retsdon

Go and have a look at the boats in the Royal Phuket Marina, and then go and have a look at the boats in Port Hercule Monaco, or even English Harbour, Antigua.

The wealthy do not, and never will, take their holidays on Thailand.

People commenting that there was enough notice to get back have no idea. Mrs R was due to come to Saudi in March to renew her residence visa, parking the kids with family friends for 10 days. Four days before her flight, Saudi closed its borders with No NOTICE, literally turning planes around on the tarmac with only Saudi nationals allowed to disembark. If her ticket had been a week earlier, the kids would have been stranded without a parent for God knows how long. As it is I've resigned myself to not seeing any of them again this year. 

I don't understand posters who seem to gloat at others misfortune. And what was anyone supposed to do? At the time flights were suspended, nobody had any idea how long it would last. After all, China had got the virus under control in a month or so. So not only did some of us have responsibilities at work that in all conscience couldn't just be abandoned overnight  we'd have also looked pretty stupid to have thrown up our family's livelihood only to find the flights reopening a few weeks later.

But I suppose some people are so lucky as to never have had responsibilities, remaining, in effect, big children. It would explain some of the rather facile and petty comments in this thread.

In reality, IF the relationship goes sour it doesn't matter what sort of agreement you have or legal documents you hold, you will always be struggling to get your money back.

They say that possession is 9/10ths of the law, and that's especially true in Thailand. Not only will the property be in your girlfriend's name, any legal battle will be fought in a foreign language and in a society where you have no status, and which is, sadly to say, generally quite xenophobic. 

So EVEN IF you find a legal device that theoretically gives you the right to your money back, in practice it will guarantee no such thing.

If I were in your shoes I'd just keep paying the rent and find something that gives you a better return on your money than a Building Society deposit account. You'll sleep better at night.

It's a bit of a kicker. I went out on contract in January and was due to come back to Thailand in May. Now locked out until at least July. Got to work again in September, so at this rate I might not get to sleep in my own bed or see my own children again this year. 

Sure, there are worse things happen to people, and sooner or later those of us in this position will hopefully get home again, so it's not the end of the world. But some of the comments on this thread are pretty nasty and actually reveal more about the people making them than they do about the Covid situation itself. 

Just saying... 

Hmmn. Interesting in the original report that, regardless of his symptoms, a definitive test for Covid-19 wasn't performed until he fessed up to having been to Japan. That might explain why Thailand has such a low number of cases.

3 hours ago, bowerboy said:

How many students are there in Bangkok? Where were they? All they had to do was go and stand there...there would of been no risk.

Pretty sure the 'security forces' film these gatherings. And under a military dictatorship sticking your head above the political parapet always involves risk. It's just a matter of degree.

11 minutes ago, Internatltraveler said:

The key factor Speedhump is "damaging" and as you said not true. What is damaging about what Musk said about Vern...How was Vern damaged.

From the UK Defamation Act 1913  "A statement is not defamatory unless its publication has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to the reputation of the claimant".

Well, unequivocally labelling someone as a child rapist would seem to tick all the boxes. Just look at all the 'no smoke without fire' comments on these threads for a start.....

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Already named as the most dangerous place on earth to drive

But it's not the most dangerous place on earth to drive. It's the most dangerous place on earth to ride a motorcycle or be a pedestrian. What makes Thailand so dangerous is the mix of bikes and cars and especially these days, the number of cars. 20 years ago if you came off your bike you could pick yourself off the road and inspect the damage, These days you're likely to get run over like a rabbit by the three cars following you. 

2 minutes ago, dufusdonald said:

Show me a link that shows he was one of the divers who went in on the rescue. You cannot. 

He wasn't  - but he was instrumental in recommending and getting hold of the guys that were. Without his efforts maybe the kids wouldn't have been found at all. He also worked with the dive team in a consultancy role.

It's like a coursebook example of how to dig yourself into a hole. Not just over his spat with Vern, but before that with his cheap jibes at Narongsak, Elon Musk has proven himself to be egotistical to the point of rank stupidity. If he'd just said from the beginning that he'd done his best to help; that he understood perfectly why, under the circumstances, the Thai authorities had gone with the diver-assisted option;  that he hoped anyway that in the future his escape pod might prove useful; that he was grateful for being given the chance to have a try, etc, etc, blah, blah,-   then he'd have got all the publicity he wanted and come away smelling of roses. Instead, because his submarine wasn't chosen to do the job at the time, he had to start in with the insults and snide remarks .

But if he'd only just been civil, old Vern almost certainly wouldn't have told him where  to stick his submarine, and he (Musk) wouldn't have finished up in a damaging media war that has all downside and no upside for someone in his position. And now he's likely looking at a court case. Vern Unsworth is probably not a rich man, but for a chance to shakedown Elon Musk there'll be lawyers queuing up to take this all the way on a no win no fee basis.

For a man who's supposedly so very clever Elon Musk has demonstrated a remarkable lack of common sense. 

Unwise of Musk, really. Not just with his spat with Vern, but also with his cheap jibes at Narongsak he's proven himself to be incredibly egotistical and thin-skinned. If he'd just said from the beginning that he'd done his best to help; that he understood perfectly why, under the circumstances,  the Thai authorities had gone with the diver-assisted option;  that he hoped anyway that in the future his escape pod might prove useful; that he was grateful for being given the chance to have a try. etc.etc,  then almost certainly old Vern wouldn't have told him where  to stick his submarine, and he (Musk) wouldn't have finished up in a damaging media war that has all downside and no upside for someone in his position. For a man who's supposed to be so clever he shows a remarkable lack of common sense.