The Omicron variant of the coronavirus is enough of a threat that the last thing that society needs is more flip-flopping and a lack of preparedness from the authorities.
On Monday morning, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told a TV news programme that his ministry proposed to the Centre for the Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) to pause the Test & Go scheme, which allows fully vaccinated visitors with proof of a negative RT-PCR test, to enter the country without compulsory quarantine.
He added that the ministry proposed the Sandbox programme and the state quarantine system be brought back.
Within a few hours, the public health minister's comments had triggered panic among tourism operators and those travelling or planning to do so around New Year.
On Monday evening, CCSA chief Gen Supoj Malaniyom came out to cool down the situation by saying the government would decide on Friday on whether to revise its list of low-risk countries for Test & Go and intensify Covid-19 screening measures instead of scrapping it altogether.
But then yesterday, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha reportedly stopped the approval of new applications from foreign travellers for Test & Go and sandbox entries other than through the Phuket Sandbox. The PM added that the government will allow the 90,000 previously permitted visitors to arrive in Thailand as planned.
While it is understandable that the CCSA needs to follow medical science and recommendations from the Ministry of Public Health, witnessing more policy flip-flops and disconcerted information from Mr Anutin and CCSA's chief is a reminder of the government's poor performance earlier this year as Covid cases peaked.
Again, the public health minister could have waited for policies to be confirmed before communicating them publicly while Gen Supoj, head of the CCSA, could have communicated with Mr Anutin and the government before giving any policy-related assurances.
The government sacrificed a large amount of financial resources to reopen the country in November and now it appears that it's been undone so easily, despite the number of local Covid cases remaining low.
But the damage has now been done to the tourism sector and the authorities must focus on containing the infection by ensuring they can trace the whereabouts of those 90,000 tourists and make sure they are cleared of Covid.
It can't repeat the same mistake last month when it spent days trying to find some visitors from southern Africa over Omicron concerns.
After living through three Covid waves, society expects more from the authorities. They expect policymakers, ministers and responsible officials have accumulated enough experience to deal with what needs to be done in preparing for yet another wave.
Public health facilities and personnel must be prepared for a possible surge of patients. Society expects to see Mr Anutin order tiered treatments including home isolation, field hospitals, hospitals and full hospitalisation to be ready when necessary, and less on giving media interviews on topics beyond his ministry.
As the country stands on the edge of another possible outbreak, prudence is required. After all, Covid management is about trust and trust is built on reliable and concerted information.
That is why all decisions, and communications about them, must be made with extreme caution.
