Volunteers help poorest survive Thailand’s worst COVID surge

By DAVID RISING
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — In Thailand’s worst coronavirus surge yet, lockdown measures have reduced what little Bangkok’s have-nots had to zero. Their plight has given rise to volunteer groups working to ensure the poorest survive. For Tun Nye, the bag of rice, canned fish and other staples he received meant not going hungry when his construction site was shut down. He said, “It’s been three or four months with no money and we don’t have enough to eat. And there’s no option to go home to Myanmar; it’s worse there.” The volunteers have supplied more than food. They’ve brought oxygen to patients stuck at home, tested whole communities and helped open isolation facilities so sick people don’t infect their families.