Some sensible steps

Here are my suggestions to help deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Call a recess for parliament and the Senate. Send these parliamentarians home with instructions to help the people they are supposed to represent.

Declare a moratorium on mortgages or rent for all those who have lost their jobs during the pandemic. Also suspend car payments for the same group of people. Don’t worry, the elite and the banks will survive. Nix the planned purchase of Tesco by CP. That’s imperative.

Have the army set up free meal stations across the capital and in every major city. They can source rice from warehouses owned by the elite. Release every prisoner serving time for nonvictim/non-violent crimes. That would include prisoners convicted of possessing small amounts of drugs and anyone serving time for defamation or for thinking differently.

Confiscate every golf cart from country clubs and use them as taxis in Bangkok and elsewhere. Covid-19 spreads too easily in an enclosed taxi. And a golf cart is a lot easier to wipe down.

Give every healthcare worker directly working on fighting Covid-19 a 25% pay raise. This should not be given to plastic surgeons or hospital administrators.

Immigration should sell long-term visas (seven years) to retirees and foreigners for about US$5,000 (164,250 baht). This will alleviate the exposure of both immigration employees and foreigners, and also add billions to the treasury. Overstayers, meanwhile, should be granted waivers.

Also, set up a whistleblower hotline so people can report hoarders, scalpers of medical supplies and landlords who insist on collecting rent from unemployed people.

Establish drive-through Covid-19 testing stations like in New York City and find shelters for Bangkok’s homeless people. Give the unemployed the job of planting trees. This can be accomplished with social distancing and will also help reverse the effects of global warming.

JOHNNY WATERS