South-East Asia (Page 1,391)

The Supreme Administrative Court ended an 11-year ban on domestic screenings of the controversial movie Shakespeare Tong Tai (Shakespeare Must Die) on Tuesday.

The warrant also ordered the Film Screening Committee under the former Culture Ministry, known informally as the Censorship Department, to compensate those involved with the film.

After the ruling was announced, artist and activist Manit Sriwanichpoom, who worked as a producer for the movie, took to his Facebook account, saying a screening schedule would be released later.

He hailed the decision as a historical high point for the movie industry.

“Finally, Shakespeare Must Die is free,” he wrote in his post.

The film was directed by Samanrat “Ing” Kanjanavanit, or Ing K. It was originally planned to be screened in April 2012.

The movie was financially supported by the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture (OCAC) under the former Yingluck Shinawatra administration’s Thai Khem Kaeng scheme.

Adapted from William Shakespeare’s famous tragedy Macbeth, the movie focuses on a theatre group in a fictional country resembling Thailand that is staging a production of the famous play, in which the ambitious general murders his way to the Scottish throne.

The ban was issued by Ms Yingluck’s administration on April 3, 2012, reasoning that it was a national security threat due to the visual references to violent political crackdowns, including the Thammasat University protest of Oct 6, 1976, and Black May in 1992.

The production team had been seeking to get the ban overturned for more than a decade.

It was rescinded following a Jan 4 notice by the National Committee on Soft Power Development about regulating censorship, which the panel said should be limited mostly to risks of defaming the monarchy.

Those changes are expected to be completed in the middle of this year.

Public Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew is confident a new limit on methamphetamine pill possession will suppress small drug dealers.

“I insist the law will be effective right after it’s issued,” Dr Cholnan told the media.

The new policy specifies that five methamphetamine pills are the maximum amount a person may possess without facing criminal charges. They will be considered drug users and given the option of rehabilitation instead.

This is part of the government’s policy to treat drug users as psychiatrically ill patients in an effort to rake out small dealers, Dr Cholnan said.

All facets of the new drug limit have been thoroughly reviewed based on medical science and approved by the relevant committee, cabinet and Council of State, he said.

Responding to comments on social media that the law will spur the drug trade, Dr Cholnan said he will not show any tolerance to drug dealers.

If those in possession of narcotics are found to be dealers, they will face severe punishments.

Regarding drug users, Dr Cholnan said they would be given a one-time chance to undergo rehabilitation without facing a jail term. But if they repeat the offence, they will face legal action.

He said the law does not stipulate how many times the drug users can undergo rehabilitation. Each case will be determined on its merits.

“If the drug addicts have a strong intention to undergo rehab, one time is normally enough for them to change,” he said.

Dr Cholnan noted that authorities should also consider the environment in which the drug addicts live and ways of tackling the bigger picture.

“Most small drug dealers likely start as users until they run out of money and become dealers instead,” said Dr Cholnan.

“If we can separate drug users from the sellers by rehabilitating them until they have recuperated, we will be able to eradicate the cycle of drug abuse,” he said.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin revealed that he had proposed establishing pollution mitigation funds with the United Nations (UN) at a recent meeting.

He said after the cabinet briefing on Tuesday that he had raised the idea with Amina J Mohammed, the UN’s deputy secretary-general, during their conversations on sustainable development.

The fund is expected to offer financial support to lower-income countries to mitigate against pollution, especially fine particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns (PM2.5).

Mr Srettha shared with Ms Mohammed that pollution problems are linked to the global economy and should not be considered domestic problems.

He added that in Thailand, pollution worsens when locals and neighbouring countries burn their agricultural plantations.

Part of the problem is a lack of money to buy herbicides due to the downturn in the economic situation.

He said that the fund will help solve the country’s environmental problems and support national development.

Ms Mohammed praised the Thai government for the plan, said the premier.

Regarding the pollution situation on Tuesday, the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (Gistda) at 8am reported that 27 provinces experienced orange-level pollution that exceeded the safe threshold of 37.5 microgrammes per cubic metre the previous day.

Nakhon Phanom ranked the worst at 74.8 µg/m³, followed by Amnat Charoen (72.4), Nong Khai (69.6), Mukdaharn (66.6), and Bueng Kan (64).

In Nan, the pollution level has exceeded that threshold for at least 24 days due to continuous wildfires in three districts around Si Nan National Park.

The high levels of pollution led to smog covering the province, with the pollution level at 41.7-51.5 µg/m³ at the measuring points. At least 1,000 rai of the forest inside the national park in Wiang Sa, Na Noi, and Na Muen districts was reportedly damaged.

The fires stemmed partially from agricultural activities, including preparing land for plantation.

Theraphol Thongmeekhao, director-general of the Nan-Phrae Wildfire Control Promotion Centre, said that controlling widespread fires is difficult due to the huge forest area and lack of manpower to fight the blazes.

The local authority has banned any burning in the province from March 15 to April 30, with legal proceedings threatened against those who violate them, said Governor Chainarong Wongyai.

Bangkok, however, was reported to have had relatively mild pollution on Monday, with the pollution levels reaching just 9.5–25.8 µg/m³, the city’s Air Quality Information Centre reported.

The cabinet has given the green light to a 37-billion-baht project to produce 62,000 family medicine doctors within 10 years to improve the country’s primary care services.

Government spokesman Chai Wacharonke said Tuesday’s cabinet meeting agreed in principle to approve the project to bump up the number of healthcare workers in the field of family medicine to upgrade the primary care service system.

The project was proposed by the Public Health Ministry.

It aims to produce 62,000 family medicine professionals, including physicians, nurses, public health scholars, nursing assistants, public health assistants, dentists, pharmacists, paramedics and traditional Thai medicine practitioners between 2025 and 2034 to improve the primary healthcare system.

Daughter sheds light on father’s condition in response to speculation about how ill he is

Thaksin Shinawatra is preparing to welcome another former prime minister on Wednesday when Hun Sen flies in from Cambodia to visit the parolee at his Bangkok home.

Thaksin and Hun Sen have developed a strong friendship over many years and the former Cambodian strongman reportedly decided to visit Thaksin at his home out of a personal concern for his health.

Thaksin is now officially on parole after serving half of a one-year prison sentence — reduced from eight years under a royal pardon — for conflict of interest and abuse of power while in office prior to 2006.

The state of the ex-premier’s health has been the subject of endless speculation since he was discharged on Sunday from Police General Hospital, where he was being treated for a variety of conditions.

Corrections officials and doctors have said little over the past six months about exactly what was ailing the 74-year-old, in keeping with patient confidentiality. But on Tuesday Thaksin’s daughter Paetongtarn shed some light on her father’s condition during a meeting with members of the Pheu Thai Party, which he founded and she leads.

The neck brace and the sling worn by Thaksin in the photo his daughter posted on her Instagram account? They’re not props, a Pheu Thai spokesman assured the public.

Danuporn Punnakanta said Ms Paetongtarn told the gathering that the neck brace was for cervical spondylosis, a degenerative spinal condition common in the elderly, and the sling was for tendonitis.

While in hospital, Thaksin had surgery to repair a frayed tendon, which has healed slowly because he did not have an opportunity to exercise, the spokesman quoted Ms Paetongtarn as saying.

Those conditions aside, Thaksin was already considerably weakened by three bouts with Covid-19, and is still experiencing the effects of “long Covid”, said Mr Danuporn.

The spokesman said Thaksin was now looking to regain his health so that he could “give advice to politicians”, according to local media reports.