dunroaming

14 hours ago, GrandPapillon said:

2022, that's the earliest time possible

Yesterday the UK announced eight countries removed from the red list and dumped the amber list completely.  As far as I can see Thailand is not on that list so remains firmly on the red list.  It will be reviewed on a regular basis, but for now, going to Britain means quarantine and a hefty bill!  Consequently I doubt many will be heading for a Thai beach any time soon.

Announced just now, that a third (booster) jab is to be offered to all over 50's in the UK.  It has to be at least six months after the second jab.

Well Covid cases are rising again in the UK, not falling, although there are regional variations.  It is muted that the traffic light system could be scrapped in it's current for but that the red zones will remain.  As clear as mud!

As always in the British media, you can find "facts and proposals" that will suit your arguments if you look hard enough.  If you then match that to a government full of inadequates who change direction at the drop of a hat then you have to conclude that it is anybodies guess as to where we will be by October.

1 hour ago, Pravda said:

 

As long as I'm staying at Conrad for less than $50 a day including breakfast (like I am today) there will be no real estate recovery in Thailand. First the hotels need to go back to previous levels, then rents need to go up to justify the multi million purchase price. What idiot would buy in Bangkok for 6million baht to have it rented for 13,000b a month. 

It is true that it has never made sense to buy rather than rent in Thailand.  The properties I built there were to sell on to ex-pats, never for the rental market.

4 hours ago, Boarn said:

Very difficult to consider a condo in Thailand with the allowance of Chinese buyers. Hong Kong and the real China (Taiwan) absolutely no problem but the Mainland Chinese are world destroyers and have absolutely no place here in my opinion. When I first arrived in Thailand in 2005 there were not many Chinese here, we were sold a lie! 

The Chinese have always been the main investors in Thailand owning most of the larger companies there.  The Chinese  people now buying property are mainly young upwardly mobile professionals.  The same as in many western countries in the world.  They are by far the biggest buyers in London although the vast majority are Hong Kong Chinese with very deep pockets.

There is a shift in the world's economy and the "new money" is coming from Asia, China and India being the biggest players.  I have spent the last thirty years buying in China and South East Asia and selling in the west.  For the last three years or so, the trend has reversed and my biggest market now in Is Singapore, Hong Kong and certain mainland Chinese cities.

9 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

However have you made provision for the unexpected " medical emergency, or fall" where you loose capacity and are not  cognisant ?

Should have said that we now live in the UK having left Thailand some years ago.  So when I travel I do have the appropriate insurance, at an increasingly high cost depending on where I am going to.  But if I worry about "what-ifs" all the time then I wouldn't go anywhere.  Living life to the full is always going to involve some risk, a price I am very happy to pay.

Let's not forget that Thailand has always attracted different levels of tourists.  From those who head to the 5* resorts to be pampered and spoiled rotten,  to the cheap Charlies who go for cheap booze, cheap drugs and cheap sex.  Hard to get too upset for either group really.

11 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Turkey is also a red zone , so you would also need to spend time in a quarantine hotel when you return to the UK

I think it is worth looking at Hong Kong and Singapore, both in the green zone.  It will depend on whether they accept travelers from Thailand without doing quarantine but if they do then it would be a good route back to Blighty. 

4 hours ago, EricTh said:

The question is how long will Thailand be on the red list....Do they have enough money to survive in Thailand?

If you are on a gap year then there will be no great urgency to return to the UK, so best to look at other destinations first.  Secondly, I am sure the bank of Mum and Dad can be called upon at a push.  After all they have probably financed the gap year travelling anyway.  They usually do.

3 minutes ago, Sydebolle said:

Well, well, I knew it would come but did not expect it THAT fast .......:

"swears on his amulet"

 

Welcome to stone age, ladies and gentlemen, we've reached new heights in civilization! 

Apparently he also swore on his Lambo and Bentley as well.

7 hours ago, Henryford said:

No top cop is going to condemn him otherwise they will lose their Lamborghinis. He will be "reassigned" until the fuss dies down.

This is too high profile to be just swept under the carpet.  I think they will nail the people in the room and make a big deal of prosecuting and sentencing the culprits.  That then stops any further investigations.  Once sentenced, the guilty will be spirited away.  If they do see the inside of a cell it will be with false identities and for a very short time.

8 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

Only a matter of time before that happened, its unfortunate and a blow for the sandbox as that had a good percentage of UK nationals arriving although the numbers arriving in sandbox from all nationalities has been declining rapidly lately anyway.

 

Lets hope Thailand gets its act together.

They are introducing this at the end of August which is pretty much the end of the holiday season in the UK so is unlikely to have much effect on tourists going to Thailand.  The high season will be later in the year and who knows what new restrictions will be in place then.  Or removed.

But I think some are reading to much into this decision.  The UK will just look at the figures and assess the risks from that.  The political situation in Thailand has no relevance here at all.

7 hours ago, MrJ2U said:

What a show off.

 

He's pretty young also.  I wonder how he even got that position so fast?

 

It takes some to aquire and accumulate all this wealth and cars.

 

There's got to be SO many people involved!

 

No way this would go unnoticed.

Usual way to get promotion within the police is to buy it (allegedly).  Certainly the way it worked for my wife's relatives.  The higher the rank the thicker the brown envelopes.

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The station chief of Muang Nakhon Sawan police in northern Thailand faces a charge of murder after a video posted by a lawyer shocked the nation.

Who exactly is shocked!  Everyone in Thailand knows about the police corruption so nobody should be shocked about this latest episode.  Nothing will change and it will all be swept under the carpet as usual.

8 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Six packs can be found at Tops, 7 or any other market. Wigs at the beautician store....

Thanks for the heads up! Why didn't I think of that.

2 minutes ago, grain said:

Australia's PM was on TV today saying we can't beat covid (Delta) we can't eradicate it, so we just have to get on with life and live the best we can with it.

 

The best defense we have is vaccination plus booster shots for new variants if/when they come along. So anyone who has been fully vaccinated and has a negative PCR test within the past 72 hours should be allowed to travel and enter countries with quarantine. The only chance Thailand has of regaining some of it's lost tourism industry is to accept this line of thought. 

The problem is that we are talking about tourists and when most come on vacation they have a very limited time for their holiday.  In many cases two weeks or there about.  If they have to quarantine for part of that time they won't find it an attractive proposition at all.  Especially if they then have to quarantine again when they get back home. 

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Despite the dire state of the pandemic in Thailand with record daily highs, the Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Yutthasak Suphasorn told Sanook that his target for foreign tourists before the end of the year is still one million.

And my target is for all my hair to grow back and I get a six pack before the end of the year.  Actually I think my odds are better????

2 hours ago, Thingamabob said:

I don't fancy the python's chances of surviving this ordeal, sad to say.

A handbag or two and a good pair of cowboy boots come to mind!  However, as this seems to be a well documented case I think the snakes chances of being released unharmed in the jungle are better than many others. 

20 hours ago, kickstart said:

Does ASEN now use the same calculators  as TOT ,when counting things , or they staff worked for the UK's red tops newspapers.

Having lived in this area for a few years now ,I can say they are not thousands of macaques in Lopburi ,a few hundred yes .

And why is it when you read something you know about it is often wrong.

Reason would be that, reporting that "there are a few hundred macaques roaming the streets of Lopburi", would probably just get a shrug of the shoulders, whereas "thousands" would likely produce a "Wow!" or two.  It's all about grabbing the readers attention, truth doesn't really matter, as we all know.

7 hours ago, Crash999 said:

Some people seem to think that getting a vaccine means you can never catch or carry the virus. 
 

It’s like using seatbelts in a car crash. Helps a lot but isn’t an invincibility pill. 

In the UK it is now expected that people who have received the two vaccinations will need a booster jab in the Autumn and probably more as new strains evolve.  The Delta strain continues to rise every day.  It is not just Thailand that are not on top of this