THAILAND HAS made significant progress towards its ambitious goal of ending Aids by 2030 – something UNAids hopes to accomplish but for which few countries are on a good track.

Despite some 440,000 people still living with HIV in Thailand as World Aids Day 2018 arrives on December 1, the nation can take a bow for having built a solid foundation on which to continue building towards the dream of an HIV-free society.

An estimated 98 per cent of people living with HIV in Thailand know their status. And 75 per cent of them have access to retroviral drugs, which have proven so effective that when a regular dose is taken, someone with HIV can live a normal, healthy and happy life for decades.

Thailand’s success at diagnosing and treating is among the world’s best. UNAids has estimated that just 75 per cent of people living with HIV in the world know their status. And just 59 per cent of them have access to anti-retroviral drugs.

“Knowing your status is the first step to treatment and the end of Aids,” the Kingdom’s Disease Control Department (DCD) director-general Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai said.

DCD campaigns, therefore, have taken the theme of “Know Your Status”.

The Thai Red Cross Aids Research Centre (TRCARC), meanwhile, has waged its campaign under the “Undetectable = Untransmittable” to communicate to the public that treatments can push down the presence of the HIV virus to an undetectable level that renders it untransmittable – and therefore makes treatment a form of preventing transmission.

“Studies show that unprotected sex between a person with undetectable levels of HIV and his/her partner who is HIV-free does not cause any transmission,” the centre’s director Dr Praphan Phanuphak said.

He, therefore, emphasised that the key to ending HIV was to ensure people living with HIV regularly take antiretroviral drugs to stay healthy and to not spread the virus.

“We have chosen the U=U or Undetectable Equates Untransmittable theme for our campaign so as to reduce the stigmatisation of people living with HIV. Without a stigma, those at risk will have the courage to come forward to get tests and treatments that will not only save their lives but also allow them to have a good quality of life,” Praphan said.

In Thailand, HIV tests, anti-retroviral therapy, and related treatments are free. Campaigns to raise public awareness of HIV prevention have been solid.

Several government agencies and non-governmental organisations have also been very active in fighting against Aids/HIV.

There are shelters for the HIV-positive who previously had nowhere to go. There are foundations that will connect the HIV-positive to necessary medication, schooling and jobs.

Receiving support from the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Thailand has become the first Asian country to bring the mother-to-child transmission rate to below 2 per cent.

Earlier this year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) certified Efavirenz Tablets (600mg) manufactured by Thailand’s Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO). The certification makes Thailand the first Asean nation to have been certified in the WHO Pre-qualification Programme for HIV/Aids treatments.

“This reflects the world’s trust in our drug’s efficiency,” GPO chairman Dr Sopon Mekton said. Efavirenz is a key drug in a cocktail of anti-HIV medications that have proved highly effective.

GPO deputy managing director Mukdavan Prakobvaitayakit said this success had saved the country’s budget.

“It costs us just Bt180 to produce each box of Efavirenz. If we import the equivalent, we will have to pay more than Bt1,000 per box,” she said.

The National Health Security Office’s (NHSO) secretary-general, Dr Sakchai Kanjanawatana, said the government had allocated Bt3 billion for HIV/Aids patients in the 2019 fiscal year.

Of that, Bt2.8 billion is for the provision of anti-retroviral therapy and related services. Some Bt200 million is for HIV prevention. About Bt38 million is for the promotion of services for people living with HIV/Aids.

Aids Access Foundation’s director Nimit Tien-udom has acknowledged Thailand’s many achievements in the battle against HIV/Aids. Yet, he has noticed some obstacles that could prevent the country from eradicating Aids/HIV by 2030.

“In fact, if an HIV-positive woman seeks prenatal care within the first 15 weeks, there is no risk of mother-to-child transmission,” Nimit said. “But we can’t ignore the fact that hundreds of thousands of women and girls get unwanted pregnancies. And most of them are reluctant to seek prenatal services.”

The Aids activist, moreover, expressed concerns that the Public Health Ministry’s drug procurement plan has required patients to pick up anti-retroviral medicines in smaller lots.

“When NHSO was in charge, people living with HIV could take the medicines once every three months. But now, they have had to pick up the medicines almost on a monthly basis. It’s not easy for them to take leave from work this frequently,” Nimit pointed out.

He also recommended that campaigns be created to help educate people from thinking that those living with Aids/HIV would appear to be really ill and with ugly wounds.

“Those who have been on anti-retroviral therapy are perfectly healthy. We need to send this message across the society,” he said.

Moreover, Nimit suggested that free blood tests should cover more groups of people, not just those deemed to be at higher risk, as some people might have become infected despite not having risky behaviours.

He also said the distribution of free condoms should receive a strong emphasis because it could prevent the spread of many sexually transmitted diseases, not just HIV.

“Don’t let anyone steal the condom-procurement budget,” he said, as he suspected that some condoms had gone missing.

Thanutkan Thanutamornthanasiri, Aids Network coordinator based in the Northeast, said she had seen the immense improvement on Thailand’s Aids/HIV front lines during the past two decades.

“I must say that had the system been this good 20 years ago, my first two children would still be alive today,” the 49-year-old woman said.

Despite living with HIV for decades, she is now the mother of an HIV-free son. The virus has not been passed on to her third child due to the availability of free and effective medication.

Established in 1933, Boon Rawd, the producer of Singha and related brands, is vigilant of increased domestic and regional competitive forces due to freer cross-border trade within Asean and counterpart countries.

Rojrit Debhakam, senior executive vice president, said automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and other new technologies play a key role in boosting competitiveness in production lines, logistics, and other business areas.

Currently, Boon Rawd Brewery has about 3,500 employees with nine factories nationwide, including those in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Sing Buri, Khon Kaen, Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani and Surat Thani.

For beer, the group has a combined output of 1.25 billion litres per year marketed under Singha, Leo, U, Snow, Asahi and other brands. Of the total output, 10 per cent is slated for export.

Besides beer, the group is a major producer of soda and drinking water under Singha and other brands, with a combined output of 1 billion litres per year.

While automatic production lines and warehouses have become indispensable for the group’s competitive advantage, Rojrit said it is crucial to ensure that technologies are interactive with human workers.

“We aim to create a smart workplace, or ‘workplace 4.0’, that involves not only smart machines and automation but also the retraining of workers, so they can work alongside machines.

“People’s welfare and environment are no less important as we automate and optimise our production lines and logistics. At present, our fastest lines can produce as many as 72,000 bottles of water and beverage per hour,” Rojrit said.

“Quality control, security, energy and water resources efficiency are also crucial components of our digital transformation strategy, in which data is key. For example, the new generation of forklift trucks are now equipped with barcode readers so operators can handle pallets much faster and more accurately.”

RFID technology is also used for product traceability, something increasingly important in the modern supply-chain system, he said.

The company also uses drones equipped with GPS and night vision for factory and warehouse security as well as for surveillance of floodwater prevention dykes in Ayutthaya province.

For machine and other asset maintenance, the company’s trained mechanics work with computers for preventive and predictive maintenance.

“Performance of machines on production lines will be enhanced and downtime minimised or eliminated when predictive analytics are used by keeping online records of key indicators such as motor vibration and temperature,” Rojrit said.

“In the near future, VR [virtual reality] and AR [augmented reality] devices will also be used for machine maintenance. Digital and other technologies are advancing rapidly. For example, the number of self-driving or autonomous electric cars is expected to be significant within the next five years. As a result, there would be fewer road accidents, which are currently caused by humans.

“However, this also means far-reaching implications for the auto-insurance business. Many other businesses will also be affected such as petrol stations and garages [due to fewer moving car parts and fewer breakdowns of electric vehicles].”

Navigating the impact of technology will prove challenging across sectors and the government may need to step in, he said.

“The disruptive forces will be tremendous for the auto and other related industries, but this kind of displacement happened before, when we shifted from horse carriages to combustion-engine automobiles. For other industries, the disruptive forces of technologies are no less significant. I think the government should consider granting soft loans to help Thai industries invest in new technologies and cope with the disruption.

“For Boon Rawd, we’re always vigilant, not only with domestic but also regional and international competitors. Across the borders, Vietnamese or Chinese breweries, for example, can enter the Thai market [if they want to] so we have to stay competitive,” he said.

Meanwhile, Wallapa Piemnoppakao, country director of US-based business software firm Infor, said Boon Rawd is a major customer. Large Thai conglomerates have invested substantially in digital and other new technologies to stay ahead of the curve, Wallapa said.

“Competitive pressures from China and other Asean countries have increased so Thai companies are keen to boost their competitiveness,” she said.

After helping Boon Rawd’s Wangnoi Beverage Co in Ayutthaya province automate its logistic operation, Infor is now focused on the roll-out of automation at other factories and warehouses in three locations, including those in Khon Kaen and Surat Thani provinces.

“Besides the very large companies, Thailand’s medium-sized enterprises have also explored opportunities to invest in digital and other technologies. They need to prepare for rising competition,” she said.

Members of the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation (Unesco) meeting in Mauritius included Thai khon among several world cultural treasures added and to the list.

It is the first time that Thailand has been represented on the heritage list, and Culture Minister Vira Rojpojchanarat credited the achievement to Her Majesty the Queen’s efforts to bring the theatre form into the 21st century with gala annual performances.

“She ordered a complete redesign for the costumes and ornamentation, the makeup, stage, format, lighting and sound, turning it into a royal khon performance,” he said.

To celebrate the Unesco decision, the Culture Ministry on Friday staged a performance at the Thailand Cultural Centre along with a demonstration of how the masks are made.

“We have also arranged additional three-hour performances of ‘The Allegiance of Phiphek’ from December 3 to 5 at the cultural centre,” Vira said, referring to the latest episode of the Ramayana being presented in the grand “royal” format this year.

“More live performances will be staged in the coming year and we’ll be screening the animated film ‘Ramayana’, which the ministry produced.”

Vira said there would also be exhibitions, children’s books and a documentary film presented around the country, and a khon digital database would be created for use by future generations.

While few would decry the focus on preserving traditional khon, some critics have said the government should also be supporting contemporary theatre as well.

The ministry will next year nominate nuad thai (Thai massage) and the southern traditional dance nora for inclusion on the Unesco list.

Also recognised by the UN agency as a form of Intangible Cultural Heritage “in need of urgent safeguarding” was Cambodia’s similar masked-dance form known as lakhon khol.

It was added to the Unesco Representative List in 2008, but this year was listed in a second category for the specific dance presented at Wat Svay Andet near Phnom Penh. It is unusual in that members of the community living around the Buddhist monastery accompany the performances by masked men with music and melodious recitation.

In explaining the listing, Unesco said the lakhon khol performance there “aims to ensure the community’s protection and prosperity by winning the favours of Neak Ta, a guardian spirit of the place and its people.

“After generations of transmission, the element’s viability has been weakened by environmental factors, economic migration, insufficient resources and the effects of war and of the Khmer Rouge.”