Thailand post works to get veterans vaccinated
The American Legion has posts and members all over the world, which means a variety of local authority systems and circumstances. But abroad as in the United States, Legionnaires are always ready to engage in community service, in whatever form that takes.
Michael J. Chitwood, adjutant of Sgt. Thomas Oliver Ahlberg Memorial American Legion Post TH02 in Pattaya, Thailand, reports that the post went as far as the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok to ensure that Legion Family members and other American citizens had access to vaccinations. He says the Thai government handled the initial spread of the virus well, but the issue of vaccines was more complicated: “Even though there were manufacturers of the vaccine located in Thailand, these manufacturers were already under contract to provide the vaccine to other countries.” That left Thai nationals – and everyone else – outside.
China and France donated vaccines, but specified that they go to their own citizens in Thailand, leaving the government scrambling to procure them for its own citizens. Simply put, according to Chitwood, “There was no system in place for the American ex-pats to receive vaccinations.” And when the U.S. government donated millions of vaccines to the government, they did not attach a condition to provide them to U.S. citizens.
Even when things eased – non-Thais were allowed to register for a vaccination, and access to them was expanded to private hospitals – the registration was complex and the U.S. community was still having problems. Enter Post TH02. Chitwood says that members of both the Legion and the VFW work for, and with, the embassy in Bangkok, and “we had members working behind the scenes to try to solve the issues with getting our veterans vaccinated. This is when things started to improve.” An embassy deputy was directed to work with the Thai public health department on registrations. And, he adds, “We as an organization offered our assistance to not only our veterans but all American citizens who requested help.”
The post has continued to help with information and access; only government-run sites and private hospitals can administer the vaccines, precluding using the post home for that purpose. Overall, Chitwood says, “As a post we no doubt gained some positive results with our efforts to assist our community in the vaccination process. This also contributed to improving the line of communication between both veteran organizations here in Thailand.” A recent spike in cases saw several members test positive, but with “tolerable symptoms.” Efforts have now shifted to booster acquisition.
The post was only formally established in 2020, but is already fulfilling the Legion’s mission in every way it can.