Social Impacts and Pandemic Responses to COVID-19 in Udon Thani Province

Abstract

The objective of this research is to study the social impacts and pandemic responses to COVID-19 in Udon Thani Province, applying the United Nations’ COVID-19 impact analysis framework. The study focused on three main areas: public health, human security, and education. Qualitative research methods, including document analysis, focus groups, and discussion groups, were employed. The research utilized various related documents, such as quarterly/yearly reports, health statistics, academic articles, and news. The study involved representatives addressing social impact within the area, totaling 7 informants, as well as 15 representatives from government, the private sector, and academia in the discussion group.

The valuable results indicate the following: 1) in the field of public health, Udon Thani faced challenges in acquiring essential items such as face masks, hand sanitizers, a shortage of quarantine facilities, as well as communication and information dissemination. These led to the creation of collaborative networks between government, private, and public sectors to collectively respond to this crisis. 2) in the field of human security, the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on vulnerable people and laid-off workers, which also affects their families. This led to a reevaluation of comprehensive support mechanisms. Moreover, Udon Thani continued to implement community-based initiatives “Home-Hub project” to support these people. 3) in the field of education, Udon Thani had a group of economically disadvantaged students, comprising 13% of the student population. Most of these students came from financially challenged families who faced difficulties in providing online learning equipment. There was also a risk of these students dropping out of the education system. Both communities and schools support measures, including reduced tuition fees, support for online learning tools, and extended sessions during the pandemic.

The strategic proposal is to build community resilience to address the social impacts of future crises. This includes: 1) a shared public health policy through community networks as the primary mechanism for cooperating within the area, as well as expanding cooperation with neighboring countries; 2) a community-sharing policy, allowing all parts of the area to share resources or funds to address specific crises, both physical resources (or hardware) like face masks and information resources (or software) like news; 3) a collaborative education policy that builds a network of educational cooperation between homes, communities, and educational institutions to ensure children continue to receive education during crises, serving as a resource-sharing and common space initiative.