Populations, Precarity and Pandemics: The Demographics of Inequality and Covid-19 in Southeast Asia ; ISEAS Perspective ; Issue: 2021 No. 12

Abstract

After more than half a year of apparent success at controlling Covid-19 infections, Thailand registered a shocking spike in numbers in the second half of December 2020. The first batch of infections emerged in the province of Samut Sakhon, just southwest of Bangkok, at a major shrimp market when up to 1,300 persons were detected with the feared coronavirus in a matter of days. And after barely two weeks, infections were seen in up to 33 provinces throughout Thailand. Although four provinces including Samut Sakhon were placed on regional lockdown, this was unable to slow the spread of Covid-19. By the first week of 2021, 28 provinces throughout the country were declared 'red zones' and subjected to lockdown measures in varying degrees of severity. Going into the second half of January 2021, daily infections were numbering more than 200. The Thai government, however, has resisted calls to impose blanket lockdowns nationwide, so far placing only 6 provinces under provincial lockdown. By the start of February 2021, the 7-day average of infections number was more than 850, with the majority of cases found in Samut Sakhon through what the authorities have referred to as 'active testing'.