More VAX disappointment: PM Prayut puts the brakes on walk-in centers

[Spellforce]

That doesn't surprise me. A cousin of my wife is working in a factory at Bangkok. All employees received a first injection of Sinovac last week.

Priority is Bangkok and its cluster. No problem for me.

 

But why ALL ambassies/consulates in Thailand are not giving NOW vaccines for free to all their citizens in a country where the 3rd wave is booming ?

 

 

[rtco]

The man is a total and utter idiot ... let's have another coup and make it quick

[vandeventer]

5 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

A giant Flop backwards.  Why is he so against a walk-in center? Is their not enough sinovac vaccine to go around here in Bangkok.  Someone seems to be a little over controlling in my book.  Lets roll out the vaccine, lets put Viral posters on the news and in ads showing the vaccine is safe and all Thai's must do their part, yet lets also just Sslloowwllyy roll out a vaccine to those that really want it.  I think he is afraid there will be few that show up and then vaccine will be wasted and need to be tossed in the bin, or better yet he is wanting the mor prom app up and running so that when folks sign up and then do not show up he can have them arrested.  So tired of this fricking game these folks are playing.  Looking at booking a flight back to the US, getting vaccinated and then returning after taking care of some personal business I have placed on hold before returning here and doing a 14 day quarantine again even though vaccinated.  Ugh, what a true fool this man and his fellow government officials are, well thats my opinion.  YMMV

Yes on again off again and have you notice the bottle they are holding up says covid 19 vaccine nothing else. It must be the free one.

[rupert the bear]

whats the point in constantly over complicating things?the app the net,its pointless the people that need the vaccine are older people who are sick.these people arnt tek savvy and having a phone is too much money for many,keep it simple and get on with it.F..k the internet im tired of it,it nevers performs adequately and is a wall behind which govt hides and is never responsible.make the announcement anyone over 60 can walk in ,bring ID.whats so hard about that???then over 50 etc,the sick the drs and hospitals should have that covered anyway

[vandeventer]

5 hours ago, mickyr55 said:

All this flip flopping and continual reversing of vaccination plans is not only confusing it looks like they have no vaccine at all, think that the whole of Thailand's supply has been sent to Phuket to enable the 1st of July opening so they can at least get one thing achieved. 

You know when I finely get my vaccine, I am going to ask for a doggy bag for my second one.

[Jimbo2014]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Thai prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has said that he disagrees with running vaccination walk-in centers. 

 

The problem with Junta's is that one mans opinion, no matter how daft, is all that counts.  

[Fex Bluse]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

 

Thai prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has said that he disagrees with running vaccination walk-in centers. 

 

 

Yet more evidence in a cascade of proof of the world-class Thai covid response so many posters have been telling us about. So, strange that Thailand has, according to our Pro-Thai posters, only recently dropped the ball entirely. What could have possibly happened to make the Thais so incompetent in such a short span of time. It can't be a change of government... So strange

[Dialemco]

It would appear many vaccines has been administered to low priority persons in tourist areas rather than giving priority to most vulnerable and medics

[KKr]

https://www.imdb.com/video/vi1870577177?playlistId=nm0152638&ref_=nm_ov_vi

 

[Lingba]

Are we surprised?

 

[Percy P]

5 hours ago, madmitch said:

If the initial vaccine centres in Phuket are anything to go by, they're all walk-in locations: people with appointments were turned away as they'd used all the vaccine on walk-ins.

 

 

Register, choose  the Government hospital nearest to you and thats it. Simple enough.

[Thed]

6 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

Another day, another u-turn. Who would've thought.... 

 

On 5/1/2021 at 9:35 AM, Rookiescot said:

If I am only offered the sino vac then I will pay for a western vaccine myself.

 

On 5/1/2021 at 9:41 AM, Rookiescot said:

If forced to I will.

Hopefully will be able to buy it from a private hospital here though.

 

On 5/1/2021 at 9:52 AM, WineOh said:

they can shove that sinovac jab where the sun dont shine!

 

That's going nowhere near my arm.

 

On 5/1/2021 at 12:47 PM, Justgrazing said:

 

And would that have happened had Thailand chosen to join the Covax scheme .?

But they chose not to so now they are at the back of the queue as the vacc' manufacturers have to fulfill their obligations to the Covax scheme orders first .. 

Everyone this fella opens his mouth he demonstrates how unsuitable he is for the position he occupies .. 

 

[RichardColeman]

Literally the hub of flip flops

[herfiehandbag]

4 hours ago, Nojohndoe said:

IMO it is hardly a decision worth congratulating. Rather it is an inevitable  decision to delay purely and simply because , as you state, there is no significant supply of  vaccine available or guarantee of timely supply in any case.

Meanwhile the revelations about the prisons' internal pandemic may have created some undesirable international curiosity as to what or how to avoid criticism over "humanitarian" rights .

Could it be that vaccine that was intended  for general community schemes is quickly  being diverted to a panicked inoculation of the prison "community ?

I rather doubt that - they will just lie to cover up what is happening in the prisons. Let's face it, the world has known the horror story which is the filthy, brutal, corrupt Thai prison system for years and it has never bothered them!

 

I suspect that diversion of resources to Phuket to allow them to reopen their star tourist location is more likely - there is money to be made there! That and a failure to produce/source vaccines on the scale they have been claiming.

Edited May 19, 2021 by herfiehandbag

[robsamui]

Extract from the Original Post . . . 

"Naew Na said after a cabinet meeting at Government House yesterday that the PM had put the brakes on walk-in vaccination.

 

Prayuth apparently said during a cabinet meeting done via video conferencing that he wants a new format that involves having on-site registration. Consequently he called for the hurried redevelopment of the Mor Prom application that is used as a registration for vaccine tool. IT experts are supposed to be working on one suitable for foreigners in English.

 

"Some will argue that there is more behind the decision to apply the brakes, namely the availability of vaccine, notes Thaivisa.

 

In Pattaya earlier in the week 20,000 doses of vaccine simply didn't arrive leaving people disappointed and frustrated. There was the suggestion that supplies had been diverted to where they were more needed. 

 

Thailand's government remains under intense pressure with the third and most devastating wave of infection yet causing the most deaths since the pandemic began."

 

------------------------------------

There was a financial analysis two weeks ago by freelance economist, Chartchai Parasuk PhD. This man has been referenced by Richard Barrow and he writes regularly for a Newspaper we're not allowed to name.

 

I don't know how much accuracy there is here - I'm not an economist with access to government budget spending. This is the analysis of Chartchai Parasuk, not mine! It's a long and thoughtful post and I've annotated the salient points.: (my underlining)

 

"Under the first wave last year, the number of the Covid cases had hovered at 4,000, but as for this menacing third wave, the number of Covid cases has reached 140,000. The transmission rate has not stopped despite strict preventive measures introduced since May 1.

Now the infection has reached lower income groups where preventive measures like social distancing and home quarantine are impossible. The government, both central and local, has no effective means of controlling the spread of the disease in the high density and high mobility environment of Bangkok and its vicinity.

 

In this round of outbreak, the economy, once again, has to rely on the same old three supporting pillars. The first factor is the government's economic relief packages. Last year, the government spent about 400 billion baht to support income loss from the pandemic.

 

This third round of outbreak, which is likely to have a more severe economic impact than the previous two outbreaks, has received a mere 197 billion baht in total. During the months of June-August, only 153 billion baht will be dispersed. There is no support money for May at all.

 

Why has the government provided so little support during the country's most serious outbreak? Its extremely tight fiscal position is the answer. In plain English -- "no money".

 

The government's revenue for the first and second quarters of the 2021 fiscal year was 4.9%, or 31.1% less than those of last year, leading to a 521 billion baht in budget deficit. Public debt, at the end of February, was 53.5% of GDP which meant a 10% rise in GDP debt in just one year.

 

The balance of payments deficit and large outflow of capital have caused excess liquidity to be depleted to 243 billion baht at the end of March from the high level of 823 billion baht in May 2020. If capital outflows do not stop, Thailand will face a liquidity shortage in a couple of months.

 

There seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel for the government. For the 2021 fiscal year, the government has a legal budget deficit limit of 720 billion baht, of which 521 billion baht has already been spent (as of March).

 

If the government controls its spending prudently, it can survive until June by running on a 60 billion baht deficit per month. How will the government manage its budget from July to September? 

 

Unfortunately, there is only 243 billion baht of excess liquidity available in the monetary system. How will the government get the money?

 

I do not think the government has an answer to that either. It seems to be adopting the "one day at a time" philosophy.

 

----------------------------------

Edited May 19, 2021 by robsamui

[nickmondo]

6 hours ago, clivebaxter said:

Only 8 AM and the first U turn of the day reported, keep 'em coming we all love a cheer up ???? How is he going to get 70 per cent of Bkk vaccinated in 2 months at this rate?

i think the timescale is 2 years mate.

Minimimum.

[Jonathan Swift]

6 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

A giant Flop backwards.  Why is he so against a walk-in center? Is their not enough sinovac vaccine to go around here in Bangkok.  Someone seems to be a little over controlling in my book.  Lets roll out the vaccine, lets put Viral posters on the news and in ads showing the vaccine is safe and all Thai's must do their part, yet lets also just Sslloowwllyy roll out a vaccine to those that really want it.  I think he is afraid there will be few that show up and then vaccine will be wasted and need to be tossed in the bin, or better yet he is wanting the mor prom app up and running so that when folks sign up and then do not show up he can have them arrested.  So tired of this fricking game these folks are playing.  Looking at booking a flight back to the US, getting vaccinated and then returning after taking care of some personal business I have placed on hold before returning here and doing a 14 day quarantine again even though vaccinated.  Ugh, what a true fool this man and his fellow government officials are, well thats my opinion.  YMMV

It's back to the US for me as well, 30 May. I will come back in October when hopefully the quarantine issue for the vaxed will be sorted. It has always been my plan to go wherever the vax was first available. I also think that delays such as these were quite predictable and that no one should be surprised. 

[EricTh]

6 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

Another day, another u-turn. Who would've thought.... 

 

This is one big mess. So many contradictory statements coming out from the press on how to register and when to vaccinate.

 

Why can't they hold  a proper ministerial meeting and then only announce the decision?

 

 

 

 

Edited May 19, 2021 by EricTh

[John Drake]

11 minutes ago, robsamui said:

Extract from the Original Post . . . 

"Naew Na said after a cabinet meeting at Government House yesterday that the PM had put the brakes on walk-in vaccination.

 

Prayuth apparently said during a cabinet meeting done via video conferencing that he wants a new format that involves having on-site registration. Consequently he called for the hurried redevelopment of the Mor Prom application that is used as a registration for vaccine tool. IT experts are supposed to be working on one suitable for foreigners in English.

 

"Some will argue that there is more behind the decision to apply the brakes, namely the availability of vaccine, notes Thaivisa.

 

In Pattaya earlier in the week 20,000 doses of vaccine simply didn't arrive leaving people disappointed and frustrated. There was the suggestion that supplies had been diverted to where they were more needed. 

 

Thailand's government remains under intense pressure with the third and most devastating wave of infection yet causing the most deaths since the pandemic began."

 

------------------------------------

There was a financial analysis two weeks ago by freelance economist, Chartchai Parasuk PhD. This man has been referenced by Richard Barrow and he writes regularly for a Newspaper we're not allowed to name.

 

I don't know how much accuracy there is here - I'm not an economist with access to government budget spending. This is the analysis of Chartchai Parasuk, not mine! It's a long and thoughtful post and I've annotated the salient points.: (my underlining)

 

"Under the first wave last year, the number of the Covid cases had hovered at 4,000, but as for this menacing third wave, the number of Covid cases has reached 140,000. The transmission rate has not stopped despite strict preventive measures introduced since May 1.

Now the infection has reached lower income groups where preventive measures like social distancing and home quarantine are impossible. The government, both central and local, has no effective means of controlling the spread of the disease in the high density and high mobility environment of Bangkok and its vicinity.

 

In this round of outbreak, the economy, once again, has to rely on the same old three supporting pillars. The first factor is the government's economic relief packages. Last year, the government spent about 400 billion baht to support income loss from the pandemic.

 

This third round of outbreak, which is likely to have a more severe economic impact than the previous two outbreaks, has received a mere 197 billion baht in total. During the months of June-August, only 153 billion baht will be dispersed. There is no support money for May at all.

 

Why has the government provided so little support during the country's most serious outbreak? Its extremely tight fiscal position is the answer. In plain English -- "no money".

 

The government's revenue for the first and second quarters of the 2021 fiscal year was 4.9%, or 31.1% less than those of last year, leading to a 521 billion baht in budget deficit. Public debt, at the end of February, was 53.5% of GDP which meant a 10% rise in GDP debt in just one year.

 

The balance of payments deficit and large outflow of capital have caused excess liquidity to be depleted to 243 billion baht at the end of March from the high level of 823 billion baht in May 2020. If capital outflows do not stop, Thailand will face a liquidity shortage in a couple of months.

 

There seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel for the government. For the 2021 fiscal year, the government has a legal budget deficit limit of 720 billion baht, of which 521 billion baht has already been spent (as of March).

 

If the government controls its spending prudently, it can survive until June by running on a 60 billion baht deficit per month. How will the government manage its budget from July to September? 

 

Unfortunately, there is only 243 billion baht of excess liquidity available in the monetary system. How will the government get the money?

 

I do not think the government has an answer to that either. It seems to be adopting the "one day at a time" philosophy.

 

----------------------------------

 

That explains the TVF article yesterday about how "strong" Thai banks are.

[jippytum]

The Thai governments handling of  vaccine  distribution to its citizens is woeful.Statements to the press refuted cancelled or withdrawn. U turns  on a daily basis . I recall Prayuth receiving his jab in a blaze of publicity some time ago .I'm all right Jack 'syndrome in evidence.

I have lived in Thailand long enough to see a variety of  seven prime ministers some legally elected and some not .

I have never been a supporter of Thaskin but even he would have handled this problem albeit for his own financial gain a lot better than the clowns and convicted criminals running the country today.

[sambum]

6 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

Ah, register online so the govt has your info in a database for later use. Got it!

 

Do you not think that they will have all that information already if you have a current visa?

[Surasak]

Is it more the fact there are no vaccines in the country other than the sinovax, which we all know to be as useful as a chocolate teapot?

[Surasak]

6 hours ago, Gumballl said:

It should be controlled via appointments.

 

I do not know about the Chinese or the Russian vaccines, but the others (i.e. the better stuff) needs to be kept cool and/or extremely cold before being dispensed.

 

A coordinated effort needs to be made. At the end of the day, if any remaining vaccine is available, then by all means seek any bystanders willing to get vaccinated. The vaccine cannot be refrigerated.

 

For the "good" stuff... forget J&J... a second injection is needed within 3 weeks. Again, coordination is needed to ensure that the supply is available".

"The vaccine cannot be refrigerated".

WHICH IS IT?

 

Please don't trivialize the effort.

You contradict yourself very well in this post.

"needs to be kept cool and/or extremely cold before being dispensed.

[Marvin Hagler]

2 hours ago, Thailand said:

And where does the buck stop for this fiasco?

it stops with the general public who will be able to vote this government out at the next election....errr hang on a minute.

[Dazz1]

Can you imagine how organized their army would be at war with chiefs like this!

This whole vacine rollout is a joke!

[Fairynuff]

More U turns than Boris Johnson... who'da thought that was possible 

[herfiehandbag]

4 hours ago, CALSinCM said:

Why such a huge emphasis on registration over actually vaccinating the public?  What's his game?  It makes one wonder.

At this rate when the Farang Vaccination Application finally arrives in August, it will look like two uniformed bureaucrats sitting at a table (because the online portal will still not work) who require you to provide them with all pages from your passport, copies of your yellow book or a residency certificate, pictures of you standing in front of your house and sitting on your bed, a map to your residence, and a negative PCR test taken in the last 24 hours, and proof of sufficient funds or insurance to cover hospitalization should you have an adverse reaction to the vaccine - all in order to register for a shot.  You'll then be handed a piece of paper with an appointment date in November in order to return to get a piece of paper granting you an appointment to possibly obtain a shot in 2022 dependent on at least 70% of Thai having been vaccinated first.  Of course, all of this is dependent on the direction the wind is blowing, how much rain Thailand gets this year, and what side of the bed the PM work up on in the morning.

Really - what's the game?

I think it is quite clear. They haven't got any vaccine. They have no real prospect of obtaining or manufacturing it in the quantities required in the timescale to meet their targets. This is because, instead of joining with the rest of the world they chose to set up their own production, sensing an opportunity to make a very large amount of money. 

 

They are now desperately trying to come up with excuses for this.

Edited May 19, 2021 by herfiehandbag

[Markus Rider]

The simple truth is called Siam Bioscience...who do you think owns it ?

[herfiehandbag]

2 hours ago, club said:

If AZ cant produce 60 mil doses in 6 months (10 mil a month)starting in 2 weeks the PM will be saying "WE NO HAVE" a lot

And the chances of that are...

[hotchilli]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Some will argue that there is more behind the decision to apply the brakes, namely the availability of vaccine, notes Thaivisa.

A lot of truth in that... he wants paperwork, registrations blah blah blah.... why not just walk-in and inject.

No vaccines that's why.