Pattaya Tourism leaders: COVID-19 vaccinations botched
According to tourism officials in Pattaya, Thailand, they fear that the COVID-19 vaccinations are too little and too late.
- As the first polite person, Pattaya tourism officials thanked the mayor for starting the vaccination process.
- However, with Thailand hoping to be open to foreign visitors again by October, officials feel too far behind with too little supply.
- The only people who qualified for the first of 20,000 shots on Thursday and Friday were medical workers, volunteers and the elderly.
Boonanan Pattanasin, president of the Pattaya Business & Tourism Association, said he was disappointed that few tourism workers were receiving vaccines and complained that the government had failed to explain why so few workers in the sector were getting bumps.
Thanet Supornsahatrangsi of Chonburi Tourism Industry Council said on May 20 that tourism industry groups have asked the government to prioritize tourism workers in Pattaya’s vaccination plans. The only ones who qualified for the first of 20,000 shots on Thursday and Friday were medical workers, volunteers and the elderly.
Pattaya with only 20,000 thrusts also affected Thanet as the city originally had 42,000 and then revised it to 30,000. However, the government’s failure to get vaccines at the same pace as most other countries has not prepared Thailand for the latest wave of coronavirus. More than half of the vaccines have been diverted to Bangkok, where more than 1,000 cases of COVID-19 are reported almost daily.
