, would be required to buy health insurance.

“Current holders of this visa will have to produce proof of their health insurance for visa renewal,” she said.

According to Saowapa, this requirement is necessary because medical treatments provided to many elderly long-time foreign residents have weighed heavily on the state coffers.

Last year, foreigners incurred Bt305 million in unpaid medical bills. Foreigners in 2017 left Bt346 million in unpaid medical bills. If categorised by the number of medical visits, statistics show about one-fifth of foreign patients did not pay their bills.

Huge unpaid bills

For instance, foreigners made 3.42 million medical visits last year, and did not pay for 680,000 of them, while in 2017, foreigners made 3.3 million medical visits and did not pay for 565,000 of them.

Saowapa said further discussions among relevant agencies would help establish which diseases would be covered under the mandatory health insurance.

The ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs have been instructed to inform all foreigners of these new requirements.

Currently, citizens of only 14 countries require health insurance when seeking Thai visas for five years and above.

Meanwhile, the Public Health Ministry has suggested that visa applicants purchase health insurance from one of the companies listed on http://www.longstay.tgia.org. The ministry has also told relevant agencies to plan how health insurance policies bought overseas will be verified.

The problem of bad debts incurred by foreigners has existed for many years.

Earlier this year, Health Service Support Department director-general Dr Nattawuth Prasertsiripong said his department had decided to establish claim centres in Chon Buri, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Phang Nga and Surat Thani provinces to help state hospitals collect what is owed to them by foreign patients. The very fact that such centres are required reflects the severity of the problem.

Taking note of this, the Public Health Ministry proposed to the Cabinet early last month that applicants of non-immigrant O-A visa be required to purchase health insurance.

Box:

Proposed mandatory health insurance 

Bt40,000 coverage for outpatient treatment

Bt400,000 coverage for inpatient treatments

Source:Department of Health Service Support

The prison held a ceremony to mark the release of the prisoners, who included 25 women.

Anuwat Tinnarat, a former red-shirt president in Nakhon Ratchasima, said in tears that he felt gratitude for King Rama X’s mercy and promised to be loyal to the monarchy forever. “Long live the King,” he said.

Anuwat was sentenced by a Nakhon Ratchasima court to three years in jail for speaking on stage at a rally for the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship, known as the red-shirts, in February 2014.

He was released on bail and appealed unsuccessfully against his conviction but finally started serving his sentence after his final appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court in March last year.

Anuwat was on Wednesday welcomed by his wife and family after being released just 14 months into his three-year sentence.

Rachun Kaweekul, the chief judge in Nakhon Ratchasima, said that the royal pardons had been granted for the prisoners’ good behaviour and was aimed at allowing them to return to society for the benefit of the country.

The authorities have offered training in many careers to help former inmates find work.