© ROMEO GACAD/AFP via Getty Images
Thailand's poor are killing themselves at alarming rates amid a surge in suicides related to the coronavirus pandemic across the country, Thai news outlet Coconuts Bangkok
reported on Friday.
At least 22 coronavirus-related suicides have been recorded in Thailand since March 20, according to an independent study
cited by Coconuts. Believed to have the world's worst wealth inequality rate, poor people in Thailand have been hard-hit by the country's recent economic slowdown, a byproduct of the lockdown imposed by Thailand last month.
On March 26, Thailand's government
announced a state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the
Bangkok Post. This allowed for a partial lockdown in and outside of Bangkok, the capital, where the majority of businesses were closed.
Unable to work for the past month, many Thai citizens living hand-to-mouth before the coronavirus pandemic have reportedly become desperate and suicidal. Most of those have failed to access government financial assistance, which Bangkok promised last month.
Comment: This is just further proof that hysteria can make even those professionals entrusted with our lives act unconscionably: