John Drake

Is anybody out there really going to become angry because immigration starts another program to bring in a higher income resident? Why? If it doesn't effect me negatively, why should I care? I guess I'll just keep doing things the way I have for the past twelve years. As long as that doesn't change, I'm satisfied. No need to envy anyone else or begrudge Thailand raking in whatever it can get from big spenders.

How many people care, I wonder. I don't. I do not break into tears because someone in the village doesn't say hello or stop to talk for hours while walking down the street. And so what if they don't like my skin color. I'm not going to need therapy because of it. I'm fine. Of course, I was socially distant long before social distancing ever came into being. No other Westerners in village and I rarely even run into other farangs at all. And I don't care about that either.

Who are they playing cards with? It will not be the US. That ship has sailed. The US has moved on to Vietnam as its key ally in the region, something I think might be formalized within a few years. Thailand has already played it cards and lost. The only country still dealing them a hand is China.

This is and has been standard for most places in Thailand. Note the word "formal." I remember a decade ago paying 30,000 baht (which was then discounted by 10,000 baht) to bring a film crew into the various historical sites in Ayutthaya. If you were producing content you needed permission. Of course, since then you now have cameras that are smaller, Youtube that is bigger, and all sorts of videos in which it is difficult to determine their difference from tourist filming.

I don't think Westerners play much of a role in their concerns. For that matter, neither do Western worries over racism or discrimination.

Not to mention that Xi is in the process of restructuring the entire idea of "capitalism with a Chinese face." I think China sees chaos and vast income inequality unsettling the West and fears it has created the same conditions in China. Xi is going to reverse that. Which is why celebrities and Big Tech tycoons are vanishing and/or being cut down to size. And if the continuing draconian responses to the control of Covid are any indication, there is no way that China is going to allow outbound tourist travel to resume in 2022. And also remember, HK is now almost fully consumed by the mainland. What happens there happens in HK.

In 14 days some three quarters of the population will need these antigen tests in order to go buy a pair of underwear.

"According to the Department of Health, customers who have not had both doses may also need to present a negative antigen test results to enter malls."

And on 2 October, all water must flow uphill.

From the United States government:

Permanent Residence in the US comes with oodles of benefits. Free education for children K through 12. Discounted tuition for state universities in states of residence. Student loans. Free emergency medical care (including things such as kidney dialysis and organ transplants). Equal access to museums, national parks, and other federal and state sites. Medicare and Medicaid. Social Security benefits. Earned Income Tax Credits (which are a direct cash payment rather than a mere credit) for children, even if you pay nothing in taxes. When has anyone retired to Thailand received any benefit for doing so? Even if somebody pays a few hundred thousand to get US residency, they will get much, much more returned to them in a few years in the way of direct benefits. I accept this situation, nonetheless. I am not angry at Thailand for not giving me stuff. I don't expect it and knew it when I first was brought here to work. I prefer life here for a variety of reasons, including the change of pace, leisure to enjoy things more fully, and, yes, the much, much lower cost of living than back in the US. All of which reminds me, what am I doing wasting my time on this complaint board, rather than going back to enjoying myself? CU later.

That is a very good point you make. Almost the entire world, except for China, has suffered politically, socially, and especially economically because of Covid. They are all hungry for rich foreigners. And many already offer good deals for retirees and others wanting to relocate. Okay, I understand that Thailand wants the Chinese. But is anybody looking at what is happening in China? Not only is it impossible for most all Chinese to travel outside the country, but there is a major crackdown on wealth inequality in China. I don't see Xi allowing wealthy Chinese under the new circumstances there to skip the country with their loot. Yes, some will come to Thailand and make investments. But they will be frontmen for Chinese state agencies or businesses. If Thailand wants the rest of the rich of the world, it will be competing with Central and South America, the rest of Indochina, and for the Europeans the Mediterranean options there.

Those Spicy Korean Ramen Noodle Lays are killers!

Only thing difficult to determine is just who was the falser friend, Thailand or the US?

A den of corruption! Sounds exciting!

Again, read what I wrote: "It doesn't matter what Thailand wants or need." If they don't want the US, then that is okay, because they are barely factored into US policy for SE Asia, which is in the article, as is this: "In the past decade or so, Thailand has not simply sought to avoid choosing sides; it has increasingly and actively leaned towards Beijing on key issues." The article was all about Thailand choosing a side, China.

The US has written off Thailand in favor of Vietnam. It doesn't matter what Thailand wants or needs.

What I saw in the initial story was that Nipah has been around and has been controlled. The problem this time was that, because of Covid cases filling the beds, the boy with the initial Nipah infection was brought to and turned away from two treatment centers, meaning he exposed a couple of hundred people, including those being treated for Covid in the treatment centers.

India. Nipah virus outbreak. 75 percent mortality.

Actually that sounds rather tempting.

There certainly is a tendency on this topic for some to see the Chinese as an undifferentiated "yellow horde" who will buy up five star hotels and turn them into slaughter pits. What if something else takes place? What if the PRC Chinese do buy up a lot of hotels? And what if they use them as the anchor end to bring in a new more upper class and sophisticated mainlander? I deal with many, many well educated professional Chinese who have come to Thailand and I like them. I would, for example, rather spend time with them than some of the more coarse Britpats and Amerexes I have had to deal with. The Chinese, in general, are smarter, more willing to adapt, and eager to learn than a lot of the hidebound Westerners who have set up shop here. Besides, Thailand is going to need them. In addition to the emptiness of immigration offices, abandoned condos, and fewer Western faces on the streets, just judging from Aseannow's postings, it seems there has been quite a culling of the existing expatriate herd. Lots of familiar names are gone for good, it seems. Add that into the ones that have moved back home and still post here in order to rationalize their decision to leave Thailand and there are just a lot fewer Western retirees here. Or so it seems to me. There is room for a certain class of Chinese to move in.

That was due to the particularities of recent Malaysian history. The second home program was being flooded with mainland Chinese, and this started to worry people. Chinese and Malay tensions are still very strong. The communist guerillas during the Malayan Emergency were mainly Chinese. And a lot of the leadership was either deported or fled to the PRC, such as Chin Peng. The three rival ethnic groups in that country do not like each other. Upsetting the balance in terms of numbers that favored the Chinese and their economic clout was bound to cause trouble. Thailand doesn't have anything similar to that situation. The Chinese already own everything here.

Actually, yes.

Interesting quote from later on in the article:

I do not want to spend my time doing home construction and improvements. I may be retired, but I have other things to do. I'm not some doomsday prepper trying to take myself off the grid. So that makes Thailand an enjoyable and efficient alternative for me. There are still far fewer rules and regulations for me to worry about here than there. Not to mention the weather related requirements of the US as opposed to Thailand. No need here to wrap the pipes, winterize the lawn, fertilize the grass in the spring, and then see it all die anyway because you run into another summer drought.