Opposition lawmakers in Parliament tried to pass a vote of no confidence in Mr. Prayuth, accusing his government of squandering the monthslong head start Thailand had to fight the coronavirus. That effort failed on Saturday, even though some members of the prime minister’s coalition had briefly fanned speculation that they might support his ouster. A company with no experience making vaccines, whose dominant shareholder is Thailand’s king, was given the contract to produce the AstraZeneca vaccine domestically. The government’s failure to secure adequate imported supplies has made matters worse. Only about 15 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, and social inequalities have let the young rich leapfrog ahead of older, poorer people.

Source: New York Times September 05, 2021 09:00 UTC