Barkar Nash (Page 1,044)

Questions have been raised about what a Pheu Thai-led government will do for overworked and underpaid public health workers, with some claiming that policies to address the issues were not evident during the party’s campaign for the May 14 election.

While Pheu Thai Party leader Dr Cholnan Srikaew is expected to be the new public health minister, health advocates said the party’s public health policies are a mystery, especially those regarding workers’ welfare.

Suwimol Namkanisorn of the Nurses and Nurse Assistants Union and the group Nurses Connect said members are disappointed, but they want to hold discussions with the new minister over health workers’ problems, especially labour welfare, as it is considered an emergency.

“People waiting for any health service will be affected if more workers quit the system due to poor labour welfare,” she said on Monday.

Ms Suwimol said the main issues to be discussed are working hours and wages.

She said health workers — physicians, nurses, and other hospital workers –work more than 80–100 hours a week, which affects their physical and mental health. To make matters worse, workers receive poor wages despite such hours, which leads them to quit their jobs.

“We willingly take care of people in need, but the government has to take care of our welfare as well,” said Ms Suwimol.

She also said the group suggests the ministry collect worker data, as the information will help with problem-solving as it faithfully reflects the problems workers face.

The Department of Rail Transport has started to look into ways to implement the promise by the Pheu Thai-led coalition to cap fares on Bangkok’s electric train network to a flat rate of 20 baht per trip, a source in the department said on Monday.

The findings, the source said, will be submitted to the new administration once it takes office.

According to the source, the department is currently exploring two scenarios — the first will see a flat fare of 20 baht per trip applied only to low-income earners who hold a state welfare card. The second scenario, meanwhile, will see the flat fare applied to all passengers using the capital’s electric train network.

The first scenario would be cheaper to implement, as the government will only have to subsidise trips made by state welfare card holders. At present, 31,019 welfare cardholders use the city’s electric trains for their daily commute — once the fares are capped at 20 baht, the number is expected to rise to about 34,000 per day.

For this scenario to work, the government will have to chip in about 35 baht per ride, which comes up to 52,190 baht per day, or 307.9 million baht per year, the source said.

The second scenario will be more expensive to carry out, as the government will have to provide a subsidy to more passengers. At 17.47 baht per ride, the government will have to come up with 16.5 million baht in subsidies per day, or 5.44 billion baht per year, to keep fares at 20 baht, said the source.

Capping fares at 20 baht for everyone, however, will result in a significant jump in the number of electric train users per day — the source said the number of riders will jump by 9.6%, or about 104,296 people, to about 1.19 million passengers daily.

If the government can implement the policy before the beginning of next year, it will help reduce the concentration of hazardous, ultra-fine PM2.5 pollutant, which tends to spike during the cooler months, said the DRT.

BURI RAM: An 18-year-old girl was critically injured after being attacked with acid by two unknown assailants over an alleged love affair.

Natthikarn “Aum” Khairum, a student at a school in Nang Rong district, was splashed with acid while having a meal with her aunt and grandmother at a local restaurant.

Her aunt, Wiwat Chaketram, and her grandmother, Ta Bawornram, were also injured in the attack. They sustained skin burns, though their injuries were not as severe as Ms Natthikarn’s.

Ms Wiwat said she noticed the attackers emerge from a car without licence plates that was parked outside the restaurant. The two men walked from the car towards Ms Natthikarn and poured two jars of acid over her.

Her clothes were destroyed immediately, and her skin badly burned, Ms Wiwat said.

Ms Natthikarn is now out of danger in Buriram Hospital, but the acid may have destroyed her sight permanently.

Ms Wiwat said Ms Natthikarn has been living with her grandmother since her parents divorced and moved to another province for work.

The family suspect that the motive for the attack may have stemmed from a relationship Ms Natthikarn was in.

Meanwhile, Nong Rong Police said investigators were hunting the two attackers.

Officers are currently tracking them down using CCTV footage and patrols across Nang Rong district.

According to the police’s initial investigation, Ms Natthikarn was involved in a legal battle with her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend.

The former boyfriend had been harassing her, according to local police.

Boy wrongly given jab ends up in ICU

TRANG: The province’s Public Health Office has ordered an investigation into a nurse employed by a private hospital who allegedly injected a sick toddler with adrenaline, worsening his condition.

According to the office’s chief physician, Sinchai Rongdech, the office will specifically be looking into the hospital’s medication prescribing practices in an effort to determine how the four-year-old boy ended up receiving two milligrammes of intravenous adrenaline.

The boy’s plight went viral on social media after a story penned by his mother was shared on X, formerly Twitter, by user @RedSkullxxx on Saturday.

The post said that the boy was sent to the hospital on June 21 after complaining of a fever and cough. He was supposed to stay for a night, but then his condition immediately worsened after he was injected with adrenaline. The boy began vomiting blood and went into shock.

He was sent to Trang Hospital after spending about four hours in the private hospital’s emergency room, where doctors attempted to revive him without success. He was then referred to the Southern Centre Hospital, where he stayed in an intensive care unit (ICU) for 12 days.

There, the boy was diagnosed with an adrenaline overdose and a respiratory infection.

Once the boy’s condition stabilised, the private hospital admitted to his mother that an error occurred during the prescription process, as his doctor actually prescribed adrenaline spray instead of IV adrenaline.

According to Dr Sinchai, doctors normally prescribe spray adrenaline for fully conscious patients. He noted IV adrenaline is usually only prescribed for patients who are unconscious.

To make matters worse, the hospital said that the nurse in question was actually a part-time nurse, according to the boy’s mother.

While the boy’s condition has significantly improved, his mother said he still suffers from hemiparesis, or partial weakness to one side of the body.

The family was promised at least 870,000 baht in compensation, but as of Monday, the family has not received anything.

The family is now demanding the maximum compensation allowed by law, as the boy will need at least two years to recover.

Civilian in role will ‘bolster’ govt image

Pheu Thai deputy leader Sutin Klungsang has re-emerged as a defence minister candidate to appease red shirts and support the forging of closer ties between the government and the armed forces, according to a party source.

In the latest cabinet line-up, the Pheu Thai list-MP is seen taking the defence portfolio, which was previously allocated to Gen Natthapon Nakpanich, a former secretary-general of the National Security Council and a close associate of outgoing prime minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha.

The source said Pheu Thai has decided to nominate Mr Sutin as the defence minister candidate for several reasons, including strong resistance against Gen Natthapon by red-shirt members due to his alleged role in the 2010 military crackdown on red-shirt protesters.

As the armed forces are expected to have diverse missions in addition to national security, Mr Sutin will serve as a connecting point to forge closer ties between the military and the government, said the source.

A civilian serving as the defence minister will likely bolster the government’s image, the source said, adding that Mr Sutin’s proposed appointment should help reduce discontent within party ranks as Gen Natthapon is considered an outsider.

However, the source said Pheu Thai expects some resistance from the military but insisted the party has no intention to “reform the military” but to “co-work” with the armed forces.

Asked if the change would upset Gen Prayut, the source said the matter must have been discussed and agreed to before Mr Sutin’s nomination.

Mr Sutin, a veteran politician from Maha Sarakham, said on Monday he is ready to take the defence portfolio while noting he had not been officially informed and only learned about it from the media.

If appointed defence minister, Mr Sutin would not be the country’s first civilian to assume the role.

However, other civilians who took up the post, Chuan Leekpai, Samak Sundaravej, Somchai Wongsawat and Yingluck Shinawatra, were prime ministers who had a former military officer as a deputy.

A source in the military said the armed forces have no objection to a civilian being named defence minister, but without a background in national security, he should have a former military officer as deputy. The source also said the armed forces are not worried about military reforms.

Wanwichit Boonprong, a political science lecturer at Rangsit University, said that if Mr Sutin assumes the defence minister role, it will boost the military’s image because Mr Sutin is familiar with military spending and the work of the Internal Security Operations Command.

He said that he believed Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin must have discussed with Gen Prayut before making the change, adding Mr Sutin also has a positive image and should be able to work with the military.

Mr Srettha said on Monday the cabinet list was complete, adding that the cabinet secretariat would have the qualifications of the proposed ministers examined before submitting the list for royal endorsement.

He declined to say who would assume the defence minister role but insisted no one would be disappointed when the name is revealed.

When asked about military reform, he said he did not like the word “reform” and preferred “co-development”, adding the matter would be discussed with the armed forces first.

A source close to Gen Natthapon said the general had no role in the military crackdown on red-shirt protesters during 2009-2010, and the report about his involvement was intended to discredit him and deny him the post.

‘Smart’ plan to help aged gets top gong

Chon Buri: Saensuk Municipality in Muang district of this eastern province has won a gold award for its success after having teamed up with Dell Corporation and Intel Microelectronic (Thailand) nearly 15 years ago to kick off Thailand’s first smart city for elderly people in Chon Buri.

Narongchai Khunplome, mayor of Saensuk Muncipality, said all the years of effort that have gone into improving the quality of life for people living in the small seaside city had been a response to its status as an ageing city with 20% of its 47,000 population aged over 60.

He said Saensuk Municipality realised that creating a healthy city would provide an avenue for sustainable development because the concept also spans the social, economic and environmental arenas.

“All must be integrated to create a city with good health. The municipality has invested in infrastructure, including a digital medical service platform as well as other necessary facilities to promote healthy recreational spaces for people of all ages,” he told the media during a press tour at the weekend.

He said the city had been funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) to support a plan to improve healthcare for the elderly. That included funding caregiver training in Japan and the construction of a Senior Development Centre where the elderly can enjoy many recreational activities such as swimming, dancing and more.

Saensuk is also among the top 10 healthy cities, performance-wise, funded by Jica.

Regarding smart technology, Mr Narongchai said the city now provides a “smart safety system”, to 300 frail elderly citizens who live alone or who have developed severe non-communicable diseases.

The system sees each given a two-way communication GPS device for direct contact with a medical team in case of an emergency, Mr Narongchai said.

“We have done a great job of ensuring health security for our people. What we are looking to do in the future is also align the city’s provisions with those of a “sports city”, which is now a recognised status within the global community.

We have plans to invest more in better facilities for sports lovers,” he said, adding that being a sports city will be a significant source of income, citing predicted revenue from staging a themed festival that could earn around 50 million baht each time it is held.

Meanwhile, Dr Amporn Chantawibul, a senior technical officer, said the department has plans to promote health for all ages through close cooperation with the local administration, adding that Saensuk Municipality is among 18 cities that have won a gold award for this year.

She said each city has its own particular management style that has driven it to achieve the main three elements of a Healthy Environment, Setting and People.

The Pheu Thai Party on Monday accepted for consideration a petition by the Internet Law Reform Dialogue (iLaw) group calling for a referendum on rewriting the 2017 constitution.

The petition calls for the new Pheu Thai-led government to organise a referendum to gauge public opinion on iLaw’s proposal to formally elect a new constitution-drafting assembly to rewrite the 2017 constitution.

The group submitted its proposal with the signatures of more than 200,000 people supporting it.

Pheu Thai leader Cholnan Srikaew said iLaw’s call aligns with his party’s intentions.

He said Pheu Thai will seek a cabinet resolution during the first meeting of the new government on its proposal to hold a referendum to decide whether or not the majority of the public agrees with the party’s intention to rewrite the charter.

During the petition submission at Pheu Thai’s headquarters on Monday, iLaw stressed it was concerned that public participation wouldn’t be assured in the new government’s bid to rewrite the charter. The petition is an effort to ensure that the public is properly involved in the new constitution, the group said.

Dr Cholnan said if Pheu Thai’s proposal is approved at that first meeting, the new government will seek to amend Section 256 of the constitution to allow the formation of a new charter drafting assembly.

A main opposition party previously sought to amend Section 256, paving the way for the setting up of a charter drafting assembly, but the Senate blocked the attempt.

Pheu Thai secretary-general Chusak Sirinil affirmed that the party has a clear aim to push for the rewriting of the entire constitution, saying he has proposed for the party first to seek to organise a referendum to gauge public opinion on the party’s intention.

Mr Chusak shrugged off concerns raised by some over the financial burden of rewriting the constitution while it could be partially amended.

He said it would be worth it if rewriting the charter best serves the public interest.

He said he agrees that the two key questions that should be asked in such a referendum are whether the charter should be rewritten entirely and should a new charter-drafting assembly be elected to do the job.

The Ministry of Interior has joined hands with anti-corruption agencies in declaring war on graft within state agencies.

Suttipong Juljarern, permanent secretary for the interior, yesterday chaired a seminar to discuss scaling up efforts to combat corruption.

The seminar was held at the Royal City Hotel in Bangkok, with about 230 people attending, including an adviser to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) chairman.

“We are honoured to have experts from anti-graft agencies share experiences of their work in a bid to inspire state officials to beef up efforts to fight against corruption,” Mr Suttipong said.

He said the ministry has stressed the importance of tackling graft head-on as the problem undermines the functions and systems of the state and public confidence in the government.

The Interior Ministry was the target of the most graft allegations and other disciplinary offences, followed by the Royal Thai Police and the Education Ministry, according to a report released by the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) in 2014.

The ministry’s senior officials have issued policy guidelines consistent with the governance principle to ensure transparency in the state administration, enabling people to monitor state agencies’ work under the law.

Mr Suttipong said all agencies agreed that graft in state agencies or the private sector could have a direct, adverse impact on the country. Brainstorming ideas to deal with the matter is necessary, he said.

The ministry has worked with various networks, particularly anti-corruption agencies, including the NACC and the PACC, as well as private sector organisations campaigning for graft eradication.

With a strong team behind it, Mr Suttipong said the ministry would be able to declare war on corruption while also raising awareness among state officials to strictly comply with governance principles in a bid to guarantee transparency within the state organisations.

“I must thank all relevant networks, particularly speakers from the NACC [who attended the seminar],” he said. “I hope input from the forum will help us achieve our goals in avoiding all forms of corruption and misconduct and boost public confidence.”