Thai Prime Minister Fined for Not Wearing Mask

Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister of Thailand, has faced significant criticism for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic (Flickr).

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha faced fines for failing to comply with COVID-19 guidelines according to Bangkok’s governor, Aswin Kwanmuang, on Thursday. After Prayut appeared maskless in a now-deleted Facebook photo of a government meeting, Kwanmuang and several police officers enforced a $190 fine on the prime minister.

“I informed the prime minister this was a violation of the rules,” Aswin remarked, recalling the incident in a Facebook post.

Thailand has struggled to control COVID-19 since a new wave of infections began in March. The country recorded 2,180 new cases on April 27, along with 15 deaths.

As a result of rapidly increasing infection rates, Thailand’s medical infrastructure has strained under a lack of hospital beds. Furthermore, the country has a vaccine supply shortage, with only 0.3 percent of the population fully inoculated.

Prayut’s mask controversy comes amid widespread criticism of his administration’s handling of the pandemic. Because Prayut has only reluctantly imposed restrictions on businesses already struggling with the pandemic, the central government has not imposed any national lockdowns or travel restrictions. A group called Fed-up Doctors, which documented hospitals’ bed shortages, issued a Change.org petition, which has garnered more than 100,000 signatures, calling on Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to resign.

As Prayut faces criticism, former leaders have made efforts to intervene. The Fed-up Doctors have now joined with the Fed-up-Thais movement in backing former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whom the military ousted in 2006.

On a public livestream, Thaksin suggested that he could use his connections to political and corporate leadership in Russia, China, and Singapore to solve Thailand’s vaccine shortage. Though Thaksin has exploited a lack of confidence in Prayut’s leadership to bolster his own position, the current prime minister will likely weather the current crisis and remain in power.

According to Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a scholar at Kyoto University, “Prayut is a failure when it comes to managing the pandemic. But the Prayut regime has continued to enjoy good backing from the military, the palace, and the middle class in Bangkok. They all have vested interests in Prayut.”

Despite no lockdowns or travel restrictions on the national level, individual provinces have issued their own guidelines. Bangkok joined with two-thirds of Thailand’s provinces in instituting a mask mandate on April 26. Furthermore, Bangkok has banned gatherings exceeding 20 people and closed many non-essential businesses such as theaters, parks, zoos, and massage parlors.

Currently, Prayut has entered into discussions with health officials to increase vaccination rates, with the government hoping to allow tourists onto Phuket Island by June 1. Tourism makes up 15 percent of Thailand’s GDP, meaning that Prayut’s hesitancy to nationwide restriction likely relates to his hopes to revitalize one of the country’s most important industries.