Thailand
PETA calls for Thai and US militaries to stop killing animals in Cobra Gold training

Animal rights activists are urging PM Prayut Chan-o-cha to stop the practice of soldiers drinking snake blood and killing live animals during the Cobra Gold multinational training exercises which are held in Thailand and co-sponsored by the United States.
PETA, or the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, also filed a petition with the US government to stop the “frat-like party masquerading as training in Thailand known as Cobra Gold.” They say the training violates the US Department of Defense’s policy on using non-animal methods.
“During Cobra Gold, marines and training instructors in Thailand kill chickens with their bare hands, skin and eat live geckos, consume live scorpions and tarantulas, and decapitate king cobras – a species vulnerable to extinction – in order to drink their blood as part of purported training in food procurement.”
PETA referred to video footage of US Marines learning jungle survival skills at last year’s Cobra Gold training at Sattahip Navy Base in Chon Buri, including drinking snake blood and killing other animals to eat. Royal Thai Marine instructors show troops how drinking the cobra blood can help them stay alive if there is no drinkable water.
After decapitating a cobra and drinking the blood, the snakes are grilled up to eat. The Thai military trainers also teach troops how to remove venom from scorpions and tarantulas before eating them. They also teach out to find water in jungle vines and how to identify what plants are edible. In a past report, a Thai marine sergeant said “the key to survival is knowing what to eat.”
PETA says the exercises not only abuse animals, but also pose a threat to zoonotic disease transmission. PETA senior vice president Jason Baker says the training exercises are “cruel and impractical.”
“PETA is therefore urging Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to call for an end to the bloodlust killing of animals during Cobra Gold, which sullies the honour of Thailand, risks public health, and endangers species which are vulnerable to extinction.”
PETA Vice President Shalin Gala called on the Pentagon to end the killing of animals during the Cobra Gold training.
“A Girl Scout could figure out how to survive in a jungle without killing animals for practice, and so, too, should our military’s best and brightest.”
Cobra Gold the largest military exercise of it’s kind in the Asia-Pacific region. Other participating nations at the Thai-US co-sponsored training usually include Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and Malaysia. Past exercises have drawn in more than 6,800 US troops.
The next Cobra Gold training exercise has been postponed until August due to Covid-19.
SOURCES: Nation Thailand | PETA | AFP
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Thailand
Thailand News Today | Pollies in jail, Covid originated in Thailand? | Feb 25

Today on Thailand News Today, a number of government ministers have ended up in jail, the vaccines are about to roll out but experts say the injections are not the end of the pandemic, and A Pattaya motorbike taxi driver is being accused of attacking a Chilean national. We’ve also get a special report on the channel about accusations that surfaced this week that Covid 19 may not have started in Wuhan at all, but in Thailand. That’s all coming up now on Thursday’s Thailand News Today.
A number of government ministers have been jailed for their part in protests against the government of Yingluck Shinawatra that crippled Bangkok and ultimately led to the 2014 military coup. Yesterday, the Criminal Court handed prison sentences to 29 former members of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee, some of whom were serving as MPs in the current Chan-o-cha administration.
Police have shut down a network of online casinos in raids that took place across 7 provinces, with 19 suspects arrested, and cash and other goods seized. In total, 8 online casino networks in 7 provinces have been shut down, with police apprehending 19 out of a total 22 suspects.
A specialist in infectious diseases at the Faculty of Medicine of Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University says the arrival of vaccines does not mean it will automatically be safe to re-open to foreign visitors. Thira Woratanarat says opening the borders too soon will only put Thailand in more danger, pointing to a lack of data on the efficacy of vaccines against transmission.
The Thai Ministry of Public Health is being praised after seemingly doing an about face over whether Bangkok’s Chatuchak Weekend Market could be the source of Covid‐19. After health officials denied that the World Health Organisation was investigating the market, a recent Facebook live press conference saw the Ministry acknowledging that unregulated wildlife trades may endanger public health.
A Pattaya motorbike taxi driver is being accused of attacking a Chilean national, leaving his nose broken and face bloodied. The 24 year old Salvatore Chilean, filed a report to the Pattaya City Police at around 2am this morning after saying he had left a nightclub on Pattaya’s Walking Street after it had closed.
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Thailand
Canadian Embassy to help Thailand recruit English teachers

Thailand officials want more native speaking English teachers and plan to recruit more than 10,000 English teachers for 300 schools to improve English proficiency among Thai students. To help draw in potential teachers, the Education Ministry is teaming up with the Canadian Embassy in Thailand.
Teachers will be placed in schools once the pandemic has eased. Recruitment for the plan is expected to be completed by May, according to Education Minister Nataphol Teepsuwan. He says the Cabinet has approved an agreement between the ministry, embassy and the Thai-Canadian Chamber of Commerce for the recruitment plan.
The ministry plans to focus on teaching language in early levels of education because young students are at a suitable age for building communication skills, Nataphol says. Teachers will be either native English speakers or Thai teachers who hold an English degree, according to Nataphol.
Along with 10,000 English teachers, the Cabinet also plans to recruit 10,000 Chinese teachers. Teachers will also receive training.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
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Crime
Police officer arrested for allegedly stealing grenade launcher and other weapons

A police officer was arrested for allegedly stealing a M79 grenade launcher and other weapons from a police station armoury in Mae Hong Son, a province in Northern Thailand bordering Myanmar. Police say officer Santichai Luerat planned to sell the guns and ammunition to a buyer who would then sell the weapons to members of an ethnic minority across the border in Myanmar.
Sao Hin Police Station commissioner says he noticed a number of weapons were missing from the station’s amoury – a M79 grenade launcher, 9 guns, 21 rifles and a flak jacket. A video recorder was also stolen, police say. Police have confiscated 4 of the stolen guns, 6 rifles and the flak jacket, but the rest of the weapons are still missing.
Santichai is an officer from the Kong Koi Police Station and lives near the Sao Hin station. Reports do not say what charges the officer faces or if he was transferred from his post. Police are still investigating and searching for the missing grenade launcher, guns and rifles.
SOURCE: Nation Thailand
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Jesus Monroe
Thursday, February 18, 2021 at 3:12 pm
Hope none of us here are reincarnated as one of these poor fellas…….as for the snake thats another tail to tell……sorry couldn’t help myself…..LOL
Konstantin
Thursday, February 18, 2021 at 3:15 pm
Anyway, I think it’s easier to find some drops water even in harsh conditions, than to find gold cobra and manage to kill it to quench thirst.
Toby Andrews
Thursday, February 18, 2021 at 6:35 pm
I am shocked to see how many US Marines wear glasses.
I have seen them in other pictures also. They are issued by the army.
All the enemy in close combat has to do is breath on the marine’s glasses and the enemy wins.
Jim kelly
Thursday, February 18, 2021 at 9:01 pm
SPECY TWATS!!
robin
Friday, February 19, 2021 at 4:10 am
Kill Peta members instead
James Pate
Friday, February 19, 2021 at 6:19 am
PETA seems to be grasping at straws lately in the era of fake fur and meatless meat. Donations would be better spent stopping the slaughter of endangered species or shutting down hellhole zoos.
LEE HAI
Sunday, February 21, 2021 at 1:30 am
My vote is towards cleaning up the behind the scene acts in the hellholes of factory farms.
And a bit of concern that our supposably well being are in the hands of these immature minors
having the time of their lives torturing snakes……