No more freshman parties this year as authorities look to regulate annual ‘welcome’ ritual

Thaksin assures Powell violence is home-grown

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told former US secretary of state Colin Powell yesterday that the almost daily violence in Thailand’s predominantly Muslim south was not linked to a broader regional terror network.

Health volunteers decry lack of support

They came from every province; leaders of the nationwide network of village health volunteers. Summoned by the Public Health Ministry to Bangkok for urgent instructions on how to respond to what may be a record outbreak of dengue fever this year, they left frustrated, dreading the burden ahead and complaining about a lack of government support.

Grieving kin cremate ‘victim’

The cremation of a Kasetsart University freshman took place yesterday, as mourning relatives and friends insisted that initiation activities supervised by senior students were the sole cause of his suicide.