Blog Ambassador Kees Rade (30)

Dear compatriots,

Departure is approaching. As mentioned earlier, I will leave this beautiful country at the end of July and start my next, hopefully very long placement in the Netherlands: my retirement. Until then there is still plenty to do.

Apart from the usual practicalities – how do I get my move back from 39 to the permitted 30 m3, which subscriptions do I need to cancel, what do I need while my container is on its way – there are also a few highlights this last month. This certainly includes the farewell audiences with HM King Rama X, with Prime Minister Prayut and with Foreign Minister Don. In addition, saying goodbye to colleagues and other contacts.

Of course, all these events are very much affected by the Covid-19 restrictions. Maximum 20 participants, keep as much distance as possible. I also notice that there are many contacts who prefer to avoid any physical meeting.
Of course, saying goodbye to the Dutch community would also form a prominent part of such a last month in office. Unfortunately, here too the pandemic is a thorough game spoiler. No flight to Chiang Mai possible, no last meeting with the NVT Hua Hin. But these are only minor disappointments compared to the suffering of many, physically, socially, psychologically, economically, as a result of the pandemic. And luckily the coffee morning with the NVT Bangkok can still continue.

The pandemic. For many months I counted myself lucky to be in Thailand during this global health disaster. Hardly any infections, few fatalities. There are restrictions for international tourism in particular, but you didn't notice much of it in daily life in Bangkok. And that while the far-reaching restrictions placed on freedom of movement in large parts of the world, including the Netherlands, took a heavy toll in all kinds of areas.
Now the roles are about to be reversed. In Europe, things are practically back to normal as restaurants and cafes are closed here and domestic travel is restricted. The numbers of infections and fatalities are slowly but surely showing an upward trend. Not dramatic, but enough to halt construction projects and postpone a relaxation of measures further into the future.

Obviously, the only long-term solution to this crisis is to vaccinate the population. It appears Thailand has thought for too long that it would escape, resulting in too few vaccines being procured in an already overheated global market. Impressive orders have been placed recently, and it looks like the coming months will see an acceleration in the rate of vaccination. But meanwhile, the situation remains fragile.

As an embassy, ​​we have of course been particularly concerned with the position of Dutch residents of Thailand. Many of these residents belong to the relatively more vulnerable groups, and are therefore anxiously awaiting that redeeming one or two injections. And it is very unsatisfactory in that situation if you feel that Thai citizens are favored. Too many testimonials about this kind of practice have appeared on social media for this to be dismissed as hearsay. This has also been repeatedly brought up by like-minded embassies in their contacts with the Thai government, pointing out that we ourselves also treat every resident in our countries in the same way as our own compatriots, regardless of nationality.

At the same time, fortunately, there are also many foreigners who have already received one or two injections, and that number is increasing by the day. Quite a few companies have been able to arrange a joint vaccination for their own employees. So progress is being made, but it is (too) slow and communication about the correct procedures leaves much to be desired.

And speaking of communication, the recent report in the Bangkok Post that France and Belgium would arrange a vaccination for all their nationals in Thailand has caused quite a stir. This news also caused a lot of discussion during a recent meeting of the EU ambassadors, many colleagues stated that they had received questions from their own nationals why they could not pursue the same policy. During this discussion it became clear that Belgium was wrongly mentioned in this message, the Belgian embassies in the world will not organize vaccinations (this caused my Belgian colleague a lot of work on social media). In addition, there is no other Western embassy that is considering the same step as France, for policy reasons but mainly for practical reasons. The long exchanges of messages on various social media platforms provide a nice insight into the many considerations that play a role in this. “The Hague” has also decided not to vaccinate Dutch people living abroad, except when they travel to the Netherlands. I understand that some Dutch people have raised this with some political parties in the Netherlands. The embassy will of course fully cooperate with whatever decision is taken. Hopefully, an increase in vaccination rates in Thailand will soon make this discussion less important. And, as said, of course there is always the possibility to get a vaccination in one's own country, although this option will not offer a way out for everyone.

It was good to see that many activities came up during a discussion of the embassy plans for the second half of this year. The plans are certainly there, of course with the well-known reservation about the pandemic. And we also hope to have the opportunity to travel to Laos and Cambodia again, we have been cut off from our counterparts there for far too long.
A first activity that I look forward to is a meeting (online…) on July 7 on the impact of climate change on the financial sector. We are very pleased that the Thai Finance Minister will participate. The Netherlands plays a leading role in this field worldwide, the Dutch Bank has been active for many years to raise awareness of the consequences of climate change for the banking sector. They will also participate in this meeting. More details on our Facebook page!

Regards,

Keith Rade