Thailand’s busy health minister gave us 20 minutes of his time so we jumped at the chance to ask him about Thailand’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, criticisms directed his way and what the future holds for the country.
The following interview is edited for brevity and clarity.
TE: Did we shut down the country too late to avert the crisis?
AC: Everything has been done on a timely basis. Our announcements were carefully considered given the stages we were in and the circumstances.
TE: So what were the considerations that stopped us from shutting down earlier? Were they economic considerations or diplomatic? Or did we think the threat was not significant?
AC: Every factor was taken into consideration. The situation changes daily, even right now the spread of the disease in Thailand is better than other places in the world because we have prepared from the beginning.
TE: If you look at our neighbouring countries, some have higher numbers, others don’t have an advance healthcare infrastructure, what is being done to stop the disease coming into our country?
AC: We have implemented strict measures to stop foreigners from coming into Thailand. Those trying to come into Thailand have a difficult time, they must have a health certificate, insurance and be quarantined. So their number has dropped.
TE: Let’s switch gears. Have we reached phase 3 of the outbreak?
AC: If we look at the definition of Phase 3, the disease has not yet reached that point. The infections still come from two or three big events, not uncontrolled like in other countries. So by this definition we’re not in phase 3. But if you look at how widely the disease has spread throughout Thailand then we can call it phase 2.9 or something like that.
However, we’re ready to deal with all eventualities and we’ve been ready to deal with phase 3 should we get there.
TE: If we do reach phase 3, do we have the supplies necessary to scale up should cases become widespread and uncontrolled?
AC: We are always prepared but at this time just being well prepared is not enough. We need full cooperation from the people because Covid-19 is a virus that can only pass on with people’s mobility. So if people don’t move, the virus does not move.
TE: In that case, shouldn’t it be the government’s job to shut down provinces and limit mobility even more?
AC: It is better to have good cooperation, people need to be well aware of the situation. Law enforcement alone will create more complexities than urging people to be aware and asking for their cooperation.
TE: By complexity, do you mean politically?
AC: Everything.
TE: You mention that it is important that everyone is aware of the situation in Thailand so that they can stop themselves from going into dangerous areas and limit their mobility, would you say that the government has been open with this entire process since the beginning?
AC: The government has given full details about this epidemic since Day 1. There has not been any time that the government would modify or hide the numbers because the Ministry of Public Health strongly believes that the more people that are aware of the situation, the better they would cooperate with the government, and the better protected they would be.
We have been trying to let the people know all the information we have.
TE: But it seems that your public relations department, the government’s public relations department, and other ministries sometimes present conflicting information and it can be confusing.
AC: It is an outbreak; the situation changes daily. Everybody in the government is on the move to try and help the people. Sometimes we focus more on the job than a microphone. [The outbreak] requires communication between the different offices and it might not be perfect, but the focus is to help people, other stuff is not as important as making sure the people are safe.
TE: There has been a lot of criticisms leveled at you personally, especially last week when you made comments about healthcare workers, what do you say to those criticisms?
AC: Any person that does a public job will tend to be criticized. I would rather be criticized by working hard than sitting idly and doing nothing. So that doesn’t mean anything to me. Nobody knows better than me as to how hard I have been working on this issue, so I [continue to work].
TE: In regards to those criticisms last week, you said you were misquoted, could you clarify on record what you meant to say?
AC: I wanted to send a precaution to people under my supervision. There was one instance of a director of a major hospital in Samutprakan under my ministry who did not take the right precaution and as a result, contracted the virus. That means his entire team around him has also got to stop working and quarantine themselves. That includes many doctors and nurses and people in the public health sector.
So I just wanted to send a message that this is a time to be careful.
TE: Do you think you could have said that message better to the press?
AC: I may have been too frank but I think it is better to be straightforward than skirt around the issue to appear nice.
TE: There are reports from provincial hospitals and even some hospitals in Bangkok that protective gear is running low for healthcare professionals, is this true and if it is what are you doing to address it?
AC: You can see that the Covid-19 is a true pandemic and it has affected countries around the world. Protective gear is running out in every country and Thailand is no exception. But the ministry is calling around the world and trying to source these gears everywhere that it is available to help and protect our people.
TE: Final question, given the increase in our daily infection rate, where can we expect the country to go in the next few months?
AC: Our rates are increasing by about 100 persons each day. An uninformed person would say this is bad news, but a smart person would say that is very good given the [exponential growth] of this virus in other countries. If we keep it to 100 person each day and if Thais maintain social isolation, then we will have it under control.
