Mattd

4 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

VAT on a small bottle of Chang from the 7-11 aint what I would call "paying taxes".

Actually VAT is a much better form of income to Thailand than income tax, it is the only tax they everybody pays and the more they spend the more they pay, most Thai incomes are below the tax threshold or in the lowest bracket, which is less than VAT.

1 minute ago, bbi1 said:

They CHOOSE to sacrifice time with their family each and every time for months on end. Now the virus is forcing them not to return and they bitch about it when they are in the exact same situation as per normal.

Stop being so selfish!!

Yes, they chose their profession, the same as we all do or did, what they had no choice in, is being forced to be away from their families right now, the debate is whether or not they should be allowed back in to Thailand with quarantine, it was you and others that took the conversation in to the reasons why they left in the first place, without a thought of the myriad of reasons.

5 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

and with that job choose to be away from family and friends for extended period of time, now that the government won't let them return its all me me me !!

No, I see it completely differently, somebody has to do those jobs, the money isn't even close to what people imagine it to be, it is hard dangerous work, it is essential work.

Hindsight is a wonderful tool, what you are saying is that they should not have taken this type of work, should have predicted this happening and should not be allowed back in to Thailand to be with their family because YOU might catch a virus.

What would happen if everybody took your noble advice and nobody did this type of work??

I know one thing, we would not be having this conversation, because there would be no power on in our homes, we would starve to death because there would be no supply line or shops.

Just now, Mr Meeseeks said:

You are not special and neither are they. 

 

Why aren't you getting the joke here?

<deleted> are you going on about, who said that they (or me) are special?

The OP is about those Farangs that are stuck overseas away from their families, some posters seem to think that this is the persons fault, which, in some cases may be true, however, it was pointed out by myself and others that not everybody had a choice, some had to go to work to support their families, whether that be before this all kicked off, or after is irrelevant, for people to state that they should just have popped home before the ban is ridiculous to the extreme.

A lot of people simply have no appreciation of, or simply do not care, how difficult it can be. Selfish springs to mind.

1 minute ago, Don Mega said:

The first step is permanent residency, until then you (and me) are aliens.

Right now PR cannot enter, my Boss is stuck overseas, he has PR, work permit, the MD of an essential business etc.

1 hour ago, HashBrownHarry said:

One assumes the boat can go to the mainland? or there's choppers Scotty?

The naivety of some people is astounding at times, please think before you write, some are on fixed installations for one, cargo ships can't just pop in to port, offshore vessels are carrying out essential tasks and some cost 100,000 USD per day ++++ to operate, they cannot just stop what they are doing, plus a lot of countries have, like Thailand, stopped seafarers from carrying out crew changes, meaning that those onboard cannot get off as they have no relief joining, there are a huge number of people displaced due to this.

I do hope you all think of that the next time you put fuel in your car, cook, write on your imported computer, watch your imported TV, the list goes on and on, without these guys the world would be in dire straits, the supply line is essential.

These workers are sacrificing a lot so that we can live.

Just now, HashBrownHarry said:

But it was announced a few days before they actually shut the airports so travel arrangments could have been made to return.

Really, how if they are in the middle of the ocean, beam them up Scotty.............??

2 minutes ago, bbi1 said:

If I were them, I'd do whatever I could to be with my family during a time of a SERIOUS DEADLY VIRUS situation. People knew about it's seriousness since January. The flights didn't stop until end of March or early April. That's 3 whole months to get back to your family. They could've asked for leave from work or if not, just left their work and hopped on the plane. What is more important, their family or work. In your scenario above it's clearly not their family.

I give up, you obviously have no idea of the real world.

1. This virus is not deadly serious, I will not go in to the why now, as it has been done, lets take that debate up in a year or so time, when the actual figures are known.

2. Do you think that somebody offshore can just get off? Right now there are hundreds of thousands of seafarers stuck with no sign of relief, read the news.

3. Again, I reiterate, not everybody has the financial means to not work and also risk not being able to work for months, maybe years to come.

Just now, bbi1 said:

So, why not come back to Thailand asap to be with their families when they knew about the virus since January and how bad it was? They had nearly 3 months to come back to Thailand before things were shut down.

Open your mind, people do not just leave for pleasure, they will be a lot of folks who work overseas, offshore etc. etc. that left to go to work, what are they supposed to do?

Once at work, it would not be a simple task of popping on a plane back to here, especially if on a ship, platform, rig etc.

I know of Thais that are stuck in UAE with no way of getting home either.

Not every farang here is retired.

1 minute ago, bbi1 said:

What made you think it's a good idea to leave your family in a pandemic?

Some people are not in the fortunate position of having a choice.

6 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

and the we have some in this thread  who is able to go to work but refuses to do so because they will be inconvenienced in respect to returning to Thailand.... the mind boggles.

No, I disagree, those that are here are stuck between a rock and a hard place, go to work and risk not being able to return, or stay at home and use up valuable savings whilst risking not being able to return to work if the employer gets antsy.

Not a nice predicament at all.

I suspect that a lot of people are going to be in a difficult situation as time goes on, there will be retirees whose pension plans will have gone to the wall due to investments falling, this whole thing is going to hurt people badly.

6 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

Meetings can be done online.

Find another employer if they insists on international travel for work commitments...... or travel knowing you cannot return (and then don't start crying on social media about it).

Somebody going to work in February, offshore for example, could not have predicted this.

Find another employer, are you having a laugh.......................... not all farangs can work in Thailand and unless you haven't noticed, the world is about to go in to the biggest recession that most of us will have never experienced before, jobs are not going to easy to come by.

What you are basically saying is it is som nom na for somebody trying to do their best and support their family in hard times.

56 minutes ago, Malawi said:

If they loved their families so much why did they leave them in the first place?

Could be one of many reasons, perhaps they had to go to work to support their family........................

This is a very emotive subject, personally, I do not see any reason why those who have a family here cannot return and quarantine, although, the quarantine facilities are currently limited, hence why the numbers of Thais allowed to enter daily is limited, as far as I know, it is not self isolation at home.

2 hours ago, Oldie said:

Endless bars here in Pattaya have been without (m)any customers even during the high season. I am always asking myself how they survive or if they are perhaps only used for money laundering.

 

I think this bar business is outdated and should be replaced by more appealing things. Could be the right time now to change this sex and booze image. Alone walking on the Beach Road in not Corona times is a sex hassle for "normal" tourists. But even yesterday when I had to walk to the post office - "I come with you", "boom boom" and other invitations for sex. An open air brothel open at daytime already and this even at Corona times. 

Ever thought of living somewhere else that would suit you, Saudi Arabia perhaps, wonderful place, no bars, no alcohol, no girls, little entertainment................

Give us your thoughts of what should replace the bars etc.

35 minutes ago, Miss Pickle said:

Keep them closed the UK was late on shutting everything down and we now have over 35.000 deaths.

Didn't UK close their pubs and restaurants before Thailand did?

UK has certainly had a harsher lock down that Thailand, which shows that this doesn't have much affect on the figures.

Restricting entry seems to be far more effective, something the UK hasn't done.

Thailand could open the bars without it having that much affect, people are already exposed to each other is various forms on a daily basis.

10 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

Other than domestic tourism, what other industry has been massively affected by the lockdown ?

Is that a serious question?

I can think of loads, here are some samples: 

With all of the major airports running at extremely low capacity, then the 10's of Thousands of workers that support this industry.

Support industries for car manufacturing etc.

Offshore support industry hit very badly.

Domestic shopping outside of food has dropped enormously.

There are hundreds of thousands, if not millions affected outside of tourism, if you include tourism it is close to 30% of the total workforce in Thailand.

27 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

So you think Thaksin's right - and the US, UK, NZ, Australia, France, Germany, Russia, China, HK, Singapore, India etc etc etc were all wrong.

Yes!

12 minutes ago, LukKrueng said:

As for SARS - he wasn't here during that outbreak so he didn't deal with it.

Not a Thaksin fan by any means, however, I would dispute your statement, he was PM from 2001 to 2006 and SARS was first officially identified in Thailand on 11th March 2003

12 hours ago, Guderian said:

Well he could hardly have been expected to tell the truth and say that the government has done a world-class job of managing the virus so far. 

Please elaborate on what has been done here that can be considered as world class?

There has been no total lock down - Thankfully!

There has been enough disruption to cause a lot of unemployment, with empty promises of financial assistance.

An unnecessary curfew that achieves nothing.

Chinese etc. were allowed in up to the end of March.

No mass testing.

Western Governments have imposed far stricter lock downs and have seen cases balloon, which implies that the virus acts in different ways in differing areas.

IMHO the situation here is due to good luck rather than good management.

I think Thaksin is bang right, the whole situation worldwide has been handled badly, initially I can understand why, as they only had theoretical models to go by, over time these models have proven to be wildly inaccurate and a revaluation on the approach should be made and implemented based on the REAL data available.

WHO have stated that we may have to learn to live with this virus, looking at this realistically, they are probably right, if that is the case, then as a human race it is simply not practical to spend the rest of the time socially distancing, wearing masks, keeping businesses closed etc. etc.

Even the wealthier governments cannot afford to keep handing out money for long to those furloughed, assist businesses etc.

It scares me that the media reports stuff like xxx (country) eases lock down and cases increase, why on earth would they be surprised about that, lock downs do not stop the virus in its tracks, get on with it, ease the lock downs and let the virus take its natural course, it will do anyway, with the current measures it will just take a lot longer and cause untold misery for generations to come. 

13 minutes ago, Phaser said:

They should go to Makro ....or any super market ..zero social distancing and no effort too

Or any of the markets...........................

I feel sorry for restaurants, as compliance is nigh on impossible given that what they must comply with is as grey as they come, which of course is always the aim, loads of wiggle room for payments that way!