1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

And one wonders if some of this was intentional? Some sort of effort to wipe out the lower classes, and those just getting by? I have no idea what the agenda would be, but it seems bizarre to me that South Korea and Sweden were the only two countries in the world that did not shut down their economies. 

The developed world has two major financial problems: mountains of unpayable debt, and mountains of retirees that can't be paid (called unfunded liabilities).

 

Crashing the economy could offer the opportunity to solve these problems.

 

Creating almost unlimited amounts of money and giving it away (as the US is doing) should lead to high inflation, or even hyperinflation, with the effect of "inflating away" the debts and liabilities.

 

When a loaf of bread costs a billion dollars, a debt of a trillion dollars is not much...and neither is a retirement pension whose amount will not be adjusted as fast as the inflation rate.

 

Then, once the slate clean enough, the currency will be replaced by a new one, maybe backed by gold to give it credibility, and maybe a crypto to give governments total control over their populations' money.

 

A massive crisis, resulting from an external factor (it's not our fault) can, and will, be used as the perfect excuse to implement the necessary changes.

 

Such changes will probably not affect the whole world, especially the developing countries, like Thailand, who don't have these problems...but all countries will suffer for a long time because there is only one economy, thanks to one of the most destructive human endeavour: globalisation!

Still too many naive people on here. About 500 million people catch flu every year, and about 0.1% die. Covid-19 hasn't even left the starting blocks yet, about 1.5-3 million only so far. Wait until it spreads throughout Indian subcontinent, south America and Africa. Currently the death rate is estimated as 3.4% - however many countries are seeing higher rates than this. Still at 3.4%, if Covid-19 infects 500 million people this year, you would get 17 million deaths....

 

It will probably not be wiped out, and will become endemic in many countries. This will mean that air travel will be severely curtailed until (if) a successful vaccine is developed and extremely large numbers are vaccinated. That will take years.

 

Until then, travel will depend on whether your country is relatively free of the virus or not. 

 

The lockdowns will have to end soon, cannot be maintained due to the economic cost. Maybe June in Thailand. Other control methods like social distancing will continue .... for possibly a long time.

 

Is Sweden doing the right thing? There death rate per million is nearly as high as the UK's, and doubling it's rate every week. By the end of the month they could be loosing a 1,000 a day. Germany also is still on an escalating path. Japan is slowly loosing. Other than China, only South Korea is on a steadily declining case rate and death rate. Italy and Spain maybe.

 

The new normal is going to be anything but that. I suspect that many of us are going to be stuck in Thailand for a long time, you may be able to leave, but come back?

 

8 hours ago, Swimfan said:

Minimum 18 months. Probably no international travel for 12 months and then only people who are antibody positive allowed to travel.

What rubbish 

7 hours ago, robert888d said:

Never be the same again

Rubbish 

7 hours ago, justin case said:

russia has as good as no victims

 

why would they spend money in vaccines ?

Because they can, mate ????

It will never be the old normal again.

 

On the minimum, cheap and easy international flights won't be available until a vaccine becomes available.  Proof of covid-19 vaccine will become a requirement to fly as well as to be granted a visa.

13 minutes ago, Iron Tongue said:

It will never be the old normal again.

 

On the minimum, cheap and easy international flights won't be available until a vaccine becomes available.  Proof of covid-19 vaccine will become a requirement to fly as well as to be granted a visa.

That 'proof' may necessitate an implantable chip

 

10 hours ago, justin case said:

exactly ... the GREED of BIG PHARMA has no limits

 

how can 1 pill be  1000$ ?   10 cents to produce and the rest is marketing & profits

 

And all the research and development costs nothing, right?

14 hours ago, fittobethaied said:

I have long believed that there is a cure out there for every affliction on the face of the earth, but as long as healthcare is nearly 18% of GDP in the US (can't speak for other countries), these cures will continue to be suppressed for the long term interests of the big players in healthcare. Surely, researchers have known for years how to eradicate tooth decay, but just imagine the ramifications of putting the entire dental industry out of work overnight if such a cure were announced. Money is king and patients will continue to be expendable in order to maintain the status quo!

Think you have been listening to David Icke  or conspiracy theories .

Once the virus is under control, the next focus better be on Corona terriorisme. 
Every wacko from fanatic jihadists to the bullied fat high-school kid could easily turn the world upside, simply by hanging out at crowded places or taking the morning commuter train.

A disgruntled Uighus that failed his last exam at his Beijing training camp could get himself infected and take a tour around the country.

Over the counter fever suppressing medicine will let him slip through temperature check points.
I hope plans are being made to mitigate this threat.

14 hours ago, Lacessit said:

How long is a piece of string?

Mine's 2 metres

3 hours ago, Vigilante said:

That 'proof' may necessitate an implantable chip

 

Perhaps just an app on the phone, easy done.

18 hours ago, Guderian said:

Just keep in mind that even after decades of research they still haven't been able to find an effective vaccine against the AIDS virus.

Perhaps more relevant is SARS, which is also a coronavirus.  17 years and counting, still no vaccine for SARS.  I'm not holding my breath for a vaccine.  If it comes along, great.  But otherwise this damn thing won't go away until we have herd immunity (50-70% have been infected).  We could be in for a long slog.  At an infection rate of 100/day and a population of 66,000,000, most of us will be dead one way or another before herd immunity is reached. 

Just as September 11th changed normal in the world this will change normal in the world. Travel will become more complicated and travelers will be looked at with more suspicion.

Maybe After the next election, or to use Yinluck's term, erection, take your pick. 

5 minutes ago, Barefoot said:

At an infection rate of 100/day

 

That is what they are reporting but I would take an educated guess that the actual number of infected (incl asymptomatic cases) is a large % of the population already...

They have tested such a small percentage...

18 hours ago, Swimfan said:

Minimum 18 months. Probably no international travel for 12 months and then only people who are antibody positive allowed to travel.

Absolute rubbish no travel lol

18 hours ago, Swimfan said:

Minimum 18 months. Probably no international travel for 12 months and then only people who are antibody positive allowed to travel.

Talkibg nonsense. Antibody lol. 

10 hours ago, tomauasia said:

Rubbish 

Is that all the vocabulary you have mastered? 

2 minutes ago, Brunolem said:

Is that all the vocabulary you have mastered? 

But he is proficient at it.

18 minutes ago, cornishcarlos said:

 

That is what they are reporting but I would take an educated guess that the actual number of infected (incl asymptomatic cases) is a large % of the population already...

They have tested such a small percentage...

I agree... probably in tens of percent, like 20 to 40%.

 

Strange that for all kinds of issues they can sample the population and conduct surveys involving a few hundred or thousand persons, out of which they are able to draw very accurate conclusions for the population at large... but with the virus they are suddenly unable to do that... 

 

They don't do random tests in the population because finding out that a large part is infected and asymptomatic would instantly put an end to the panic, the controls and the restrictions. 

17 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Why would anyone post such ridiculous misinformation?

This may be the question that most perplexes me.  It seems some people like to feel that they possess secret knowledge that almost nobody else can see or figure out.

Reckon travel opens up in November. Maybe October.

2 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

 

That is what they are reporting but I would take an educated guess that the actual number of infected (incl asymptomatic cases) is a large % of the population already...

They have tested such a small percentage...

10m to 20m prob had it.

10 hours ago, mstevens said:

 

And all the research and development costs nothing, right?

and why do governments not do it with all their paid scientists/universities  turning fingers instead of giving it away to big pharma with big unlimited profits that BANKRUPT social security & people ???