DoctorB

Sorry, I should have made clear that my comments regarding a growing optimism that covid is no longer a dire threat to daily life were meant to apply to the UK, or more specifically England, where all restrictions are lifted from 16 August. I appreciate that emotions may be very different in Thailand in the absence of freely available vaccation.

Another big change, wisely or not, is that with death rates consistently at less than 100 per day in a population of 70 million the general public seem to have come to regard covid as no longer a major threat in their daily lives. This may be a bit hard on those who have lost loved ones etc but it has created a strong feeling of perceived normality as people go about their business. Whether this perception will persist remains to be seen, but for now there is a feeling of real optimism.

Well you've been proven right but his 'rant' was both entertaining and spot on.

I'm not sure you're entirely right on this one. Households in the UK are estimated to have saved an additional £190 billion during the pandemic, reaching the second highest level of savings on record, and there is a suspicion that this is part of the reason why the government is making overseas travel so unpredictable; ie to try and get people to spend as much as possible at home.

Actually London and the East Anglia are rather agreeable just now, with everything opening up again, people ditching their face masks and covid vaccinations available to all; if only the weather were a bit better this summer. With Thailand's glory days as a tourist venue probably well and truly over, at least for the foreseeable future, it's nice to read others' thoughts on alternatives. Hopefully people will be wise enough to enjoy their vision of paradise without destroying what they seek.

But to put a more positive spin on the endless speculation look at India. Cases have declined almost as steeply as they rose. The same may well, for all we know, happen in Thailand. 3 months ago the media were full of pictures of bodies in the streets and floating on the Ganges; this last week the UK moved India off its red list opening up travel without enforced hotel quarantine. A great many people lost loved ones and covid is clearly not finished, but when there is good news, then acknowledge it.

This is so blatantly not true. There have been a great many mutations; a very small number have been flagged as 'mutations of concern' ; the Delta mutation has been of greatest concern due to hightened infectivity but is not regarded as more deadly. Finally non of the mutations so far have significantly threatened the vaccination programme. Don't try to make the situation appear worse than it is.

But what is your perspective? Do you think that spreading doom, gloom and despondency helps in any way? Almost everyone accepts that the situation is difficult but unless they have something positive to offer prefer to keep calm and carry on as best they can. The Thai government has made mistakes, as have almost all governments, but the defeatism of the same small group of names on this forum is truly depressing.