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A man who parked his pickup truck behind an ambulance is accused of disrupting the emergency transfer of a critically ill patient at Plaipraya Hospital in Krabi province. The patient later died from respiratory failure.

The family in the pickup was transporting their mother, who was conscious and responsive but suffering from dizziness.

The hospital in Plai Phraya district issued a statement on Saturday to express condolences to the deceased and explain the incident, which took place on Thursday, Oct 16.

At 11.10pm, medical staff, stretcher personnel and security officers were actively providing emergency care to a male patient suffering from acute myocardial infarction and respiratory failure, which required intubation, the statement said.

The patient was prepared for transfer to Krabi Hospital, which is a referral facility with greater treatment capacity.

‘At 11.15pm, a brown Toyota pickup truck was parked closely behind the designated ambulance, blocking its rear door,’ it said. ‘The vehicle was transporting another woman patient, 69.’

The relatives wheeled her into the emergency room and encountered the head nurse, who was preparing documents and working on the transfer of the critical patient, the hospital said.

The nurse explained the situation to the relatives and asked them to wait for a moment, providing a bed for the patient and taking notes about her medical history. ‘However, they complained with loud voices about the lack of immediate attention for their mother,’ the hospital’s statement said. (Story continues below)

When the critical patient was about to board the ambulance, staff discovered the truck was still obstructing their way. They requested the driver to move the vehicle, but he did not cooperate. ‘The truck owner continued to angrily complain about the lack of service,’ the hospital said.

‘The family of the critical patient then went on their knees in tears, pleading with the driver to move the truck.’

Despite their pleas, the other party continued to argue with staff for some time before eventually moving the vehicle, allowing the transportation to Krabi Hospital, the statement said.

However, the critical patient, who was the father of the family, later passed away on the same night. For the patient transported in the pickup, doctors provided emergency care until her condition improved and prescribed medication for home use.

The hospital said the actions of the truck owner ‘obstructed urgent duties of the medical team’.

According to Thairath Online, a daughter of the deceased, identified as Pattaraporn Panich, 29, said she believed that if the transfer had been a bit faster, her father might have survived as every minute is critical for a heart disease patient.

The family is not pursuing any legal action at this time and will decide whether to do so after the father’s funeral. Plai Phraya Hospital director Dr Natthapong Doo-Ngam shared with Thairath that the hospital has assigned its legal team to gather evidence and consider reporting to police on Monday. The details have not yet been finalised, he said.

It was found that the truck driver was an employee of Charoen Pokphand Foods Plc.

‘After reviewing the surrounding facts, the company determined that the employee’s behaviour did not align with the organisation’s values and operational principles,” the company said in a statement issued on Sunday. “Therefore, the company has decided to stop employing the individual involved.”

Confucian studies in Thailand are gaining renewed momentum through research collaborations, youth-focused initiatives and international partnerships, as highlighted during the 7th meeting of the Executive Committee of the International Confucian Association (ICA), held recently in Xiamen, China.

In his remarks at the meeting, former deputy prime minister Phinij Jarusombat praised the ICA’s growing influence in advancing Confucian research and fostering intercultural dialogue.

He cited the successful “Harmonious Civilisation Seminar 2025”, held in Bangkok in June, as a prime example of Thailand’s active role in promoting Confucian thought across Southeast Asia.

“This meeting allows us to reflect on the past, assess the present, and plan for the future,” Mr Phinij said. “The Bangkok seminar vividly demonstrated how Confucian wisdom can engage with global challenges through the exchange of ideas across cultures.”

The 2025 seminar, themed “Confucian Philosophy and Global Civilisational Dialogue”, attracted hundreds of participants from political, academic and business sectors across Asia and beyond.

Attended by high-level representatives, including ICA President Sun Chunlan and senior Thai officials, the event established a platform for in-depth exchanges on Confucian values such as benevolence, sincerity and harmony.

Discussions explored how these principles could inform responses to pressing global issues, including climate change, social fragmentation and geopolitical tensions.

Delegates also examined Confucian perspectives on education, youth responsibility and corporate ethics, with the seminar fostering new networks of cross-cultural understanding.

Mr Phinij said the seminar underscored the vitality of Confucianism in contemporary society.

Rather than dwelling on the past, the discussions focused on how Confucian moral wisdom can guide areas such as business ethics, family education and community governance — even extending to frontier fields like artificial intelligence and digital ethics.

Core Confucian tenets such as “Do not do to others what you do not wish for yourself” and “Harmony without uniformity” were presented as valuable frameworks for global governance and international relations in today’s fragmented world.

The seminar’s messages resonated widely through extensive coverage by Thai and international media. Its emphasis on “harmony” inspired young people to reflect on how traditional culture can coexist with modern civilisation. Mr Phinij noted that although Confucian wisdom is rooted in China, it can flourish within Thailand’s cultural landscape, which blends Buddhist and traditional values.

Drawing from Thailand’s experience, Mr Phinij presented two proposals to strengthen global Confucian scholarship and cooperation. He proposed establishing a Thai-Chinese International Confucian Research Centre to systematically translate and interpret classical Confucian texts while training a new generation of bilingual scholars versed in both Thai and Chinese cultures.

The initiative would also integrate Confucian values — including filial piety, compassion, loyalty, honesty, propriety, justice and self-reflection — into Thai education.

Thailand’s role as a regional tourism and cultural hub could further be leveraged to host more intercultural events, including future Harmonious Civilisation Seminars, positioning the country as a key node for Confucian exchange in Southeast Asia.

Mr Phinij also advocated for a rotating regional hosting mechanism within the ICA to better reflect global diversity and incorporate perspectives from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the government has a plan to deal with the conflict with Cambodia, before warning that any intrusion into the kingdom’s sovereign territory will be met with firm action.

Speaking at a seminar jointly organised by the Medical Council of Thailand and the Mahitala Dhibesra Institute on Sunday, Mr Anutin said: ‘As the government, I ask everyone in Thailand to remain calm about the situation with Cambodia. We will not be at a disadvantage.

“Some have asked why the government has been so quiet. Sir, would you go to war and announce your battle plans? You cannot tell them in advance that you will negotiate or take certain actions – the moment you do, they will counter it over there.

“Be assured: no government will allow our country to be placed at a disadvantage by a neighbouring state or by any country with which we have a dispute. We must protect our national interests,” he said.

“Some say Thailand is doing nothing and is allowing the other side to act unilaterally. Let me make it clear: there have been no shots fired into our territory, no invasions, no provocations along our border. Why? Because our message reached them: if they come, we will respond decisively. They know that and have thought better of it.

“But I cannot stand here and say, ‘If they come we will send this force’ – that is impossible. We will not disclose our plans and allow others to prepare,” he said.

The government will expel any intruders in Thai territory, but in disputed areas, its actions must follow international procedures, with discussions and negotiations determining the scope of intervention, the prime minister said.

Separately, Nikorndej Balankura, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) special session in Chanthaburi on Oct 20-21 will focus on two key issues, namely Cambodian encroachment in Ban Nong Chan and Ban Nong Ya Kaeo in Sa Kaeo, and Thailand’s plan to build a fence along agreed border markers.

A group of 162 illegal migrant workers from Myanmar has been arrested on Sunday while they were waiting in a forest in Thong Pha Phum district for transport to promised jobs in Thai provinces and Malaysia.

The provincial governor, Athisarn Intra, was informed at 9.30am that the illegal workers were hiding in the forested area in tambon Tha Khanun. They were reportedly Myanmar nationals who sneaked into the kingdom.

A Thong Pha Phum special task force acting on the information found the large group of 162 people, who all surrendered to the authorities peacefully.

There were 94 men, 57 women and 11 boys and girls aged between 15-18.

Initial questioning through an interpreter revealed the group had entered Thailand via natural border routes in Sangkhla Buri district. They evaded checkpoints and travelled by boat, disembarking in Thong Pha Phum district.

From there, a driver took them in batches to wait in the forest, instructing them to wait for five more hours for another vehicle that would take them into the city.

The workers said they paid brokers between 20,000 and 24,000 baht for the transportation to promised jobs in Samut Sakhon, Bangkok, Chon Buri, Ayutthaya and Songkhla. Some hoped to cross the border into Malaysia.

Foreign Affairs Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow acknowledges the proposed Thailand-Cambodia Relations Declaration, aimed at restoring peace and strengthening bilateral ties, remains vague.

Speaking in an interview released by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, following four-party consultations in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, Mr Sihasak said that while Thailand and Cambodia had agreed in principle on key issues, many details still need to be discussed. They would be raised at the General Border Committee (GBC) meeting on Monday.

The declaration, discussed during meetings involving Cambodia, Malaysia, the United States, and Thailand, outlines cooperation in four main areas that Thailand has proposed to Cambodia: troop withdrawal, joint demining, tackling transnational crimes, and peaceful resolution of territorial disputes.

Mr Sihasak said the current draft remained ‘at the principle level’ and lacked specific implementation measures.

Malaysia and the United States hoped the declaration could be signed during the Asean Summit from Oct 26 to 28 in Kuala Lumpur, which President Trump is expected to attend.

Yet Thailand insisted that a detailed working plan must be developed before any signing takes place, he said.

Mr Sihasak also disclosed that Cambodia wanted Thailand to release 18 Cambodians captured during the conflict. Thailand, however, insisted that Cambodia make progress on the four key areas first.

‘We want to build trust with Cambodia, but actions must follow the framework,’ he said.

The GBC meeting would focus on ensuring both sides adhere to the agreement in practice. ‘If we lack these details, the declaration will remain just words on paper,’ he cautioned.

Re: “Biology lesson”, (PostBag, Oct 16).

Half an apology (or swallowing half a pill) is better than none, so kudos to Ray Ban.

Ray Ban tells us some of the new “greenery” recorded from space, as in the deserts of China and India, is due to the “deliberate planting of large areas of trees” and the “Sahara, Kalahari, Simpson and Gobi deserts, among many others, continue to expand in area, due in part to the global warming caused by man-made carbon dioxide.”

There is no man-made global warming crisis; this is abundantly clear. China’s massive “green wall” project in the Sahel reportedly had up to 80 % tree mortality when irrigation support ended.

Studies using NDVI and remote sensing found the Gobi Desert underwent a contraction between 2000 and 2012, attributed to increased precipitation and CO2-driven greening. Land use management (overgrazing, deforestation, irrigation, soil degradation) and rainfall remain the principal drivers of desertification.

Lastly, Ray Ban advises using Google despite their algorithms which are designed to drive the vaccine and climate change narratives. Anything which does not use the Google search engine is a better choice.

Michael Setter

That’s a big leap

Re: “Living room horror”, (PostBag, Oct 16).

Jason Jellison seems to have had more than his fair share of interactions with people acting badly under the influence of drugs, so it is perhaps not surprising that he is so supportive of ex-PM Thaksin’s “amateur” but lethal war on drugs in 2003.

No doubt he might feel the same way about ex-president Duterte’s record of extrajudicial killings of drug suspects during his 2016-2022 hold on power in the Philippines. One could also reasonably presume that he believes the President of the United States, Donald Trump, whom Mr Jellison affectionately refers to as “my president”, is justified in blowing up suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and killing Venezuelan and Colombian nationals.

Luckily for the two addled youths who broke into his home, Khun Jason’s somewhat intriguing approach of “self defence” and talking to their parents was admirably restrained and resolved the incident.

When, however, he can describe those two Thai teenagers as the embodiment of “mind-bending, narcotic evil”, one has to ask how easily the outcome might have been very different, given his casual acceptance of summary execution for anyone even suspected of drug use, if there had been a firearm to hand.

Ray Ban

Let’s debate it

Re: “Biology lesson” and “Living room horror” (BP, Oct 16).

The letter titled “Living room horror”, reflects critical thinking is in short supply. It is not surprising that Jason A Jellison yet again jumps from a single personal anecdote to the claim that Thaksin Shinawatra’s murderous war on drugs was a good thing.

More interesting is Ray Ban’s thoughtful letter “Biology lesion” reply to Anna Aarts, who has correctly pointed out that higher CO2 levels are good for plant life. The evidence shows this to be true. During the carboniferous era some 350 to 300 million years ago, CO2 levels were several times higher than they are today.

It is also a fact that our planet is warming rapidly and there is no reason to doubt the expert consensus that humankind has been a major contributor.

The response to claims that human activity is driving global warming should indeed be debated. Are carbon taxes the way to go? Should we switch as rapidly as possible to sustainable energy sources? Should we look to geo-engineering on a massive scale?

Or is another response more likely to avert, or at this late stage ameliorate, what is well underway? This is what should be debated, not the basic fact that our species’ acts are today the primary driver of the warming planet and resulting climate change that we are accurately measuring from year to year.