The crane, which was being used to build an elevated high-speed railway, fell onto the moving train as it was travelling from Bangkok to Ubon Ratchathani province, causing the train to derail and catch fire, according to Nakhon Ratchasima province’s Public Relations Department.

The accident occurred in Nakhon Ratchasima. The department there announced the rise in the death toll.

The department said in a Facebook post that the fire was under control and that rescuers were searching for people trapped inside the train.

Transport Minister Piphat Ratchakitprakan said there were 195 people on board the train. He said he ordered an investigation into the accident.

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Pairat Soodthoop, general manager of the Wat Rat Prakhong Tham temple, was “startled” to hear a faint knock from the coffin, he told the Associated Press news agency.

Mr Soodthoop said he asked for the coffin to be opened and saw the woman “opening her eyes slightly and knocking on the side of the coffin”. “She must have been knocking for quite some time,” he added.

The brother of the 65-year-old woman said local officials told him his sister had died. However, the temple’s manager said the brother did not have a death certificate.

As Mr Soodthoop tried to explain to the brother how to obtain a death certificate, the temple’s staff heard a faint knock coming from inside the coffin.

Once it became clear the woman was alive, the temple’s abbot (head of a Buddhist monastery) said the woman should be taken to hospital immediately.

A doctor later confirmed that the woman had been experiencing severe hypoglycaemia – a condition where blood sugar levels get critically low, local reports said.

The doctor ruled out the possibility that she had suffered respiratory failure or cardiac arrest, according to the reports.

The brother said his sibling had been bedridden for the last two years and, as her health deteriorated, she appeared to have stopped breathing on Saturday, according to the temple’s manager.

The family had travelled nearly 500km (311 mile) from the province of Phitsanulok in Thailand for the cremation ceremony.

The suspect in the attack at Or Tor Kor Market is also dead, police in Thailand’s capital confirmed.

Local media have reported that some of those killed are security guards.

The Or Tor Kor market is well known for high quality fresh fruit and seafood.

Gun ownership rates in Thailand are relatively high for the region and mass shooting incidents are not common, but the country has seen several deadly incidents in recent years.

In 2023, a 14-year-old boy killed two people and injured five others in a shooting at a luxury shopping mall in the centre of Bangkok.

An ex-policeman killed at least 37 people, most of them children, in a gun and knife attack at a childcare centre in in Nong Bua Lamphu province in north-east Thailand in October 2022.

In 2020, a soldier killed 29 people and injured dozens more in the city of Nakhon Ratchasima.

Source: BBC

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At least 144 people had been killed in Myanmar and 732 injured by the the 7.7 magnitude quake struck near Mandalay today, state-run MRTV said on the Telegram.

Preliminary reports confirmed at least eight people are dead in Bangkok, where a high-rise under construction collapsed, a Thai government official has confirmed.

The full extent of death, injury and destruction across the region is not immediately clear, with officials warning that thousands are feared dead.

‘The death toll and injuries are expected to rise,’ Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of Myanmar’s military government, said in a televised speech this evening.

The total number of fatalities is ‘most likely to be in the range 10,000-100,000’, scientists have warned, citing the United States Geological Survey ‘PAGER’ forecast.

The 7.7 magnitude quake, with an epicentre near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second largest city, struck at midday and was followed by a strong 6.4 magnitude aftershock.

The quake also hit Thailand, where rescuers in the capital Bangkok were searching in the rubble of a tower block that had been under construction and collapsed.

There were 117 people missing and five dead following the building collapse, according to the rescue operation. Crews are still pulling victims from the rubble.

Myanmar’s government has said that blood is in high demand in the hardest-hit areas.

The quake brought down multiple buildings, including the Ma Soe Yane monastery, one of the largest in Manadalay, and damaged the former royal palace.

Christian Aid said its partners and colleagues on the ground reported that a dam burst in the city, causing water levels to rise in the lowland areas in the area.

A rescue worker from the Moe Saydanar charity group told Reuters that it had retrieved at least 60 bodies from monasteries and buildings in Pyinmanar, near the capital city of Naypyidaw, and more people were trapped.

‘This 60 is only from my charity group and only at Pyinmanar town,’ he said.

Officials at a major hospital in Naypyidaw declared it a ‘mass casualty area’, with the death toll expected to rise after buildings fell and debris scattered.

‘I haven’t seen (something) like this before. We are trying to handle the situation. I’m so exhausted now,’ a doctor told the AFP news agency.

Myanmar’s military junta is locked in a struggle to put down insurgents fighting its rule, a situation that is likely to complicate the rescue and relief operation.

Professor Ian Main, Personal Chair in Seismology and Rock Physics, School of GeoSciences, at the University of Edinburgh said: ‘The damage is likely to be very severe near the epicentre- based on the estimated intensity of ground shaking above, and maps of population density and vulnerability of buildings.

The force caused a mosque in Mandalay to collapse, with at least ten worshippers reported to have been killed.

More than 20 children are also believed to be trapped in a destroyed school in Taungoo, central Myanmar.

Shocking footage showed workers fleeing in neighbouring Thailand as a 30-storey high-rise building under construction in Bangkok collapsed around them.

At least three people were killed as the skyscraper toppled. Local authorities said that dozens of workers have been rescued from the site, though 90 are still missing.

Visitors can stay in the South-East Asian nation for up to 60 days under the new scheme that took effect on Monday,

Previously, passport holders from 57 countries were allowed to enter without a visa.

Tourism is a key pillar of the Thai economy, but it has not fully recovered from the pandemic.

Thailand recorded 17.5 million foreign tourists arrivals in the first six months of 2024, up 35% from the same period last year, according to official data. However, the numbers pale in comparison to pre-pandemic levels.

Most of the visitors were from China, Malaysia and India.

Tourism revenue during the same period came in at 858 billion baht ($23.6bn; £18.3bn), less than a quarter of the government’s target.

Millions of tourists flock to Thailand every year for its golden temples, white sand beaches, picturesque mountains and vibrant night life.

The revised visa-free rules are part of a broader plan to boost tourism.

Also on Monday, Thailand introduced a new five-year visa for remote workers, that allows holders to stay for up to 180 days each year.

The country will also allow visiting students, who earn a bachelor’s degree or higher in Thailand, to stay for one year after graduation to find a job or travel.

In June, authorities announced an extension of a waiver on hoteliers’ operating fees for two more years. They also scrapped a proposed tourism fee for visitors flying into the country.

However some stakeholders are concerned that the country’s infrastructure may not be able to keep up with travellers’ demands.

“If more people are coming, it means the country as a whole… has to prepare our resources to welcome them,” said Kantapong Thananuangroj, president of the Thai Tourism Promotion Association.

“If not, [the tourists] may not be impressed with the experience they have in Thailand and we may not get a second chance,” he said.

Chamnan Srisawat, president of the Tourism Council of Thailand, said he foresees a “bottleneck in air traffic as the incoming flights may not increase in time to catch up with the demands of the travellers”.

Some people have also raised safety concerns after rumours that tourists have been kidnapped and sent across the border to work in scam centres in Myanmar or Cambodia.

A fatal shooting in Bangkok’s most famous shopping mall last year has also caused concern among visitors.

Here is the list of the 93 countries and territories exempt from visa entry into Thailand for a period of 60 days:

Albania
Andorra
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Belgium
Bhutan
Brazil
Brunei
Bulgaria
Cambodia
Canada
China
Colombia
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Estonia
Fiji
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Guatemala
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kosovo
Kuwait
Laos
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macau
Malaysia
Maldives
Malta
Mauritius
Mexico
Monaco
Mongolia
Morocco
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Oman
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russia
San Marino
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vietnam

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The mother, 36-year-old Chamchuri, was not expected to deliver twins and when she gave birth to a male calf last Friday, staff at the Ayutthaya Elephant Palace and Royal Kraal, had thought the delivery was done.

But while cleaning up the first calf and helping it stand on its feet, they heard a loud thud and realised that Chamchuri had given birth to a second calf, a female.

The second birth sent the mother into a panic and caretakers had to restrain her to prevent her from stepping on the female calf. One caretaker was hurt in the melee.

Dramatic footage on social media showed a crowd of caretakers – known locally as mahouts – frantically separating the female calf from the mother, with blood from the birth still visible on her hind legs.

Twins occur in only one percent of elephant births and male-female are even more rare, according to Save the Elephants, a research organisation.

“Once we pulled the second baby elephant out, away from the mother, the baby stood up. We were all cheering because it’s a miracle,” veterinarian Lardthongtare Meepan told the BBC.

“We’ve always wanted to see elephant twins but not everyone can see this because it doesn’t happen a lot,” said Ms Meepan, who grew up at the elephant park, and is herself a mother of twins.

Charin Somwang, a 31-year-old mahout, broke his leg while restraining the mother.

“I was so happy, I couldn’t feel the pain,” he told the BBC, adding he felt the extent of the injuries only when he was brought to the hospital.

“It’s normal that the new mother will always try to kick or push the baby… I was afraid that she might break the baby elephant, so I put myself forward and tried to block the mother from the smaller one,” said Mr Somwang, who has been working at the park for 15 years.

Elephants are considered sacred in Thailand, where a majority of the population is Buddhist. They are also a national symbol.

Since the birth, the Ayutthaya Elephant Palace and Royal Kraal has featured the twins in live streams on social media.

Park visitors, including children, are also allowed to see the twins, but only after disinfecting their footwear and their hands.

A sign near the nursery reads: “Please don’t touch the elephant babies”.

They will be named seven days after birth in accordance with Thai custom.

At 55kg (121lb) the female calf is slightly smaller than usual and has to step on a stool during feeding with her mother. Her brother is heavier at 60kg.

The park claims its elephants were rescued from begging on the streets. In 1989, Thailand banned logging in natural forests, leaving mahouts who worked in that industry jobless.

This forced them to make elephants perform tricks for tourists in exchange for money. This practice was outlawed in 2010 – though there are still rare cases of this happening.

In Ayutthaya, Thailand’s former capital, some elephants carry tourists on their backs to temples and historic ruins.

Conservationists oppose elephant riding as they say this stresses the animals out and amounts to abuse.

An earlier report by the World Animal Protection (WAP) says that harsh methods are used to get a wild elephant to carry a human on its back. The process starts soon after it is captured. It is often referred to as “breaking-in” or “crush”.

Aside from Ayutthaya, elephants have also become tourist draws in highland villages in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai in the north, where tourists can feed them with bananas, go walking with them and bathe them with mud.

The Asian elephant is an endangered species due to poaching, illegal trade and habitat loss, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

More elephants are used for tourism in Thailand – over 3,000 – than anywhere else. Unlike other countries with captive populations, those in Thailand are nearly all privately owned.

Compared to their African counterparts, Asian elephants have smaller ears round and hunched backs.

Meanwhile, visitors continue to flock to the park in Ayutthaya to see the twin babies, as they await their names.

They walk in a small pen covered with hay as they roll their trunks on their mother’s leg.

“I am always happy when I see elephant gives birth,” said Mr Somwang, their mahout who is recovering from injury.

“It doesn’t need to be twins. Elephant babies always bring joy,” he said.

The 33-year-old man’s parachute failed to open after he jumped from a building in the eastern beach resort of Pattaya, according to local authorities.

Officers said they were called to a 29-storey apartment block on Saturday evening after eyewitnesses reported seeing a person crash through a tree and fall to the ground.

The victim’s social media pages suggest that he was an experienced parachutist.

Police said they found a blue parachute, which had not opened, on the man.

Staff at the building said the man had got to the top floor with friends who were filming him base jumping.

The extreme sport – which involves jumping with a parachute from high landmarks, rather than an aircraft – has become increasingly popular among foreigners living in south east Asia.

Some earn income from the number of social media followers watching their videos.

However, with just a few seconds before hitting the ground, it is also a very dangerous activity, with little margin for error.

It has a much higher fatality rate than skydiving. In March 2022, a British man died after base jumping in south-east France.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Thailand.”

He said Ghana has huge potential for rice production which is evident in its favourable climatic conditions, availability of arable lands and an open society with a vibrant democracy.

Dr. Afriyie Akoto made the appeal when a delegation of investors from Thailand, led by the Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group of Companies (JGC), Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong, and the Honorary Consul of Ghana in Thailand, Dr. Sicha Singsomboon, paid a courtesy call on him at the ministry on Friday, December 30, 2022.

He said Ghana could boast of about 40,000 hectares of land readily available to support large scale rice production and encouraged the Thai investors to take advantage of it and invest in the sector.

In addition, he assured the delegation of the government of Ghana’s support for investors in the rice industry.

“Our rice production is seasonal, and, therefore, we want action targeted at planting rice in April, May June, assuring that “we will make sure that land is made available to you,” he asserted.

He said it was his ministry’s target to make Ghana self-sufficient in rice production, which has seen some significant gains. However, he added that more needed to be done to bridge the deficit.

Dr. Afriyie Akoto also charged the Thai delegation to bring an action programme to his ministry for consideration.

He asserted that the intervention by the private sector in the rice industry was very crucial, noting that it will help in the government’s vision of commercialising the commodity. 

While commending Jospong Group of Companies for venturing into rice production, he maintained that, he will continue to encourage and support Dr. Siaw Agyepong in his efforts to help the government address the food security challenge in the country.

The delegation from Thailand also visited the Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen.

According to Mr. Kyerematen, the government was fully committed to ensuring the successful implementation of the Ghana-Thailand rice project.

“Government is fully on board in terms of providing the enabling environment and policy framework for this project,” he said.

He praised the Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group of Companies (JGC), Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong, for venturing into rice production.

He was very confident that the project will be productive and inure to the mutual benefit of both Ghana and Thailand.

Trade statistics between Ghana and Thailand, he bemoaned, has not been encouraging, but stated that there was much that Ghana could learn from Thailand.     

While commending Jospong Group of Companies for venturing into rice production, he maintained that he will continue to give Dr. Siaw Agyepong encouragement and support in his efforts to help the government address the food security challenge in the country.

The delegation from Thailand also visited the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr. Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen.

According to Mr. Kyerematen, the government was fully committed to ensuring the successful implementation of the Ghana-Thailand rice project.

“Government is fully on board in terms of providing the enabling environment and policy framework for this project,” he said.

He praised the Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group of Companies (JGC), Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong, for venturing into rice production.

He was very confident that the project will be productive and inure to the mutual benefit of both Ghana and Thailand.

Trade statistics between Ghana and Thailand, he bemoaned, has not been encouraging, but stated that there was much that Ghana could learn from Thailand.     

Early in 2022, the JGC commenced its integrated rice farming project. And in showing the seriousness JGC attached to the project, a team led by its Executive Chairman, Dr. Siaw Agyepong, visited Thailand to understudy the Thai rice sector in order to replicate their experiences and strategy in Ghana.

The object JGC was to partner with major rice industry players in Thailand to provide technical and equipment support for the entire rice value chain in Ghana with the aim of boosting rice production in Ghana.          

United ran riot against an extremely unfamiliar Liverpool side, with Jadon Sancho’s rasping drive, a fabulous lob from Fred, and a breakaway effort from Anthony Martial securing an unassailable three-goal lead at the break.

Liverpool, who started the match with five teenagers and did not introduce big hitters Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, or summer signing Darwin Nunez, until the 61st minute, left themselves with too much ground to make up on United, who put the seal on the encouraging victory with a brilliant late fourth from Facundo Pellistri.

Ten Hag’s tenure may be in its infancy, and this performance was almost certainly aided by Jurgen Klopp’s team selection, but with the positives plentiful for Manchester United there is cause for optimism at the dawn of this new era.

Rampant United run riot against Liverpool

United and Liverpool both contributed to a frantically entertaining start in front of thousands of expectant fans at Bangkok’s Rajamangala Stadium, and it took just 13 minutes for the breakthrough goal, Sancho firing into the bottom corner after pouncing on Isaac Mabaya’s mis-control.

Liverpool youngster Luke Chambers had two bites at hauling Liverpool level before Luis Diaz whistled a shot inches wide amid a flurry of activity in front of the United goal, but it would be Ten Hag’s side who doubled their lead on the half-hour mark as Fred nonchalantly chipped in from 18 yards on his unfavoured right boot.

Klopp made 10 outfield changes on the half-hour mark but two quickly became three, with Martial marking his return from his loan at Sevilla with a brilliant solo goal which saw him streak into Liverpool area and clip a shot over Alisson Becker.

Liverpool steadied but were unable to capitalise on United’s 10 half-time alterations, and only mustered a response on 70 minutes when Nunez stung the palms of goalkeeper Tom Heaton, who had replaced the injured David de Gea moments earlier.

With a stronger, more familiar Liverpool XI on the field, United were braced for a late onslaught but nipped any hopes of a comeback in the bud 13 minutes from time when Pellistri raced away, combined with Amad Diallo, and stroked in a fourth at the end of a breathtaking counter.

Ten Hag: We must not overestimate result

Man Utd manager Erik ten Hag speaking to MUTV: “I know we have good players, now we have to construct a team. I’m happy with the first game.

“It will take lots of time [to get this team playing my way]. I have seen a lot of mistakes today. Let’s be honest, Liverpool plays in three teams, they were not at their strongest.

“We must not overestimate this result, but still I have seen some really good things. We have a lot of creativity and speed up front. Like I said, we have potential.

“I think that was a team with a great spirit and we know we are just started. The press, we made some mistakes, but we also created some chances with pressing.”

The nation is the first to advance such a move in South-East Asia, a region known for its stringent drug laws.

But recreational use is still banned, even though advocates say the easing effectively decriminalises marijuana.

The government is hoping that developing a local cannabis trade will boost agriculture and tourism.

It’s even giving away one million cannabis seedlings to citizens to encourage pick-up.

“It is an opportunity for people and the state to earn income from marijuana and hemp,” said Anutin Charnvirakul, deputy prime minister and health minister, on his social media accounts last month.

He shared a photo on Facebook of a chicken dish cooked with cannabis, adding that anyone could sell the dish if they followed the rules – the main one being that products must contain less than 0.2% of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the compound that gives users that “high” feeling.

From Thursday, households will be able to cultivate up to six cannabis pot plants at home if they register with authorities, and companies can also farm the plant with a permit.

Diners will also be able to order cannabis-infused dishes and drinks at restaurants.

Clinics across the country can also more freely offer cannabis as a treatment. Thailand was the first in Asia to legalise medicinal cannabis use in 2018.

However, using the drug for personal use is still illegal. Officials have warned people against smoking in public, saying it’s considered a public nuisance and offenders risked arrest.

Under the plan the government says it also aims to release about 4,000 prisoners convicted of cannabis-related offences.

Thailand, with its year-round tropical climate, has long had a history with cannabis which many locals commonly used in traditional medicines.

A wider draft law on cannabis control is currently being considered in Thai parliament. Advocates believe that coming years could see a gradual relaxing on the rules governing use.

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The accident took place at 8:05 a.m. (0105 GMT) near the Khlong Kwaeng Klan railway station 63 km (40 miles) east of Bangkok, said Maitree Tritilanon, governor of Chachoengsao province, where the crash occurred.

A tour bus carrying some 60 factory workers on their way to a Buddhist ceremony at a temple was crossing a railway track when it was hit by a freight train headed to the capital from the east of the country.

The bus was flipped on its side and the top ripped off, with debris and metal scattered around the accident area, images from rescue workers showed. The train remained on the rails.

Governor Maitree said the crossing has an alarm but no barrier to block traffic when a train is coming.

He said the province will install speed bumps and barriers as well as cut down trees near the crossing to improve visibility.

“Let this case be a lesson, and we will make improvements at risky spots so such accidents will not take place again,” Maitree said in a statement.

Thailand’s roads rank among the world’s deadliest, according to the World Health Organization.

There has been little improvement despite safety campaigns over the years.

The bus passengers were traveling from Samut Prakan province to a Buddhist temple in Chachoengsao for a merit-making ceremony marking the end of the Buddhist Lent.

Rescuers arrived to find the python’s head hanging from the bathroom door, secured by a rope, with the rest of the snake still stuck in the squat toilet at the man’s home in Chachoengsao Province, east of Bangkok.

Blood is splattered across the bathroom floor where the man was bitten by the python.The man lost a lot of blood but is now recovering at Chularat Hospital, according to hospital officials.

Emergency workers had to dismantle the toilet to remove the snake, which also survived the ordeal, according to rescue officer Danupol Tapo. Emergency workers had to dismantle the toilet to dislodge the snake.Tapo, who has been working in rescue for more than six years, said he’s seen snakes in toilets before, but never witnessed a scene quite like this one. “This is all bizarre,” he told CNN.

“I had witnessed snakes [come] out of toilets many times, and when they bit [it] mostly would be at legs or butts. Not the penis, this is the first time.”The snake and the man both survived the ordeal. Last year two pythons made their way into two Australian toilets in an attempt to find water.

“They’re non-venomous, these snakes,” Queensland snake catcher Elliot Budd told CNN in September.

“They’re not something to fear but it’s best if you come across them to leave them alone.”

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With bars already ordered closed, a number of provinces, as well as the capital Bangkok, have taken things a step further and temporarily outlawed the sale of beer, wine and spirits.

Bangkok’s ban, which started Friday and runs until April 20, had the unintended effect of creating crowds and long lines at stores as people stocked up in the few hours between the ban’s announcement and its going into effect.

Authorities have been concerned about the potential for partying during the upcoming Thai new year festival known as Songkran. It is Thailand’s biggest holiday and is notorious for merrymaking and drinking, which contributes to a spike in traffic deaths.

The official April 13-15 holiday has already been postponed and organized celebrations canceled because of the crowds they would attract.

Thailand has confirmed 2,473 cases if the new coronavirus and 33 deaths. At least initially, a number of the country’s virus cases were linked to parties at Bangkok nightspots.

Most surveys put Thai alcohol consumption a bit above the global average, but far below the volumes of Eastern Europe.

Unsurprisingly, distillers and brewers are critical of the booze bans. The president of Thai Alcohol Beverage Business Association, Thanakorn Kuptajit told the business newspaper Thansettakij that drinkers will find what they need in a less managed way, such as driving to areas where there are no bans or purchasing from smugglers, hoarders and underground producers.

Several other countries have instituted bans on alcohol sales, either in selected areas or nationwide, to curb alcohol-fueled gatherings during the virus pandemic. They include Barbados, Grenada, Colombia, Mexico, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Greenland.

In South Africa and Greenland, officials specifically said the ban was also imposed to try to curb domestic violence that might rise in volatile situations where families are cooped up in close quarters, often with a loss of income.

The doctors, from the Rajavithi Hospital in Bangkok, said Sunday that a drug cocktail of HIV and flu medication had worked on several patients, including a woman with severe symptoms from Wuhan, China — the epicenter of the outbreak.

“This is not the cure, but the patient’s condition has vastly improved. From testing positive for 10 days under our care, after applying this combination of medicine the test result became negative within 48 hours,” Rajavithi lung specialist Dr. Kriangska Atipornwanich told reporters, according to Reuters.

The successful treatment combined the HIV medications lopinavir and ritonavir with large doses of the flu drug oseltamivir.

Atipornwanich said he had heard that physicians in China were using HIV medications on coronavirus patients.

“We checked related information and found anti-flu drugs were effective on MERS so we combined both groups of medications,” he said, according to the Bangkok Post.

The woman given the successful treatment was 70-years-old according to Reuters and 71-years-old according to the Bangkok Post. She had first been admitted to Hua Hin Hospital and then transferred to Rajavithi Hospital on Jan. 29. Her symptoms were severe, and she had tested positive for the virus for 10 days. But 48 hours after treatment, that changed.

“The treatment, as well as the recovery, is fast,” Atipornwanich said, according to the Bangkok Times.

Another patient given the drug cocktail improved, whereas one experienced an allergic reaction, according to Reuters.

Somsak Akkslim, director-general of the Medical Services Department, said that the new treatment would only be used for severe cases at first.

“The outlook is good but we still have to do more study to determine that this can be a standard treatment,” Atipornwanich said.

The news from Thailand comes as health experts say the virus is likely to become a pandemic, an epidemic that spreads on two or more continents, The New York Times reported. However, it is unclear how dire a pandemic would be, because scientists are not sure exactly how deadly the disease is. As of Sunday, there were more than 17,000 cases in at least 23 countries and more than 360 deaths. However, epidemiologists estimate there may be 100,000 or more cases.

“It’s very, very transmissible, and it almost certainly is going to be a pandemic,” Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease Dr. Anthony S. Fauci told The New York Times. “But will it be catastrophic? I don’t know.”

It is spreading much faster than SARS or MERS, but slower than the flu or measles. However, while SARS killed 10 percent of those infected and MERS kills about a third, the new coronavirus currently has a fatality rate of two percent, and that is likely to drop as milder cases emerge.

However, the 1918 flu epidemic killed 20 to 50 million people despite having a mortality rate of 2.5 percent. This was due to its fast spread and the state of medical care at the time.

In Thailand, 19 cases have been reported, according to Reuters. Of that number, eight patients have made a full recovery while 11 are still being treated.

The social media giant has been given until next Tuesday to remove more than 130 items from pages viewable in Thailand.

Facebook says it does consider requests from governments to block material, and will comply if it breaks local laws.

Any comment critical of the monarchy can result in prosecution under Thailand’s strict lese-majeste law.

Those convicted face long prison sentences.

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Thailand’s military government that seized power in Thailand in 2014 has made great efforts to suppress any criticism of the monarchy.

Thousands of websites have been blocked, and people caught sharing, or even liking Facebook posts deemed unflattering to the monarchy have been prosecuted.

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission told the BBC that Facebook had already cooperated in blocking some pages, but that more than 130 judged to be illegal remained visible in Thailand.

Last year, the country’s deputy prime minister said Google agreed to co-operate with the removal of online content insulting Thailand’s monarchy.

The US internet company said it was following its existing policies on content removal.

“When we are notified of content that is illegal through official processes, we will restrict it in the country where it’s illegal after a thorough review,” Google said at the time.

Up to 15 years in prison

Thailand’s lese-majeste laws are intended to protect the most senior members of Thailand’s royal family from insult or threat.

Article 112 of the country’s criminal code says anyone who “defames, insults or threatens the king, the queen, the heir-apparent or the regent” will be punished with up to 15 years in prison.

However, there is no definition of what constitutes an insult to the monarchy.

Lese-majeste complaints can be filed by anyone against anyone, and they must always be formally investigated by the police.

More than 100 people have been charged with lese-majeste since the coup; seven were detained by the military last month, including a lawyer who is being charged on 10 counts of violating the law, carrying a punishment of up to 150 years in prison.

Some of the recent arrests for lese-majeste have been made over posts on social media sites.

A man faces 15 years in jail for posting images on Facebook in 2015 of then-King Bhumibol’s favourite dog in a way that mocked the king, according to the prosecutor.

And a cleaning lady is being charged for posting the words “I see” in an exchange on Facebook between her and a political activist that police say had defamatory comments.