09 Jul, 2021
Thailand hits the near bottom rank in the recovery from the Covid-19 Coronavirus index, compared with more than 120 countries across the globe, according to a recent Nikkei Asia report.
Nikkei Asia Covid-19 recovery index, based on data collected up to June 30th, indicates that Thailand is ranked at 118 among slightly more than 120 countries around the world to be able to cope with the Covid-19 domestic situation. It only receives a score of 26.0, calculated on its infection management, vaccination allocation, and public mobility.
The report also mentions Thailand as an example of how successful the Covid-19 control was last year and how it was one of only a few Southeast Asian countries that had experienced very few infections. However, the restriction and closure measures implemented after the rocketing number of infections found in the second quarter had significantly put enormous pressure on the Thai economy, resulting in its GDP shrinking 6.1 percent in 2020, according to the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council.
The Prime Minister’s initial plan to have the Thai population at least one dose by October seems to be impossible as the vaccination allocation has just begun in March and is delayed. Only 11.3 million out of 70 million people have received their first shot, as of Wednesday, accountable for 4.4 percent of its population.
“A lot of the vaccine problems at the beginning were because the government and bureaucracy had trouble wrapping their minds around the problem,” one observer told Nikkei Asia. “The doctors wanted to play safe, not muck around too much and not sign these [vaccine orders] — they didn’t want to go to jail.”
Nikkei Asia also points out the vaccination allocation has reflected and widened the social gap in Thailand, which has always been one of the most unequal societies in the world, as many people in high-class society and influential people with connections are prioritized and managed to cut the queue to receive the vaccination.
“There are real incidents of people with connections being able to get vaccines for themselves and their families,” a retired civil servant told Nikkei Asia. “This is not gossip; people boast about it openly, even on Facebook.”
