khunPer

I don't know what you are reading? Where do you see anything from March 2020?

But it seems like the modern Robin Hood first got enough for two cars, a luxury house, and 20 loaded bank books - I however recall a story about a guy living a plain life in the woods, but perhaps moderns days' Robins are different...????

Many thanks...???? -keep up the good work...????????

Little scaring, when reading about European scientists saying that the Delta-variants spreads very fast, and opposite the first observations, it seems to make infected people quite sick...???? We might need to take the government restrictions serious, even some of them might seem unnecessary viewed through a Westerner's glasses. However, always looking at the bright side of life, it's still less than one percent of people in Thailand that have been infected (693,305 of 69,991,118 = 0.99%), in some countries it's over 10 percent of the population, for example USA (10.85%); Netherlands (10.91%); and Sweden (10.84%). Some few countries even more than 15 percent. Almost 99,2 percent of the infected people in Thailand have survived so far (687,642 of 693,305), in US it's only 98.25 percent that have survived. In comparison the flu seems to have vanished after Covid came around. Perhaps the media coverage and lockdowns makes us more scared. I know stats from my Scandinavian home country, where the flu during a "normal" year (12 month) would kill about 1,500 people, in a high infectious year more than 2,500 with 1,800 in the so-called "flu season", which lasts a few months, out of a population of 5.9 million. The Covid has taken 2,550 lives so far, but that's over almost 1½ year and close to two flu seasons. Also note that in Denmark vulnerable groups are vaccinated against flu, especially elder people, where the Covid vaccinations only began this year. Only really sick people were hospitalized, all others just stayed home, and a quite high number of the population got infected by flu virus. However, people might have build up some immune system protection for flu over the last 100 years, since the last huge pandemic, The Spanish Illness, which is said to have infected 40 percent of the Earth's population with estimated 17 million to 100 million deaths among about 500 million infected. We don't have precise statistics, but based on the known estimates it was a death rate from about 3.4 percent to 20 percent among flu-infected people. I'm not saying the Covid is nothing to fear, I'm just comparing to an earlier similar about two year long pandemic, so in a way we have so far been very lucky...????

I'm surprised that such a relative high number of turists, compared to the total incoming number, wish to see other places in Thailand. Perhaps it has to do with the Covid-virus...???? Before the virus infected us, it was my impression most of the Phuket-tourists stayed on the island for their two weeks holiday, of course with excursion trips to some surrounding islands, and especially younger folks might spend some time on Phi Phi, and move on to Chiang May and Phangan...????

Seems like a lot of Thais are longing after summer vacation in their home country...????

Thanks for your reply and explanation, but I still read your first real paragraph, the second in number - in the first paragraph in number you say that it's not opinion, but you are "quoting the real world" - as opinions. You say (my bold)... The pandemic is clearly not the government's fault but dealing with it is and they have failed miserably. The situation with the 'first wave' was more down to luck than judgement in my opinion and I believe the figures were 'adjusted'. I don't think the government's ability was really tested at the time - now they have a much more serious situation. In next paragraph... The complaints against the government are serious and well founded. This latest outbreak has really put them to the test and they have failed miserably. The Indian variant has taken hold and spread rapidly wherever its been found in the world. Personally, in Thailand, I think it could have been contained to a larger extent, gaining valuable time if they had locked down before Songkran. By not doing that it was clear what would happen - and it has. I can agree with a number of your opinions, like the lack of restriction at Songkran, and that a lockdown should have been earlier - immediately in my view, more than once people got time to commute first - but it's still opinions, yours and mine, even that I agree. I didn't notice the "quotes". However, in this thread, the subject is about the demonstrations in Bangkok right now, and my first post in this thread was my view about that, i.e. about "bad timing" and "caring for other people"; but you are welcome to disagree. I also thought that the BLM demonstrations last year in my home country Denmark was wrong at that time due to the Covid-pandemic - and so did a lot of others, actually 77 percent of the Danish population were against demonstrations during the Covid pandemic, if polls can be trusted - luckily nothing happened, apart for a few cases. I have no knowledge about the London BLM-demonstrations. ????

Thanks for your reply, but it's still an opinion - "Personally, in Thailand, I think it could have been..." - and even that we probably can agree that the situation is serious, then we have different views, and opinions; and that's Okay, and fine we can safely discus it in a forum...???????? My opinion is about caring for other people, and that's why I said that "taking the Covid-situation, and timely care for others, into consideration, it seems like very bad timing for a demonstration".

Do you read what's written? It says "total cases", which is what have been officially reported since the epidemic began, active cases are number of Covid-19 positive reported on the day of the statistics... Denmark (my own "safe" Scandinavian home country)... total cases per 1 million: 54,362 deaths per 1 million: 438 active cases adjusted to per 1 million: 1,916 You need the "per 1 million" figure to compare. If you believe or not is up to you, but it's official governmental data; did you care to check the link? Denmark reported for August 4th, population 5.814 million... total cases per 1 million: 55,074 deaths per 1 million: 439 new cases: +927 active cases: 11,348 Thailand reported for August 4th, population 69.990 millions... total cases per 1 million: 9,607 deaths per 1 million: 79 new cases: +20,200 active cases: 211,076

Have you forgotten the Red Shirts and the Yellow Shirts..?

Second time might be less dangerous, then all already have got their first jab...????

Any reasonable explanation for this? Not really, they have the same discussion ongoing for long time in my Scandinavian home country, so perhaps someone person important in some health society mentioned something that might get various governments act like this...????

Looking back, my favorite and happiest year in Thailand was... 1987 2001 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 ????

You better say that to the demonstrants, without them the spending might not have been necessary...????

Just base it on facts, nothing else...????

Your point of view...????

Thailand have up till very recently placed everybody that tested positive in hospital care, during 2021 asymptomatic cases primary in field hospitals. Other countries mainly use home quarantine, so-called self-isolation, instead for asymptomatic cases. You can for example read moire about self isolation in UK HERE and HERE. How is the situation in for example UK or Norway? And how would it be if all active cases were hospitalized...?

31st July as clearly mentioned...???? Statistics from 31st July (you can find daily updates on WorldOmeter HERE, active cases today 4th August is 3,015 per million)...

I'm sorry for you family. Official statistics from around the World is however the best results to judge facts from - what you see, and what I see, with our eyes might however be extremely individual, also our opinions...????

This thread is to my understanding about Phuket's Sandbox, not Thailand as a whole. Compared to many other countries Thailand as a whole is not that bad, but of course bad enough... Statistics from 31st July (you can find daily updates on WorldOmeter HERE, active cases today 4th August is 3,015 per million)... Thailand... total cases per 1 million: 8,534 deaths per 1 million: 69 active cases adjusted to per 1 million: 2,864 vs. Denmark (my own "safe" Scandinavian home country)... total cases per 1 million: 54,362 deaths per 1 million: 438 active cases adjusted to per 1 million: 1,916 Germany... total cases per 1 million: 44,901 deaths per 1 million: 1,096 active cases adjusted to per 1 million: 350 Norway (where a Norwegian man in another article today is escaping to)... total cases per 1 million: 25,146 deaths per 1 million: 146 active cases adjusted to per 1 million: 8,728 Sweden... total cases per 1 million: 108,196 deaths per 1 million: 1,438 active cases adjusted to per 1 million: 923 UK... total cases per 1 million: 85,407 deaths per 1 million: 304 active cases adjusted to per 1 million: 17,622 USA... total cases per 1 million: 107,143 deaths per 1 million: 1,889 active cases adjusted to per 1 million: 16.233

But I have pity for the locals living on Phuket, depending on income from tourists at might not come...????

4th August +8 on Samui...

Thanks for your reply and opinion. We might not read the same news sources. The official unemployment rate is 1.96% (latest number is from March/21), before the pandemic it was 0.92%; for comparison USA is 5.9% and UK 4.7% (June/21). It's normal for Thais to move for work, often from villages to Bangkok or industrial areas, or to tourist sites, so nothing different from normal conditions. Some Thais however don't wish to do certain kind of work as it's considered of low status, often work done by unskilled migrant workers, where there, according to the news articles, are shortage for hundreds of thousands. Social Security says that if you have paid for at least 6 month within a period of 15 month before getting unemployed, you are eligible for 50% of wages for 180 days, for each period. I presume that there is a ceiling of 15,000 baht as full monthly salary, as that is the maximum salary SS is counted from; i.e. 10% is 1,500 baht a month, however it's not specified in the English text from SS. I've not seen a minimum salary mentioned, but minimum amount for SS is 500 baht a month, which equals 5,000 baht; official minimum salary is around 325 baht per day, with little variation depending of province. The Covid pandemic and its restrictions have sadly hit hard all over the World, forcing many business owners to scale down or temporary close. But that has always been a part of the business-owner game, you can gain a lot, a lot more than being an employee, but you also take a risk, a risk for loosing a lot. And yes, it can be hard to be self employed, or business owner - I know it from experience - also partial owners, like shareholders, can loose a lot, and some have during the pandemic.

Restrictions like that - i.e. ban the sale and consumption of alcohol in all restaurants - will not improve the succes of having real Sandbox-tourists' arriving for a holiday on Phuket, looking forward to a cozy candlelight dinner by the sea while enjoying a glass of wine or two; or a cold beer or two.

£220k equals almost 10 million baht - converted, as you are going to use the money as baht - which can be calculated either as outcome, or as just using the funds, i.e. how many years are they going to last; 30 years is not an unrealistic count today, where many people lives to between 90 and 100, and as non smoker and healthy drinker (moderate amounts of alcohol is said to be healthy) you might be in for the longevity-game...???? You need to set about 1 million baht aside, as 800,000 baht in a Thai bank deposit for extension of stay based on retirement, for example in a 12-month fixed account for best interest and less worries about immigration, and for example 100,000 to 200,000 baht in a rainy day account, so you always have access to instant cash; the interest from the immigration-deposit - normally around 10,000 baht a year, but less at the moment - you should add to the rainy day account, so it follows inflation and little extra. How much that is needed in a rainy day account is individual, personally I would opt for not less than 200,000 baht. So extremely simple, 9 million would give you a surplus of 300,000 baht a year, or 25,000 baht a month, on top of your UK-pension, which I'm not familiar with, but it seems like £180 a week before income tax, would that exchanged to Thai money be around 6,000 baht a week or another 25,000 baht a month? Any interest on the savings might catch up with inflation, but do check if UK state pension will be frozen when moving abroad; I've seen some posting about that, and then the pension is not regulated for inflation. If you "invest" in a condo on Bangkok, you will have less savings to spend, but you will save on renting a home. Often the calculation is that after approx 15 years ownership, you will live for free. However, there are still expenses when owning a condo, plus ongoing usage (i.e. electricity, water, Internet). If you are not very familiar with Thailand and Bangkok, I will suggest you to take it easy with investments, rent for a period, perhaps try different places to find the area that suits you best, and perhaps also check other places in Thailand, if you haven't been around yet, and already decided for Bangkok. Looking at investment possibilities and living from dividends or outcome from about equivalent to 9 million baht, a 4 percent outcome would be in the range of 360,000 baht a year, and 6 percent 540,000 baht a year, however before taxation. Investments with a high outcome normally involves risk, furthermore currency exchange rates can change. Some says that investing in baht in Thailand saves one for currency exchange rate deviations. The are plenty of possibilities for investing in the Thai in stock market with dividends in the range of 3-5 percent after withholding tax, which is 10 percent. Investment is always a question of balance, but you should be able to get as much in outcome, as when just dividing the money with 30-years, and still keep your funds. In a more complicated calculation, where you use both dividends and savings combined, you should be able to get more a month on top of the UK state pension, perhaps in the range of 50,000 baht per month, so your average total could be around 75,000 baht a month. The 65,000 baht a month "suggested" by the government - the amount needed to fulfill extension of stay based on retirement - fits quite well for a budget, and then be adjusted for personal lifestyle and needs. For example: You should be able to find accommodation for around 25,000 baht a month, but it depends of area and size, you can easily spend a lot more, and you might find something for less. I would normally budget 500 baht a day in average for food, i.e. 15,000 baht a month excluding alcoholic beverages, but it's a piece of rubber band, as it's depending of what you eat, and where you eat. Alcohol can be anything from about 2,000 baht a month, if you for example enjoy a glass of wine, or two, with your dinner at home, and easily around 10,000 baht a month if you dine out and drink in restaurants, and wish to enjoy company in pub while having a beer or two. Other expenses as transport and other regular needs could realistically be between 5,000 baht and 10,000 baht a month. Health insurance is for many a surprise when coming from a country with public healthcare, as you are on your own when living in Thailand. 5,000 baht a month is not unrealistic, but it can be more, and the cost will increase by age. Counting 60,000 baht a year for a start, and 90,000 baht a year later, are not unrealistic figures. Entertainment of any kind is the joker in the budget, Above sums up to an area around the 65,000 baht a month, so if you have an average income of 75,000 baht a month, there are 10,000 baht left for entertainment - which for example can be companionship, for the majority of us females - if you wish to spend more, you will need to adjust in the budget, or spend some more of your savings. I hope my experience might help you and wish you a happy otium in Thailand...????