1 hour ago, kokesaat said:

We came to the US in mid-Feb for a 3 month vacation.  Our return trip in May has been cancelled by the airline, with an offer to resked anytime until Dec at no extra cost.  We've lived in Thailand for 23 years and have every intention of returning.....but recognize that it probably won't be June or maybe not even this year.  Fortunately we've always had a plan B in our hip pocket to walk away from Thailand if not for Covid then for a nasty turn in the country towards foreigners or just a nasty turn in government or for health or any number of other reasons.  I've often commented to my wife of 48 years that if the need arose, I could pack a suitcase and leave if that was in our best interests.  Fortunately, that hasn't (hadn't) occurred despite coups, tsunamis, Thaitanic, or growing old.  

The biggest concern at this point is not knowing what tomorrow brings.  You can dream all you like about life being better in the PI or VN or anywhere else, but until this Covid pandemic settles down, none of the best experts in the world can answer that question.  If you're living overseas on a shoestring or burned all your bridges back in your home country or invested all your savings into your oversea's adventure,  then you're more of a gambling man than I'd care to be as I grow older (70 now).  Long before Covid came around, I've always advised people who consider moving to Thailand to have a plan B.

I am still relatively young but one thing I have learned is that I would never put my faith into a place such as Thailand and commit to it 100% like many people have done or will do. If coming from a developed western country it is insane to not have a backup plan in place that allows one to return somewhere where you have at least basic human rights. Thailand is fun for a while, but full time, no way in h*** for me.

4 minutes ago, rabang said:

I am still relatively young but one thing I have learned is that I would never put my faith into a place such as Thailand and commit to it 100% like many people have done or will do. If coming from a developed western country it is insane to not have a backup plan in place that allows one to return somewhere where you have at least basic human rights. Thailand is fun for a while, but full time, no way in h*** for me.

Well said, you farcing nailed it. Fun for a while, full time ???????????????????????????????????????????????? not a chance in hell. 

17 hours ago, pdtokyo said:

Interesting.

 

i skimmed your posts and it seems that you decided that Australia was your best option and you just returned to Oz and thought yourself lucky to have saved your life and landed in a safe place.

 

Now you want the lockdown lifted in Australia (your other option "Australia needs to eliminate the virus" is essentially not realiity so we can safely ignore that right now) ... so ... more guesswork on my part ... you are under 65 and do not consider yourself an 'at risk' individual?  Have i got that about right?

 

Anyway ... on a more practical note ... can you be a bit more specific about the people (in Australia) who you see dying because of the lockdown? Common wisdom here seems to be the lockdowns in Oz and NZ are actually designed to prevent death, at least amongst the at risk population and the consensus is that strategy is working pretty well.

 

No income? That's a surprise. Maybe you have fallen down some sort of bureaucratic crack, and if you have, then you have my sympathy ... but if you have just been re-admitted to the country then surely you must be an Oz citizen, PR or spouse and if unemployed don't you qualify for the A$550 (B10,000+) a week JobSeeker payment plus a few other benefits ... which is guaranteed for the next 6 (arguably now 5) months?

"Now you want the lockdown lifted in Australia (your other option "Australia needs to eliminate the virus" is essentially not realiity so we can safely ignore that right now) ... so ... more guesswork on my part ... you are under 65 and do not consider yourself an 'at risk' individual?  Have i got that about right?"

 

Nope. I never said I wanted the lockdown lifted. Elimination is not off the cards for Australia. Keep lockdown the same way it is now for 6 months and the virus will be gone from Australia. Yes I'm under 65. What im saying is right now the lockdowns are in "no mans land". We have 1600 active cases and 47 critical people yet apparentely 47 people means that the hospitals are "overwhelmed". 47 people???? If we are flattening the curve, there is an over-bias in the health system compared to the loss of jobs and people doing it tough with only "47 critical people in hospital". Hospitals are being "stingy". If we are planning to eliminate the virus, ok lockdowns are justified. The current lockdowns are not justified if we are flattening the curve or going herd immunity with only 47 critical people in hospital. And in fact if we keep things this locked down and have no plan to eliminate the virus, it will be the year 2030 before enough people are infected at this slow rate. Do you want a lockdown for 10 years?

 

"Anyway ... on a more practical note ... can you be a bit more specific about the people (in Australia) who you see dying because of the lockdown? Common wisdom here seems to be the lockdowns in Oz and NZ are actually designed to prevent death, at least amongst the at risk population and the consensus is that strategy is working pretty well."

 

Simple. Centrelink are taking months and months to get jobseeker payments setup. To apply for what is known as a "crn", you need a current drivers licence as a form of Id which not everyone has and ringing the centrelink number just says "call back later". Some people havnt been paid for a month and a half now. The unemployment right now is under reported due to a huge backlog for centrelink. Australia is most likely at 20% unemployment.

 

"No income? That's a surprise. Maybe you have fallen down some sort of bureaucratic crack, and if you have, then you have my sympathy ... but if you have just been re-admitted to the country then surely you must be an Oz citizen, PR or spouse and if unemployed don't you qualify for the A$550 (B10,000+) a week JobSeeker payment plus a few other benefits ... which is guaranteed for the next 6 (arguably now 5) months?"

 

I'm eligible for centrelink but good luck getting through to centrelink within 3 months.