newnative

Thanks! Appreciate the information.

Speed and transparency. Too rich. Those ships sailed years ago.

Under glass half full, there were 30, count 'em, foreigners gathered. I guess it's a start.

My Thai partner and I are finding this all very confusing. We both have excellent health insurance that covers covid--mine with April International based in Paris and his with a Thai company. If we take a trip, say, to Vietnam, does anyone know if we will need to purchase additional health policies just for covid to be allowed back in? We hate the idea of being required to spend extra money for something we are already covered for--and already spend an arm and a leg for. Thanks for any information.

Uh-oh. I don't like that 'yet'.

I don't know why Thailand didn't sign. It's not like they would ever follow it.

It means nothing. It's just hot air. To go along with all the other hot air. Like all the PM's pronouncements are just hot air. Just babbling. Just throwing out the 'it' words of the moment, trying to look busy. Never any details, never any concrete follow-up. No 'there there' on how the country will actually be 'transformed'.

Streamline it even more and just require vaccination proof.

I'm reading through the latest 3 or 4 pages and it seems like over half of the responses are from posters that have left and are no longer even living in Thailand, some with no plans to likely ever return. Responding to a thread on why Thailand is a great place to live--while not living here. As always, a mystery as to why they take valuable time from their precious day to keep up with faraway Thailand and then take even more valuable time to, thanks Shakespeare, protest perhaps a bit too much on how great things are where they ended up. A pass to Thaibeachlover, though.

Thanks for your refreshing original post. I'm an American and I think it would be much the same in the US--although you at least have the option to choose a warm-weather state. I always chuckle when someone states that he can live as cheaply in his home country as he can here. I certainly couldn't. Putting a roof over your head is usually one of the biggest monthly expenses--it's certainly a lot cheaper here. 10 years ago I was getting $1500 a month rent for a small 1 bedroom condo I owned and rented out--around 50,000 baht. 10 years later it's likely renting for 1800 to 2000 dollars a month. Lots of nice condos in Pattaya and Bangkok for rent for much less than that--even pre-covid. Food is also another big expense. Buying groceries and cooking is cheaper here (except for some things like liquor) than the US but it's also much cheaper eating out. My partner, who does the cooking, says it's often just as cheap to eat out--which we like to do a lot. In the US we would likely need to limit our eating out to a few times a week. We can go out as often as we want here--or wait for Grab to deliver it, which we are doing this evening. Life is good.

You can spend 2000 pounds to rent in Bangkok but you don't have to. 2000 pounds is about 90,800 baht. You can rent a nice 2 bedroom/2 bath 80sqm condo, with a bathtub and no cockroaches, at my Bangkok condo project for 45,000 baht a month-- half your figure. It's about a 2 minute walk to the Phetchaburi MRT and a short walk to the Airport Link. Built in 2013, it's not too new or too old and it is being maintained nicely. No numerous tiny 25 to 30 sqm studio and 1 bedrooms found in many of the new projects that are illegal hotel room magnets. The smallest unit is 42 sqm, most are 50 sqm to 100 sqm, with some duplexes. 525 units so not a mega project--also the type that can be overrun with hotel renters. Q Asoke condo, next door, also a very nice project, has some 2 bedrooms for rent for the same price. I'll be the first to admit that neither project would be considered super luxury but they both are still quite decent--with the amenities I look for: big pool, air-conditioned gym with locker rooms, nice lobby with good staff, plenty of garage parking, nice grounds, and a comfortable, air-conditioned lounge. In my case the project also has a library, which I use and like--and a theater room, sauna, yoga room, and putting green that I don't use.

I agree. I am in my late 60s and I have been in Thailand since 2010. I still very much enjoy living here and my partner and I have gradually made some good friends here that we enjoy socializing with. Plus, my Thai partner's family is in Bangkok. I certainly don't want to start over 'building a life', as you say, somewhere else.

A thousand here, a thousand there. It doesn't matter what the exact numbers are or whether they add up correctly. The key point is the numbers are terribly low. Back to the drawing board.

With so few coming it's ludicrous to have all the requirements. Just drop them all except proof of vaccination. The numbers will still be very small but you get a firm, easy policy in place for the future. Step 1 is getting everyone on the same page with no confusion, no questions, no vagueness, no constant changes.

I think it might also depend on where you are. She was in Bangkok. Perhaps sometimes better outcomes in smaller localities.

I'm guessing the rest got to the airport and one of the very numerous documents, tests, reservations, etc., was amiss.

I don't care if you believe me. I didn't go into details--and I don't know all the details specifically as the 5 Thai siblings made all the decisions--but it was a lot of different things, not just the operation and many days in ICU. I do know there was also kidney dialysis, chemo, ambulance charges, doctor and nurse charges and more. It all added up--which I think it can with complicated cases and multiple health issues being attended to.

I wasn't involved. Partner's Thai family made all the decisions and paid all the bills. The bills were high because of an operation she had and the care she needed--such as being in ICU for many days--which was all booked at the public hospitals.

Right. A vacation is suppose to be fun--not complicated work.

It certainly wasn't 30 baht for my Thai partner's family when his elderly Mom got sick. Try 2MB.

No surge of international tourists--zero bookings in CM--equals likely no surge in cases.

No foreign tourists want to stay in SHA hotels--or do all the other tedious and expensive things required. Numbers will be very low until they are all eliminated.

I think with my partner and I it would depend on what we were buying and how much we were spending. We've just started buying things on Facebook and, so far, the experience has been positive. We saw a wonderful Japanese folding art wall screen at a very good price and we took a chance and sent the money. The screen was mailed to us, very carefully wrapped, and we got it in a couple of days. We were very happy with it. Since then we have ordered several other art works from the same site with excellent results.

I'm getting a slightly less-draconian version of constant sanitation warnings from my Thai partner. I think we're all just getting so frustrated and tired of wearing masks, sanitizing, social distancing, being restricted in things--the whole works. I try to keep my Dad's keep cool mantra in mind. Bend with the bamboo.

On the flip side, the more secure and protected a place looks, the more a burglar might want to break in, thinking there's likely a lot of valuable stuff to steal. I would have security that does not stand out too much from what the neighbors have and inside have a very secure room or large safe for valuable items.