29/01/2026

THURSDAY | JAN 29, 2026

7

Thai parties tap nationalist mood

o Border clashes have angered voters

KANTHARALAK: Thai lawmaker Phumin Leethiraprasert has switched party allegiances in his re-election campaign for a Feb 8 poll, aiming to show voters he can make tough decisions to help border communities scarred by clashes with Cambodia. “I am not running for Pheu Thai this time around because of the border conflict,” said Phumin, 62, referring to the party of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra that dominated swathes of Thailand’s mainly agrarian northeast for decades. Nationalist sentiment has surged across Southeast Asia’s second largest economy after a perception that the Pheu Thai-led administration’s handling of a border crisis led to the worst fighting with Cambodia in decades, killing 149 people. “Bombs hit our homes and our people died,” the former doctor, who has forged new ties with one of the political parties racing to harness the nationalist fervour in the final stretch of the campaign, told a small crowd at a rally. Voters angered by the damage in his district of Kantharalak had urged Phumin to defect, he said last week. So, he is now running as a candidate of the Kla Tham Party, an ally of the ruling Bhumjaithai, which took power after the border row led to the removal of Thaksin’s daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who was then prime minister. Anger and anxiety linger in the area after 19 Thais were killed and hundreds of thousands evacuated from border communities, such as BEIJING: Giant pandas Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei arrived safely in Sichuan yesterday, China’s panda research base said in a social media post, following an emotional goodbye from fans in Tokyo where the pair were born and raised. Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei arrived at Chengdu’s Tianfu International Airport early yesterday, a WeChat post by the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda showed. They reached the centre in Ya’an, Sichuan, where they will undergo quarantine. The twin pandas were born in Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo in 2021. Their parents Shin Shin and Ri Ri returned to China in 2024. Since its founding in 1949, China has used panda diplomacy to boost its image and cement ties with other countries by gifting or loaning out pandas. The pandas return home after the agreement ends, and pandas born overseas like Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei usually go to a Chinese breeding programme between the age of two and four. Pictures on the showed the pandas’ crates being unloaded from a Sichuan Airlines plane and then transported to a truck, overseen by workers in white protective suits. – Reuters Japan-born pandas arrive in Sichuan

A Thai villager hugs Phumin in Khuean Chang village in Kantharalak district. – REUTERSPIC

“They don’t want to see border crossings reopened or trade with Cambodia resume.” In the midst of the intense border fighting, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul dissolved parliament last month after fewer than 100 days in power, setting the stage for snap polls, designed to gain from the wave of intense nationalism unleashed. At rallies, Anutin and his Bhumjaithai expressed strong support for the military and the construction of the border wall, a policy echoed by other conservative, pro-army groups. That has forced key rivals, the

Kantharalak, in two bouts of fighting in July and December. “We have to make them afraid,” said Uthai, a 58-year-old in the village of Sam Meng, referring to Cambodia. “We have been too soft.” Thailand and Cambodia agreed to a second ceasefire in late December, ending weeks of clashes following the collapse of a July truce brokered with the help of US President Donald Trump. Many voters are backing the Thai army’s plans for a border wall along parts of the 817km land frontier, Phumin said, although construction has yet to begin.

Nearly 700 residents of the stricken village have been evacuated to local government buildings, the agency said earlier. West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi blamed the landslide on sprawling plantations around Pasirlangu, mostly used to grow vegetables and pledged to relocate affected residents. – Reuters/AFP of infection prevention and control measures, and to apply rigorous isolation protocols for all suspected or confirmed Nipah virus cases receiving treatment. In parallel, health authorities were urged to track and update information on outbreaks and to reinforce public communication to avoid unnecessary panic while encouraging proper adherence to preventive measures. Early detection of suspected cases was highlighted as a critical step to enable timely isolation, diagnosis, treatment and effective containment of the disease. – Bernama Cambodia to ensure stable ties with Thailand. Pheu Thai, facing criticism over Thaksin’s once- close ties with former Cambodian premier Hun Sen, is redoubling efforts to show it is committed to Thailand’s sovereignty. “We can live alongside them,” said Samrong Narasa, whose home in the village of Sam Meng, about 10km from the border, was destroyed by Cambodian shelling last month. “But we don’t want to be friends with them,” said the 52-year-old, who wants the new government to do more to protect people and their livelihoods. – Reuters

progressive People’s Party, which is leading in the polls, and Pheu Thai, to redraw campaign plans to avoid appearing unpatriotic, said political scientist Thitinan Pongsudhirak at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University. “They are being portrayed as not nationalist enough, not patriotic enough, and not anti-Cambodian enough,” he said, describing the efforts of pro-military parties to undercut the competition. The People’s Party, long associated with calls for military reforms, has softened its anti establishment stance, underlining plans to exert diplomatic pressure on

Vietnam steps up measures against Nipah virus HANOI: The Department of Medical Services Administration under the Health Ministry here has issued a directive urging hospitals under the ministry, medical units of ministries and sectors, and provincial and municipal health departments to intensify preventive and control measures against the Nipah virus. Vietnam News Agency from animals to humans or through contact with contaminated food and objects, and can also spread between people via direct contact with bodily fluids and secretions of infected patients. of other ministries and sectors and provincial health authorities, to instruct subordinate healthcare establishments to strengthen disease surveillance and prevention efforts. Emphasis was placed on the strict use of personal protective equipment by healthcare workers and close contacts of suspected or confirmed cases within medical facilities, particularly for patients arriving from countries monitoring

The incubation period ranges from four to 14 days, with early symptoms including headache, muscle aches, vomiting and sore throat, potentially progressing to dizziness, drowsiness, impaired consciousness and neurological manifestations consistent with acute encephalitis. The department called on Health Ministry-affiliated health facilities, along with medical units

reported that at present, no vaccine or specific antiviral treatment is available. Nipah virus infection is designated a Group A infectious disease, with reported fatality rates of 40% to 75%. The virus is mainly transmitted

experiencing ongoing or recent outbreaks within the previous 14 days. Healthcare establishments were also directed to enhance the implementation, inspection and

Rain hampers search for Java landslide victims JAKARTA: Search operations for the 32 people still missing after a landslide in West Java were hampered by rain yesterday, the country’s disaster mitigation agency said, as it raised the death toll to 34. The landslide hit Pasir Langu village in the Bandung Barat region on Saturday, triggered by heavy rains starting a day earlier. The village was located in a hilly area of the province about 100km southeast of Jakarta. “It’s raining in the landslide site this morning but all the rescuers are ready to continue the search,” said the agency’s spokesperson Abdul Muhari. The death toll rose to 34 from the previous count of 20. Another 23 people survived the disaster. Twenty-three soldiers were

killed while conducting border patrol training, the Indonesian Navy said on Tuesday. A team is working at the scene to identify the bodies found by rescuers, Muhari said. At least 800 rescuers, military and police personnel along with nine excavators have been deployed to find the remaining missing people.