Saudi Arabia has accepted Thailand's proposal to postpone enforcement of the Saudi GAP standard until March 17, 2027, allowing Thai poultry farms undergoing certification to continue exporting under specified conditions. Agriculture Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit announced the extension will reduce the impact on exporters and maintain continuity of Thailand's poultry shipments to the kingdom.

The success resulted from continued follow-up and negotiations by the National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards (ACFS) working with the Department of Livestock. They promoted the issue through bilateral discussions with Saudi Arabia and in World Trade Organization forums on sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS) and technical barriers to trade (TBT), as well as through diplomatic channels, ultimately securing the relaxation and timeline extension.

Saudi GAP is a new requirement mandating that poultry farms exporting to Saudi Arabia undergo additional inspection and certification. The latest discussions confirmed that Thai farms seeking certification may continue exporting using import permits issued before the measure took effect.

Saudi Arabia is a major poultry importer, averaging over 570,000 tons annually. In 2568, Thailand exported approximately 100 tons of chicken to Saudi Arabia, valued at roughly 8 million baht. While current export volumes remain modest, Saudi Arabia represents a high-potential market and a gateway to the Middle East and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members, whose food and agricultural imports are rising steadily. This relaxation preserves existing markets while creating opportunities for Thailand to expand exports to the Middle East long-term.

Minister Suriya emphasized that the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives will continue opening markets for Thai agricultural and food products while addressing trade barriers with partner countries to create new opportunities and enhance Thai exporters' global competitiveness.

Businesses or interested parties seeking more information about Saudi GAP standards and poultry product exports to Saudi Arabia can contact the Agricultural and Food Commodity Standards Policy Division at the National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards (ACFS) at aseanchina.acfs@gmail.com.

Tokyo is caught in an unexpected online firestorm after the local government launched a campaign encouraging employees to dress more casually during summer to cope with extreme heat and humidity. The initiative backfired when some female office workers complained that male colleagues wearing shorts and exposing leg hair made them uncomfortable at work.

The controversy gave rise to a new Japanese internet term, "sunehara" (from "sune," meaning leg hair, and "harassment"), used to describe discomfort or annoyance at having to see male coworkers' leg hair in the office.

Since April, Japan has faced intense heat and high humidity, prompting Tokyo's government to expand its Cool Biz program, which encourages employees to dress more casually—wearing t-shirts, sneakers, or shorts instead of traditional suits and ties—to mitigate the effects of rising temperatures. Noboru Watanabe, a Tokyo environment official, told the BBC that the program's goal is to expand clothing options suited to weather conditions, not to mandate any particular dress code. He emphasized that as long as clothing does not create discomfort for others, it should not be an issue. However, what counts as "inappropriate" has proven open to wide interpretation.

A June survey by Gorilla Clinic, a men's beauty clinic in Japan, found that 53.5% of respondents opposed wearing shorts to work, while 46.5% supported it. The main concerns among those opposed centered on body shape and body hair, with most respondents being women who said they were unaccustomed to seeing male coworkers expose their leg hair in the workplace.

The controversy has also affected men, with some beginning to remove their leg hair out of concern about others' gazes. Akifumi Funantsu, director of Gorilla Clinic, revealed that they have seen an increase in male customers seeking laser hair removal services. Many cite not just aesthetic reasons but describe it as a "social courtesy" when wearing shorts to work, as they do not want to make coworkers uncomfortable.

On July 23, 2026, at the Institute of Forensic Medicine at Police Hospital, Paveena Hongsukul, chairman of the Paveena Foundation, accompanied the parents of the deceased newborn to receive the body and hear preliminary autopsy results. This followed a complaint filed by the Paveena Foundation against a state hospital in Ang Thong province for hosting a Chinese banquet with five tables in a pediatric ICU room where approximately five newborns were present, including the parents' own child who had undergone cesarean delivery five days earlier and had elevated pulmonary pressure. Doctors had assured the family the baby was safe.

However, the hospital later held the Chinese banquet in the sterile pediatric ICU, with servers entering to serve food without any protective measures or face masks. The day after the banquet on July 21, 2026, the infant died. The parents were concerned about the cause of death, as they noticed a collapsed area on the right side of the skull and a rotating left ankle bone. A doctor told the mother "the infant contracted a new bloodstream infection," but the hospital's death certificate stated the cause of death as "elevated pulmonary pressure." The hospital did not notify police to conduct an autopsy but instead urged the parents to quickly have the infant's body cremated.

The mother recounted that after undergoing cesarean delivery early on July 17, 2026, a nurse was preparing to take her to a recovery room when the infant was placed in an incubator due to abnormal breathing. Around midnight, the father was called to see the doctor, who explained that the infant was breathing faster than normal and would need an oral breathing tube to assist respiration. The father agreed to sign the treatment consent form.

On the morning of July 17 at 10:00 a.m., the pediatric ICU called to summon the mother to her child. The ICU doctor informed her that the infant had stopped breathing and had been resuscitated and was beginning to turn blue. The doctor reported elevated pulmonary pressure requiring close monitoring. On July 19, the mother was discharged and returned home to rest.

On July 20 at approximately 11:00 a.m., she visited the child at the hospital and met with the attending physician, who reported the infant's condition had improved, the pulmonary pressure medication had been reduced, and the respiratory assistance would be gradually withdrawn. If the condition continued to improve, the child would be transferred to a children's hospital, though transfer was not currently possible. Around 1:30 p.m., after the parents returned from shopping for supplies, they discovered the pediatric ICU director, nurses, and medical staff sitting and eating at five tables of a Chinese banquet inside the pediatric ICU, set up next to their child's incubator with only a thin transparent curtain separating them.

When the mother tried to approach her child, a nurse shouted at her in a harsh tone and told her that visiting was not convenient today due to the banquet. The mother asked the ICU nurse supervisor whether such an event could be held in this room. The attending doctor responded that there would be no infection risk because the infant was in a sterile incubator, but the mother observed servers for the Chinese banquet walking in to serve food in close proximity to the incubator without wearing any masks or protective equipment whatsoever.

On the morning of July 21, 2026, at approximately 9:14 a.m., the pediatric ICU nurse called the father and reported that the infant's condition had become critical during the night and urged both parents to come immediately. At around 10:00 a.m., the attending physician informed them that the infant's heart had been resuscitated once before. The doctor then spoke privately with the father and stated that the infant had contracted a new bloodstream infection, as the infant's heart rate had slowed. The doctor examined the infant for 45 minutes, then informed the parents that the infant had died and rushed to have the body removed from the ICU for transport to a cremation facility. A nurse later called to ask if they would cremate the body.

The Phuket Express -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Phuket— Entertainment venue operators in Phuket have formally petitioned the provincial government to expand zoning areas for nightlife businesses, arguing that current restrictions no longer reflect the island’s booming tourism sector. At a meeting held at the Phuket Provincial Hall, Deputy Governor Romdon Hayiawa received the proposal from Sulaymart Kaewngamdee, president of the Phuket Entertainment […] Phuket Entertainment Operators Push for Expanded Zoning -=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=- The Phuket Express - Real. Unbiased. Impactful. In the moment.

A 43-year-old woman developed acute abdominal pain just 24 hours after eating grilled fish, and endoscopy revealed more than 140 Anisakis simplex larvae embedded in her stomach. The patient experienced abdominal pain, nausea, low blood pressure, and a rash across her entire body following consumption of grilled spotted golden trevally. Doctors performing upper endoscopy found over 140 Anisakis simplex larvae in her stomach. After removal of the parasites via endoscopy, the patient's condition improved rapidly with no recurrence during a six-month follow-up period.

Anisakiasis is a marine food-borne parasitic disease caused by consuming fish, squid, or other seafood containing stage 3 larvae (L3) of Anisakis species that are either undercooked or eaten raw. Humans are accidental hosts, and while the larvae cannot mature into adult parasites in the human body, they can penetrate the stomach or intestinal lining, causing acute symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting, and potentially severe allergic reactions.

Although such heavy infections as seen in this patient are rare, the worldwide increase in raw seafood consumption has led to recognition of this disease as an emerging infection that medical professionals should consider, particularly in patients with acute abdominal pain following consumption of raw or undercooked seafood. According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jetsada Dondaobunphan, a biology instructor at Chulalongkorn University and science communicator, Anisakis is a roundworm parasite commonly found in wild-caught ocean fish. Consuming it does not cause reproduction within the body but can cause abdominal pain; however, if fish is properly cooked, the parasite dies completely and poses no risk.