Source::AP
BANGKOK
Thailand sought Thursday to assure its foreign residents that they can get COVID-19 vaccinations, countering comments by some officials suggesting they would be at the end of the line for inoculations.
Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of Thailand’s Department of Disease Control, made the pledge as Thailand fought to control an outbreak in the heart of its capital that has sickened thousands of people in the past month, Thais and foreigners alike.
He said at least 70% of Thailand’s population has to be inoculated to create “herd immunity” and that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha “mentioned clearly that everyone on Thai soil, both Thais and foreigners, can access the vaccines.”
“Foreigners and diplomats will have the same criteria as Thais,” Opas said, adding that the country had a population of 67 million Thai nationals and 3 million foreigners.
More than 2.5 million foreigners in Thailand are from neighboring countries, including Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. Many work on construction sites and in factories. The rest, about 200,000, are mostly professionals legally living in Thailand and retirees — from Australia, China, Britain, Europe, the United States and elsewhere.
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