Picture: Daily News
Thailand's Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul rose to address the house at 8.57 pm last night in the ongoing no confidence debate against the Thai government.
In a step by step timeline self-appraisal on all that has happened since late last year he praised everything about himself and his ministry, defended the Sinovac vaccine and his relationship with the Chinese both in and outside Thailand and suggested he had not wasted public funds and certainly not taken anything for himself.
He said that Thais need not worry about vaccine thanks to him - there is plenty for everyone and "we can fight the Covid-19 fight together with confidence".
At the end of his speech he summed his own performance up with:
"Ever since I have been minister of public health there has been no corrupt practices - it's all been white. (We are) here to help the Thai people", reported Daily News last night.
The minister started speaking after Thai PM Prayuth Chan-ocha had denied the government or himself were involved in graft.
That's graft in the sense of corruption, not work, notes ASEAN NOW.
Anutin continued in the same vein on what was day one of a four day debate that is likely to embarrass the government but certainly not bring them down.
Anutin said that the Sinovac vaccine was a good one with a high standard and efficacy.
Though he admitted that its efficacy had dimished a little when the Delta variant came into Thailand. But this was not Sinovac's or his fault.
He described the open and transparent way that all vaccines had come into Thailand since deals were struck late last year.
He said he had worked tirelessly with the Chinese in Thailand and with the government in China in a spirit of good relationship and good cooperation.
Sinovac was needed and was the fastest option after clusters in Samut Sakhon and Bangkok and surrounding areas.
He didn't mention that several of these clusters involved ministers from the government at nightclubs, notes ASEAN NOW.
He pressed on about the cost of Sinovac saying that criticism that it was expensive was unfounded. He said only the first lot was $17 a dose.
He propduced a graphic showing that the price dropped and dropped until it was only $8.90.
He described everything he did as above board and honest and for the benefit of the poeple.
This has included the subsequent procurement of vaccines meaning that Thailand now has Sinovac, Astra Zeneca, Pfizer and Moderna (on order). He said that Johnson and Johnson availability was subject to ironing out regulatory problems with the manufacturer - it wasn't Thailand's fault.
Once again he praised Sinovac as having stemmed the tide of infection.
"We are not short of vaccine", he proclaimed. "We will have 140 million doses by the end of the year which divided by two is 70 million people. That's going to be enough to inoculate 90% of the population.
He defended the third shot booster policy and said that AIK kits had been bought at fair market prices.
He said that if Astra Zeneca can still be produced in Thailand there will be no shortages next year saying "there is enough for every arm - we can get through this crisis together".
In closing remarks he suggested that his own performance, just like his PM, had been based on transparency and fairness and justice.
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