Thai civil society steps up as Bangkok’s public healthcare buckles

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The following excerpts are from a special report from Channel News Asia on what happened when individual Thai volunteers decided that they couldn't idly stand by as Covid overwhelmed Bangkok's health care system. When the city emerges from the depths of the crisis, it will be volunteers like this, and the front-line medical workers, who can be credited for turning the corner and not the posturing politicians who grab the daily headlines.

Volunteers travel on a motorbike as they transport an oxygen tank for a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patient in Bangkok, Thailand August 5, 2021. Picture taken on August 5, 2021. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

BANGKOK: In April, a video clip of an e-sport legend went viral in Thailand.

It was a Facebook live recording broadcast by Kunlasub ‘Up’ Wattanaphon, who once led a big e-gaming clan named VGB or Vagabond Team to successfully compete in various tournaments.

“I’m close to collapse. I’m quarantining myself now but I don’t think I’ll make it,” said the 34-year-old ex-gamer in the clip. 

He had been trying in vain to seek treatment for COVID-19 for about a week and his condition was deteriorating. Coughing and struggling to breathe, Up recounted his ordeal with despair.

“The hospital wouldn’t take me. Hotlines didn’t help. Hopeless. I’m going live in case any friends of mine could help. Please help me.”

Up was admitted to a hospital the following day. By then, his lung function was only at 20 per cent. He died two days later.

His final Facebook broadcast not only captured his painful moments, but also put the state of the public healthcare system in the spotlight.

At that time, Thailand was witnessing the start of what would soon become the worst wave of COVID-19 it has dealt with so far.

Infections spread very quickly from one of Bangkok’s fanciest neighbourhoods, where the wealthy had partied in exclusive nightclubs, into poor communities, crowded prisons and squalid worker camps.

In just over five months, Thailand has reported more than 1.32 million cases and 13,826 casualties. Most of the cases are concentrated in Bangkok.

Several months of soaring infections has turned the Thai capital into a hotbed of the pandemic, placing an enormous strain on its public health infrastructure. 

Many people have been left frustrated and disappointed by the government’s handling of the health crisis amid reports of limited testing, full hospital beds and shortages of vaccines.

Voluntary groups started by ordinary citizens have since jumped into action, doing whatever they can to help the most vulnerable people.

ZENDAI: A SOCIAL THREAD THAT SAVES LIVES

For Bangkok residents, each day begins with reports of thousands of new infections. But for Kamonlak ‘Mahmud’ Anusornweeracheewin, a former inmate on death row, his day starts with a race against time to save as many lives as he can.

He walked free from prison after serving 15 years and 10 months for drug charges. His sentence had initially been reduced to life imprisonment, and good behaviour later resulted in him being released.

Currently, he volunteers with a COVID-19 response group called Zendai to rescue people in critical condition. Many of them are old, debilitated and living alone, with no family member to care for them.

Mahmud, 41, knows what it is like to be forsaken and suffering. He also remembers how it feels to be given another chance at life when there is no hope.

“Whenever I come across a severe case, I feel sorry for them. So when I have a chance to help them, I want to do it,” he said.

Zendai has provided healthcare assistance to tens of thousands of people in Bangkok and nearby provinces, often when help from the government was unavailable or delayed. 

Its Facebook page receives about 1,000 requests for help daily - from hospital transfers to finding hospital beds - while its hotline is flooded with a further 1,000 calls every day.

Taking its name from a Thai word for ‘thread’, Zendai functions as a connector between patients and healthcare providers. It was formed in April, shortly after Up’s death, by people who did not want his story to be repeated.

The group offers emergency hospital transfers for people who are infected with the coronavirus but unable to travel by themselves. It also assists those in need with basic medical care and provides rapid testing in local communities as RT-PCR tests remain limited in public hospitals.

Zendai’s volunteers in white protective gear are often seen tending to elderly patients and the less fortunate in underprivileged areas. 

Day and night, they travel around Bangkok to visit patients stuck at home, supplying them with food, medicines and oxygen cylinders to keep them alive.

“The public healthcare system is truly overwhelmed. Government schemes - whether it would be the home isolation system or the registration of patients in the yellow and red groups for hospital beds - aren’t working so well just yet. Their COVID-19 testing isn’t working well either. This could be because they weren’t designed properly,” said Zendai co-founder Chris Potranandana.

“Zendai’s mission isn’t just about helping people. We also want to encourage the right way to manage a system.”

With 130 volunteers, Zendai has managed to save many lives when Bangkok’s healthcare system is overflowing with patients. 

CONSTRUCTION WORKERS LEFT ON MARGINS OF SOCIETY

Since April, the Thai government has introduced various measures and restrictions to contain the deadly virus. Public movement has been reduced by a night curfew and several bans on social activities in highly infected areas such as Bangkok and its nearby provinces.

While most people have been allowed some freedom of movement, one profession has spent at least a month in enforced confinement - construction workers.

In June, clusters of COVID-19 broke out at construction sites and worker camps in Bangkok. As a result, hundreds of such venues were shut and sealed off for at least 30 days from Jun 28. 

All construction work was suspended and workers were prohibited from leaving the sites, even to buy food. Security officers were also employed to guard the entrance and exit of camps with cases of infected people.

Bangkok is home to some 80,000 construction workers in more than 500 work sites, according to Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin. Many of them are not covered by social security and had to live with zero income for several weeks. 

Continues with photos

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/thailand-focus-civil-society-covid-19-bangkok-health-system-2164051