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Does Thailand Really Need (Or Want) a "Permanent CCSA"?

Transcript of the above video:

This title may seem a little bit confusing but the question posed is "does Thailand really need (or want) a permanent CCSA?" The CCSA is this temporary body that has been designated to oversee the pandemic situation since the promulgation of the Emergency Decree in March of 2020. 

This whole notion came to my attention and got me thinking after I read an article in the Bangkok Post, that is bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: CCSA shake-up looms. Quoting directly: "The Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) will continue its role in leading the country's fight to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, although it may later be transformed into a new body under a new Disease Control law that will replace the state of emergency, the Government said on Wednesday. According to Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, because the CCSA was established under the Emergency Decree, when the state of emergency is lifted, then the CCSA will technically no longer exist." Well it is not technically. It just won't exist anymore. It is an emergency creation. Frankly I don't have any problem with the CCSA in its emergency form. It is a body that was set up to coordinate a response to an emergency; it makes sense actually. Quoting directly: "However, in practice the CCSA will continue to function while the Government deliberates the new Disease Control law although it may have to be transformed into something else after the state of emergency is lifted." How about you transform it into nothing and just end this?

I understand the purpose of the CCSA. It was created again in response to coordinating an emergency response and I see that, I get it but the emergency, and we have gone over this, I fail to see where there is an urgent calamity in process at this point. This began March 2020. We didn't know what this was. It seemed reasonable to everyone at the time to take some drastic measures and frankly I think Thailand did better than most other countries, especially in the West. It was very odd to watch the juxtaposition of world leaders, let's just take America, talking about how bad this was and then there were still plane loads of people flying into the country. Like "well are you really quarantining, what are you doing?" Whereas Thailand, the minute the Emergency Decree came down, they shut down. They went into a true quarantine. That is to my mind, the way that it should have been done.

Now okay, March 2020, we are now at September 2021 so that is 18 months later. We now know what this pandemic is and we have gone over the data in other videos on this channel. I have noted Johns Hopkins University data: approximately 1.8% of the overall population in Thailand has been confirmed to be infected with this. Of that number, 1% have died. That is all sad and certainly no one wants to see anyone pass away; no one wants to see anyone be afflicted with any kind of disease. That is certainly terrible. That stated, does it warrant complete and total lockdowns? Does it warrant this committee that gets to dictate to us down to a very microscopic level, how we live our lives; when things can be open and under what conditions and an alcohol ban and all of these things? No, frankly I don't want to see a permanent CCSA. If there is no further emergency, let's put the CCSA back in its box where it needs to be and we will use it if we have an emergency again but why have a permanent one? What is the purpose of that if there is no emergency? If by definition there is no emergency, why does the CCSA need to continue to exist?