The Role of Communication and Information Access for Persons with Disabilities during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Thailand: A Qualitative Research

Abstract

This study aims to explore the role of communication and information access of Thai persons with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative research with an in-depth interview as well as on-site and online focus groups was conducted. Criterion and snowball sampling were used to select participants. A total of 71 participants were recruited from different regions of Thailand. Based on the findings, This research identified the role of communication in helping persons with disabilities and their caregivers during crisis time separated into different levels of communication as first the self-reflection, the particular context cultivated them to play different active and passive roles in surviving the COVID-19 crisis. Second, group communication was beneficial in various aspects such as gaining social capital, empowering family cohesion, and these contradict some recent studies that reported sibling conflict during the lockdown. Finally, there was inequality access reflected from the mass communication level, there is no critical timely information, and insufficient accessibility support for PWDs in mainstream media.