Wealthy Thai people are flying overseas for their COVID-19 shots, saying they do not want to delay getting vaccinated and do not trust the vaccines on offer in Thailand.
Key points:
About 3 per cent of Thais are fully vaccinated, according to Johns Hopkins University
Thailand is using AstraZeneca and China’s Sinovac to vaccinate its people
Some Thais are spending up to $8,300 to go overseas to get vaccinated
Their choice to spend thousands of dollars getting the jab abroad comes as people across the rest of the country try to navigate what some have described as a “chaotic” vaccination program rollout.
After a slow start and a confusing registration process, thousands of appointments had to be postponed because doses had not arrived in time.
At the same time, Thailand is in the middle of its third and most severe wave of the virus, with more than 3,000 new infections reported every day, including the new Delta variant.
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Popular Thai language tutor and TV host Jakkrit Yompayorm recently returned from a trip to the United States to get two doses of Pfizer.
“I know that [the] vaccine is good for me and for everyone, so I wanted to get vaccinated, and I don’t know how long I [would have had] to wait if I stayed in Thailand,” the 32-year-old told the ABC.
“I’m not confident in the quality of Sinovac, so I wanted to get the vaccine that could make me confident.”
A young Thai man with bleached blonde hair and a colourful shirt smiles
Jakkrit Yompayorm spent $4,200 to travel to the US from Thailand for two doses of Pfizer. (ABC News: Mazoe Ford )
Mr Yompayorm said he booked an appointment at a Walmart pharmacy before he left Thailand and already had a visa for the US.
The vaccine was free but he spent about $4,200 on airfares and other travel-related expenses, including two weeks in hotel quarantine on the way back into Thailand.
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A young Thai man in a white face mask takes a selfie at a Walmart pharmacy
Jakkrit was willing to pay up for a trip to the US to get the Pfizer shot because he was unsure about the effectiveness of Sinovac. (YouTube)
Mr Yompayorm said he felt lucky that he could afford to go to the US for his vaccination.
“It is a choice that I can choose, I think if you have enough money you can go and get vaccinated in the US, but actually I think the [Thai] government should provide a good vaccine for everyone,” Mr Yompayorm said.
“The main reason I made the decision to go to the US is that I want to be safe.”
Travel agents offer ‘vaccine vacations’
Some Thai travel agents whose businesses all but dried up when the pandemic shut down most overseas travel had been trying to cash in, offering so-called ‘vaccine vacations’ to the United States.
Packages include visits to tourist sites as well as a pharmacy to get vaccinated, with the length and cost of tours depending on how long a gap there is between the first and second shots.
Rachpol Yamsaeng, from Bangkok-based travel company Unithai Trip, said that when he and his business partner travelled to the US a couple of months ago they learned that “even tourists” could get a jab, so they decided to try.
“We didn’t believe it … but we tried anyway, and we got in the queue in two days,” Mr Yamsaeng, 32, told the ABC.
“I walked in and got the jab. I was shocked. I thought it was a fluke.”
A young Thai man in black sunglasses holds a vaccination card
Rachpol Yamsaeng got the idea for jab tours when he was in the US and discovered foreigners could be vaccinated for free. (YouTube)
Mr Yamsaeng said when his company first started advertising the tours, it received “hundreds of thousands of calls”.
As people then worked out the cost and practicalities, including getting a visa and spending two weeks in hotel quarantine in Thailand, demand eased.
“They do need to have money, but money is not enough. They need to have time as well because of quarantine on the way back,” he said.
Even so, he said he had booked vaccine tour packages for several dozen people who did not want to wait for their turn in Thailand or had doubts about the vaccines on offer.
A tourism advertisement in Thai with a woman wheeling a suitcase near a picture of a vaccine vial
Thai tourism companies are offering ‘vaccine vacations’ to those who can afford it. (Supplied: Unithai Trip)
He said some people were spending as much as $8,300 to go on one of his tours.
“Whatever it takes, they want to get the jabs [in America] and at least they can feel more relaxed living in Bangkok [after being vaccinated],” Mr Yamsaeng said.
As well as America, well-heeled Thais are also heading to Russia and Serbia for vaccinations.
Some have flaunted their privileged travels online, much to the disgust of ordinary Thais — especially those who have lost loved ones or their livelihoods during the pandemic.
For those living below the poverty line in crowded slums and construction camps who have seen large outbreaks of COVID-19, the thought of travelling overseas for a vaccine is unfathomable.
Thailand is considered to be one of the most unequal societies in the world, with a 2021 report by Credit Suisse showing just 1 per cent of the population owned more than 40 per cent of the country’s wealth.
Ordinary Thais try to navigate ‘chaotic’ system at home
The easy pharmacy jab with a fun-filled US holiday is a far cry from the shambolic vaccination program most Thai people have been trying to register for.
So far 8 million people in Thailand have been received one jab — just over 10 per cent of the population. About 3 per cent are fully vaccinated, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The government started with healthcare workers and vulnerable communities in March using the Chinese-made Sinovac product.
The widespread rollout began in early June, primarily using AstraZeneca doses produced locally by a company owned by Thailand’s King.
Lines of Thai people standing outside a building
Vaccination centres have been set up within train stations and shopping centres in Thailand.
Large, well-organised vaccination centres have been set up at train stations, shopping centres, sporting stadiums and airports to speed up the rollout, but booking an appointment has been confusing and complicated.
An early plan to allow walk-in vaccinations was overruled by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha after it was announced, while a mobile phone app to book appointments crashed on day one then cancelled appointments without notification.
Read more about the global vaccine rollout:
Nearly all COVID deaths in US are now among unvaccinated, analysis suggests
Wealthy Thai people are flying overseas for their COVID-19 shots
Hospitals began taking bookings based on the number of vaccines they were allocated by the Ministry of Health, but more than 20 facilities in Bangkok had to postpone appointments when doses did not arrive in time.
One of the people affected by the delays in Bangkok was 85-year-old Sawad Kamwaboon.
A Thai woman in a face mask crouches next to an elderly man, sitting in a wheelchair
It has been stressful for Sirima Kamwaboon (left) to arrange a vaccine for her 85-year-old dad, Sawad Kamwaboon. (ABC News: Mazoe Ford )
His daughter Sirima Kamwaboon, 46, said that after she registered her elderly father for an appointment through the app the first available date was not for another month.
Then the day before they were due to go to their local hospital for Mr Kamwaboon’s first dose his appointment was cancelled with no explanation and no replacement date offered.
Ms Kamwaboon heard she could register her father again at a major vaccine hub at a train station on the other side of Bangkok to where they lived.
“I tried to call to register and it was so difficult to get through but I got an appointment in the end,” Ms Kamwaboon said.
“But I had to come here, there was such heavy traffic, so many people, it was difficult to travel here, it is far from home. My dad is very old and he is tired from travelling.”
An elderly Thai man gets a needle from a nurse in his arm
Sawad Kamwaboon finally got his jab after weeks of trying to secure an appointment. (ABC News: Mazoe Ford )
Ms Kanwaboon said she did not know how elderly people without children or a carer to help them would be able to work out the “chaotic” system.
“It is frustrating,” she said.
Thai Prime Minister apologises for delays
Thailand’s Prime Minister has apologised for delays in vaccinations and said he had instructed the relevant government agencies to sort them out.
“I am the top executive in this war against COVID,” Mr Prayuth said.
“I must apologise for the problems that have happened and I take all the responsibility.”
Despite the hiccups, the government says its plan to inoculate about 70 per cent of the population by the end of the year remains on track.
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Mr Yamsaeng said he was glad to see vaccines now rolling out across Thailand, even if the jab tours have provided his business with a much-needed shot in the arm.
“It is good. I am glad. Even though I am selling tour packages, I don’t wish vaccines to come slowly,” he said.
“If many Thais got the vaccine and the country reopened to both inbound and outbound [travellers] then my business can come back again.
