Spare the parks, if not the eateries
With talk of a fourth wave fast approaching, one can understand the snap decision that was announced in the Royal Gazette a week ago that barred restaurant dine-ins. The government, medical experts and folk in uniform at the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) must be worried right now, if they can take such a drastic decision — in what seems like a blink of an eye — and which is now causing (even more) catastrophic effects on the economy.
Restaurant staff without jobs, piles of food gone to waste, owners who face a complete shutdown after their eateries have taken such a battering in the past 18 months. Add another curb, another ban, another restriction, another lockdown — what are people meant to do at this rate?
It cannot be denied that restaurants are fundamental to most people’s lives in the capital, and the kingdom. They are one of the few places left for people to go for social interaction (other than shopping malls).
Social interaction is important to people’s health, especially in times of crisis. The ramifications of this ban will be felt across the board and we deeply sympathise with all who have been affected by this latest knee-jerk reaction by the government.
Despite banning dine-ins, the government can try a more balanced and less fearful approach. Why not take the approach Singapore has taken by just limiting the number of people allowed in restaurants?
Under such extreme Covid measures, the question will arise: What’s the end game? What is the government’s goal? Seeing Covid fall to zero or one digit figures? That scenario is not going to happen; or if it is, there is a hefty price to pay. And if we keep going down this obsessive road of trying — and failing — to get cases to disappear, we will be left with Covid cases, and zero economy.
Indeed, there are examples of such well-balanced Covid measures. Recently, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) permitted some businesses and public places such as museums and public parks to reopen.
The public should not be treated like inmates: they never did anything wrong to begin with.
Parks re-opened two weeks ago, after being closed for too long — will they be locked up again by this month’s end? We certainly hope not.
Numerous studies have documented the benefits of being outside, in a green space and close to nature. Public parks perform an important societal function as a recreational space for the community and they are free and accessible for all.
Parks are an essential part of life for many and irrefutably important for how the public handles the effects of the pandemic. For want of a better analogy, right now, they are society’s stress ball or punching bag — the last place people can go to blow off steam when faced with increasingly limited things to do, financial uncertainty and heightened levels of anxiety.
We urge the BMA to not shut down parks again. By all means, close off benches and gym equipment, reduce the number of surfaces people can touch to an absolute minimum, increase patrolling to ensure everyone is wearing a mask and limit numbers entering, but do not rob people of their last shred of freedom.
Parks are the last place people have to go to enjoy nature or a walk or some exercise after they have been robbed of their jobs, their income and their freedom. You cannot expect people to be cooped up in their four-walled boxes almost 24 hours a day without the option of visiting a green space — for many this is the one thing keeping them sane.
The public should not be treated like inmates: they never did anything wrong to begin with. Thailand’s population has one of the best mask-wearing adherence rates in the world. Next time you’re out in public, look at how many people are wearing masks. This was unheard of in the US and the UK when they were at the height of their outbreaks last year, so the public should be patted on the back, not punished.
The government treats people like they cannot be trusted when it is, in fact, certain MPs — such as those linked with latest cluster infection at the Krystal club in April — who cannot be trusted.
Perhaps it’s government officials who shouldn’t be allowed in restaurants, boxing rings, public parks, or even entertainment venues — as more often than not, it’s those in the highest echelons who don’t follow the rules. So why punish the public for their mess? Keep the parks open, it’s the least the city can do.