In response to the protest led by Thai youth activists, a member of parliament (MP) came out to ask, “Are you dying while waiting 2 years for the general election?” (มันจะตายไหม เพราะเพียงอีกสองปีครึ่ง ก็จะมีการเลือกตั้งทั่วประเทศ)
It is a little ironic that an MP would come out to ask this of us since in the past two years, countless Thai citizens have been dying from government mismanagement .
If it’s not already obvious, some of us have already died of COVID.
When the pandemic started, the Thai government did not adequately address the outbreak.
For example, Thailand hesitated to ban flights from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the epidemic at that time. There was no testing in place for those travelling from abroad, making it almost impossible to initiate contact tracing or contain the transmission of this disease to other citizens within the kingdom. The government did not take severe enough measures to control the disease until March, and by then, Thais were already dying from COVID.
At the same time, the government was not supplying physicians and nurses with sufficient amounts of personal protective equipment (PPE). The government’s priority seemed to be buying more military grade weapons, without arming healthcare workers with the right equipment as they were thrust into the front lines of the pandemic. All the while, ministers’ aides were exposed to have shippedPPE abroad to the highest bidder, leaving our healthcare workers and citizens to fend for ourselves.
Now, months after stringent measures were imposed on Thai citizens, the government’s decision to exempt the Egyptian soldiers from these same regulations since they were “VIP guests” could lead to more lives being lost. The soldiers were allowed to enter the kingdom without any quarantine, and afterwards, it was found that at least one of them tested positive for COVID. In consequence, Rayong’s tourism sector is now being hit, leading to economic repercussions, which could affect the wellbeing of some citizens. Furthermore, if this were to result in a second outbreak, the lives lost will directly be attributed to this administration’s mismanagement.
For those who did not die from COVID, we are suffering from the economic repercussions of the disease. During the pandemic, there was an increase in rates of suicide in Thailand’s working class.
People lost their income, and as a result, were unable to access food, maintain shelter, and seek out other basic rights. When the government eventually tried to provide monetary support, they completely neglected the barriers that people faced. The TSRI reported that the economic compensation reached only half of the intended recipients in the Bangkok metropolitan area. In essence, this aid was too little and too late.
We have not only been dying during the pandemic, but rather, our issues have started long before the pandemic came into the picture. The poor economic management of the current administration, as well as the past dictatorship, has widened the gap between the different socioeconomic classes in Thailand. Thailand today has the highest income inequality in the world. As the rich continue to get richer, the working class will continue to bear the weight of this inequality. They will continue to have more restricted access to services such as health and education. While they are not directly dying from this, their lives are much more difficult because of this economic inequality.
We are also dying from the increased militarization of the Thai army. Over the past few years, the government, with its strong ties to the army, has repeatedly defunded essential institutions such as healthcare and education and funneled that money into buying more weapons.
How did these weapons end up being used? It was used to kill 29 civilians and injure 58 others during the Nakhon Ratchasima shootings back in February.
Nevertheless, it was not only the importation of weapons that contributed to this incident, but rather, the Thai army’s hierarchical structure as a whole. The emphasis of seniority has given way for officials with higher military ranks to openly bully and harass those with lower military ranks. Since our government is formed from military officials, there is no doubt that this culture also exists within our parliament.
We are also dying from daring to express differing perspectives.
Wanchalearm Satsaksit.
Porlajee (Billy) Rakchongcharoen.
These are just some names of activists who have been victims of Thailand’s forced disappearances. While there is no evidence linking the government to this, the administration has been completely silent on this issue. No government officials have come out to talk about these victims, offer their sympathy, or promise to get to the bottom of these cases. This inaction shows us that at best, our government does not value the lives of those who don’t agree with them, and at worst, considers these lives to be disposable.
Over the years, the military junta and the current administration have repeatedly shown us that they continue to neglect and oppress us. We need a government that will stand up and fight for our rights to live with dignity, regardless of background, class, or ideology.
So, to that MP, I would like to say, “Yes, we are dying.” If you haven’t noticed, we’ve been dying for six years now and will continue to die over the next two. But this time, we’re not going down without a fight.
