Unmasking mask failures

It’s time the Commerce Ministry’s Internal Trade Department made surgical masks available to health personnel and the public at reasonable prices or openly took responsibility for the wretched job it has done. There has been a severe shortage of face masks for more than two months now, and those that are available are being sold at outrageous prices — from one baht apiece rising to 15 or even 25 baht.

Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanavisit made mistakes right from the start. When news of the shortage first emerged, he failed to check on the actual situation.

Instead of visiting local stores and pharmacies, Mr Jurin chose to visit a mask factory, where he took some photos and assured the public there was sufficient supply. He said there were about 200 million masks in stock, which should cover local demand for up to five months.

His assurances proved to be false and the shortage worsened, giving rise to price gouging. His ministry then responded by getting the Internal Trade Department to put face masks on the price-control list.

This meant manufacturers, distributors, importers and exporters would have to inform the department of the cost of production, the price the masks are being sold at, the volume produced and the inventory.

The ministry also requires that companies wanting to export more than 500 units seek permission first.

In reality, the demand and supply numbers don’t appear that bad. According to the Commerce Ministry, there are 11 factories in and around Bangkok that can produce about 35 million masks a month. Demand, however, has surged to about 50 million. Hence the shortage.

In order to ensure there is enough supply, especially for priority groups, the department decided to serve as a distribution centre. Producers were told to send 600,000 masks a day to the department, so it could allocate 350,000 to health personnel and sell the remainder to the public via government thrift shops and pharmacies.

This process began early this month, but sadly did not seem to work.

Sold-out signs for face masks can be seen at most if not all pharmacies, while online stores are selling the items at more than 10 times the controlled price. Meanwhile, calls from hospitals and medical personnel seeking help are growing louder.

In fact, some healthcare workers have asked popular online influencers to run donation drives for them, while even major hospitals like Ramathibodi are calling on the public to donate used masks as its stocks are fast running out.

So, where have all the masks gone?

The Internal Trade Department should answer this question. If it is regulating the item, then public hospitals, pharmacies and the general public should have received fair shares of the masks. But obviously they haven’t and it’s obvious that something has gone very wrong.

Allegations that an aide to a minister was involved with a mask profiteer has lent weight to suspicions. Though the minister has denied these allegations, the department needs to dig deeper to find out why face masks have disappeared from the market. Is it incompetence, corruption or plain theft?

The Covid-19 outbreak is a crisis and it’s critical the department fulfil its duties to health workers and the public by ensuring there is an adequate supply of masks and that they can be bought at reasonable prices.

Also, the authorities should take the department to task if there are any more failures.