Health agency apologizes for insensitive post listing benefits of hiring the disabled

A government health agency apologized yesterday for an insensitive post listing offensive reasons why employers should hire people with disabilities.

ThaiHealth issued a statement of apology on Facebook for the post, stating that it was meant to list the advantages of hiring the elderly, not the disabled, and that it had caused the impression that it “devalued” people with disabilities.

The infographic, which was posted on Saturday, was titled “Advantages of hiring the disabled” and listed reasons such as “they won’t take leave often”, “they work slow but get the job done”, and “it’s a competitive job that makes money”. It also said that they won’t ever ask for special job benefits or privileges and that their turnover rate is low.

Many commenters blasted the ad as tone-deaf and completely backward in its discriminatory view of the disabled. It was subsequently deleted before the agency issued its apology yesterday.

“ThaiHealth’s corporate communications department apologizes for presenting the topic of “advantages of hiring a disabled person”, the statement read. “It was a mistake meant to provide information about the advantages of hiring the elderly for work, and was used to communicate the employment of people with disabilities causing the impression that it devalues people with disabilities.”

It stated that it’s working with relevant network partners to create opportunities for all and that it will take this incident as an important lesson in the future.

Many commenters did not buy its apparent excuse of ableism and ageism and took to socials to condemn the agency’s apology.

“You meant this content was aimed at the elderly, but how did the communication lead to you talking about the disabled?” one comment read.

“It reflects the way of thinking that ThaiHealth never believes in human dignity,” read another. “You think of yourself as good by doing charity, being a noble giver, so that you can be discriminatory. I would like to compliment that the corporate communication department is good in making content that shows how they think and work as an organization. Very impactful.”