WBU General Assembly 2012 continues in Bangkok

BANGKOK, November 13 (TNA) - The 8th General Assembly of the World Blind Union and the International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (WBU-ICEVI 2012) continued at the Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel in Bangkok on Tuesday. The General Assembly of the WBU and the ICEVI takes place in Asia for the first time this year and Thailand is chosen as the host country, scheduled for November 8-18. According to Thai senator Monthien Boontan, who is a blind member of Thailand's Senate committee on the rights of persons with disabilities (PWDs) and the chair of the general assembly organizing committee, participants from 120 countries worldwide discussed the improvement of regulations of the World Blind Union on Tuesday morning. Monthien said that the regulations are reviewed every four years to suit the world changing situation, and that participants also discussed issues concerning PWDs and states of emergency. The Thai senator revealed that representatives of countries with experiences in natural disasters, national conflicts, terrorist attacks and chemical incidents also shared their stories, as people with visual impairment usually suffer great damage of life and property under such incidents. They cited last year's massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan and a severe earthquake in Haiti. During the 10-day WBU-ICEVI 2012 in Bangkok, there are also interesting exhibitions, free eye examinations to look for signs of possible blindness at old ages and a display of several advanced products abled fellows can also use, including color sorter machines, light sensors and label readers. (TNA)