"Do you personally believe White people smell like wet dog sometimes?"

[webfact]

How to build a sharing economy from the wreckage of Covid-19

By Wichit Chaitrong
The Nation

 

 

Individual Thais have joined the government in donating cash, food and other necessities to people suffering the fallout of Covid-19. Sharing is proving to be our most powerful weapon in fighting a pandemic that has frozen the economy and cost millions their jobs and life savings.

 

This new “sharing economy” was embodied by a poor family – grandmother, mother and son – spotted gathering food at a large pond in the heart of an affluent Bangkok neighbourhood on May Day.

 

The mother and son were using a net to catch small shrimps and shellfish, while the grandmother was picking edible greens at the edge of the lake. The perfect ingredients for lunch.

 

A private pond in an affluent Bangkok neighbourhood is guarded by “no fishing” signs.

 

“Do they taste good?” I asked them, curious about the freshwater shrimp. 

 

“Yes, they do”, the old lady replied cheerfully. 

 

“We used to catch them here at this pond a long time ago,” she added.

 

The family is one of many low-income households in Bangkok suffering the brunt of the economic freeze during the pandemic.

 

The World Bank predicts that the number of people in poverty will rise dramatically as economies worldwide are brought to a standstill by the Covid-19 fallout. 

 

‘“The current crisis is expected to increase Thailand’s poverty rate to 8.7 per cent of the total population, up from 8.4 per cent last year,” Kiatipong Ariyapruchya, the World Bank’s senior economist for Thailand, warned recently. 

 

The most vulnerable group are workers in the informal sector, estimated to number 21.2 million in 2018. However, the 17.1 million working in the formal sector also face risks of being laid off, furloughed or having their salary cut by employers.

 

Donating food and other necessities directly to people suffering the coronavirus impact is a powerful remedy, demonstrating the empathy and concern for others that lies deep in Thai culture.

 

But what if we could spread this generosity via natural resources in big cities such as Bangkok, including public waterways and vacant land that could produce food, such as the pond being harvested by the family on May Day? Bangkok alone boasts a total 1,682 canals with a combined length of 2,604 kilometres, according to official statistics. 

 

Ponds and reservoirs in the capital are often guarded by signs warning “No fishing”. It would not take much effort, however, to manage these private and public natural resources efficiently and empathetically, by making them accessible to people who are in need.

 

The first step for canals would be to reduce pollution and make them habitable for wildlife again.

 

If all canals in Bangkok were protected from household and industrial toxins, aquatic life including fish and frogs would return, providing a rich source of food that anyone – especially the urban poor – could access.

 

Currently, however, little effort is being made to clean up Bangkok’s canals, which remain choked with wastewater. And much of the daily torrent of dirty suds is released by wealthy households with no stake in the cleanliness of Bangkok’s waterways. The biggest challenge is how to manage the sewage released from households and businesses in the city. Bangkok City Hall and the central government have invested in a wastewater treatment infrastructure but the pace of progress is too slow.

 

The challenge is how to speed up that treatment of this valuable natural resource, once the lifeblood of the city. Innovative thinking and public awareness campaigns offer one approach to reducing the huge volume of wastewater from households and businesses that floods public canals daily.

 

Managing the sewage system more efficiently would bring rich rewards, resurrecting long-lost natural resources that generate much-needed food sources as well recreational spots for city dwellers.

 

Cultivating community “agri-resources” in the big city is one path to establishing a sharing economy that would mitigate the economic impact during times of crisis.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/opinion/30387348

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-05-06

 

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[Mops59]

 How to overcome the next crisis? Well pay 60 year old a decent pension to live on instead of the THB 600. Start with this. Then make sure everyone has some kind of income during sickness, disability, unemployment, and pregnancy. How to finance? Tax on private assets like houses and savings,  tax on inheritance, permits for all the billboards, permits for events,  etc. Don't make people live on charity. It is humiliating.

[connda]

Yes. Wonderful.  The government should fund a project to teach all of the newly impoverish little people how to find and prepare insects, worms, and fresh water crustaceans for dinner.  And of course teaching them the types of grasses and weeds that can be eaten as salad or side for the new fare that will keep them alive considering that they won't have jobs for a long, long while.  And to make them comfortable with the idea that this is the new normal, enlist some B-list superstars to appear on camera extolling the virtues of a bug-based diet.  Sell is as the new chic. 

 

 

Edited May 6, 2020 by connda

[ChrisY1]

The poor always share...it's the a##es in BKK and the elite, that don't have share in their vocabulary

[yellowboat]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Managing the sewage system more efficiently would bring rich rewards, resurrecting long-lost natural resources that generate much-needed food sources as well recreational spots for city dwellers.

Maybe this crisis will spur the useless within the Thai civil service to do something about Klongs and other water assets.  The track record in Pattaya and Bangkok is abysmal at best.   

[timendres]

Wow. I am speechless.

[Enoon]

6 hours ago, Mops59 said:

 How to overcome the next crisis? Well pay 60 year old a decent pension to live on instead of the THB 600. Start with this. Then make sure everyone has some kind of income during sickness, disability, unemployment, and pregnancy. How to finance? Tax on private assets like houses and savings,  tax on inheritance, permits for all the billboards, permits for events,  etc. Don't make people live on charity. It is humiliating.

 

Broaden tax base and tax distribution is the simple answer.

 

But that means broadening worthwhile education and the opportunities for individual social/economic development and achievement based advancement.

 

Which would require abandoning the Imperialistic, exploitative, rigidly hierarchical, regional/caste based, coercive, divide and rule, pre-modern system, that those who profit from it label as the essential, predetermined, "nature" of Thailand.

 

There's only one way that's going to happen.

 

Hopefully COVID may be the catalyst.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 6, 2020 by Enoon

[natway09]

What sewerage systems ??

[mrfill]

2 hours ago, Enoon said:

 

Broaden tax base and tax distribution is the simple answer.

 

But that means broadening worthwhile education and the opportunities for individual social/economic development and achievement based advancement.

 

Which would require abandoning the Imperialistic, exploitative, rigidly hierarchical, regional/caste based, coercive, divide and rule, pre-modern system, that those who profit from it label as the essential, predetermined, "nature" of Thailand.

 

There's only one way that's going to happen.

 

Hopefully COVID may be the catalyst.

 

 

 

 

 

You could substitute the name of most of the rich countries for Thailand and your premise is still completely true. 

[Thomas J]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

How to build a sharing economy from the wreckage of Covid-19

Easy don't wreck it in the first place.  Consider Covid 19 it is known does not do well in hot humid conditions.  There are few places on earth that are less favorable to Covid than Thailand.  Second, even in the USA less than 15% of the cases have been to people under the age of 45.  Look at the average age in Thailand.  This is a country dominated by younger people.  So instead the country is locked down entirely putting everyone out of work, and businesses closed many for good, and now you wonder how to build an economy back from the wreckage.  Perhaps some thought before wrecking it would have been helpful and not just for Thailand.  The world is now in wreckage and it likely will take decades for it to fully recover if ever.  The longer any country delays in getting its people back to work, the more permanent damage will be done.  

[mrfill]

51 minutes ago, Thomas J said:

Easy don't wreck it in the first place.  Consider Covid 19 it is known does not do well in hot humid conditions.  There are few places on earth that are less favorable to Covid than Thailand.  Second, even in the USA less than 15% of the cases have been to people under the age of 45.  Look at the average age in Thailand.  This is a country dominated by younger people.  So instead the country is locked down entirely putting everyone out of work, and businesses closed many for good, and now you wonder how to build an economy back from the wreckage.  Perhaps some thought before wrecking it would have been helpful and not just for Thailand.  The world is now in wreckage and it likely will take decades for it to fully recover if ever.  The longer any country delays in getting its people back to work, the more permanent damage will be done.  

 

 

Thailand average age - 40.1  Climate - Tropical. Cases per million - 43.  Deaths per million - 0.8

Brazil average age - 33.5  Climate - Tropical. Cases per million - 547.  Deaths per million - 37

 

Much younger population, hot and humid climate and a death rate nearly 50 times higher.

 

The countries doing 'well' are generally those that experienced the SARS epidemic in 2003 (basically, SE Asia and China) and I just wonder if that may have some bearing.

 

[Isaan sailor]

Simple.  Bring the nation back to 95% employment. Exports would boom. Farms would prosper.  Tourist industry would fully recover.

How?  Bring the Baht down 20-30% vs. all western currencies. 

[overherebc]

2 hours ago, Isaan sailor said:

Simple.  Bring the nation back to 95% employment. Exports would boom. Farms would prosper.  Tourist industry would fully recover.

How?  Bring the Baht down 20-30% vs. all western currencies. 

And if a foreign company wants to bring a project into Thailand just accept the salaries and wages paid to the workers only as being the major benefit. No need for x% Thai ownership/control etc.

[overherebc]

1 hour ago, overherebc said:

And if a foreign company wants to bring a project into Thailand just accept the salaries and wages paid to the workers only as being the major benefit. No need for x% Thai ownership/control etc.

Should have added.

No materials, goods, services or manpower allowed from China either direct or through suppliers or agents or any other 3rd party.

[Logosone]

Professor Neil Ferguson has done some pioneering research in sharing other men's wives, we should ask him....

[ubon farang]

Reduce the military budget big time. Reduce the army from 350,000 to 100,000. Reduce the army Generals and reduce the government That will do for starters

[Boomer6969]

On 5/6/2020 at 8:51 AM, Mops59 said:

 How to overcome the next crisis? Well pay 60 year old a decent pension to live on instead of the THB 600. Start with this. Then make sure everyone has some kind of income during sickness, disability, unemployment, and pregnancy. How to finance? Tax on private assets like houses and savings,  tax on inheritance, permits for all the billboards, permits for events,  etc. Don't make people live on charity. It is humiliating.

I love this post as it could be a fairly accurate description of Australia welfare system of the eighties. All these pensions and benefits were at a modest, possibly just survival level, but enough to bridge into the next job with a few savings. People invested in the homes and often relied on state pensions and medicare for basic necessities. It was the best place on earth. Gone a bit rough since...