The Life Partnership Bill has no less than 70 sections, but the elaborate legislation excludes some basic rights for same-sex couples, many said at the first public hearing stage yesterday arranged by the Rights and Liberties Protection Department at Miracle Grand Convention Hotel.

The Rights and Liberties Department, under the Justice Ministry, is holding hearings in five areas – Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Hat Yai, Khon Kaen and Ayutthaya – to hear public opinion on the bill beginning yesterday until November 16.

File photo: The Nation Photo

The Life Partnership Bill guarantees same-sex couples the right to inherit the spouse’s property and assets, and the right to co-manage family property and liabilities. They cannot, however, arrange legally the funeral for their spouses, make emergency medical decisions, adopt children or receive spousal welfare benefits.

“We feel like we’re being betrayed,” said Vitaya Saeng A-Roon, an openly gay columnist, during the opinion-hearing stage. He said it was sad that LGBT parents cannot legally co-adopt a child.

Akekawat Pimsawan, an LGBT rights activist, said the bill was discriminatory. It is not just the rights [of LGBT people] that are lost, but also their pride, he said.

“We barely get anything,” said Kittinun Daramadhaj, president of Rainbow Sky Association, and a member of one of the subcommittees tasked with drafting the bill. The minimum age for gay couples to enter into civil partnership is 20, compared to 17 for heterosexual civil marriage, he said.

Kittinun, however, believed the bill was the stepping stone to later revise the Civil and Commercial Code regarding marriage. “We wanted to eventually change the definition of marriage from a union of a man and a woman to a union of two individuals,” he said.

“Many LGBT communities are now turning to Civil and Commercial Code [regarding marriage], but I think we have to look at what we have achieved so far and then plan for what we should do next,” he said.

Vitit Muntarbhorn, an ex-UN Independent Expert on violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, said the bill was an important step, especially in a society that had different views on same-sex marriage. “We need to live together with people who have different views,” he said.

However, he pointed out that the bill would grant civil partnership provided that one of them is a Thai and does not specify if it recognises couples who have entered into same-sex marriages overseas.

A Life Partnership Bill is in its final stages. After the department collects public opinions and makes final revisions, the bill will be forwarded to the Cabinet for approval and submitted to the National Legislative Assembly to become law.

The department also assured that the bill would be before the Cabinet by the end of November.

At least two patents have been granted for cannabinoid products, despite the Intellectual Property Department insisting it is impossible for anyone to own a cannabis extract patent.

Intellectual Property Department director-general Thosapone Dansuputra yesterday said that any attempt to register a patent for cannabis extract would not be considered, as Thai law clearly states that herbal extracts are not regarded as intellectual property.

“No one can own a patent for a natural cannabis extract, and even if patent applications for cannabis extracts are in the process of being considered, these patents won’t be enforced unless they pass the |registration process,” Thosapone said.

“So it is impossible for foreign companies to get a cannabis extract patent, and Thai researchers have a right to use cannabis extracts for the research and development of cannabinoid medicines.”

He explained that the department had only been accepting the patent registration applications as part of official procedure.

He said the officials had no power to turn down applications if applicants submit the required documents.

“The patent application must show further enhancement of the cannabis extract, artificial cannabinoid extraction or cannabis breeding development of cannabinoid products in order to pass the patent consideration process,” he explained.

Failed to protect

However, Drug System Monitoring Mechanism Development Centre manager Dr Niyada Kiatying-Angsulee insisted that the Intellectual Property Department had failed to protect the interests of Thai people using cannabis extract as medicine.

She said the department must reject all cannabis extract patents now on their desk or her centre would sue them.

“As we have found that a handful of cannabis extract and cannabinoid medicine patent applications are now being considered, it is clear that the Intellectual Property Department has not performed its duty properly,” Niyada said.

“We have urged the department to withdraw all of these problematic patent applications. If they continue to refuse to do so, we will have no choice but to sue them on the charge of nonfeasance.”

Niyada insisted that by intentionally neglecting this issue, Intellectual Property Department was putting the national stability of medicine and public health at |risk.

With the election approaching, she also asked every political party to declare their stance on medicinal cannabis legalisation.

Meanwhile, the Highland Network reports that at least two cannabis-related patents have already been granted, one of them to a Thai.

Highland Network also said that another 15 cannabinoid medicine patents are currently being considered, while eight patents have been abandoned.

Niyada said the two granted patents should be re-examined to see whether they are actually eligible for intellectual property protection and legal registration.

Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) chairman Dr Sopon Mekthon has asked GPO lawyers to find a way out of the intellectual property issue, as it is now researching cannabinoid extraction.

The patent problem could affect the agency’s research effort and halt the cannabinoid extraction plant project.

The eight men, 12 women and a child had gone to the valley in Bang Sapan Noi district for farming on November 8 and had carried just enough food for a day. However, they were marooned after three days of heavy rainfall that caused flooding. They were brought out safely on Monday after one of the villagers swam through the floodwaters to call for help.

Meanwhile, the floodwaters in Bang Sapan continued to recede, leaving only some low-lying homes under water. All roads leading to 14 southern provinces were currently passable but motorists passing through Phetchkasem Highway’s 386km marker were required to use a right-side road diversion to avoid the flood-damaged Sapan Wang Yao bridge.

They plan to sue the Bangkok hospital for Bt10-million compensation, and the lawyer said he would also press for the private hospital to be closed, if possible.

Atchariya cited Cholladda Tharawan’s relatives as claiming that she had not received timely treatment at the hospital that would have saved her life, as the staff had reportedly told Chorladda and her accompanying 12-year-old daughter at 5am on November 9 to get treatment at another hospital.

Praram 2 Hospital had allegedly claimed the woman’s symptoms at the time were non-critical and that she had expressed a wish to get treatment at Bang Mod Hospital, with which she was subscribed for “gold card” medical care under the universal healthcare scheme.

Atchariya said the family had petitioned the director-general of the Public Health Ministry’s Health Service Support Department (HSSD), the president of the Medical Council of Thailand and the president of the Thailand Nursing and Midwifery Council to punish related parties, including Praram 2 Hospital executives, as well as doctors and nurses on duty at the time, as they had allegedly “lacked the morality” to assess the patient’s condition and had merely looked at her healthcare scheme subscription.

According to the ministry’s regulation, the hospital could treat any emergency patients, the lawyer said, adding that it was also unacceptable for it to have allegedly allowed a nurse to conduct a diagnosis.

As he presented the petition to HSSD deputy chief Dr Prapas Jittasirinuwat, the lawyer urged the department to take action against the hospital within three days.

Prapas, offering condolences to the family, said department officials would later on Monday check whether the hospital had adhered to the Health Facility Act in its actions on Friday morning.

If the hospital were deemed to have failed to help the patient to its full capacity, it could be held accountable for a violation of the Act, an offence punishable with a maximum two-year imprisonment and a maximum Bt40,000 fine, he explained.

Chorladda’s mother, Thong-art Tharawan, said she had assigned Atchariya to act on the family’s behalf as they wanted to the Public Health Ministry to take action against Praram 2 Hospital for denying treatment for her daughter.

She also said the hospital had not yet contacted the family to provide any aid.

Thong-art also said she would not forgive her acid-splashing son-in-law as his action was “too cruel”.

Meanwhile, Chorladda’s husband, 50-year-old Lop Buri native Kamtan Singhanart, was arrested on Sunday night under a murder warrant at his friend’s house in Nakhon Sawan’s Banphot Phisai district.

Metropolitan Police Bureau chief Pol Lt-General Sutthipong Wongpin was scheduled to join the interrogation of Kamtan at Tha Kham police station, before the accused is taken to perform a crime re-enactment.

Police will later hold a press conference on the case against Kamtan.

This change, punished in the Royal Gazette on Sunday and in effect from Monday, is designed to encourage married couples to have more children as the government seeks to increase the national birth rate amid a shrinking workforce and ageing population.

Taxpayers could already claim a Bt30,000 deduction for their first child. Beginning early next year, the same amount can be claimed for a second child.

The proportion of elderly people is expected to rise to 30 per cent of the overall population by 2036, designating Thailand as an “ageing society”.

Doctor Suwitthampalo, director of the 12th Disease Control Office, said 538 people had been diagnosed with the virus between January 1 and October 30, broken down as 213 in Satun, 192 in Narathiwat, 207 in Songkhla and 15 in Trang.

The virus causes fever and joint pain, similar to dengue but doesn’t lead to internal bleeding.

Somchai Juengmeechok, deputy director of the BMA’s Health Department, said the free checkups are being provided from Monday to November 21 as part of a diabetes awareness campaign that aims to lower and control the number of Bangkokians afflicted with this ever-increasing public health problem.

The checkups will be carried out at:

1 Taksin Hospital on November 21

2 Klong Sam Wa Hospital on November 13 and 14

3 BMA Central Hospital on November 14

4 Luang Por Thaweesak Hospital on November 14

5 Lat Krabang Hospital on November 14

6 Ratjapipat Hosptial on November 14

7 Bang Khun Thian Hospital on November 14

8 Sirindhorn Hopsital on November 14

9 Charoenkrung Pracharak Hospital on November 19

10 Vejkarunras Hospital on November 21.