This & That

● The Thai Ministry of Public Health announced that it planned to eliminate rabies from the country by the year 2020, according to Deputy Minister Panasiri Kulanatsiri, who said that this could be possible because the disease is vaccinepreventable. Globally, 55,000 people die annually from canine rabies. In Thailand, approximate 10-20 persons die of this zoonotic viral disease each year and most victims of the dog bites are children under the age of 10, the deputy public health minister said.

● Thailand's industrial confidence index in January continued to edge up to 115.4 from 113.6 points in the previous month, boosted by an increase in total sales, production, operating costs and performance results, according to a survey by the Federation of Thai Industries.

● Visitors to Burma via the Mae Sai checkpoint in Chiang Rai province are growing in numbers, with more Thai and foreign tourists booking for tours to historical Burmese cities like Chiang Tung, Mandalay and Hongsawadee.

Meanwhile, the Myanmar Times reported that Myanmar Airways International is planning to add one more scheduled service a week between Rangoon and Bangkok, effective from March 28.

● Within three months,Thai Airways passengers will be able to reserve and buy tickets and instantly complete all the processes required for travel by mobile phone, thanks to the launch of the national carrier's new ecommerce policy.

● The more than 450,000 non Thais living in the country will be provided with free medical care from April 1 if the Public Health Ministry's 472 million baht plan wins Cabinet approval. "This will include those who have permanent residence in Thailand as well as children born in Thailand to foreigners," Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanawisit announced.

● Smog density in the North has again exceeded a safe health level, prompting concerns and the distribution soon of 800,000 protective masks to local residents. The density measured at a local pollution control office in Chiang Rai  was 132 mg/cubic metre  exceeding the recognised safety level of 120 mg/cubic metre for more than two days, officials said.

● Chiang Rai governor Sumeth Saengnimnual said he had officially asked local authorities in Laos and Burma to make sure their communities did not light unnecessary fires, while local fire services have been placed on alert. Volunteer firemen are now stationed at eight districts where wildfires and manmade fires are frequent.

● Thailand's first laboratory to detect dioxins has been  officially opened  to help screen out toxins in high fat food that lead to abnormalities in immunity, the reproduction system as well as cancers. The facility will meet international standards as well as save on the 90,000 baht spent each time on samples tested at labs overseas. In the past, there was no system to detect dioxins in high fat products such as milk, butter, chocolate, pork, chicken and eggs.