THAILAND: THAI GOVERNMET HODLS 'CHICKEN-EATING FAIRS' TO CONVINCE PEOPLE THAT WELL COOKED CHICKEN AND EGGS POSE NO DANGER DESPITE BIRD FLU

Record ID: 652506

  • Title: THAILAND: THAI GOVERNMET HODLS 'CHICKEN-EATING FAIRS' TO CONVINCE PEOPLE THAT WELL COOKED CHICKEN AND EGGS POSE NO DANGER DESPITE BIRD FLU
  • Date: 7th February 2004
  • Summary: BANGKOK, THAILAND (FEBRUARY 7, 2004) (REUTERS) LV CROWD WAITING FOR FREE ROASTED CHICKEN TO BE DISTRIBUTE SV MEN COOKING CHICKEN CU ROASTED CHICKEN SV WOMAN CUTTING ROASTED CHICKEN CU CHICKEN MCU BOY EATING CHICKEN SV/CU OF ROASTED CHICKEN WAITING TO DISTRIBUTE (2 SHOTS) SV THAI PRIME MINISTER THAKSIN SHINNAWATRA ARRIVING SV CROWD WATCHING SV THAKSIN COOKING ON LIFTED PLA
  • Embargoed: 22nd February 2004 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BANGKOK, TAHILAND
  • Country: Thailand
  • Topics: Industry
  • Reuters ID: LVA92Y24FKV0B7KH6C0SBXG09ZT7
  • Story Text: Thai government holds 'chicken-eating fairs' to convince people that well cooked chicken as it battles to eradicate bird flu.
    Thailand's government organised "chicken-eating fairs" across the country on Saturday (February 7) in a bid to convince people that the experts are right to say well-cooked chicken and eggs pose no danger.
    The world's fourth biggest chicken exporter slaughtered 26 million fowl to eradicate bird flu which has already killed 5 people in Thailand alone. At least Vietnamese have also been killed. More than 140 "red zones", which were made up of 5-km (three mile) areas, were declared contaminated with the deadly H5N1 virus.
    Thailand was the worst hit of the 8 Asian countries struck by avian flu and the government admits it was slow to react at first. But Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra says appropriate measures were eventually taken and that he is confident the virus is now under control.
    In an attempt to persuade the public that poultry was safe again, providing it is properly cooked, the Prime Minister chopped and deep-fried a chicken himself at Bangkok's 30-acre (12-hectare) Sanam Luang, in the shadow of the Grand Palace.
    "Today, I don't care whether foreign market will import Thai chicken or not. What I care about are that Thai people should not be mislead nor that they unreasonably panic, and that the chicken sold in Thailand be safe. When chicken is cooked properly, at more than 70 degrees Celsius, it is 100 per cent safe," Thaksin said.
    Although an estimated 5,000 people queued up to eat the free fried chicken and boiled eggs, not everyone was convinced by Thaksin's argument. One 60-year-old housewife who ate chicken at the Sanam Luang event because Thaksin was there said she was not sure market chickens were free of the virus.
    The other main event was a bid to make a world record size Kai Pa Lo, a sweet Chinese style soup eaten with rice, with 10,000 eggs.
    The Bangkok Post newspaper said army chefs across the country had been ordered to put chicken back on their menus in a bid to allay public fears.
    It said that army chief General Chaisit Shinawatra had instructed mess halls to serve chicken at least three days a week to both officers and other ranks.
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