The response by Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to calls for his resignation over his perceived failure to handle the Covid-19 outbreak properly reveals deep flaws that reinforces why he is not deserving of the portfolio.
He said he has no problems [with the pressure] because he can still work.
He said since he asked for the portfolio himself he would like to proceed under his own terms.
"Don't worry. If I can't handle it, I won't stay on," Mr Anutin said.
His response was followed by a series of messages in support of him from many hospital and medical staff.
Nowhere did Mr Anutin acknowledge the avalanche of criticism that he has been deluged with and his poor performance in the face of the Covid-19 crisis.
Even many medical professionals joined a group called "Mor Mai Thon" or "Doctors Won't Tolerate This" to launch a petition on Change.org calling for Mr Anutin to quit.
More than 150,000 people have signed the petition in two days.
The group cited his failure to come up with appropriate policies to battle the pandemic, manage resources, procure Covid-19 vaccines and boost confidence among medical professionals as the reasons.
Mr Anutin did not address any of the issues. He only insisted he has tried his hardest.
It's the inability to reflect on one's self that makes Mr Anutin unfit to stay on as the man in charge of saving lives.
Without critical self-review, there can be no learning curve. And without that, there can be no improvement. And that is exactly the pitfall Mr Anutin, and by extension his boss Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha and the entire government, has fallen into.
The government is accountable to no-one. With the support of 250 senators, they can't be voted out or beaten by parliamentary mechanisms. No matter how out of sync they are with public needs or opinions, there seems to be no way to make the government listen.
Except when tycoons speak. That seems to be the one way to affect government policies.
Mr Anutin may have said he was sorry for the 85-year-old woman who died while waiting for a hospital bed but the individual case, and several others that have followed, is just a part of failure of the larger system.
Since the latest wave started early this month, the government's lack of preparedness, planning and handling of the situation has been evident. The entire process from Covid-19 testing to treatment, even death, seems extremely taxing for those in need of services. Nothing that the authorities told the public to do seems to work.
The government said high-risk people are entitled to free tests but in reality it has not been easy to get any tests, let alone free ones.
The policy that said hospitals must admit people who test positive became problematic as hospital beds ran out. Some hospitals refused to do testing at all while others could not secure beds for confirmed cases.
Despite warnings that hospital beds should be reserved only for those with severe symptoms, the government insisted on admitting all Covid-19 patients into hospitals, so-called "hospitels" or field hospitals.
When the number of new cases soared past 2,000 a day, the beds ran out fast, as warned.
As healthcare resources and personnel became stretched, chaos resulted. The government's hotline numbers for admission and bed reservation were simply dysfunctional. Instead of a single number, people were told to call 1668, 1669, 1330 or 1646, which are almost always busy.
Those who were lucky enough to get through were either told to call the other numbers or to wait. Many patients said they had to wait for days before being admitted.
The sad part is as people struggled against the system that is apparently not designed to serve them well, the government keeps saying that it has everything under control, that more medicines are coming and there are still enough hospital beds.
If so, why did the 85-year-old die while waiting to be admitted? Why did a former e-sport player die because it took five days before he could receive a diagnosis?
Under Mr Anutin's leadership, people live in fear. It's not just the fear of contracting the virus but also the dreadful feeling of having to find our own way through the seemingly inaccessible treatment process.
Even vaccines are becoming more of a source of worry than hope. When can we have enough jabs for the population? Will the government deliver on its promise of securing other, better brands for the public? How severe have the Sinovac side-effects been?
As Mr Anutin continues his work, people are starting to despair. With his best efforts, the Thai healthcare system, praised as among the best in the world, has turned into disarray.
Does something have to change?
Atiya Achakulwisut is a Bangkok Post columnist.