A couple of weeks ago, the Facebook forum "Let's Move Abroad" was established and it grew rapidly to 500,000 members within three days. The founder of the forum, Pooh, said in an interview with The Standard that he runs many restaurants in Thailand that have all suffered financially due to the pandemic. He wants to expand his business to other countries so he established the forum to get information from people who have experience working and living abroad. The forum, which provides both positive and negative information about being an immigrant, includes how to study languages, what kinds of jobs are available, how to prepare visas and apply for jobs. Even though Pooh supports the youth protest movement, the forum does not aim to tackle political issues but focus on information regarding how to settle down in developed countries.
Asst Prof Kanokrat Lertchoosakul, the lecturer at the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, said that the forum was a reaction to the government being unable to handle the Covid-19 situation including vaccine mismanagement and economic problems. She said that the forum is the beginning of a potential brain drain in Thailand. The Land of Smiles will become a poor ageing society that does not have young people to make the country rich again. Kanokrat noted that during the Cambodian genocide, the Khmer Rouge killed millions of Cambodian people, resulting in a shortage of intellectuals to rebuild the country. The lecturer said that not everyone in "Let's Move Abroad" can move; only the most educated, intelligent and successful people will be able to leave the country.
Losing young intellectuals -- a powerful resource for any country -- would normally be a gamechanger and of great concern to leaders, but not for Thailand. The Digital Economy and Society (DES) Minister, Chaiwut Thanakhamanusorn, did not even question why 500,000 people (at that time) did not want to live in this beautiful country. Instead, he nitpicked what should be censored. Chaiwut said he had received complaints that claimed content in the forum caused divisions and offended the royal institution. After reviewing the page, he noted that the forum generally provides career guidance which he did not have any problem with, however, some members who are exiles and "nation-haters" had a hidden agenda to cause division and violate the lese majeste law. Hence, the DES will keep reviewing the content and take legal action if needed. To avoid political conflict and trouble, the forum's name was changed to "Shake. Let's Shake Our Hips" and reached 1 million members on May 11.
Government supporters say the forum is annoying since it was established by a youth protest movement supporter. Some called forum members "nation haters" because they criticise the country and say they did not want to live in the country any longer. Some even declared that protest supporters should move out immediately. Palang Pracharath Party MP Sira Jenjaka accused the opposition party of using the hype to blame the government for causing Thailand to become undesirable. The reaction shows that the government denies any wrongdoing that has caused people to want to leave the country.
If government supporters and government officials can control their anger toward the forum, they would see that brain drain is a serious issue. Apart from the moving abroad forums for the general public, there are move abroad forums being set up by medical doctors, nurses and other healthcare people. One of the forums founded by medical doctors has 26,000 members. These are our most highly educated citizens and we are in danger of losing them since medical professionals are welcomed in many countries due to shortages.
Healthcare workers have served tirelessly during the pandemic but they have not received adequate support from the government. When the third wave hit the country in April, there was a shortage of medical equipment. Healthcare workers worked hard and some revealed that they had not received additional risk compensation for several months. At one point, a petition on change.org called on Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to resign due to his inefficiency and mismanagement of the pandemic. It gained more than 200,000 signatures. The petition, "Mor Mai Thon (Doctors Won't Bear It)" revealed the frustration of these healthcare workers serving in hostile environments. As a result, many healthcare workers are seeking better working conditions and opportunities in other countries.
Last year, due to brain drain of healthcare staff in the Philippines, the government had to prohibit them from leaving during the outbreak. It is an example of a brain drain that can occur in Thailand in the future if the Thai government does not find ways to improve the situation for the new generation of intellectuals. It must be difficult for the government to admit that millions of people are not happy about their administration but they should keep an open mind and consider feedback that may benefit the country.
Suwitcha Chaiyong is a feature writer for the Life section of the Bangkok Post.