OPINION

Jab obfuscation

Re: "No room for Phuket lapses," (Editorial, June 30). If the Prayut government can launch the "Phuket Sandbox" with such exuberant confidence, why can't it set a target date upon which 70% of Thais, including foreign expats living in the country, will be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 -- without any obfuscation?

Re: "Four flights to bring first tourists to Phuket sandbox," (BP, June 30).

Just 249 tourists? ... not especially impressive for a major national initiative. On June 23, I sent the Bangkok Post a letter which, although unpublished, predicted the Phuket Sandbox would probably fail due to the ridiculous number of government restrictions, expensive Covid tests, oppressive tracking of tourist movements, and foreign travel advisories which, for some reason, Thai tourism authorities seem to either ignore, or be unaware of (The US government, for example, has long advised its unvaccinated citizens against travelling to Thailand).

So, now on the first day of the much-vaunted Phuket Sandbox, the Post is reporting a paltry 249 tourists are likely on the first day; precisely as many objective observers had suspected.

Well, perhaps the number of arrivals will gradually increase, but this failure was predictable and severe poverty is all but guaranteed for many residents of formerly prosperous tourist enclaves within Thailand.

The sad fact is there are many other places to go in this world -- many now without a mask or any of these onerous restrictions -- and Thailand is only one country out of a great many.

So, until Thailand reopens to tourists without all of these invasive tests, endless masking, field hospitals and restrictions, I suspect very few tourists are coming.

China calls shots

Re: "China confirms purchase of 20,000 tonnes of rice," (BP, June 28).

It's reported that China agreed in 2015 to buy 2 million tonnes of rice from Thailand. The buyers later reduced the volume by half, to only 1 million tonnes -- and to date only three-fourths of that amount has actually been purchased.

When Thai officials speak of purchase agreements with China for dubious items such as submarines, tanks, and high-speed train systems, they emphasise the sanctity and rigidity of agreements made previously. It seems that China is able to alter the terms of purchase agreements quite easily; why is the same flexibility not possible from the Thai side?

Re: "FDA warns against using animal drugs as Covid cure," (BP, June 30).

I find it strange and conspiratorial that we are being limited to only considering the Covid jab as a health response to the pandemic, since there is not a truly effective vaccination that prevents infection but only claims to reduce severity of symptoms if someone is infected.

Exploration of treatment options should be ongoing. This is both common sense and sensible application of scientific reasoning. Why would Dr Surachoke recommend not using Ivermectin when the science shows that it is effective? There is also evidence emerging from countries where Ivermectin was made available. For example, Peru had a high death toll from Covid-19 early on in the pandemic.

The the Peruvian government approved Ivermectin for use against Covid-19 in May 2020. After implementation, death rates in eight states were reduced by between 64% and 91% over a two-month period.