“Meat balls and sausages used in student lunches were also found to be contaminated with borax and formalin.”

A major study has been released researching contaminants in vegetables used in the state-sponsored school lunch program. You’d hope that the lunches were fresh and nutritious, right?

Instead, they were dangerous.

Vegetables and fruits found in lunches for students under the government’s free lunch program are almost 100 percent contaminated with pesticides and 99 percent of the urine samples from students and teachers in four provinces were tested with organophosphate, a deadly toxic pesticide that can attack the nervous system.

The alarming findings were the result of a research jointly conducted by Thai Education Foundation, Thai Health Promotion Foundation, Field Alliance of Chiangmai University and Greenpeace Thailand between July 2017-October 2018 on student lunches in 55 schools in Chiang Mai, Pathum Thani, Sakon Nakhon and Phang-nga provinces.

Vegetables, widely used in student lunches which were tested, include carrot, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, kale, long bean and tomato.  However, only two types of chemicals were tested – organophosphate and pyrethrum because organophosphate are widely used in insecticides for fruits and vegetables.

Thai PBS reports the the Thai Education Foundation secretary-general Marut Jatikate said that the most alarming findings appear to be the organophosphate residue found in 99 percent of the 436 urine samples from students and teachers in the four provinces.

Organophosphate poisoning symptoms include increased saliva and tear production, diarrhea, vomiting, small pupils, sweating, muscle tremors and confusion.

He said that the tests this time focused on two chemicals – organophosphate and pyrethrum – but they should have covered more toxic chemicals.

Nevertheless, he said findings from this research would be sent to the schools and parents of students in order that they would change the menu of student lunches but switching from mass-produced vegetables and fruits to organic vegetables and fruits which should be safer.

Besides the unsafe fruits and vegetables, Mr Marut said meat, meat balls and sausages used in student lunches were also found to be contaminated with borax and formalin.

ORIGINAL STORY: Thai PBS

PHOTOS: Manager Online

The Damrongdhama Centre in Phang Nga Office has banned a ‘luxury’ hotel in Phang Nga for arranging a wedding event on Natai Beach after investigations over beach encroachment.

After an inspection at Natai Beach in Kokkloi, Phang Nga officials, led by Phang Nga Governor Siripat Pattakun, found that a luxury hotel had put umbrellas and chairs on the beach to arrange a wedding event on a public beach.

Officials have ordered the hotel to remove the umbrellas and chairs from the beach within three days. The hotel has been banned from arranging future weddings and events on the beach.

FULL STORY: Manager Online

A Krabi policeman has ridden with a local big biker, chasing and shooting at a pick-up after a hit and run incident.

Ao Lueak Police Chief Col Kritsanat Wongklaharn in Krabi says, “At 10am we were notified from Phang Nga Police that a pickup truck had fled to Krabi after a hit and run in Phang Nga.”

“After that Ao Lueak Police in Krabi set up a checkpoint to stop the pickup truck. The pickup truck broke though the checkpoint at Na Nuea in Krabi on Petkasem Road.”

“A volunteer big bike rider who saw the incident asked police to jump on his Big Bike. They set off after the pickup truck with other police in tow.”

(Cue chase music)

“Police fired a shot at the pickup truck’s front wheel but the pickup truck kept going. Following a few more warning shots, police eventually stopped the pickup on Southern Seaboard Road in Krabi.”

“The 21 year old suspect Kietisak Srisaema, who sustained minor injuries in the incident, has been arrested. He came up ‘positive’ in a drug test. He told us that he had had an argument with his wife before the incident.”

“Kietisak was taken to Phang Nga Police Station where he has been charged with driving under the influence of drugs, driving with disregard for other people’s safety, driving through stop signs and reckless driving.”