Australian, usa expats, what is your plan?

[Snow Leopard]

3 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

when the internet goes down there will be rioting in the streets.

No access to social media. Wow thats a biggie. 

[baansgr]

11 hours ago, daveAustin said:

Not interested in hearing from others then? 

These colonials always stick together

[Isaan Alan]

8 hours ago, pookondee said:

There has been some good advice on here.

I'd say hassles and headaches is a soft way of describing it.

 

I dont want to be alarmist, but with all these lockdowns there will be huge number of Thais unemployed.

People are forgetting that there never has been any welfare there, so no safety net for anyone and the government at best will probably give folks effected a one-off 500baht.

 

That means that there will be hordes of people with no money, no food, hungry and angry and with nothing to do, so that all spells big trouble.

 

 

 

I agree to some extent, but won't they turn their anger on the Thai government? Some falangs will just be collateral damage if they are in the wrong place at the wrong time or act stupidly (hmmm). Bangkok and the tourist areas are a different kettle of fish but I live in Isaan and many Thais there are quite good at living cheaply since the rice, and rubber prices crashed and long before that.  historically. They grow their own food, own their house and rely on extended families. Sure they have debt on cars, tractors, university education for their teenagers but government debt seems to be able to be rolled over except for the interest.

And despite some ultra-nationalist Chinese foreign ministry spokesman's tweets to the contrary, the virus came from China not from the Falang world. Thais know the difference and their health minister has recently inadvertently emphasised the distinction between falangs and Chinese. 

Edited March 22, 2020 by Isaan Alan

[Don Mega]

4 minutes ago, Snow Leopard said:

No access to social media. Wow thats a biggie. 

to be fair no social media can only be a good thing.

[ICELANDMAN]

30 minutes ago, totally thaied up said:

Yesterday I went to BigC in Chiang Mai to get some supplies. Plenty of meat was on offer as well as all the normal staples of daily life. No one was pushing and shoving over toilet paper or any other object. The Thais were just maybe buying a little more (lots of water) and just about everyone one in my small village has stocked up a 50Kg bag of rice for 'just in case'.

 

In my hometown in Australia, my parents are living off basics and they cannot currently get any meat. They have been buying frozen fish. They said they have never seen such foolishness in there life. Our Prime Minister says they have enough food for 75 million people and people just need to go back to buy how they did before and all would be right. Brains gone out the window it seems.

 

My parents told me to stay in Thailand with my Thai family in our village and just to self isolate and sit things out. After having our house on the market for two years in Australia, we sold it three weeks ago but we have a Condo on the Gold Coast being built at this time and at this very time, I have nowhere to go till September. So I will just sit in our small village and sit things out and hopeful not get sick.

 

I am just worried about the fact we have no welfare here in Thailand and if this drags one for too long, we may have desperate people. Most people in my area live either on pay check to pay check or many of the poor, day to day on selling at the local markets. It all will depend if this goes exponential. The numbers are starting to point to this and if fear creeps in, I do not know how this could end. Just looking at Italy and Spain and seeing how we let the hoards of Chinese Tourist in during January, I cannot see how Thailand cannot miss being hit hard. 

 

Either way, I think this is going to be messy, so I have enough food for a few weeks, cash on hand and will lay low in my village. Everyone knows me here and I have never had a issue with anyone. I did think to go home to Australia with my wife three weeks ago when the sale of the house was finalized but I love my wife's parents very much and they just live day to day. They both have medical issues and are not young. If anything goes wrong here, they are going to need looking after.

 

So as you can see, if you do have family here, going back home to your home country has many variables. My variables were more so on the side I would be most likely better off here due to the fact I have good family and a house in a small safe village. I am lucky that my health insurance covers covid-19, so that took a lot of pressure off me. My wife is also covered.

 

Best of luck to everyone. The following weeks I fear at going to be very stressful but like a passing storm, this time will pass but I think the world has changed and things for maybe a long time, will not be the same. Even maybe not the same ever. I suppose I am a bit of an alarmist but I spent a long time working in China and saw the live markets. I believe something nasty could have come from them and I believe we don't know half the story about what really went on in China. Only China could pull off such a effective lock down and I fear other places in our world have not taken this seriously enough and may pay with a high price.

In three months the panic will be over, many people will have lost a lot of money and life continues

 

 

[NCC1701A]

Everything Thailand OK. Sure.

 

I am an American from California. I lived and worked in Hollywood in the film industry for 40 years. I lived in giant earthquake and riot country. To say the least I have always had a "Go Bag". I am a Amateur Radio operator licensed in 1985 and active in emergency communications in So. Ca for decades.

 

I bought property in Montana in 1995 (101 rai and about a thousand trees and a creek) specially for this type of event. That decision came out of a series of very large earthquakes and the Rodney King riots where police and fire were overwhelmed. I had everything I needed to live in my second home in Montana. In Los Angeles I had a custom Chevy Suburban with $18,000 in after market modification and $14,000 in communications equipment. The fire chief of the city of Burbank (where Warner Bros and Disney Studios are located) said I have more communications capability than he had. All of this was a hobby.

 

When I retired and moved to Thailand six years I sold everything. I jokingly told my friends "You are on your own, I'll be in Soi Cowboy". One of the best non investments I made was my guns and ammo. After 25 years I sold my gun collection for much more than I paid for it. Amazing what AK47 ammo is worth now. 

 

What was my criteria for choosing a Thai city to live in? The answer is where does the big guy go in a emergency? Because if it is good enough for him, it is good enough for me. That is one reason why I am in Hua Hin.

 

For those of you who live here "permanently" like I do, I would get a small backpack and put every vital document and medication you need in it. Including cash in both Thai and home currency. All credit cards, ATM cards, all banks, all countries. Visualize being asked to leave and you have five minutes to do it. I am not saying that is going to happen, but that is the criteria for selecting what goes in the pack. Not clothes or anything like that.   

 

I started stocking up in February. I have everything i need. I repeatedly told people to do the same on this forum. some listened. most did not.

Like most of you I eat out almost every meal except breakfast. I don't even own a microwave here, never ever would eat frozen food under any circumstance, or anything that was not fresh. But I did buy a lot of raw chicken and other protein that is now frozen with a ton of other basics. I hope I don't need it, but I am set for eight weeks without having to go out.

 

Three weeks ago I said on this forum there would be a ban on inter providence travel. That comment was met with a avalanche of people saying that could never happen. I was called stupid.   

 

Three weeks ago I said everyone needs to decide now where they want to be. That comment actually got people talking.

 

In mid February I did major service on my funny little Honda Click. New tires, new intertubes, two boxes of spare intertubes,

Same with my 650 motorcycle. New tires, full service at 36k kilometers, new brakes. And topped up the tank so I have at least 5.5 US gallons of fuel "stored". Where am I going? No where. But at least my transportation is as really as it can be for the really icky part of this movie that has not happened yet.  

 

I am sure there are people up north who are really ready because they have generators, water makers, gardens, solar and already live that type of life. 

 

I am glad TV final got a virus forum. I did not see an announcement of any type. A banner would have been nice. My suggestion is TV should stop using any resources on fluff stories about celebrities or any thing not specifically about the virus.

 

TV is full of mask and virus deniers and haters who rip helpful people like Ricard Barrow apart. I would suggest their comments just be deleted from this point forward. 

 

Twitter and Tweetdeck is a amazing resource. I have four accounts I use to monitor the movement of US military flights including B52's and B2 bombers and other nuke forces along with a whole list of other stuff. the virus that originated in China popped up there in the very early stages. That is how I knew about the virus so early. 

 

I have been having a great time living in Thailand, coming here with a laptop, a ipad and two duffel bags of clothes. It was really freeing to be retired and out of the USA. I really hope the global economy does not collapse.  

 

Sorry for the rant good luck everybody.

[1FinickyOne]

10 minutes ago, ICELANDMAN said:

and life continues

or not..

 

I have no interest in leaving... my life is good here and I have family... out in the countryside so, not many major inconveniences for me... I could die here too... 

[Snow Leopard]

14 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

to be fair no social media can only be a good thing.

No internet in Thailand is a bad thing for me. I trade online. 

[Lacessit]

45 minutes ago, Ron jeremy said:

I’ve stayed before on previous threads 

thailand is not where you want to be in this crisis 

thais are just starting to show their love of falangs 

jyst wait 

My GF prays every night to Buddha for a long life for me.

[Lacessit]

I'm staying in Thailand. I have food, money for a year, and my GF will look after me. I can isolate in my condo or at her village.

If I went back to Australia now, I'd be standing in line for food and toilet rolls.

[Nyezhov]

1 hour ago, Don Mega said:

Barrio is not a common word in English, I doubt many if any know its meaning unless they lived in the USA and were exposed daily to the Spanish language.

330 million people, plus any smart person that watches American TV.

 

1 hour ago, donnacha said:

It might be worth researching that.

I probably wont see the results because the ignore button comes ever closer. Life is too short to deal with, as we say.

 

55 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

 

Do they shop outside of the colesworth  circle jerk ?

Thats pretty rude. The ignore button has arrived.

 

41 minutes ago, Snow Leopard said:

At this point revolution would break out quickly and flat screen TV's would be the first thing to be liberated. 

As the sticker on the Gun safe reads...Molon Labe. The chances of any violence outside the big democratic run cities in the USA is slim and none.

[SkyFax]

34 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

the virus that originated in China popped up there in the very early stages. That is how I knew about the virus so early. 

I knew about the virus early because I've been several times to Wuhan -- 30+years ago.

 

BTW you say nothing about health insurance that would cover you here in Thailand -- US Medicare is no help

[totally thaied up]

7 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Thats pretty rude. The ignore button has arrived.

That's why I did not reply. My parents are old; like in there 80's, vulnerable and all they have is there local grocery stores, Coles, Woolworths and Aldi. On top of this they have very few butchers now in our local area. They in fact have been going to local vegetable stores and buying from there. They have limited everything in there area to two of one item now. 

Edited March 22, 2020 by totally thaied up

[RubbaJohnny]

9 hours ago, pookondee said:

There has been some good advice on here.

I'd say hassles and headaches is a soft way of describing it.

 

I dont want to be alarmist, but with all these lockdowns there will be huge number of Thais unemployed.

People are forgetting that there never has been any welfare there, so no safety net for anyone and the government at best will probably give folks effected a one-off 500baht.

 

That means that there will be hordes of people with no money, no food, hungry and angry and with nothing to do, so that all spells big trouble.

 

 

 

Yes that is the real tragedy aside from the sick and the dead , when it's all over there will be lost income, more debt.

Welfare states like UK and Scandanavia have a safety net however meagre .

The landless peasants who do all those tourist "services " may drift back to their villages to squat rent free with parents or grandparents, broke resentful and bringing transmissable diseases. It's not hard to imagine what occupations the unemployed "ladies " of Pattay might turn their hand to.

[Don Mega]

11 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

330 million people, plus any smart person that watches American TV.

 

I probably wont see the results because the ignore button comes ever closer. Life is too short to deal with, as we say.

 

Thats pretty rude. The ignore button has arrived.

 

As the sticker on the Gun safe reads...Molon Labe. The chances of any violence outside the big democratic run cities in the USA is slim and none.

Ahhh righto, a common word in seppo land, the land that bastardised the English language and is a pox on society... and the reason why China released the wuhan.

[Nyezhov]

41 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

One of the best non investments I made was my guns and ammo. After 25 years I sold my gun collection for much more than I paid for it. Amazing what AK47 ammo is worth now. 

Yeah dude. When I liquidated, one of my prize catches was a cased, fully functional, named with provenance 1877 Webley-Pryse 455 revolver that I used to shoot hand rolled black powder cartridges in. Got $5K for that one and $8K for a consecutive numbered pair of SIG 210-4s, $5K for a Vickers Luger, etc.

 

Guns were great for making money. When the 1994 Assault Rifle Bill was passed, I was sitting on 5 brand new in box HK 94s that I sold to Vollmers (remember them, the HK machine gun dudes) for $3K each. He turned them into machine guns that sell for $30K. An unaltered one sells for $15K these days.

 

All the rest of your post is spot on. I did the survival thing too, I lived in Alaska so it is nothing for me to prepare for the SHTF scenarios like this one. Ya just have to smile and ride it out. Wash your hands. Sanitize your phone and electronics. Dont lick Chinese people. Read books, cook, chill, relax.....

 

Dudes: we are all gonna die. Might as well return to our elemental state with a big fat smile.

 

Happy happy happy, we all woke up today!

[moojar]

Thai schedule changes to Oz, might be useful to some here - pinched it from another forum:  

 

BKK-BNE, reduced from 4 to 3 weekly, eff 29 Mar 20
BKK-MEL, reduced from 14 to 3 weekly, eff 29 Mar 20
BKK-PER, reduced from 7 to 3 weekly, eff 29 Mar 20, cancelled 30 Apr - 16 Jun 20
BKK-SYD, reduced 7 to 3 weekly, 29 Mar - 25 Jun, 5 weekly 26 Jun - 24 Oct 20, 777 replaces 747

 

Thai Air Asia X has pulled the pin on BNE too. not sure when they stop/ped flying.  Royal Brunei have cancelled BNE, reduced MEL.  Malindo has suspended all routes.  And there are plenty of others. 

[pookondee]

1 hour ago, Isaan Alan said:

I agree to some extent, but won't they turn their anger on the Thai government? Some falangs will just be collateral damage if they are in the wrong place at the wrong time or act stupidly (hmmm). Bangkok and the tourist areas are a different kettle of fish but I live in Isaan and many Thais there are quite good at living cheaply since the rice, and rubber prices crashed and long before that.  historically. They grow their own food, own their house and rely on extended families. Sure they have debt on cars, tractors, university education for their teenagers but government debt seems to be able to be rolled over except for the interest.

And despite some ultra-nationalist Chinese foreign ministry spokesman's tweets to the contrary, the virus came from China not from the Falang world. Thais know the difference and their health minister has recently inadvertently emphasised the distinction between falangs and Chinese. 

The Thai government has already anticipated the backlash..

Why else would they accidentally let a high ranking minister lay blame on the "Dirty farang" on a platform of social media that can be quickly deleted and denied..aftervthe message gets put out!

 

They are dropping many other subtle hints that foreigners are to blame for all this, not Chinese.

After all, Its what they have done from day dot when anything goes wrong.

 

I did hope that Isaan might be immune to this to some extent, but certain areas of Isaan are having lockdowns they dont really need.

 

This includes markets that many people rely on, like Chong Chom near Surin.

People in remote areas are not going to be able to trade, and more importantly, not being able to buy food.

 

Draw from that what you will.

 

The virus of hysteria is being spread EVERYWHERE and its effects are going to be felt LONG after Corona is gone. 

[Olmate]

5 minutes ago, moojar said:

Thai schedule changes to Oz, might be useful to some here - pinched it from another forum:  

 

BKK-BNE, reduced from 4 to 3 weekly, eff 29 Mar 20
BKK-MEL, reduced from 14 to 3 weekly, eff 29 Mar 20
BKK-PER, reduced from 7 to 3 weekly, eff 29 Mar 20, cancelled 30 Apr - 16 Jun 20
BKK-SYD, reduced 7 to 3 weekly, 29 Mar - 25 Jun, 5 weekly 26 Jun - 24 Oct 20, 777 replaces 747

 

Thai Air Asia X has pulled the pin on BNE too. not sure when they stop/ped flying.  Royal Brunei have cancelled BNE, reduced MEL.  Malindo has suspended all routes.  And there are plenty of others. 

Thank you, very helpful to a mate who is toing and froing over to go or not. Do you or anyone else know as of now the situation with flights out of Australia eg back to bkk. They are still showing available end of May. Can flights out of Oz be blocked by current travel directives..eg level 4 Thanks again!

[moojar]

39 minutes ago, Olmate said:

Thank you, very helpful to a mate who is toing and froing over to go or not. Do you or anyone else know as of now the situation with flights out of Australia eg back to bkk. They are still showing available end of May. Can flights out of Oz be blocked by current travel directives..eg level 4 Thanks again!

Flights won't be totally blocked - there is still freight to be flown and some returning residents, and government types on official business.  Most of the airlines seem to be maintaining minimal flights, into Sydney mostly.  Singapore is down to one flight a day, so is Cathay, so are Etihad/Emirates/Qatar.  Seems pretty typical.   Qantas has freight aircraft and is stopping all international passenger flights.  Jetstar also stopping all international flying.   I expect Thai will make further cuts before long. 

 

Also read somewhere Singapore - the country - is not allowing foreigners in, not even to transit.  So that's another road block to get around. 

 

The Oz 'do not travel anywhere in the world' advisory means most of us just cannot get travel insurance.  Nothing apart from that stopping us travelling if we really want to. But as I believe Thailand won't let you in without $US100K "coronavirus travel insurance" as of a day or two ago, I don't think you could get back anyway? 

 

People are crowd funding their flights home, stranded all over the world - read of a guy participating in a noisy protest in Morocco when the border were closed, a young couple stranded in Paris on their honeymoon with all their flights cancelled.  TV here is of course going to full-on COVID coverage, filling airtime with tales of stranded travellers, reports today of $5000 fares on offer back from South America on LATAM - the border wherever they fly from is not (yet) closed.  

 

Oh, and it's not just Thailand - foreigners are being shunned all over, the locals considering them carriers.  Backpackers are being tossed out of hostels, the embassy telling them "we can't help you, but make sure you wash your hands".  LOL.  

 

It is sounding like the bushfire advisories - "too late to leave".  

[Rhys]

13 hours ago, donnacha said:

 

It struck me as an odd pairing too. Australians and Americans are so different in these situations.

The average Australian will ride it out, taking solace in any bargains that become available as all the other expats evaporate.

By contrast, all American males, throughout their lives, are secretly starring in their own movie. Currently, the movie is No Escape.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Escape_(2015_film)
 

 

 

 

The YT does not appear to have a clean copy of the film... another metaphor for the current situation. 5555

[Rhys]

BREATHE... Be collected, remain calm.... 5555  Really!!!! WHAT IFs.. What Nots... Get through today.  "Everyone."

[ICELANDMAN]

4 hours ago, kenk24 said:

or not..

 

I have no interest in leaving... my life is good here and I have family... out in the countryside so, not many major inconveniences for me... I could die here too... 

From Italy the truth is that now all the deaths count instead the coronavirus deaths are only 12% information comes from the WHO.

[ICELANDMAN]

12 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

Everything Thailand OK. Sure.

 

I am an American from California. I lived and worked in Hollywood in the film industry for 40 years. I lived in giant earthquake and riot country. To say the least I have always had a "Go Bag". I am a Amateur Radio operator licensed in 1985 and active in emergency communications in So. Ca for decades.

 

I bought property in Montana in 1995 (101 rai and about a thousand trees and a creek) specially for this type of event. That decision came out of a series of very large earthquakes and the Rodney King riots where police and fire were overwhelmed. I had everything I needed to live in my second home in Montana. In Los Angeles I had a custom Chevy Suburban with $18,000 in after market modification and $14,000 in communications equipment. The fire chief of the city of Burbank (where Warner Bros and Disney Studios are located) said I have more communications capability than he had. All of this was a hobby.

 

When I retired and moved to Thailand six years I sold everything. I jokingly told my friends "You are on your own, I'll be in Soi Cowboy". One of the best non investments I made was my guns and ammo. After 25 years I sold my gun collection for much more than I paid for it. Amazing what AK47 ammo is worth now. 

 

What was my criteria for choosing a Thai city to live in? The answer is where does the big guy go in a emergency? Because if it is good enough for him, it is good enough for me. That is one reason why I am in Hua Hin.

 

For those of you who live here "permanently" like I do, I would get a small backpack and put every vital document and medication you need in it. Including cash in both Thai and home currency. All credit cards, ATM cards, all banks, all countries. Visualize being asked to leave and you have five minutes to do it. I am not saying that is going to happen, but that is the criteria for selecting what goes in the pack. Not clothes or anything like that.   

 

I started stocking up in February. I have everything i need. I repeatedly told people to do the same on this forum. some listened. most did not.

Like most of you I eat out almost every meal except breakfast. I don't even own a microwave here, never ever would eat frozen food under any circumstance, or anything that was not fresh. But I did buy a lot of raw chicken and other protein that is now frozen with a ton of other basics. I hope I don't need it, but I am set for eight weeks without having to go out.

 

Three weeks ago I said on this forum there would be a ban on inter providence travel. That comment was met with a avalanche of people saying that could never happen. I was called stupid.   

 

Three weeks ago I said everyone needs to decide now where they want to be. That comment actually got people talking.

 

In mid February I did major service on my funny little Honda Click. New tires, new intertubes, two boxes of spare intertubes,

Same with my 650 motorcycle. New tires, full service at 36k kilometers, new brakes. And topped up the tank so I have at least 5.5 US gallons of fuel "stored". Where am I going? No where. But at least my transportation is as really as it can be for the really icky part of this movie that has not happened yet.  

 

I am sure there are people up north who are really ready because they have generators, water makers, gardens, solar and already live that type of life. 

 

I am glad TV final got a virus forum. I did not see an announcement of any type. A banner would have been nice. My suggestion is TV should stop using any resources on fluff stories about celebrities or any thing not specifically about the virus.

 

TV is full of mask and virus deniers and haters who rip helpful people like Ricard Barrow apart. I would suggest their comments just be deleted from this point forward. 

 

Twitter and Tweetdeck is a amazing resource. I have four accounts I use to monitor the movement of US military flights including B52's and B2 bombers and other nuke forces along with a whole list of other stuff. the virus that originated in China popped up there in the very early stages. That is how I knew about the virus so early. 

 

I have been having a great time living in Thailand, coming here with a laptop, a ipad and two duffel bags of clothes. It was really freeing to be retired and out of the USA. I really hope the global economy does not collapse.  

 

Sorry for the rant good luck everybody.

It seems to me that you are writing your next departure, I am also from Hua Hin and I not thing I have to go away now.

On the contrary, I am convinced that Thailand is now the best place against coronavirus because the virus dies soon with the heat and humidity.

If you mean that USA are going to bomb China with nuclear bombs then we would no longer have a place to live even with a motorbike or without

[Olmate]

1 hour ago, moojar said:

Flights won't be totally blocked - there is still freight to be flown and some returning residents, and government types on official business.  Most of the airlines seem to be maintaining minimal flights, into Sydney mostly.  Singapore is down to one flight a day, so is Cathay, so are Etihad/Emirates/Qatar.  Seems pretty typical.   Qantas has freight aircraft and is stopping all international passenger flights.  Jetstar also stopping all international flying.   I expect Thai will make further cuts before long. 

 

Also read somewhere Singapore - the country - is not allowing foreigners in, not even to transit.  So that's another road block to get around. 

 

The Oz 'do not travel anywhere in the world' advisory means most of us just cannot get travel insurance.  Nothing apart from that stopping us travelling if we really want to. But as I believe Thailand won't let you in without $US100K "coronavirus travel insurance" as of a day or two ago, I don't think you could get back anyway? 

 

People are crowd funding their flights home, stranded all over the world - read of a guy participating in a noisy protest in Morocco when the border were closed, a young couple stranded in Paris on their honeymoon with all their flights cancelled.  TV here is of course going to full-on COVID coverage, filling airtime with tales of stranded travellers, reports today of $5000 fares on offer back from South America on LATAM - the border wherever they fly from is not (yet) closed.  

 

Oh, and it's not just Thailand - foreigners are being shunned all over, the locals considering them carriers.  Backpackers are being tossed out of hostels, the embassy telling them "we can't help you, but make sure you wash your hands".  LOL.  

 

It is sounding like the bushfire advisories - "too late to leave".  

Thanks , I,m guessing your in Sydney now, hope things don,t get any worse there. Your reply was most helpful.cheers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[drbeach]

15 hours ago, donnacha said:

I got out, too many variables.

My chief concern was low-level societal breakdown, with foreigners being a likely focus of anger. The young Canadian couple in Chiang Mai who were repeatedly spat at by a hostile Thai male, I worry that might be an early sign of shifting attitudes.

When the true scale of the hidden outbreak becomes clear - and I think most Thais already have a dawning horror at what has been allowed to happen - there is going to be a lot of anger. Combine that with the knock-on effects for the rest of the economy of the sudden collapse of the tourist industry, and the massive reductions in international orders for factory goods, and record high levels of consumer debt, most Thais are going to be under a lot of pressure.

I'm not saying that I was likely to be in danger, I live in a wealthy gated community, but we have neither rights, respect, nor affection from the authorities. If there is even a small chance of problems, it simply makes more sense to wait it out somewhere else.

 

Easy to say if you're old and unattached. What if you have a Thai family? If you skip back home, you'll leave the misses and kids here, not knowing when or even if you will ever see them again.

 

Yes, it's scary if foreigners are being attacked, but the same has happened in the west too...Asians being attacked. Right now there is a lot of xenophobia in the air. My personal feeling though is that Thailand is at least better than Vietnam, where xenophobia has gone through the roof....many foreigners being refused service and not allowed to stay at many hotels, this even affects expats.

[NCC1701A]

37 minutes ago, ICELANDMAN said:

It seems to me that you are writing your next departure, I am also from Hua Hin and I not thing I have to go away now.

On the contrary, I am convinced that Thailand is now the best place against coronavirus because the virus dies soon with the heat and humidity.

If you mean that USA are going to bomb China with nuclear bombs then we would no longer have a place to live even with a motorbike or without

 

 

 

sorry i think you misunderstood my post. maybe that is my fault. 

i agree Thailand is good place to be now.

i am not getting ready to leave. having your transportation serviced now is better than waiting until you can't get parts.

i should not have used B52's as a example of what you can do with twitter. that was confusing.

 

 

 

 

[tifino]

in alignment with the smarttraveller adviceupdates through the last week...

- reconsider travel...

- do not travel

- if you are overseas...pack up and come home

 

 

 

[donnacha]

3 hours ago, drbeach said:

Easy to say if you're old and unattached. What if you have a Thai family? If you skip back home, you'll leave the misses and kids here, not knowing when or even if you will ever see them again.

Bring them with you.

If you have a Thai family, you would obviously be somewhat safer in Thailand even if things do break down (again, not saying that is likely, but possible. On the whole, though, I would get my family out of there and worry about the financial implications later.
 

 

3 hours ago, drbeach said:

My personal feeling though is that Thailand is at least better than Vietnam, where xenophobia has gone through the roof

Agreed. On the other hand, their government did at least take it seriously early on, blocking flights from China, while another country I can think of pretended that nothing was happening for as long as they possibly could, and is now itching to welcome back Chinese tourists as early as April. The Viets can be nasty but at least they have some common sense.
 

[Scott]

A post and reply with references to the royal family have been removed.