This is a commentary on a single image but also about a process that once again, the people in charge of it have made a procedure overly complicated.
So a really good friend of mine has decided to get vaccinated against Covid. I should say he was kind of forced into it because he lives in Phuket and you basically can't do anything or go anywhere if you are not vaccinated. The government has not forced anyone to be vaccinated, but much like we are seeing in other places in the world, they are making it very difficult for you to live your life if you don't get vaccinated.
So he buckled just like most of the other foreigners on the island. While he was waiting for his jab he sent me this photo
Look at the top of that image. I sincerely hope that this is just the Thais getting the English incorrect again because what exactly would a "mass casualty zone" be anyway? Not to mention the fact that there is apparently more than one of them since this is the "B" section.
There are a lot of people out there that would suggest that the vaccine and the sign actually do go hand-in-hand.
It's more funny to me than anything else. As far as me and the vaccine are concerned I will resist getting it until is it required of me and I have no choice. You will not see me queueing up voluntarily for it.
According to my friend he had to go from line to line to line to line in order to eventually arrive at getting the shot and just like most things in Thailand or anywhere in the world where the government is involved, there was huge amounts of redundancy and paperwork. Also, rather than assign people numbers and calling on them this way, they gave a woman who barely speaks English a microphone to read out people's names and nationalities and of course she was un-understandable by most of the people present so people had to stand up and go look at what she had in her hand in order to figure out whose turn it was.
I always find it a bit alarming when someone managed to become a medical professional yet somehow missed out on learning a bit of English.
So far we up here in Chiang Mai are not being forced, coerced, or really even offered vaccines for the most part because we are not part of the country's plan to open up for tourism. I would be willing to bet that it is only a matter of time before they do that though. Also, I am a teacher so they will likely tell me that i have to get the vaccine.
I don't know how to feel about it. I'll cross that bridge when i come to it I guess. Whatever ends up happening, i hope it doesn't take place in a "mass casualty zone"