The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) is calling on the government to consider allowing the private sector to jointly import Covid-19 vaccines to distribute to their employees amid a growing concern over the state's slow progress in providing vaccinations.
Although the Public Health Ministry said last week it was confident initial orders of two vaccines from the UK and China would arrive in Thailand later this month, playing down any prospects of a delay, the FTI wants the government to work with companies to speed up the process of vaccine distribution, seen as crucial in boosting investor confidence.
Giving this task to the government alone raises concerns over whether all Thai people would receive shots within this year, according to the FTI.
"Many companies have high potential to import and provide their workers with vaccines. But they cannot do so just because they are not allowed to under the law," said FTI chairman Supant Mongkolsuthree.
Firms in the manufacturing and tourism sectors have shown interest in the idea of importing vaccines, he said.
"These companies want to ensure their workplaces and products are safe from Covid-19. They are willing to pay for the vaccines," said Mr Supant.
The FTI has also started distributing Thai-made refrigerators to hospitals to store vaccines at 2-8 degrees Celsius in order to help the country to save money. This means the hospitals would now not need to purchase more expensive equipment from other countries.
"We have donated the fridges to hospital personnel in 77 provinces to serve the state's plan to distribute 2 million doses of vaccines from February to April," said Mr Supant.
Thai manufacturers can produce fridges for storing vaccines at around 40,000 to 50,000 baht, compared with up to 100,000 baht for imported equipment, according to the FTI.
Meanwhile, the Thailand Industry Sentiment Index for January stood at 83.5 points, down from 85.8 in December of last year. The index has declined for two consecutive months and hit a six-month low following the emergence of a fresh wave of the pandemic in the middle of December 2020.
The survey, which was conducted among 1,441 enterprises in 45 industries, outlined a list of concerns raised by entrepreneurs. Up to 73.8% were worried about the global economy, while 52.6% were concerned about the exchange rate. Some 42.2% were worried about fuel prices.