Somehow, some Phuket officials are presenting themselves as above that.
The so-called “need” for the extra building is pure gush delivered without any explanation of why the already-approved facility cannot open. It just “is”. And that’s while some B14 million in donations is being provided by a rescue foundation for of all things an x-ray room – like the original plans did not include one, and as if the Ministry of Public Health cannot afford one.
If we are talking about waiting for government budgets, keep in mind that the current expected budget for the light-rail project is B39.406 billion and the Patong tunnel project B13.917bn. That’s a total of B53.323bn. To compare, the projected cost of building the Kra Canal is only B55bn.
Meanwhile, here’s what they have already spent on our illustrious underpasses, two of which have yet to open: Darasamut Underpass B600mn, Sam Kong Underpass B834mn, Bang Khu Underpass B600mn, Chalong Underpass B550mn and airport-turnoff underpass B500mn. Total price tag so far: B3.058 billion, and no secondary road network and not a single government public bus service in place. And we are having trouble getting how much for a hospital? It beggars belief and only raises suspicions of exactly how much money is being provided to who, and for what.
That said, government hospitals have long solicited cash donations from the public. Vachira Phuket Hospital has for decades kept collection boxes in its front area, seeking cash gifts from visitors. That practice is so open that Ministry of Public Health officials never question it, and even Thai journalists don’t ask why.
Meanwhile, the delay will see Chalong Hospital remain closed for another rainy season, when strong surf endangers – and claims – many lives each year.
Chalong Hospital is being built to serve people in need from all across the southern parts of the island, home to heavily populated areas and many popular tourist beaches, where year after year tourists are dragged from the surf barely alive – or worse – after being overpowered by strong waves or caught in a deadly flash rip.
Getting surf rescue victims to emergency care as fast as possible is critical. That’s why, thank heavens, the short-staffed and poorly equipped Accident & Emergency (A&E) Centre at Chalong Hospital was opened years ago despite the main facility being not even built yet.
Although the A&E Centre is only a makeshift unit until the proper hospital opens, at least some emergency medical care could be provided to stabilise patients in the hope they survive the journey to one of the major hospitals in or on the outskirts of Phuket Town.
Now with this new delay, those patients from the south of the island whose lives will soon depend on emergency medical care will have to wait, including any tourists pulled from the surf exhausted, or possibly not even breathing.
After all, six months won’t kill them, right?