Thai volunteers aid COVID patients in need of care, testing

As Thailand‘s medical system struggles under a surge of coronavirus cases, ordinary people are helping plug the gaps

BANGKOK, Thailand -- As Thailand‘s medical system struggles beneath a surge of coronavirus cases, ordinary people are helping to plug the gaps, risking their own health to bring care and supplies to often terrified, exhausted patients who’ve fallen through the cracks. In the Samai area of Bangkok, Ekapob Laungprasert’s team heads out for another weekend on the front lines of a crisis. His volunteer group, Samai Will Survive, has been working around the clock, responding to about a hundred SOS calls daily from desperate COVID-19 patients unable to get the help they need. “We realize how hard working and how tired doctors and nurses are,” says the 38-year-old businessman. “What we are trying to do today is to help relieve some of the burden. Before, all cases must go to the hospital, so today there are no hospital beds. So we volunteer to help out.”