Thai online petition calls for the resignation of Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul
An online petition has been launched calling for Anutin Charnvirakul to resign as Minister of Health. The petition, organized by the Mor Jai Mai Thon or “Doctors Can’t Take It No Longer” group, said the minister must resign because he “cannot control the COVID19 outbreak”.
According to Thai-language news site Sanook, the petition had more than 50,000 supporters yesterday, Sunday, April 25.
The organizers of the petition say Anutin has repeatedly demonstrated that he is unable to manage Thailand’s COVID19 situation, including politics, resource management and vaccine procurement, and that he has not gained the confidence that he should actually have from first-line medical personnel. to have.
The group cited a number of quotes Anutin has been making since the virus was discovered in Thailand.
One of the quotes was that Anutin had reportedly dismissed the virus as nothing more than a cold.
In another quote, Anutin targeted doctors, claiming they weren’t too careful about avoiding infections.
In March 2020, he scornfully criticized ‘Western tourists’ and foreigners from Europe on live television for not wearing a face mask.
He has also said that Thais “should be more careful with farangs than other Asians” and went on to say “many farangs dress improperly, are dirty and don’t shower”.
He later apologized for what he said in a social media post.
