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Published on August 9, 2007

I believe that the Thai government needs to intervene in the use of stem cells on human patients in Thailand immediately.

No one in Thailand checks to see if the "stem-cell" materials delivered to Thailand by the stem-cell company's Israeli laboratory are what the stem-cell company says they are. These materials are not examined in a laboratory in Thailand, nor are they inspected by anyone to insure that they are even alive. Cells are not checked for viability, nor are they checked to see if they are even the patient's own cells, as they are supposed to be.

Suspicion here is not mere paranoia. The stem-cell company deliberately misled the Thai Medical Council, the Thai FDA, the Thai medical community, and defrauded the patients who came to Thailand for stem-cell treatment. When the prospect of using stem cells on human patients in Thailand was originally proposed, the stem-cell company told the Thai government and its patients that the patients' blood was processed in a certified GMP (Good Manufacturing Process) laboratory in Israel.

The stem-cell company has no GMP lab in Israel. In fact, the stem-cell company's own internal documents reveal that the lab they use in Israel has never been GMP certified.

The document the stem-cell company originally used to hoodwink the Thai authorities was a mere private consultant's "survey" of the lab - one in which the paid consultant stated he believed the lab "met" GMP standards. It was NOT a valid certificate issued by the Israeli government ministry in charge of certifying laboratories as meeting GMP standards.

One must wonder if the Israeli lab's lack of certification, with its accompanying potential for cell contamination might explain some of the heretofore unexplained deaths of people who came to Thailand for stem-cell treatment only to die shortly after receiving same.

The Medical Council should immediately order the cessation of stem-cell treatments in Thailand until the Thai FDA can promulgate regulations to ensure stem cell products are viable and not contaminated.

The potential for harm (which may have already befallen those whose deaths have never been properly investigated) is too great for Thailand to permit the use of a stem cell product which was initiated in Thailand based upon fraud and lies.

Harry J DePietro

Girard, Ohio

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Thaksin clearly breaking 'enough is enough' pledge

Re: "Former TRT members get campaign tips from ex-PM", News, August 8.

The video clip of Thaksin Shinawatra delivering a speech to his former Thai Rak Thai Party members on Tuesday was clear evidence of the former leader's duplicity. During the past nine months, Thaksin pledged time and again to stay away from politics for the sake of conciliation within his home country. He has gone back on his pledge.

The 15-minute video clip also shows that Thaksin is using London as his base to undermine the Surayud government in its effort to cleanse the Kingdom of money politics, which has in the past six years thrown Thailand into disarray and divisiveness.

Thaksin's return to political prominence, whether directly or with him in the background, would bring Thailand back to the vicious cycle yet again. Informed Thais are opposed to Thaksin and his brand of politics.

The British government should review its visa granted to Thaksin, since he is using its soil for subversive actions against a friendly country.

Chavalit Van

Chiang Mai

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UN declaration covering indigenous people needed

Today we mark the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. This is an important moment to celebrate the enormous diversity and cultural wealth of indigenous peoples in all parts of the world.

For populations whose relationship to the earth and natural elements is such an integral part of their identity, climate change poses a particular threat.

Rising sea levels, disappearing glaciers, and the desertification of once resource rich and fertile areas threaten their very survival as individuals and peoples. The European Union is in the forefront of international efforts to tackle the challenge of adaptation through more responsible energy use, through improving education and awareness, and through promoting global commitments to halt climate change.

As we pursue this course we will ensure that we honour our commitments to protect natural ecosystems such as rainforests, and the traditional population of these habitats, in particular their food security and traditions.

In 2003, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues published a number of recommendations that identified the primary areas of concern in the position of indigenous peoples in today's world. A key demand of the Permanent Forum was the rapid adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

I hope the remaining obstacles to this process will soon be removed so that we can celebrate its adoption by the UN General Assembly in the near future.

On behalf of the European Commission I re-state our unwavering commitment to support indigenous peoples all over the world.

Benita Ferrero-Waldner

European Commissioner for External Relations and Neighbourhood Policy

Brussels

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Self-sustainability key in aiding rural poor

Re: "Austere village now tourist attraction", News, August 1.

Congratulations to Anan Paengnoy for the front-page article on the village of Ban Sam Kha and its enterprising people.

 Few realise the effectiveness of work being done in Thailand to help Asia's rural poor - some 80 million of them - not through handouts but by finding ways for them to support themselves in breaking out of poverty, as these villagers have done.

At Kasetsart University, for example, a little publicised international organisation has led the Asia-Pacific region in similar activities for the past 20 years.

The Regional Community Forestry Training Centre (RECOFTC) has become renowned for programmes reaching deep into the forests and out to some of the poorest communities in the Asian region.

The practice it promotes is called community forestry or community-based forest management - and it's becoming a global phenomenon affecting millions of people, many the poorest of the poor.

Over its two decades, RECOFTC's focus has changed from conventional teaching about living with and managing forests - to guiding the rural poor to develop the skills to best use the forest resources needed for their survival.

Its work reflects well on Thailand and will be celebrated next month by some 400 international experts, invited to Bangkok by RECOFTC and global coalition, the Rights and Resources Initiative, to discuss how natural resource management of the kind you described can lead the impoverished millions to better lives while, at the same time, protecting their environment.

Ken Burslem

RECOFTC

Bangkok

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Chevening scholars, where are you?

The British Embassy would like to hear from all our Chevening scholars. We want you to play a part in the creation of a Chevening Alumni network. To find out more please email us your contact details at info.bangkok@fco.gov.uk.

British Embassy

Bangkok

Apology

On August 6, we published a letter in the Letters to the Editor section titled, "US used the coup as an excuse to end talks", which contained an unjustifiable and totally unfair characterisation of American Ambassador to Thailand Ralph Boyce and his predecessor, Darryl Norman Johnson. We apologise for the lapse in editorial oversight that allowed this inflammatory letter to run. Ambassador Boyce has always been recognised as a diplomat of the highest professional integrity and a great friend of Thailand.

Send us your views in an instant E-mail your opinion, with 'Letters to the Editor' in the subject box, to: letters@nationgroup.com