Soldiers back from South Sudan 'seem healthy'

Seventy-six Thai soldiers and one police officer who have finished participating in United Nations' peacekeeping missions in South Sudan arrived in Thailand yesterday with no sign of Covid-19 symptoms.

Gen Paripat Palasin, deputy chief of defence forces, said the batch of 77 soldiers and police which completed their military duties in South Sudan have returned to Thailand in apparent good health but would nevertheless begin a 14-day quarantine stay in a Chon Buri facility.

Meanwhile, a second batch of 273 Thai soldiers has travelled to this African country to continue the UN's peacekeeping missions which involve collaborating with other nations to plan and build a 500-metre road.

However, Gen Paripat said work relating to civilians has been cancelled as Covid-19 spread widely in the country.

Exact details are hard to come by because public healthcare in the country does not have adequate testing capacity.

As a result, the soldiers have been restricted to carrying out work in specific areas only to avoid the risk of contagion with the Thai army making use of medical kits to protect and sanitise themselves.

If infections occur, soldiers with severe cases will be flown back to Thailand to be treated at Phramongkutklao Hospital, he said.

Army medical department chief, Lt Gen Chaichan Tikkapanyo, said earlier that 32 infected Thai soldiers who returned to Thailand from South Sudan last month have been treated and released by the hospital.

Meanwhile, the EU-Asean Business Council has published its 6th Business Sentiment survey held between April and July, during the height of the pandemic and lockdowns in the region.

In total, 680 respondents from European businesses in the public and private sectors in 10 Asean member states responded.

All were either in the services or manufacturing industries, ranging from hospitality and tourism to the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.

The survey found 56% of EU businesses have plans to expand operations in Asean, a slight drop from 61% in 2019, while 59% of respondents in Thailand were satisfied with the government's Covid-19 response.

Commenting on the survey, Donald Kanak, chairman of the EU-Asean Business Council said: "This year's survey confirms that Asean is still seen as the region of best economic opportunity, but as would be expected during the Covid-19 crisis, the outlook for increased trade and investment shows signs of softening."