Dying gamer's video exposes flaws in Thailand's Covid-19 fight; kin files suit against PM

Bangkok [Thailand], June 2 : After a popular video gamer died of Covid-19 in Thailand, his brother has filed a 4.53 million baht (USD 186,000) lawsuit against Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, and others for failing to respond quickly to his sibling's pleas for testing and hospitalisation, which allegedly led to his death.
Kunlasub Watthanaphol, known by his nickname 'Up', died on April 23 as the south-east Asian nation's third coronavirus wave was taking hold, ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) reported.
Up's older brother, Kunlachet Watthanaphol in a lawsuit in Thailand's Administrative Court, named Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration and others, for failing to respond to Up's pleas for help fast enough.
The 34-year-old gamer had on April 17 written a Facebook post in which he said he was quarantined at home, because he was feeling sick with coronavirus symptoms after coming into contact with someone who had tested positive.
Up, a diabetic, said he tried to call the government's Covid-19 hotlines to book a test but all the numbers were either busy or could not offer immediate assistance.
Also, the hospitals he phoned said they had used up their testing quotas already or could not help him until he had done a test.
On April 20, as Up's symptoms worsened, he used the selfie mode on his phone to record an emotional, live video on Facebook."I either can't reach the hospitals or they won't accept me. The emergency line doesn't help me," Up said in the live video, according to ABC News.
"I don't have hope but I'm asking if anyone can help. My friends, any of you, please help me." Up then described his symptoms and how he was feeling. "I am holding my cough and have a sore throat and fever," Up is heard saying in the video. "From being a strong man, I now feel like dying," he said.
Even if he could book in for a test, Up had no transport to get to a testing site and no health insurance to cover the cost of an ambulance - problems common to many of Thailand's low-income earners.
He was also feeling too weak to try to walk to a testing location.
"Do you know what shocked me? A state officer told me, 'get public transport to do the test,'"' Up said in the live video.
"I'm trying to avoid spreading the virus and you told me to spread it. I am shocked."
After the video was watched and shared widely on social media, a Bangkok hospital admitted the esports gamer and a friend drove him there in the back of a truck. However, the infection had spread to the video gamer's lungs and he died two days later.
Up's brother Kunlachet told the ABC, "I understand there were many cases for the government to handle and it was a sudden outbreak, but they needed to provide clear details of what people should do."
"When [Up] called for help they could not help, they made people wait, and the outbreak happened during that waiting, Kunlachet said stating that this led hime to sue the government.
Thailand daily Covid-19 case numbers have been hovering around the 2,000 mark for weeks. On Tuesday, June 1, it reported 162,022 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 1,069 deaths. As of May 23, a total of 3,024,313 vaccine doses have been administered, according to World Health Organisation.