Thai Doctor Reveals Social Stigma He Experienced After He Recovered From COVID-19

Misunderstanding on COVID-19


Image adapted from: Public Health

Earlier this week, the Ministry of Public Health released a video on its Facebook titled “Stop stigmatising the COVID-19 patients” to help the public build more understanding towards those who were infected with COVID-19.

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The video featured Tanat Chinbunchorn, the doctor who recovered from the virus. He recalled the heartbreaking gestures he received from other residents in his condominium building. 

As a result, Dr. Chinbunchorn decided to temporarily move out so everyone could feel at ease. 


Neighbours scared of his present


Source

When his neighbours heard about Dr. Chinbunchorn’s discharge, his neighbours started to demand his personal information from the condominium receptionist, including his room number. 

The intrusion expanded to the point where the receptionist was asked by residents to track his movements inside the building through security cameras, so they could avoid him. 

“I felt quite stressed and sad that they [the residents] couldn’t understand the disease despite me trying to explain to them,” said Dr. Chinbunchorn.


Reasoned with other residents


Dr. Chinbunchorn then decided to solve the problem by providing people in his building with medical facts.

He said that he monitored himself for 14 days after the discharge to make sure the virus didn’t come back and wore masks whenever he went outside.

According to the video, the transmission period of COVID-19 is around 8 to 10 days. 

You can view full video in Thai here.

Thanks, Dr. Chinbunchorn, for showing us that kindness is as important as health measures when it comes to dealing with COVID-19.

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Eddie Jirayu: