Any political science student would have been taught that the defining concept of a functioning state is the monopoly on the legitimate use of force. This notion was first proposed by the great political scientist Max Weber in In , years later, the Coronavirus may have given us a new definition of what it means to be a state. Read more here. Specifically, the decree grants autonomous power to the Institute in negotiating and importing Covid vaccines with the manufacturers both in Thailand and abroad.
This was a right that was reserved for only the Thai government. Any effort to procure the vaccines was supposed to be centralized at the Ministry of Health.
While the announcement is most certainly a benevolent gesture by the Institute, it highlights the royal frustration and the split among the ruling elites over how the Prayut government is handling the crisis. HRH Princess Chulabhorn is taking the matter in her own hands. She is trying to do what she can to alleviate the dire healthcare situation and to compensate for the delay in vaccine procurement by the Ministry of Health and its relevant agencies.
But the royal move, exercised in this manner however well-intentioned, calls into question the political legitimacy of the government and its authority in the management of the crisis. We have only fully vaccinated 1. At the current rate, some estimates claim that it would take us more than 7 years to get to the goal of million doses administered. On top of this, there are questions over whether we would have enough vaccines at all and how much longer would the delivery be delayed.
While the royal intervention may be welcomed by those who have become hopeless in the current situation, it points to a larger problem in our society. It may have helped obviate the need for the royal institution to feel like it needs to save Thailand from sinking deeper into a health-care abyss, if our governance is cushioned by an effective, democratic check-and-balance system that can hold our government accountable in times like this.
