Hearing all kinds of terrible news out of Thailand. Some of the latest.
- Country is in a lockdown. Initially there was a voluntary curfew from 9pm to 4am. As delta versions of the virus rose each day (Delta is taking over) a mandatory curfew was installed country wide. If you are out between 9pm and 4am and it is not an emergency or you do not have the proper paperwork (for work etc.) you are then arrested.
- All stores are closed at night, food buying can only happen during the day. Stores like 7/11 which are usually open 24/7 close at 8pm. Bangkok (10 million plus people) is like a ghost town at night, empty roads and sidewalks.
- A few nights ago more than 8 bodies of homeless people dead from Covid were found on Bangkok streets. The bodies were left in the hot sun for many hours before they could be picked up and the area cleaned (chemical sprays). Body collection has been slowed by the amount of people dying.
- The Klong Toey slum area (where I photographed THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE UNDER THE FREEWAY), has experienced much infection and death.
- A nurse/mother whose 10 year old son got the virus committed suicide by jumping off the hospital roof where she worked. I am not sure what happened to her son.
- A couple who could not get access to hospital care after 4 days of trying (the hospitals are all full country wide, no beds available) committed suicide together by hanging.
- Many Thais cannot even buy vaccines if they have the money. There was an announcement of limited Chinese vaccines coming into the country in the next few weeks. These vaccines are the cheapest on the market and have serious side effects (temporary paralysis) and limited effectiveness (supposedly it does not work well against the Delta variant).
THE PEOPLE OF THAILAND ARE DESPERATE FOR VACCINES BUT CANNOT GET THEM.
Meanwhile in the USA/Canada and other Western places, people refuse vaccines. The world is a very unfair place.
Everyone, PLEASE GET YOUR VACCINES if you can. You do not realize how lucky and fortunate you are.
