Thailand hopes to clear its last bird-flu outbreak within the next two days and the country's fast growing economy will not take a major hit from the epidemic, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said yesterday.
Thailand, the world's fourth biggest chicken exporter has slaughtered 26 million fowl and was confident the virus was under control, Thaksin said.
"There is only one red zone, in Bangkok at Lat Krabang. We hope to clear that within one or two days," Thaksin, accused by newspapers and the political opposition of covering up the outbreak, said in his weekly radio address to the nation.
Last week, Thailand, one of the worst hit of the eight Asian countries struck by the H5N1 virus which has also killed 18 people, had more than 140 of the "red zones", the 5km area around a confirmed outbreak within which the government orders the slaughter of all poultry.
Officials say they will go back over all the former red zones to make certain bird flu, which has killed at least five Thais as well as at least 13 Vietnamese, has been eradicated.
The government, which admits it was slow to realise there was a bird flu epidemic but says it acted swiftly once it did, is now trying to persuade people who have shunned poultry during the crisis to eat chicken again.
The Bangkok Post newspaper said army chefs across the country had been ordered to put chicken back on their menus in a bid to allay public fears.
Army chief General Chaisit Shinawatra had instructed mess halls to serve chicken at least three days a week to both officers and other ranks, it said.
"Soldiers will serve as role models in proving it was safe to eat well-cooked chickens," it quoted a military official as saying.
The government was also organizing "chicken-eating fairs" across the country yesterday in a bid to convince people that the experts are right to say well-cooked chicken and eggs pose no danger.
Apart from giving out free chicken, Thaksin himself was to prepare stir-fried chicken with eggs at the main event at Bangkok's Sanam Luang in the shadow of the Grand Palace.
However, Thaksin, who had dismissed the economic impact would be "minimal," admitted in his radio address it was possible it could be greater than anticipated initially, but he said he was confident growth this year would meet his eight percent target.
"In the worst case, the economy will grow six percent," he said. "But I assure you it should grow more than 7.5 percent."
"We will be trying to meet the eight percent growth target and I am confident we can," he said.
Analysts expect growth of seven percent this year after an estimated 6.3 percent rise last year.
Thailand, which rears one billion chickens a year and earns more than US$1 billion from poultry exports, has slaughtered 26 million birds, by far the greatest number of the 10 Asian countries struck by flu.
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that at least 50 million poultry have been killed in Asia, including Taiwan and Pakistan, which have reported outbreaks of a milder strain which cannot cross the species barrier and infect humans.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
RSS