Access to life saving medicines is once more at the heart of trade negotiations between Thailand and the US. And again the US administration and businesses have chosen to bully the Thai government in advance of a meeting in Washington prior to the release of the that impacts on trade conditions between the US and its partners.
Compulsory licensing (CL) has been the casus beli of an ongoing battle started when the junta government led by Surayud Chulanont issued compulsory licences for antiretrovirals and anti-cancer drugs in September 2006 in …

Two important articles have appeared in The Bangkok Post newspaper since last week’s cancellation of the 2nd Chiang Mai Gay Pride Parade because a small group of red-shirted pro-Thaksin demonstrators objected to the event taking place in a public space.
The first was an announcement by Pairote Boonsirikamchai, assistant secretary-general of the Medical Council of Thailand that under 18 now could receive a free HIV test and counselling at clinics without their parents’ consent.
This is definitively a step forward. By making counselling accessible to the most vulnerable people in society, that …

On 21st of February, the 2nd Chiang Mai Gay Pride Parade had to be called off following a stand-off with a small group of “Rak Chiang Mai 51″ red-shirted pro-Thaksin demonstrators who objected to the event taking place in a public space.
According to The Nation, “The protesters launched verbal attacks through a megaphone saying the event tarnished the city’s reputation.” The previous day, “a leading member of the “Rak Chiang Mai 51″ group said local residents disagreed with the parade as it was against the old city’s culture and could …

Bangkok World AIDS Day 2006 © peripheries

According to the Bangkok Post, Thailand Deputy Public Health Minister Manit Nopamornbode said that “about 11,700 people were expected to become new [HIV/AIDS] sufferers”.
Amongst these new sufferers, Manit identified “women who will get HIV from their lovers [...] gay men who have unprotected sex [..] men who get HIV from sex workers [and] will infect their wives, intravenous drug users, those having casual sex and prostitutes”
Children excluded, that is pretty much everybody.
Depending on the sources, there are between 516,000 t0 610,000 people living with …

Note: Rather unusually, this post has a political content that I usually keep for myself or for friends and close relatives. Politics is too serious to be discussed on the Internet and a 600-word post can only gloss over events, beliefs and concepts that would need books on their own.
The last few days have been rather hectic between work and the preparation of my journey to Thailand. I had to cancel and book again my flight due to the closure of the 4th largest airport in South East Asia because …