Showing 1 - 10 of 16
Sort out the boosters
Oped, Editorial, Published on 15/12/2021
» With the new coronavirus strain Omicron lurking around the corner, booster jabs are to be expedited. But as Thailand has administered quite a few mix-and-match vaccination formulae, the public health authorities must quickly clarify what type of vaccine can be safely administered as booster shots for which formula.
Thailand not so bad
Oped, Postbag, Published on 20/11/2021
» So many letters to PostBag are negative, complaining about the government, military coups, the bureaucracy, the judicial system, inequality, immigration regulations, Section 112, incompetent Covid management, and much more.
Reopening a good bet with high costs
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 12/11/2021
» Nearly two weeks into Thailand's official reopening during the Covid-19 pandemic, it is time to evaluate the country's vaccine management plan, economic costs and prospects of recovery. While the reopening is worth the attendant risks, Thailand is paying a disproportionately high price for earlier mistakes and the government's mismanagement. As the reopening phase builds up, the Thai economy is likely to see a weak and tentative recovery trajectory with medium-term challenges and question marks.
Correcting the pandemic policy tack
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 30/07/2021
» That Thailand's coronavirus pandemic has been grossly mismanaged is self-evident. Infection rates have soared to new highs this month while vaccine availability and access remain shoddy and abysmal. The overstretched healthcare system is creaking under growing demand, while several scenes so far of Covid-afflicted people being left to die on the streets have shaken the country's collective morale and elicited soul-searching questions about how Thailand has managed to reach this dire juncture.
Thailand's jab fiasco needs an inquiry
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 16/07/2021
» Thailand's vaccine rollout is evidently a complete shambles due to questionable procurement, supply shortage, and misallocation amid a deadly surge of the Covid-19 "Delta" variant. The situation has been going from bad to worse with no end in sight as a poorly conceived strategy unfolds into a national calamity. As public anger mounts with fast-spreading calls for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's ouster, the Covid-19 pandemic is becoming Thailand's political game-changer more than anyone could have anticipated.
Warning on Russia
Oped, Postbag, Published on 15/07/2021
» Re: "Russia is back and it's a little bit better," (Opinion, July 13).
Is there a jab cover-up in Thailand?
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 09/07/2021
» It has become common knowledge that Thailand's national vaccine plan is inadequate, full of loopholes, flip-flopping and even worse, and might not be enough to deal with the fluid threat and devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic effectively. But vaccine mismanagement no longer appears to be the root cause of Thailand's Covid-19 trials and tribulations.
Prayut govt stuck in self-made trap
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 02/07/2021
» Thailand's multi-layered crises from persistent virus infections and vaccine shortages to economic damage are building up into a potential political upheaval. The ravaging Covid-19 crisis is worse than the infamous Tom Yum Kung economic crisis in 1997-98. This time, the military-predominant government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is stuck in multiple traps of its own making. Getting out of this predicament means the pandemic situation is likely to get a lot worse before any hope of recovery and way forward can be found.
China's way with a divided, inert Asean
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 18/06/2021
» The recent Asean-China foreign ministers' meeting early this month in Chongqing was crucial for its timing and circumstances. Co-chaired by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin, it was the first "in-person" meeting among foreign ministers of both sides since the Covid-19 period began early last year.
A long road to recovery for Thailand
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 10/06/2021
» The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) in last December's forecast raised its global GDP growth forecast for 2021 from 4.2% to 5.8% as of May 2021, primarily due to the achievement of Covid-19 vaccine rollout in developed nations. The GDP growth rate for the US is estimated to be as high as 6.9% this year -- an admirable rise from a contraction of 3.5% last year. The US is not the only economy that benefits from a quick vaccine rollout. The UK economy is projected to grow at an even higher rate of 7.5% in 2021 as more than 40% of its population has been fully vaccinated and about 60% of its population received at least one dose.