The death of the girl, bringing the regional toll to 11 with 5 deaths in Thailand, has spurred the government to a 'war on bird flu' in an attempt to irradicate the outbreak in 30 days. Confirmation of at least 2 human to human infections and other mammals (a dog was confirmed sick along with the girl), has WHO officals and international monitors worried that the virus has mutated or at least grown stronger.
With the 'cool/dry' season approaching conditions may be such that it is possible that the virus could cause an explosion of infections and even deaths. (CCTV, The Standard and Star News Asia)
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Since it was so darned popular before (domestically, but not internationally), Prime Minister Thaksin has declared round two of the war on drugs. The first campaign, which begain in February/March 2003, infuriated international human rights organizations due the the killing of more than 2,500 people most often by police. The deaths were descibed by international observers in many cases as extra-judicial killings and/or corrupt officer silencing would-be informants.
However, just about every Thai (except those shot), thought it was great! "Drugs very bad, Thaksin very good - no problem." commented one smiling Thai when asked about the violence in the war on drugs. Numerous other Thais polled by this writer during the campaign responded similarly. So, in summary:
Thailand, war on drugs...
International community...
The Thai people...
Khun Thaksin...
Various NGO's and human rights groups...
Lev and other farang in general.Full BBC story here.
All for now, see you soon!