Author: Chalong Tantasatityanon

On a February morning, Vietnam veteran Lee Pascasio sat in his brother-in-law’s room on 2 East at ECU Health Medical Center. As Melissa Warren, a nurse on the unit, checked on Willis Johnston Stancill she noticed his blood pressure was spiking, and the team sprung into action. Pascasio said he watched in silence as the team went to work saving Stancill’s life. He said he’d seen that kind of teamwork before in his time as a Marine. The experience moved Pascasio to gift his Navy Commendation Medal, earned during his service in Vietnam, to Melissa Warren and the rest of the…

The former publisher of independent news outlet The Irrawaddy has been sentenced to five years in prison for sedition, marking the latest in a barrage of attacks on the press in Myanmar following the 2021 military coup. Thaung Win was sentenced by the military-controlled Western Yangon District Court on June 28 under Article 124-A of the penal code, which covers sedition, and fined him 100,000 kyats, or about $47, according to The Irrawaddy. He was arrested nine months earlier at his home in the city of Yangon in late September. Win was initially charged with violating the Publishing and Distribution Act by reporting…

Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu met with Narongphan Jitkaewtae, commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army, on Saturday in Beijing. Li said China stands ready to work with Thailand to implement to the letter the important consensus reached by the leaders of both countries and to push for more fruits of cooperation between the two militaries, especially between the two armies. Against the backdrop of the Asia-Pacific currently facing some security challenges, China is willing to jointly maintain regional stability with Thailand and ensure lasting security in the region, Li said. Narongphan expressed appreciation and firm…

Thailand’s consumer confidence index (CCI) increased slightly in May, reaching a 39-month high, boosted by higher economic activity during the general election and a rebound in tourism, a survey showed on Thursday. According to the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) survey of 2,243 respondents across the country, the CCI edged up to 55.7 in May from 55.0 a month earlier, marking the 12th consecutive month of growth. The May figure was on a rising trend but saw minor growth as consumers were concerned over the sluggish economy, high energy prices, and political stability following a general election,…

China’s top men’s singles player Shi Yuqi suffered an early exit at the badminton Thailand Open here on Wednesday. The third seed went down against Kiran George of India 21-18, 22-20 in the tournament’s first round, after a short break following the Sudirman Cup in which Shi has played a pivotal role in China’s champion run. China’s world No.1 women’s doubles Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan as well as mixed doubles pair Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong skipped the tournament while women’s singles player Chen Yufei withdrew. China suffered another setback when mixed doubles pair Feng Yenzhe/Huang Dongping, who finished…

Chinese tourist arrivals to Thailand hit one million in mid-May, on course to meet the country’s whole-year target on the Chinese market of five million, an official from Thailand’s tourism body said Wednesday. The return of Chinese tourists is a boon for the country amid headwinds to recovery from the pandemic, Chuwit Sirivejkul, regional director for East Asia of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, told Xinhua. The government expects the spending of Chinese visitors to reach 446 billion baht (about 13.18 billion U.S. dollars). “We are cooperating with Chinese airlines. We try to expand flight routes between the two countries,…

Experts from seven countries, including China, joined a training session on plasma and nuclear fusion technology this week for researchers and students from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and neighboring countries in the central Thai province of Nakhon Nayok. The Eighth ASEAN School on Plasma and Nuclear Fusion 2023, which started on Monday, is a five-day program held by the Thailand Institute of Nuclear Technology (TINT). The training session “is one way to build a larger pool of talented young minds to engage in harnessing the fusion energy,” Thawatchai Onjun, executive director of TINT, said at the opening…

Pedestrians shade themselves from sunshine with an umbrella in Bangkok, Thailand, May 17, 2023. Thailand is hit by a heat wave, with the highest temperature in Bangkok reaching 41 degrees Celsius recently. (Xinhua/Rachen Sageamsak) A pedestrian shades herself from sunshine with a scarf in Bangkok, Thailand, May 17, 2023. Thailand is hit by a heat wave, with the highest temperature in Bangkok reaching 41 degrees Celsius recently. (Xinhua/Rachen Sageamsak) Pedestrians shade themselves from sunshine with papers in Bangkok, Thailand, May 17, 2023. Thailand is hit by a heat wave, with the highest temperature in Bangkok reaching 41 degrees Celsius recently.…

China will send warships to a multilateral naval exercise hosted this month by Indonesia, which has also invited countries such as North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the United States, amid rising tension in the Asia-Pacific region. The drills come as China and the United States ramp up military diplomacy in the region, staging more frequent war games with allies and partners around Taiwan, the busy waterway of the South China Sea, and the west Pacific. China’s navy will send its destroyer Zhanjiang and frigate Xuchang, both equipped with guided missiles, to the 2023 Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo (MNEK), the defence…

The Thai government is planning to register the loincloth or “Pha khao ma” as an intangible cultural heritage item with UNESCO to promote Thai culture globally, a government official said on Sunday. Government spokesperson Mr. Anucha Buraphachaisri announced that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was highly impressed with the performance of Thai dancers donning the traditional attire earlier this month at the World Dance Day in Jakarta. The dancers not only received a roaring applause from the audience but many foreigners also asked to click photos with them. According to Mr. Anucha, Gen Prayut believes that the “Pha khao ma” can be a…