Some people may wish the Covid-19 outbreak could unite us in fellowship and valour to fight against a formidable foe in a manner akin to The Lord of the Rings.
The reality, however, may be closer to Lord of the Flies.
Early last week, Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha criticised people who were captured on video sweeping out food and other necessities items from pantries of sharing in one go.
The PM said the behaviour was unacceptable to him.
He said the charity project, which was initiated by a volunteer group and has since proliferated, is based on the idea of camaraderie.
The philosophy is that those who have more can share their surpluses with those who don't have enough. Consideration is key.
If people take just what they need and leave the rest for others, the pantries can be sustained.
In theory, the community pantry is a kind of humanitarian scheme that is supposed to reignite our faith in human nature -- the belief that even in dark times, in the midst of an outbreak, the spirit of humanity will still shine through.
The reality isn't that romantic.
While the community pantries expanded rapidly, from 21 provinces to 43 in just a few days, stories about selfish behaviour have also multiplied.
We have heard about takers who may not be so needy as they arrived in cars to pick up stuff from the charity cupboards.
There was also a story about people complaining when a pantry was not filled up fast enough.
PM Gen Prayut said he didn't want these "ugly" scenes to occur again.
The PM's reaction, praising the sharing initiative of the haves while blaming the greediness of the have-not, is remarkable.
There should be no question now that the victims of Covid-19, or any outbreak at all, are class-biased. It tends to wreak havoc on the poor and underprivileged more than those who are well to do, with access to healthcare and able to protect themselves from catching the disease.
The poor can easily fall into destitution as the outbreak has shut down economic activities and robbed millions of people of their jobs and income.
With this realisation, the government should have focused its efforts on shoring up these vulnerable groups which make up the majority of people in the country.
After what has transpired, however, it seems like the poor and vulnerable are being left as collateral damage.
It's true the government has run a few relief programmes, but owing to its inefficiency, unpreparedness or inability to understand the lifestyles of the poor, the attempts seem to have fallen short.
The 5,000-baht cash aid scheme is full of problems. It's questionable, even now, how the government decided who should be eligible for the assistance.
Those who are covered by the social security system have experienced delays. At present, more than a million people who were suddenly left out of work because of Covid-19 have filed for unemployment benefits of up to 62% of their salary.
Only half of the applicants, or about 490,000 of them, have reportedly received the compensation.
According to the Labour Ministry, the delay is due to the need to calculate the compensation case by case. Also, the software used to handle the social security data is reported to be more than 10 years old, requiring its manual input instead of being automated.
Nevertheless, the ministry had words of comfort for the Covid-19 unemployed. They have up to two years to claim their benefits, even if they get a new job after this.
That is very optimistic but for people who don't have a job or money now. Two years would be unacceptable. How are they supposed to get through each day of poverty and hardship now?
Thailand is lucky that philanthropic acts and community efforts such as the pantries of sharing have helped fill the gap left by a dysfunctional bureaucracy and failing government programmes.
The "selfish" behaviour that the PM found unbearably ungainly should remind us about how desperate, or insecure, some people have become because of the virus outbreak and unreliable state support.
The community pantries are nice schemes but they should not have been necessary. If PM Gen Prayut does not want to see people scrambling for free food, he should make sure they can afford to buy some for their tables.
If he wishes to nurture a spirit of solidarity, he should stop bossing people around and start serving them effectively as a real leader, not a strongman.