OPINION

Vaccine buckpassing

Re: "Blame game begins over 'vaccine chaos'," (BP, June 14).

Logistics is an essential art of war, and without sound logistics an army is doomed to defeat on the battlefield.

Here we have a general who thought he could run the country better than the duly elected government. But when it comes to the relatively simple logistical exercise of procuring and distributing Covid-19 vaccines, he is totally out of his depth.

I successfully registered for the jab at the beginning of June, and on Friday I telephoned to enquire as to when I might expect a vaccination date, only to be told that supplies of vaccine had not yet been received. I am not alone in this, of course, as the story is the same throughout the country.

Your front page story today details the total mess of the vaccine rollout and the blame game that is now being played.

I seem to remember just a few weeks ago that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha took personal responsibility for the vaccine rollout. In other words the buck is on your desk, Mr Prime Minister.

As a concluding thought, I suppose Thailand should be grateful that General Prayut never had to field his army in a major war. God knows what chaos that would have caused.

Huge bill for future

Re: "Thailand's irresponsible runaway debt", (Opinion, June 11).

Almost all governments are now on a spending spree to cope with the devastation caused by the Covid crisis. Surprisingly, China is the only country to successfully avoid a serious blow to its economy. In the USA, the deficit, a favourite pillar of the Republican agenda has completely vanished.

For stabilising the Thai economy efforts should now be made to prioritise spending on major projects and reducing the lopsided reliance on the tourism sector. More attention should be paid to exports, innovation in green technologies, education reforms and labour skill development.

It is quite amusing that a country like Thailand with no imminent threats or enemies has a bloated military with a legion of decorated admirals and generals who have never fought a war?

Prof Thitinan is correct that the government is leaving a massive bill for younger Thais to repay over their lifetimes.

Too much testing

Re: "Sandbox shambles", (PostBag, June 8).

Rocket Scientist touches on a global issue, not just a Thai one. The inescapable fact is that Covid-19 has arrived and is here to stay, in its various guises. The world has to quickly function normally again for the economic well-being of all. The poor have certainly suffered disproportionately in the last 18 months.

This means that border restrictions and international movements must be eased. We cannot continue with quarantines and expensive multiple tests if this is to achieved. Unless an instant free test can be devised, vaccinated people should be allowed to travel freely. Travel to well vaccinated countries should present no discernable risk to those countries and the additional risk to unvaccinated countries will be minimal.

If every country insists on three PCR tests for travellers, as is currently the case, that is six tests for a return trip. For a family of four, that is 24 tests, which is probably the cost of the holiday. That is just unrealistic long term.