Trapped in Thailand, and Loving It? Glad You Disregarded Government Warnings to Return Home Immediately? Do you now feel stranded like Robinson Crusoe?

[JohnBarleycorn]

I still recall the day, as if it were yesterday, when my government issued a TOP-LEVEL WARNING:  US citizens who live in the US but are currently abroad must return home immediately!

 

So, I emailed a good friend who lives in New York City to ask:  "The State Department can't be thinking of me, could they"?   "Noooo," he replied wryly, "They can't be referring to people like you!"  "Good," said I, "I'm not thinking about them, either."

 

But you know what?  These days with zero international aircraft flying overhead, sometimes I feel like Robinson Crusoe, he having been stranded on his island for many years with only his man Friday, and me here in this city, all alone, without even a manservant to venture abroad to do my shopping.

 

I must admit that it does feel a bit weird, now having committed myself to remain here, under any circumstances, until international flight services reopen.

 

And so, I wonder what it might feel like for those who did not intentionally choose to remain in this land, and now might be getting a bit homesick.  At least they don't need to worry about visa extensions for the moment; that's certainly a big plus.  Yet they must be feeling sort of like old Robinson, I would imagine.

 

I have never felt, no matter where I might have been, that I was ever "cut off" from Long Island or Iowa, or Kansas.  But, as Dorothy once explained, "Toto, Thailand is no way like home."

Poor Dorothy, she lacked adaptability.  She was not able to appreciate that Thailand could become her real home, or give thanks for this possibility.  Instead, due to her ungratefulness, she was caught up in a whirlwind and returned to her relatives where she lived the rest of her life in utter boredom.  But this was OK, because Dorothy was a dull and thankless girl to begin with.

 

Well, I hope I never become like Dorothy, one who does not appreciate being marooned in such a lovely and now-peaceful place as Thailand.  For sure, I do give thanks every day, while communing with my myna birds as they sing so sweetly.  It has now been over 30 days that I have been self-isolated in my room.  As a result, I am presently able to discriminate one myna bird from the next, and I recall that Darwin exercised these same powers of observation when he disembarked the Beagle, and began communing with finches on Galapagos.  Maybe there were times when he felt stranded, too. But I think he must have been quite happy and content most of the time, even on the Beagle where he suffered terrible seasickness during the voyages to and fro.  Fortunately, unlike on the Beagle, my balcony is fixed firmly to the wall of my building, and doesn't rock or sway in the wind.

 

So, the main question posed in this Post is:  What do you think it might be like for tourists to be stranded here in Thailand.  Do you think they feel trapped?  Or, do you think they have quickly adjusted and become enamored with the culture to the extent that they might just never return home, unlike that ungrateful girl, Dorothy?

[1FinickyOne]

I was first here in 1974... so, no feeling of being trapped, FT for 20 years now... but my few visits back to USA, I worried abt somehow getting trapped there and not being able to return here... 

 

nice that you can enjoy yourself here... the positive side to the old saying - "Wherever you go, there you are.." 

 

Enjoy.

[JohnBarleycorn]

12 minutes ago, kenk24 said:

I was first here in 1974... so, no feeling of being trapped, FT for 20 years now... but my few visits back to USA, I worried abt somehow getting trapped there and not being able to return here... 

 

nice that you can enjoy yourself here... the positive side to the old saying - "Wherever you go, there you are.." 

 

Enjoy.

Speaking of the wizard of OZ....

Yes, wherever you go, there you are.

 

[1FinickyOne]

ps - if you want a real taste of the culture, get out into the small cities and villages where there is less or no tourist influnece

[scubascuba3]

BTW you can go out, just use social distancing, Chonburi for example now has zero cases apparently

[Lacessit]

I don't regard myself as a tourist, having lived here for 10 years. I do return to Australia for medical checks. I deferred my return from August to November, to ensure I don't get trapped in Australia, and unable to do my next retirement extension.

I regard myself as much better off here, I have much more freedom of movement. My son in Australia is teaching via video link. From what he tells me, I would be going stir crazy there.

Government bureaucrats have a one-size-fits-all approach to problems. I don't feel trapped at all.

[Don Mega]

The thought of going home due to the WuFlu never crossed my mind... not sure it was even possible.

[cmarshall]

I thank my lucky stars that I live in Thailand that has a competent public health bureaucracy, not the US which is becoming a failed state.  Were I still living in New York City, I might have succumbed to the Trump virus.  We are much safer here in Bangkok.

[baansgr]

Providing they have access to money most may be content with having to stay. Missing family would be the biggest heartache but with Skype etc that can be partly overcome. 

[Relocated]

Being far from Mario Cuomo itself would make anyone feel exuberated. 

[BritManToo]

I'm not liking being trapped ........ desperate for a beer, weed and hookers party in Siem Reap/Phnom Penh or Saigon.

[JohnBarleycorn]

36 minutes ago, kenk24 said:

ps - if you want a real taste of the culture, get out into the small cities and villages where there is less or no tourist influnece

Will do!

After the plague passes, of course.

[JohnBarleycorn]

9 minutes ago, Retarded said:

Being far from Mario Cuomo itself would make anyone feel exuberated. 

I think the word/words you were looking for might have been either exuberant or inebriated, or probably both.

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

I'm not liking being trapped ........ desperate for a beer, weed and hookers party in Siem Reap/Phnom Penh or Saigon.

Presumably the wild one that has morphed into a German hausfrau is no longer sufficient excitement. Why don't you trade her off to Logosone?

[Puchaiyank]

It really does not matter where you are...many people are without hope...desperate...their once manageable live now filled with angst and chaos...

[Tagged]

I was more afraid of being trapped in my home country, so I decided to stay, but if I still had work home, I would have left Thailand in time. Lucky all my projects was cancelled long time before the borders closed. 

 

Two factors to be happy where you are in Thailand. Money, and no responsibillity back home. 

[geriatrickid]

2 hours ago, Retarded said:

Being far from Mario Cuomo itself would make anyone feel exuberated. 

Your name suits you well. Former Gov. Mario Cuomo died  January 1, 2015.

You make a blanket claim, and I can assure you that the deceased former governor is still held in high regard. His  son, Governor Andrew Governor is one of the most respected  state governors now and is seen as a future president of the USA. He is an honest, decent, caring and responsible man. I try to watch his press conferences. Where Trump is all about himself and  politicizes things, Cuomo has been  apolitical, and  self sacrificing  ensuring that others receive the credit.  Cuomo is a great leader and restores one's faith in the morally bankrupt USA.

 

[Walker88]

2 hours ago, Retarded said:

Being far from Mario Cuomo itself would make anyone feel exuberated. 

Is your name an admission of reality?

 

Mario Cuomo is no longer with us. It was in all the papers.

[Walker88]

Been out of the US since university, save for family visits. Chose not to go 'home' now, particularly since I knew that if someone could do something terribly wrong, the US had the perfect person in charge to mess up. I was in the US in January, when 'nobody' thought CV-19 would spread. I guessed it might, so prepared like a Boy Scout. I ordered and packed for my trip a bag of surgical masks, a couple of N95s, and a giant jug of Purell. At that time, despite warnings in the President's Daily Brief, 'that guy' chose to ignore the warnings and do nothing. 77,000 deaths and counting later (vs 55 in Thailand, or 256 in South Korea, who suffered its first CV-19 infection the same day as the US---2,210 on a population-adjusted basis) show how badly US 'leadership' handled the pandemic. Of course, getting rid of the Pandemic Response Team and the Pandemic Response Manual, which the Obama Administration had formed and which worked beautifully during the Ebola outbreak, did not help.

 

Staying out of the US was the logical move. It lessened the chance of being infected, and has the added benefit of not having to face endless news of the ongoing idiocy of US 'leadership', though I think I have the intelligence not to think drinking bleach or shooting up Lysol would be wise. Also, if one is to believe the bald faced lie that such comments were 'sarcasm', it sickens me that at a time of horrendous loss and death, a 'leader' would feel it appropriate to make jokes about it. I can watch from afar the descent of the country of my birth into a Failed State where everyone is equal under the law, except for those who are above it, and where a sizable number of my fellow 'citizens' are subscribing to Dark Age beliefs at the expense of science and rationality. The nation intended by the Founders, who were wise enough and honest enough to admit their own human failings and set up a system whose endless work-in-progress aim was to move toward enlightenment and total human equality, no longer exists. The Founders assumed---or perhaps they just hoped---that the various checks and balances would work, because there would be people of character and integrity who would occupy each branch of the govt the Founders created. They might have feared, but maybe knew there was nothing they could do to completely prevent the rise of clowns like the Freedumb Cockups or the rest of the "R" Party that has totally abandoned its role of being a check against imperial power, as if Article 1 never existed.

 

I'm happy to be far away from that Failed State, though my heart goes out to those who served and sacrificed to make the nation something much better than it currently is. My friends and colleagues I lost in service...to them I feel I owe an apology for not doing more to stop the decay that is the US today. I do not think I could stroll through Arlington National, or walk into the lobby of a building on the edge of McLean, and not feel shame.

 

In the meantime, I can enjoy things that the OP noted---I'm a great admirer of the beauty and 'attitude' of myna birds. I can also indulge in my penchant for spicy foods, particularly a well-made Panang Gai, and for reasons of competence, heat and humidity, or just dumb luck, live in a country that has been relatively unaffected by CV-19.

[moontang]

4 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

Your name suits you well. Former Gov. Mario Cuomo died  January 1, 2015.

You make a blanket claim, and I can assure you that the deceased former governor is still held in high regard. His  son, Governor Andrew Governor is one of the most respected  state governors now and is seen as a future president of the USA. He is an honest, decent, caring and responsible man. I try to watch his press conferences. Where Trump is all about himself and  politicizes things, Cuomo has been  apolitical, and  self sacrificing  ensuring that others receive the credit.  Cuomo is a great leader and restores one's faith in the morally bankrupt USA.

 

He does come across as a smart politician, with some pretty good pr skills, and the media mob behind him.  But, if you think Cuomo did a good job during the crisis, what can you say about Desantis from FL...who comes from the other side, and an even larger state, with many more senior citizens...One is a success story, the other is a catastrophe of biblical proportions.  But, if you only want to compare him to Deblasio, then yes, he is presidential material.

[Andyfez]

Thailand is the safest place I can think of at this time.

I never felt isolated here - even in self-isolation.

[Sujo]

I have no family, or property or any reason whatsoever to return to oz. My home is where i am at any given time. It is what it is and i am happy.

 

We have been locked down in malaysia for 8 weeks. Would i do it again or return to oz where u could leave your home at least. No, i wouldnt go.

[Sujo]

3 hours ago, Walker88 said:

Is your name an admission of reality?

 

Mario Cuomo is no longer with us. It was in all the papers.

Maybe he means the crooner perry como. Though he is also expired.

[ColeBOzbourne]

Several people I've talked to that are trapped here are feeling some desperation, although it's mostly their own fault for not leaving when given the warnings. They have responsibilities back home that are now difficult to manage. Not making long-term arrangements, they may have left a house unattended that they now worry about, and also have to make payments on, while also paying for housing here. They may have left pets in the temporary care of somebody. Some need to get back to their job for fear of losing it. Some worry about obtaining the same medication they were taking back home. Some are now running short of money because their three month vacation turned into a five month vacation with no definite end in sight. 

[nightbird]

4 hours ago, Tagged said:

I was more afraid of being trapped in my home country, so I decided to stay, but if I still had work home, I would have left Thailand in time. Lucky all my projects was cancelled long time before the borders closed. 

 

Two factors to be happy where you are in Thailand. Money, and no responsibillity back home. 

Those two factors, money and no responsibility in your country of origin are assets with no equal. Cherish them, nurture them, and live freely anywhere you choose. I am also in that position and have been here for many years. The USA is no longer a thought of home. It's hard to imagine being back in the USA especially with this crisis playing out the way it is. I don't think the US is coming back from this. it will get worse with economic collapse and you know how that will go. If you can stand the heat of Thailand, you can live an interesting life here. 

[thaisabai]

Thailand is the perfect place to be stuck. w

We are very lucky in comparison to what we hear from friends in the US and Europe.

Life is almost normal here unless you are an addict to bars, go-go's and beaches and alcohol (until recently, but now for sale in shops)

You can go shopping as usual. Restaurants open (no alcohol yet). Move around freely (except 10pm to 4am).

Hairdressers, laundry places, bakeries and many other services available if you know how to find them (locals are always willing to guide you in the right direction)

Delicious food and street food available as usual and people friendly as (almost) always, what more do you need?

Girls (if you are in to that) are plentiful (if you know where to look for) and ever so willing.

conclusion: sabai sabai

 

[moontang]

8 minutes ago, nightbird said:

Those two factors, money and no responsibility in your country of origin are assets with no equal. Cherish them, nurture them, and live freely anywhere you choose. I am also in that position and have been here for many years. The USA is no longer a thought of home. It's hard to imagine being back in the USA especially with this crisis playing out the way it is. I don't think the US is coming back from this. it will get worse with economic collapse and you know how that will go. If you can stand the heat of Thailand, you can live an interesting life here. 

Yet, you managed to get your 1200 usd, and the stock market regained half its losses in one month.  But, yes, the future looks bright at Thai Airways.

[Tagged]

45 minutes ago, Andyfez said:

Thailand is the safest place I can think of at this time.

I never felt isolated here - even in self-isolation.

I would not preach anything I do not know ????

 

For some reasons Thailand did not get hit as hard as many other countries, and the reason why, we do not yet know. 

 

It is not because they are better to protect themselves. At least I need to see proof that they in fact did something magic compare to other countries. 

[nightbird]

12 minutes ago, moontang said:

Yet, you managed to get your 1200 usd, and the stock market regained half its losses in one month.  But, yes, the future looks bright at Thai Airways.

Free money? Not really considering all the abuses Americans have suffered. 

 

I don't understand your real intent, though.

[Emdog]

I considered going back to USA. Been living here 20 years. I still get to pay for medicare, tho no coverage outside USA

Medicare covers 80%. If I went back and got virus it could possibly bankrupt me.

I chose to stay here. If have to die somewhere, this is far better than USA.

At least most of my estate will survive me to help my wife.