Drug resistant malaria on Thailand-Burma border grows by 3,335%

Posted on April 8, 2012 by
Field microscopy along the Thailand-Burma border. Photo: Courtesy SMRU

Two recent studies of malaria along the Thailand-Burma border show that drug-resistant malaria in the region is increasing at an alarming rate, with one study showing a 3,335 percent increase in the last 10 years. The reports, Emergence of artemisinin-resistant malaria on the western border of Thailand: a longitudinal study published in The Lancet and A Major Genome Region Underlying Artemisinin Resistance in Malaria, published in the journal Science, show drug-resistant malaria is rapidly moving into new areas Funded by the Wellcome Trust and the US National Institutes of Health, the two research projects included scientists from Bangkok’s Mahidol University, the Centre for Tropical Medicine at Britain’s Oxford University, and the Texas Biomedical Research Institute in the USA, found that 42 percent of malaria cases in western Cambodia were resistant to drug treatment, indicating that drug resistant malaria along the Thailand-Burma border is rapidly approaching the rate in Cambodia. Researchers said malaria that was resistant to the current standard drug therapy, artemisinin, had spread more than 800km (500 miles) west to the Thailand-Burma border since it was confirmed in Cambodia … Continue reading →

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Betrayal in the land of smiles – the death of Gareth Paul Davies

Posted on March 30, 2012 by
Editorial – Thailand current events

Editorial The death of Leicestershire English teacher Gareth Davies is one of the most needless deaths to have occurred in Thailand in several years and in the final analysis amounts to nothing more than a betrayal in the land of smiles, as Thailand so often likes to refer to itself. With the 2015 Asean Community rapidly approaching, Thailand is in desperate need to ramp up it’s English language skills if it is not going be part of the flotsam, left in the wake of countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, India and even Indonesia and Vietnam. The current Thailand Government recognises the urgency needed to improve the English language skills of the Thai people and the county’s Ministry of Education, the Office of Higher Education and Office of Private Education (Opec) are all forging ahead with various programs to achieve this goal. Private Bangkok English language schools such as English Click in Yanawa, one of Bangkok’s oldest English language schools, say there is an increasing number of inquiries from people wanting to improve their English language skills ahead of 2015. Abandoned … Continue reading →

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Call for inquiry into death & treatment of Kasem Bundit University English teacher Gareth Davies by British Embassy Bangkok & employer

Posted on March 27, 2012 by
A nurse attends to Gareth Davies at Rajavithi Hospital on Sunday, March 25

The brother of a Leicestershire English teacher who died in Bangkok yesterday is calling for an inquiry into the British Embassy Bangkok’s handling of the matter, in addition to an inquiry by the Thailand Government into his employment by Kasem Bundit University. Speaking from his home in Devon, Mr Michael Davies said the manner in which the British Embassy Bangkok handled his brother Gareth’s basic human rights was “absolute crap”, at the same time lambasting his brothers employer, Kasem Bundit University, for ignoring his brother and failing to correct a wrong for almost a month. “The foreign service costs the taxpayer a lot of money, but when people are most vulnerable and in need of assistance the average citizen abroad can’t get these well-paid, trumped-up clerks to get out of their air-conditioned offices when a British subject is in dire need. In an attempt to gain answers himself, Mr Davies said he had requested an autopsy be performed on his brother in Bangkok, as his condition seems to have deteriorated rapidly over the last week or so. On March 16 … Continue reading →

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Leicestershire English teacher Gareth Davies dead – British ambassador defends lack of intervention

Posted on March 26, 2012 by
Gareth Davies in Rajavithi Hospital on March 25, 2012

Forty-seven-year-old Leicestershire English teacher Gareth Davies has died in Bangkok just days after his impassioned pleas to be transferred from a provincial Thailand hospital were answered, while British Ambassador to Thailand Asif Ahmad, continues to defend the British Embassy in Bangkok’s lack of intervention. Mr Davies was transferred to Bangkok’s Rajavithi Hospital late on Friday afternoon, after days of intense lobbying by Thai and foreign citizens in Bangkok saw the Leicestershire English teacher’s employer, Kasem Bundit University, remit the social welfare contributions it had been deducting from his salary to Thailand’s Social Welfare Fund and settle his hospital bill at the HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Medical Centre, some 70km (43 miles) from the heart of Bangkok. (See: Get me out of here pleads Leicestershire English teacher) However, when Mr Davies arrived at Rajavithi Hospital on Friday evening the hospital was reluctant to admit him as it was unable to confirm his Social Welfare Fund eligibility, setting off a series of late-night telephone calls to Thai government employees, government ministers and officials, with well connected Bangkok businesswoman Patrachit Chotikapanich tapping … Continue reading →

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Get me out of here pleads Leicestershire English teacher Gareth Davies

Posted on March 22, 2012 by
47-year-old Leicester English teacher Gareth Davies suddenly found out his Thailand employer had not been making Social Welfare Fund contributions

A seriously ill Leicestershire English teacher in Thailand, Gareth Davies, has phoned friends and relatives begging to be transferred from the provincial hospital he is warded in, complaining of neglect and abuse by hospital staff. Mr Davies, from the Leicestershire village of Glennfield, accepted a teaching position at Kasem Bundit University last year, but when he fell ill earlier this month with CREST Syndrome, a connective tissue disease that affects the skin, blood vessels, muscles, and internal organs, he found that his employer had not made the necessary contributions to the country’s Social Welfare Fund, despite deducting his share of contributions from his salary. (See: Leicestershire English teacher abandoned by Kasem Bundit University). A fellow Leicestershire businessman in Bangkok and friend of Mr Davies said he received a late-night telephone call last night (March 21) from the Leicestershire English teacher, begging to be moved from the HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Medical Centre in Nakon Nayok, about 70km from Bangkok, due to continued abuse and neglect by hospital staff. Wishing to be only identified by the name of Jason, the … Continue reading →

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