After two years of living with Covid-19, the Thai people have learned many things through multiple lockdowns, increasing fatalities, tremendous misery and hardship.
It is highly questionable whether public relation campaigns to raise awareness about the coronavirus and its impact are relevant.
For the government to spend more than 100 million baht for these doubtful activities is next to scandalous.
The cabinet on Monday approved several budgets for Covid-19 relief measures and projects.
Among them was 105 million baht to be allocated to the Public Relations Department to finance public campaigns aimed at improving Covid-19 health awareness.
The department also said it needs more funds to address increasing "fake news" about Covid-19, which has been confusing the public.
According to deputy government spokeswoman Traisuree Taisaranakul, the campaigns will focus on the predominant and highly contagious Delta variant and its impact on the country.
The PR department has not provided details about what these campaigns will comprise. News reports, however, revealed that they will include hiring entertainment figures and influencers at the mega, macro and micro level to make a TV music video about beating Covid-19.
Are these what Thai people, many of them are struggling to cope with effects of the disease which curtails many aspects of human behaviour and ways of living, really need?
While timely updates about Covid-19 in general and the Delta variant are crucial in attempts to contain the disease, it does not seem necessary that the information must be delivered by paid celebrities or influencers.
The Covid-19 pandemic is a public health crisis. It is incumbent on the public health and other related authorities to provide quick and precise information to the public.
Since the virus mutates quickly and several aspects of the pandemic remain new to us, they should also make clear which information is supported by scientific research or evidence.
One of the many problems regarding Covid-19 information so far is the tendency for state agencies to give inconsistent or at times conflicting guidelines or updates.
A case in point is the Facebook page Thai Ru Khu Covid that stated it was affiliated with the Public Health Ministry which published a series of banners attempting to justify the mix-and-match vaccination policy but with so much wrong and doubtful information that they had to be removed later following a public backlash.
If the government really wants the public to be abreast of the latest information about Covid-19 and prepare them to "live with" the disease, it should focus its attention on improving the authenticity of the sources of the information first.
Doing this will also address the "fake news" problem, which the department also requested a budget to fight.
"Fake news" often emerges where there are policy uncertainties and public confusion. If the government agencies concerned with Covid-19 information do a good job in verifying what they announce and compare notes with other related agencies, it could go a long way in fighting false claims.
An awareness campaign might help in the initial phase of the pandemic. Now, however, we are too deep into the crisis for some shallow talk. A 100 million baht might not be much for relief measures but it should not be wasted on lip service campaigns.
