Thailand Flood

Since a few Month Thailand has to fight with the worst Flood for at least 69 Years. The Water coming down from North flooded many Provinces and important Industrial Estates. Right now the Flood arrived in Bangkok City and it is possible that whole Bangkok will get flooded. Why can this be happen?

The different Organisations  just do not communicate and not work together to prevent a bigger disaster. The Media provides us with different Information about the Water Masses everyday, Quantities of the water arriving from North are sometimes 2000 – 3000 million  and sometimes up to 20,000 million cubic litres, which of course confuses everybody.

It seems to be a hidden fight between Government and Opposition and the Battlefield are the backs of the Thai People which are loosing their Homes to the immense Water Masses.

Food and drinking Water is getting expensive, hundred of thousands people had to be evacuated and many others still will be evacuated. Prices for boats and flood prevention material are on the rise. Sandbags are nearly unavailable! Many People do not get any Help through the not well organised Organisations.

More and more Districts from Bangkok have to be evacuated and there is still no End to see. Looking at Google’s Flood Map shows that there is no much chance for Bangkok that the flood will bypass the City.

I only hope that if this Flood is over, some Organisations will start to do anything possible to prevent such Floods in the future. It looks like in the past it was easier to ask for new Donations every year.

Some important Phone Numbers are:

• The Prime Minister’s Office: 1111 press 5
• DPM Hot Line (Department of Disaster Preventation and Mitigation): 1784
• Emergency Medical and Referral Patient Services to hospital: 1669
• Flood victims in Bangkok and around province: 02-281-5443
• Department of Highways: 1586

Detailed Information about the Flood can be found on many Websites, here only a few of them:

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/

http://www.bangkokpost.com/

http://www.thaiflood.com/

http://www.thaivisa.com/

http://globalfloodmap.org/Thailand

Double Standard in Social Security Scheme

The social security scheme came under attack this week when members claimed they were the only Thais who have to pay for access to medical care.

“Is this fair?” asked health economist Dr Pongsathorn Pokpermdee. He said the scheme’s members were taxpayers and it was unfair to make them pay for medical welfare while other Thais get it free.

The social security scheme covers about 9.4 million people, mostly company workers. These employees and their employers have to pay monthly contributions into the Social Security Fund (SSF), while the government contributes an additional sum.

The scheme offers medical welfare as well as other benefits, including a pension.

Other Thais, however, enjoy free medical welfare through the universal health scheme and the medical benefit scheme for civil servants and their families. MPs and senators have even better medical coverage under another scheme.

“A sizeable portion of the contributions go into medical services and childbirth benefits,” Pongsathorn said. “If the social security scheme’s members enjoy free medical welfare like other Thais, this money could go into their pension savings.”

Duangjai Deengarm, a worker from Samut Prakan, complained that the scheme represented a double standard.

She urged the government to treat the scheme’s members fairly by channelling the contributions for medical and childbirth benefits into pensions instead.

Many members of the Social Security Fund have also complained about medical services. Some decided not to use the scheme’s medical services again after they were unhappy with the treatment they were given.

“We are treated like second-class citizens when trying to exercise our right to access hospitals under the social security scheme. No matter what illness we have, we are prescribed paracetamol,” Duangjai said.

Pongsathorn said the social security scheme’s members should demand an answer from the government and the Social Security Office (SSO) as to why they have to pay for medical care.

“I think the social security law, introduced more than 20 years ago, has already become superannuated,” he said.

Tula Patchimvet, who sits on a subcommittee of the Lawyers Council dealing with labour rights and urban people’s housing rights, agreed that the social security scheme members should no longer be required to pay for medical benefits.

Now if all this People would look back in Thailand‘s History they would change their Mind. Not very long ago only civil cervants had free health-care. Introducing the Social Security System is not a double Standard, it is a Solution to remove a Double Standard. Unfortunately this cannot be done at once. Changes are done Step by Step, as at the begin there was only Healthcare, than unemployment insurance and pension fund was added. It seems that slow, but steady the “paying” people of Thailand will get the same Benefits as the civil servants. Evolution needs its time.