COVID-19 Crisis Response under Thailand’s Authoritarian Approach

"Viengrat Nethipo is an associate professor of Political Science at Chulalongkorn University. ...

We observed questionable actions at the central government level but a competent contribution to the robust responses to the pandemic by other levels of government, especially the local administrative units and village health volunteers. By force of habit under the authoritarian leadership style, the central government has exclusively controlled information and increased the power of its central body by jumping the hierarchical structure, confusing people about the exercising of power. You might think that a crisis will make government agencies stronger, but Thailand has proven the opposite, with its agencies becoming weaker in the hands of the government. "

https://prachatai.com/english/node/9400