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On Wednesday, Thailand’s House of Representatives voted 400-10 in favor of same-sex “marriage.” Only 10 lawmakers voted against the bill. Two abstained and three didn’t vote. The country’s Senate “rarely rejects any legislation that passes the lower house,” the Associated Press noted. Once it passes the Senate, it then must be approved by the majority-Buddhist country’s king. In addition to redefining marriage, the bill “extends all rights and protections contained in the Civil and Commercial Code to LGBTI+ persons,” the pro-LGBT group “Fortify Rights” said in a press release. The group’s lobbying to add the “gender-neutral language of ‘parent’ addition...

A man in Thailand who went on a violent rampage at a temple in the Chonburi province died after being impaled by a Buddha statue. On Feb 27, the 49-year-old man, who went by the name Ek, had taken methamphetamine in the temple with his friend - a monk at the temple who goes by the name Best, reported Thai media outlet Thaiger. Ek then attacked Best with a fluorescent tube. While the latter ran away to seek help, Ek went on to smash statues in the temple, before fleeing into the main hall. When the police arrived at the...

Thailand will ban recreational use of marijuana by the end of this year but continue to allow its use for medical purposes, the health minister told Reuters in an interview. After Thailand became the first country in Southeast Asia to free up medicinal use in 2018, and then recreational use in 2022, tens of thousands of cannabis shops have sprung up in an industry projected to be worth up to US$1.2 billion by next year. Critics say piecemeal rules were rushed out and adopted within a week of decriminalisation, and the government has drafted a new law to regulate cannabis...

A zoologist whose organisation funded controversial experiments in Wuhan which some fear started the pandemic has presented the discovery of a never-before-seen virus with 'almost' as much potential to infect humans as Covid. Dr Peter Daszak, head of the New York based non-profit EcoHealth Alliance, detailed his finding in bats at an event held by the World Health Organization (WHO) on future pandemic research preparedness. EcoHealth had its funding pulled and projects to find viruses in China cancelled due to concerns about its ties to the Covid lab leak theory — but it has continued to operate in Thailand and...

Israel plans to permanently replace all Palestinian laborers with foreign workers, in a major, ambitious initiative aimed at ridding the country of a perceived security threat, the Kan public broadcaster reports. Thousands of construction and agriculture workers from the West Bank have been barred from entering Israel for work since Hamas’s mass invasion and onslaught of October 7. Hamas reportedly gathered some of its intelligence for the attack from Gazans who had permits to work in Israel. To prevent a potential repeat in the West Bank, Kan says the government does not intend to allow the Palestinian workers back after...

Dozens of dairy farmers and their workers in Israel have been gunned down in kibbutz’s close to the Gaza border by Hamas terrorists. When Hamas soldiers broke through the border into Israel last Saturday (Oct. 7), they also targeted the dairy farms slaughtering anyone that was in sight. There are 16 farms in kibbutz’s close to the border with Gaza, five of which are now in the army’s no-go zone. A kibbutz is basically a small community in Israel normally found in rural areas centered round a dairy farm. The farms in the no-go zone have been deserted and no...

A baby boy’s eyes temporarily changed from dark brown to bright blue after receiving a common COVID-19 treatment. The six-month-old baby boy from Thailand was diagnosed with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection after suffering a fever and a cough for a day, as detailed in a case published in the medical journal Frontiers in Pediatrics. The infant was prescribed favipiravir, the antiviral treatment approved by the Thai Ministry of Public Health in 2022 for children with mild-to-moderate symptoms. Shockingly, about 18 hours after beginning the medication, the mother noticed that her child’s dark brown eyes had turned...

Page 1 EQUALITY NOW New York: 250 West 57 Street, #1527, New York, NY 10107, USA ▪ Tel:+1 212-586-0906 • Fax:+1 212-586-1611 • Email: info@equalitynow.org London: 6 Buckingham Street, London WC2N 6BU, UK • Phone:+44 (0) 20-7839-5456 • Fax:+44 (0) 20-7839-4012 • Email: ukinfo@equalitynow.org Nairobi: PO Box 2018 KNH 00202, Nairobi, Kenya • Tel: +254 20-2719-832 • Fax: +254 20-2719-868 • Email: equalitynow@kenyaweb.com Sex Tourism: Addressing the Demand for Trafficking Testimony by Jessica Neuwirth, President of Equality Now Thank you for this opportunity to testify before you, and thank you for your interest in and support for efforts to...

Authorities in Vietnam said Friday they will prosecute 84 people accused of being involved in deadly attacks on two commune offices in central Dak Lak province and ordered them held in pre-trial detention. It isn’t clear who was behind the June 11 attacks, which left nine people dead, or what motivated them. On Friday, the Ministry of Public Security said it had confirmed that “organizations and individuals from overseas” had been involved, without getting more specific. “Materials and evidence collected by security forces show that the incident took place with the support and guidance of several organizations and individuals from...

A growing number of countries are coming forward to join BRICS and accept the new currency for global trade. The South African ambassador Anil Sooklal hinted that the alliance could expand this year becoming BRICS+. The move could add pressure on the U.S. dollar as developing nations would end their reliance on the greenback. The global financial order could tilt from the West to the East creating a new multipolar economy. According to the latest report, the BRICS alliance has formally received applications from 25 countries to join the bloc. The 25 nations that expressed their interest to join are...

Explosions following an air raid warning in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa tonight... Today Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to the media and military bloggers... It was revealed that the White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre violated a federal law... An Israeli air strike in the Damascus area of Syria tonight... In the Balkans a joint meeting involving the Albanian and Kosovo governments set for tomorrow cancelled... Trump Pleads Not Guilty..."Today we witnessed the most evil and heinous abuse of power in the history of our country" President Trump speaks tonight... "The Biden Administration arrested Donald Trump this afternoon...these...

A farmer, 72, fell into a crocodile enclosure in the Cambodian city of Siem Reap Luan Nam was pulled in when one of the reptiles pulled on the stick he was using A 72-year-old farmer was killed by 'about 40 crocodiles' this morning after falling into their enclosure on the family's reptile farm. Luan Nam was trying to move a crocodile out of its cage in Cambodia where it had laid eggs when it grabbed the stick he was using as a goad and pulled him in. A group of reptiles swarmed him, tearing his body to pieces and leaving...

y View Sign In Register Asia Pacific 4 minute readMay 14, 20233:20 PM PDTLast Updated an hour ago Thailand opposition crushes military parties in election rout By Panu Wongcha-um and Panarat Thepgumpanat Summary Challenge ahead for opposition parties to form government Move Forward comes close to sweep of capital Bangkok No alliances with dictator-backed parties - Pita Military parties down, but not out Too soon to discuss alliances - Pheu Thai BANGKOK, May 14 (Reuters) - Thailand's opposition secured a stunning election win on Sunday after trouncing parties allied with the military, setting the stage for a flurry of deal-making...

Tomorrow there will be elections in Turkey and Thailand. In both countries the U.S. would like to see the current opposition win. Recent pieces in the "New York Times" leave no doubt about that. "A Crucial Question In Thailand's Election: Can You Criticize The King?" "Liberal voters have intensified their scrutiny of the Thai monarchy in recent years. Conservatives have responded with a campaign to defend the institution at all costs" "An Erdogan Loss In Turkey Would Stir Relief In The West And Anxiety In Moscow" "European leaders would be delighted to have 'an easier Turkey' while Russia would lose...

A Thai man travelled some 300km from Bangkok to Korat with his 11 cats in tow on a motorcycle, attracting praise and “likes” from cat lovers online. Choowong Thepkoh, 65, who sells amulets and other knick knacks at flea markets in Bangkok, had travelled to Korat to sell his goods at a popular annual flea market. Choowong also hails from Korat, and wanted to bring his “kids,” or his cats, to visit his birthplace. Facebook page, Kingdom of Tigers – dedicated to cat lovers, and whose followers know of Choowong as an ardent fan of cats – raised funds to...

A 70-year-old woman has shared on UK television that her husband of almost 50 years “keeps disappearing” to Thailand and sending “hundreds of pounds there monthly”. Speaking on a segment called Dear Deirdre phone-in on This Morning, the anonymous caller who went by the name ‘Julie’ said he leaves without telling her, and is tight-lipped about where the cash is going. His response when she inquires where he is going is equally charming. “None of your business,” she says he retorts.

The captain of the boys’ soccer team that was dramatically rescued after being trapped in a flooded Thai cave for two weeks in 2018 has died. He was 18. Duangpetch Promthep was found unconscious in his dorm in Leicestershire, UK, on Sunday, and died at the hospital on Tuesday, the BBC reported. The cause of death has not been confirmed but it is not being treated as suspicious. The talented player’s passing comes just months after he arrived at Brooke House College Football Academy, where he received a scholarship last summer. “Today my dream has come true,” he wrote on...

An "active investigation continues" into the cold case killing of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey, with help from "several private DNA laboratories," police in Boulder, Colorado, said in response to unearthed documents. On Friday, Fox News Digital reported on an unearthed 1997 DNA test that shows DNA evidence recovered under the girl's fingernails and from her clothes was not a match for members of the family and others close to the household just weeks after the crime. The document has reemerged as part of a trove of old case files discussed in a forthcoming book on late investigator Lou Smit, "Lou and...

Renowned Thai-German microbiologist Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi has just made two explosive claims that, if true, would amount to bombshell revelations that could cause significant problems for the global medical and political establishment.In a recent interview with Swiss banker Pascal Najadi, Bhakdi alleged that not only will the government of Thailand likely void its multimillion dollar contract with Pfizer-BioNTech, but that the country’s royal family is hiding the fact that 44-year-old Princess Bajrakitiyabha is in a coma following a heart attack after receiving a third dose of the COVID shot in late 2022.“When we decided to go back to Thailand for...

The new global women’s empowerment era is here, declared the trans owner of the Miss Universe Organization over the weekend. “It has been 70 years that Miss Universe Organization run by men. But now, time is up, is the moment really, for women to take the leap,” said biological male Jakkaphong 'Anne' Jakrajutatip during the 71st Miss Universe 2023 pageant in New Orleans on Saturday. “Welcome to the new era of the global women’s empowerment platform. Welcome to the Miss Universe Organization. From now on is going to be ran by women, owned by a trans woman, for all women,...