Tradewind777

Staggering that this Big Joke fella (no pun intended, but with a name like that, WD<deleted> !) .. seems to get away with this kind of behaviour without challenge. 

1 hour ago, lahgon29 said:

The Oz dollar was at 19 just after covid hit the markets. Now nearly 20% higher.  The Oz has been at roughly 50c to USD while Keating was boss, and hit 57 in 2020.

Its a commodity currency, and waxes and wanes with the cycle. Its exports, agricultural and materials and energy, are priced in USD, so all are getting premiums on exports. Oz has had a windfall in the last year of approx 50 billion AUD due to this.

We'll most likely have no recession there (looking at you, US, UK, EU) and energy supplies aren't a problem (UK, EU again).

Oz is in better shape than the EU, UK and most of the rest of the world. NZ is heading for big trouble.

 

Check your facts instead of just mouthing opinion and dressing it up as fact. OZ IS the lucky country, maybe not deserving, but is. 

Good points in there for sure and I have the following to add..

There is no perfect country but I get the impression reading through this thread that there are so many armchair critics mouthing off about how bad a state Australia is in. Consider this: 

We are a democracy, yes with its bruises and failures but give me that over a dictatorship.

We don’t rely on borrowing from every Tom Dick and Harry to pay off the debt to Ann Sue or Sally whom they have previously borrowed from.

We are a resource country and earn our keep from exports of same. That’s lucky, not relying on dog eat dog trading to eek out a miserable survival.

We have social security and many of the recipients are even living elsewhere in the world as beneficiaries.

We are not persuaded to borrow up big to buy a new car prop up a local motor industry, far better to let those be made in tin pot dictatorships where the sheeple will make them “cheap as” with coolie labour terms akin to slavery.

We are very welcoming of foreigners to join us in our walk to build a prosperous, equitable society. We don’t favour locals over “aliens”.

We have a proper justice system using age old English based law that is not compliant to the government. There is separation of powers.

Finally we have a revered Monarchy which has served us well for centuries. That last monarch worked hard to make our country better. The next commits to do the same and likely will and the same monarchy tells us if we don’t want them anymore for whatever reason, we are totally FREE to do so. 
 

I get the feeling many of the writers in this thread moan about Oz in order to justify living somewhere which may not come close to the above ideals. Well good luck to you but I know side of my bread the butter is on.

12 hours ago, Pique Dard said:

the warsaw pact is dead, and course, whether we like it or not,  in poutine/russia's eyes nato is a threat. i may be wrong, but i don't think the usa would react differently if one of their neighbors  become a "close friend" to moscou. remember the usa invasion  of  grenada...in 1983 (google!)

as for me, this is a dangerous game both superpowers are playing

You refer to the Munroe Doctrine whereby the US divided the world into two hemispheres, East and West. It did not permit any “Eastern Hemisphere state to form an alliance with a neighbour (ie No Russian bases in Mexico or Chinese troops on the ground in Canada (hypothetical). It came about after the Cuban missile crisis which is a similar analogue.

Just reading this story and through the comments triggers the thought of our global greenhouse gas problem. We are all part of the problem even when governments get an agreement, the job is only done properly if EVERYONE does their part. Unlike the eyesore of plastic, etc waste on public beaches, GHG emissions are latent and so it’s easy to make it someone else’s problem. I’m driven to the conclusion that problems the likes of this are the canary in the coal mine of the global problem we have with emissions, be it plastic or GHGs. We are in this together and we all need to be involved in the change that must take place. If everyone does their bit, we can win. But it’s not heartening to read of the lack of personal responsibility in this area and the broader implications. 

Thailand needs to first work out it’s renewable energy plan before making such a bold step into EVs. If the cars need to be charged  by coal or gas fired power, this is not going to improve emissions to maintain the country compliant with the Paris agreement.

I am an EV owner (self converted) and I can say they are wonderful to own. For the country to progress the sector coupling of transport and power has to be aligned. Hydrogen is unsuitable for cars as it will cost 3.5x more to refuel them compared to EVs. Heavy transport is a different matter.

21 hours ago, Inepto Cracy said:

I have it on good authority, my tourism business says SEA and ASIA is off the tourism mark for 36 months.

What “good authority” would that be? There is nothing to compare so how do “your good authorities”  come up with that?

No chance anyone can predict the future, but in the case of SARS and swine flu, everyone was back to business PDQ and I have that on better authority than you my friend.

5 hours ago, Old Croc said:

I believe far too many retirees here are short sighted in failing to allow for the fact that age and infirmity catches up with us all.

Also, illness or accident could strike us down at any time and, in a country where government assistance is generally scarce for non-residents, health insurance or access to extra funding is essential.

In their planning, people putting down roots here should always be aware of the possibility of bad times, and the inevitable decline of old age. That plan should include whether you want to stay here to the end, or return to the succor of home country. 

If you don't have the family support, sufficient funding, or perhaps the desire, to go through to final expiration in Thailand, and will require repatriation, that should have always have been part of your planning. You should have an evacuation plan ready, and know when the right time to leave comes.

To blame your lack of finances on Thailand because they are tightening up on visa rules and insisting on more control of who lives in their country in this time of borderless criminals and other undesirables seeking a place to thrive, just illustrates a lack of planning or the fact that you should never have left the safety net of home.   

Yes Thailand cannot be blamed for “regulatory creep” but let the tightening of rules be the canary in the coal mine for all those in the relevant age and circumstance brackets to do something about your future before it’s too late. Once thing is for sure, nothing is going to get simpler. easier or laxer in Thailand or anywhere for that matter, so plan for the worst and hope for the best. Remember also if you have adopted Thailand as home, of the old JFK principal of “Its not what your country does for you but what you do for your country”. 

22 hours ago, Hayduke said:

 

Renting is better than buying.

 

 

Yes, as the saying goes: “if it flies, floats or f@cks, you should always RENT IT”

Haha! What a joke.  By time tourists plan and book their travel, the spoils will not be there. How to be positive about these numpties?