Government blames the public for pandemic third wave in official announcement

Thailand’s military-backed government blamed, this week, the general public for not doing enough to stem the spread of the third wave of the pandemic and for being one of the causes for its wide reach.

Thailand is currently fighting its most severe wave of the Covid-19 pandemic with infection rates climbing into the quadruple digits and the death toll mounting.

There has been 32,836 cases and 84 deaths since April 1 when the third wave began.

The government released an official order on the Royal Gazette on Thursday evening which detailed new measures introduced to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Within the government’s official order was the following passage:

Translated as:

“…with the majority of citizens relaxing their attitudes towards the situation…without exercising caution, protecting themselves during the beginning of stages of the infections, has made the disease spread throughout the kingdom.”

The order will likely be met with outrage considering the statements made by analysts and doctors who say that the government have not done enough to curtail and prepare for the third wave of the pandemic.

Among their criticisms are:

• Not shutting down the country as the third wave was building up during Songkran and allowing the free movement of people thereby spreading the disease to every province.
• Not formulating a vaccine program that was speedy and efficient meaning that minimum nubmer of people have been inoculated.
• Not allowing/putting in red tape to stop private hospitals from being in their own vaccines.
• Relying on Sinovacs and Siam Bioscience solely.
• Allowing ministers to attend entertainment venues and spread the disease further and then not taking action when they do not reveal their timelines.
• Lowering the number of public transportation without foreseeing that it would lead to overcrowding on existing routes.

The government has so far not responded to requests for comment. However, opposition members of parliament, political pundits, and members of the general public have for weeks criticized the government’s response. The newest statement blaming the Thai people for their failures will likely not go down well.