BANGKOK: The government has recalled 50 former military doctors to the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) to help in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Authorities are labouring under huge workloads taking care of patients and processing new arrivals at state quarantine facilities.
According to the Bangkok Post, the air force has also since joined the fight.
“We need to prepare our medical personnel for the situation,” air force chief ACM Maanat Wongwat said as he thanked doctors in a welcoming ceremony at the Navaminda Kasatriyadhiraj Royal Air Force Academy in northern Bangkok.
It is the first time the air force has called up former officers to reinforce its military personnel.
The doctors previously served at air force-run hospitals before resigning to work at private hospitals or opening their own clinics. Most of them, aged under 50, will serve the air force from April 15 to 30.
Each doctor will be given an allowance, equal to the rate for officers under the air force’s reserve command and will work in shifts, each lasting 15 days.
Some of them will be assigned to treat patients at Bhumibol Adulyadej Hospital and the Royal Thai Air Force Hospital.
Others will help officers at the Flying Training School in Nakhon Pathom’s Kamphaeng Saen district, where 75 Thais returning from Indonesia are being kept in quarantine.
“I raised no questions when the air force called me,” said Sqn Ldr Nathi Diphorm, who is working at Bamrungrad Hospital. “As a soldier, I’m ready to join the mission.”
Other fellow doctors conveyed similar sentiments, while expressing gratitude to their colleagues at private hospitals who are picking up their workload.
Among the group is a 53-year-old doctor who is volunteering to help the air force, although he has not been recalled.
Plt Off Worawit Phunsuwan, an otorhinolaryngologist running his own clinic, has likewise decided to take part in the effort out of patriotic duty.
“As for the impact on my life, I simply overlook it,” he said.
The air force is also following an urgent policy to have state agencies cut their budgets to enable the government to fund measures against the Covid-19 pandemic and cope with its impact on the economy.
“We will slash 23 per cent of our annual budget,” ACM Maanat said.
The decrease will not seriously affect development plans, although the air force will be required to adjust some projects and outlays, he added.