OPINION

Hurt the junta

Re: "Myanmar: From diplomacy to force", (OpEd, April 30).

Prof Thitinan is right that as long as Myanmar's military has the upper hand, anti-coup opposition forces will suffer. We know the history of Myanmar. The only way to bring back civilian rule is to hurt the military rulers. Following the Afghanistan strategy of surgical strikes on their power bases is one way to change the course, but it will come with a price.

The other way is that Asean shifts the gears and expels any member that engages in violence against its own people. In other words, Asean can act as a real mediator only if it recognises and allows membership to elected governments in the region. Authoritarian and military-ruled regimes should be isolated and sanctioned. The Asean grouping is based on a flawed model where unequal regimes have been given equal veto and other powers. This is one reason why it does not have any consensus or clout.

Re: "Entry ban in effect for Indians," (BP, April 26).

As a foreigner in Thailand, I am reluctant to lecture about what the authorities here should do about their nationals stranded overseas. Every civilised and self-respecting country naturally wants to do the best for its own people. However, I believe the stated intention to repatriate 131 Thais from India in May is a serious mistake.

Of course, every intelligent person in Thailand sympathises with what India is going through, and also with its own nationals stranded there. But the operative principle now should be the greatest good for the greatest number. The new virus mutation ravaging India is estimated to be between three and five times as transmissible. Just one infected person, Thai or foreign, bringing this mutation into Thailand, is capable of creating mayhem. The mutation infects and re-infects with terrifying speed. The word exponential hardly does it justice.

Australia is reckoned to have the most comprehensive and efficient quarantine system in place for its repatriated nationals. Yet despite that, there have been continual small breaches and mistakes, resulting in repeated targeted lockdowns. In one instance the health authorities there even concluded someone had been infected in a quarantine facility via the ventilation system. Do the Thai health authorities believe their quarantine arrangements are more efficient then Australia's?

Because of the present situation in India, Australia has suspended all repatriation flights from there. Many Australian nationals, mostly of Indian ancestry, but not all, are presently stranded there. Callous as it may seem, Thailand should follow suit in its own interests. A better plan would be to make sure the Thais in India are provided with sufficient funds on a continuing basis to ensure they can effectively isolate themselves in reasonable comfort until the pandemic subsides.

Re: "Essential reading," (PostBag, April 29).

I agree with Ye Olde Curmudgeon that the job of a newspaper is to print news as it is, the good, bad and indifferent. The public must be informed. My letter was not about reporting the news, (local, national, international, etc), but the continual PostBag letters bombarding readers with continual doom and gloom. While I respect the opinions of all, one gets the idea that these people dwell on Covid to the point of paranoia where it has taken over their lives. It seems so many people have lost the ability to laugh, enjoy flowers, company, even if it must be spaced out, simply do things or be creative outside a shell. It is rather scary. It's as if someone jumps when he gets a pat on the shoulder. We all have to live with this for a long time to come. Let's not live it in total personal darkness.

Re: "Biden's historic Afghanistan error," (OpEd, April 22).

Brett Stephens points out the string of American abandonment of allies over the past five decades, including in Vietnam, Somalia, and Iraq. To his list could be added the Kurds in Syria, the Hmong in Laos, the Ukrainians in their fight to prevent Russian hegemony, and others.

The inevitable take-over of Afghanistan by the Taliban that will quickly follow the US and Nato withdrawal will no doubt lead to the squashing of all freedoms and rights for women and girls in the country -- returning Afghan society to the dark ages with respect to treatment of the female half of the population. The lessons that were supposedly learned from US engagement in the Vietnam War were that if a country is going to fight a war, it should have clear objectives and engage to win overwhelmingly. Those lessons have clearly not been taken to heart by American policy makers.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet authorised AstraZeneca's vaccine for use in the US, which has recorded the highest numbers of Covid-19 infections and deaths in the world.

"The US' decision to donate AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines is an important and welcomed step towards increasing equitable access worldwide," said Dr Carrie Teicher, director of programs at MSF-USA (Doctors Without Borders).

Why is Thailand manufacturing AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine if the US is giving it away? Is Thailand not a sufficiently worthy ally and not sufficiently in need? Why would Thailand use it at all if the US FDA does not think it is safe? Why not manufacture a different vaccine after all this wasted time?

Shouldn't someone be looking into these matters carefully?

Re: "Off-putting adverts", (PostBag, April 28).

It is a rather ominous sign, indeed, that someone would complain about the advertisements, pop-ups or videos which are being shown on the digital version of this newspaper, in the PostBag section, anyways.

I distinctly remember a few other chaps complaining about the same thing when the other now defunct Thai daily newspaper was on its last legs.

For what it's worth, the above things that the writer complained about actually have never really bothered me, as I honestly have not noticed them that much.

Be that as it may, I have some advice for the above individual: buy the Bangkok Post at a local newsstand, or better yet, order a subscription to this English daily.

Considering that the managers of many Western newspapers put quotas on the amount of daily or monthly articles that one can read for free, we all should be thankful that the people in charge of this newspaper do not do this, and that the insertion of few pop-ups or advertisements here and there are well worth the perceived inconvenience that one may experience while reading the digital version of the Post.

You have now stopped publishing the daily table of figures for new Covid-19 cases, deaths and recoveries, together with worldwide figures.

Is this because, with the latest wave, you have been directed not to publish these figures to avoid panicking the general public?

Withholding such information will not help. Now people will worry more about what they are not being told.

It is possible -- not probable, but possible -- for Thailand to achieve herd immunity against Covid-19 within a single month. It would work like this: A consortium of large companies, state institutions (especially the Royal Thai Army and the Ministry of Public Health), and hospitals would join hands to float a "Vaccination Bond".

The bond will be offered in 60 million bonds, with each costing 650 baht each. For that, it could solicit 39 billion baht -- more than enough to finance the rapid mass Covid-19 immunisation campaign.

The bond matures when herd immunity is reached, with the return yield at 715 baht -- or a 10% return. The bond issuers, therefore, need to provide 3.9 billion baht enough to cover the fast mass vaccination programme.

The budget for vaccination may seem high, but the country has already lost much more.

According to latest forecast by the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, money has evaporated at about 523 million baht per day since the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic started in April.

The bond would be sold via a mobile app. An existing Thai fintech company would be an essential part, perhaps even the organiser of this bond. Very little marketing would be needed: The idea of the bond sells itself. Make a little money, help the nation, participate in something bigger than yourself: powerful prosocial motivates. Many international friends of Thailand would surely also buy.

If two million people were vaccinated each day, then the entire country could reach herd immune within three weeks. The country needs that warp-speed of mass inoculation simply because the current vaccination plan is too slow.

To reinvigorate economic activity, a rapid, highly efficient inoculation campaign is needed if each vaccination costs 600 baht, including cost of vaccines, human resources, logistics and health personnel. Sixty-three million is 90% of the total population: total herd immunity level. Sixty-three million people times 600 baht is 37.8 billion baht. This leaves over 1.2 billion baht as an emergency fund.

The bond would mature when herd immunity is reached, and return 715 baht: that is, a 10% return. The bond issuers, therefore, need to provide 3.9 billion baht enough to cover the fast mass vaccination programme.

Within a month (following the implementation of the Vaccination Bond) tourism could be opened up. There would be some cases of Covid-19, but they would be manageable simply because the population, as a whole, would be immunised.

The success of the Bond here would open up the possibility of funding other large-scale projects through similar bonds to finance public landscape projects such as park development.

The Vaccination Bond is a way of creating a "common good" -- herd immunity. The late economist Elinor Ostrom's first principle for managing commons is: Define clear group boundaries. The most important boundary is between those who issue the bond, and those who buy the bond. This is why you need companies, government institutions, hospitals and foundations involved: A broad range of established institutions indicates the stability of the project.

All of the other principles deserve consideration, but the last is a wise place to end: Commons work best when nested within larger networks. Thailand already has sufficient medical infrastructure, social consensus, and the determination to achieve herd immunity. The addition of a targeted, blockchain-based bond would catalyse the system to achieve the deeply needed common good of herd immunity.

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