Put safety before money - academic warns about opening country too quickly to "infected" foreigners

[Yogiran]

It can be done smartly and safely. 

For example, there are a number of longstay /WP expats in Vietnam, that want to go back. The ones I know are from chiang mai, its an easy transition from vn, 0 deaths about 300 infected. Many have recovered. Vietnam has done the best job as far as I can see, being so close to China, and Koreans love to visit here. 

[4MyEgo]

21 hours ago, Brunolem said:

A more adapted word than "racist" would be "xenophobic"...

 

Anyway, with its extreme reliance on tourism, Thailand is caught between a rock and a hard place...open the gates to the tourists and the virus, or keep the gates closed and millions unemployed.

Xenophobic absolutely, especially the ones at the top, let's not forget about the race in general, they are IMO, shameless, their cultural "loss of face" attitude shows how deep it goes.

 

Reliance on tourism, absolutely, the chart below reminds me of a property market rising for years and then all of a sudden when it hits it's peaked, the bubble sometimes pops or the market drops sharply, I imagine the ride is well over and Thailand won't see these numbers for decades if ever again.

 

It's going to go a long way down for Thailand IMHO as a lot of their comments regarding farangs since Covid-19 didn't go down well with a lot of us, and I am not one to take it on the chin, so I post them on my FB page for those friends of mine that would usually come here annually to see and other, and the feedback I have received is Thailand is toast, burnt so to speak.

 

I for one will be making the move back with the family by the end of year after living here for 5 years, yes we all have choices, wife and the kids are ectatic. It does helps when true colours are shown by those you try to live with. I can understand we are tolerated by most Thai's, however comments like farangs and foreigners not wearing masks, and bringing diseases shows the level of education these people at the top have, and unfortunately their humble puppets believe them.

 

I feel for those who depend on, not only the tourist dollars, but the money we farang living here contribute to their economy, suffice to say, if we also look how they treat their own environment and do little to enforce the laws to make changes for the better, we start to see a lot of other things that just aren't right, so when one put everything into perspective, one can make a clear decision without having to think about making the move back, e.g. there is only so much a Koala can bare.

 

Fortunate to have money to return to my homeland........been an interesting 5 years, no regrets, but as I said above, Thailand is toast !

 

Edited May 30, 2020 by 4MyEgo

[Stargeezr]

I do hope that Thailand at least opens some international flights so some Thais can

leave Thailand, and some Thias and their spouses can get back to Thailand.

  If Vietnam or Cambodia open to international travel, they will get the early

brave tourists. Checks and demanding addresses, phone numbers, and a report

back within 24 hours from inbound travellers could be a requirement, and if

any travellers cheat, put them on a wanted list for a big fine or one year in jail, as

most people have to leave at some time, and their names can be flagged.

The important thing is to get some airlines operating before they are

all totally bankrupt.  Time for the uh former general to think of

the Thai businesses and people and the future.

Geezer

Edited May 30, 2020 by Stargrazer9889
errors

[tomauasia]

8 hours ago, GAZZPA said:

You're going way off topic now. My point was much more simple in that the tourist industry in Thailand being 20% estimated GDP is a huge part of the economy. The reason for all the other points you raise are a different thing entirely and I will never understand why the powers that be in Thailand behave the way they do towards foreigners. My suspicion (and it is just that) is that military are a function that is purely to defend the country. They have a very strong view on that almost boarding on racism, they are not and will never be professional politicians with a balanced view of the outside world, resident expats and the economy. For me that seems to be what we see with the very anti foreign attitude running from the top down through Thai society. I remember the big sign behind the (self appointed) prime minister on his daily speech, it simply stated "Thailand is for Thais",, that says it all. 

It's no longer Thailand. Its Armyland they don't care about foriegn tourists. ARMY hate whites jealous racist old fools. They love Chinacorona.

[asiaexpat]

It always amazes me how every time a Thai government person uses the term "foreigner" westerners cry racism. The last time I checked there were many countries outside Thailand and all would be classified as "foreigners." I am reminded of USA and Blacks who cry racism all the time. As to letting foreigners enter Thailand at this time I agree it is very risky. Until worldwide controls are in place the risk is great that infected people will escape detection and spread the virus regardless where they come from.

[tomauasia]

1 hour ago, 4MyEgo said:

Xenophobic absolutely, especially the ones at the top, let's not forget about the race in general, they are IMO, shameless, their cultural "loss of face" attitude shows how deep it goes.

 

Reliance on tourism, absolutely, the chart below reminds me of a property market rising for years and then all of a sudden when it hits it's peaked, the bubble sometimes pops or the market drops sharply, I imagine the ride is well over and Thailand won't see these numbers for decades if ever again.

 

It's going to go a long way down for Thailand IMHO as a lot of their comments regarding farangs since Covid-19 didn't go down well with a lot of us, and I am not one to take it on the chin, so I post them on my FB page for those friends of mine that would usually come here annually to see and other, and the feedback I have received is Thailand is toast, burnt so to speak.

 

I for one will be making the move back with the family by the end of year after living here for 5 years, yes we all have choices, wife and the kids are ectatic. It does helps when true colours are shown by those you try to live with. I can understand we are tolerated by most Thai's, however comments like farangs and foreigners not wearing masks, and bringing diseases shows the level of education these people at the top have, and unfortunately their humble puppets believe them.

 

I feel for those who depend on, not only the tourist dollars, but the money we farang living here contribute to their economy, suffice to say, if we also look how they treat their own environment and do little to enforce the laws to make changes for the better, we start to see a lot of other things that just aren't right, so when one put everything into perspective, one can make a clear decision without having to think about making the move back, e.g. there is only so much a Koala can bare.

 

Fortunate to have money to return to my homeland........been an interesting 5 years, no regrets, but as I said above, Thailand is toast !

 

Forget this place it's finished and there finished. Even going back it will never be the same. I'm going to Vietnam adios 

[tomauasia]

9 hours ago, paulikens said:

so why has thailand in the last 5 years made it so hard foreigners to stay longer than a couple of weeks if tourism is so important? why is it they have totally shut down their country when they have hardly any cases of the virus and are still not opening their country for tourists and yet again are gonna make it near on impossible to get in?yet europe is starting to open up again. why is the thai baht staying strong and will remain strong even tho they have no tourists?   but according to you is beyond catastrophic?  i genuinely wanna know as i admit im no expert on economics and would like it explained to me. apart from the man in charge is anti foreigner surely the 20%  is more important than his non love for us?

They are manipulating the Baht..My friend is a broker in Sydney. He followed all Asian currency. He says 3 months there Baht folds.

[johnarth]

According to my daughter Australia is back to normal, no problems but not raving about it, a nice way of saying stay away

[Almer]

22 hours ago, totally thaied up said:

Yet the million dollar question is why Thailand did not suffer like others. We had the Chinese in here by the bucket load, yet it seems it did take off. What stopped it? That's my question.

Not all Chinese had the virus 1.4 billion population big country 

[wazzupnow]

as far as i know all new cases are thai nationals

[digger70]

12 hours ago, DavisH said:

All Thais go into quarantine. And so should any forein tourist, for at least 14 days, when they step foot in this country. But that won't happen as I don't believe that anyone from Europe or the Americas eill be allowed into Thailand over the coming months. I mean months...it will be a long time. Thailand is better off srimulating domestic tourism in the short term. 

What about the ones that Sneak in Around the Checkpoint at the border . They Nabbed a few But How many do get In ?

[Henryford]

But of course that excludes the Chinese.

[tomauasia]

23 hours ago, Brunolem said:

A more adapted word than "racist" would be "xenophobic"...

 

Anyway, with its extreme reliance on tourism, Thailand is caught between a rock and a hard place...open the gates to the tourists and the virus, or keep the gates closed and millions unemployed.

They are racist +

[Curt1591]

All the "teachers" I know have been furloughed during this episode. I wonder how many "academics" have suffered the same fate. 

[spidermike007]

17 hours ago, Abmong said:

Well, the academic fails to link money to food and rooves over peoples heads. Where did he get his doctorate, Assumption University? Is he going to pay for all the food and rent of all those out of work? I thought not. Absolutely useless, more degrees than sense. The country must open, but take appropriate protective measures and ban high risk countries for the time being.

Have you noticed that nearly everyone calling for a further lockdown, including many posters on this forum, are either enjoying a full salary, or collecting a cushy pension, with plenty of savings in the bank. Fauci, who is collecting a salary of over $30,000 a month, is one of these fools, who goes on and on about the need to stay locked down. While the fat deposits arrive in his account. Easy to say, when you are protected against the blow. A bit like wearing full body armor to a fistfight. 

[spidermike007]

11 hours ago, paulikens said:

so why has thailand in the last 5 years made it so hard foreigners to stay longer than a couple of weeks if tourism is so important? why is it they have totally shut down their country when they have hardly any cases of the virus and are still not opening their country for tourists and yet again are gonna make it near on impossible to get in?yet europe is starting to open up again. why is the thai baht staying strong and will remain strong even tho they have no tourists?   but according to you is beyond catastrophic?  i genuinely wanna know as i admit im no expert on economics and would like it explained to me. apart from the man in charge is anti foreigner surely the 20%  is more important than his non love for us?

You are asking the right questions. Frankly, it completely mystifies me that most of the major economies of the world united in shutting down their economies, for the first time in recorded history. There are so many reasons it has never been done before. It is an experiment in insanity, and all of the forecasts mean nothing, as they are based on nothing. I do know the opening of the economy is going to be far harder, take far longer, and it is going to end up being 200 times worse than Covid itself. Millions of businesses will never reopen. Unemployment will remain high worldwide, for years to come, especially if there are second waves, which are bound to happen in the US, and Europe. 

 

In terms of tourism, all of the nations that Thailand targeted, have been hardest hit by both the shutdown, and Covid. So, it will be a long time before they start returning in any sort of meaningful numbers. Thailand (and the rest of the planet) is in for a world of hurt. 

[uhuh]

34 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Have you noticed that nearly everyone calling for a further lockdown, including many posters on this forum, are either enjoying a full salary, or collecting a cushy pension, with plenty of savings in the bank. Fauci, who is collecting a salary of over $30,000 a month, is one of these fools, who goes on and on about the need to stay locked down. While the fat deposits arrive in his account. Easy to say, when you are protected against the blow. A bit like wearing full body armor to a fistfight. 

I know people whose income dropped to zero,  no government help,  living on savings.  And they are still happy that there is a lock down. 

 

On the economics of not dying

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/28/opinion/coronavirus-economy-death.html

[Prairieboy]

A racist headline for sure.

 

[4MyEgo]

5 hours ago, tomauasia said:

Forget this place it's finished and there finished. Even going back it will never be the same. I'm going to Vietnam adios 

Agree, only difference with going back home and going elsewhere as I have just found out is that if you have kids back in your home country, the government gives you all the support in the world, i.e. if you keep what you earn under their threshold of $55k AUS, and the amount in support they provide you with till the kids turn = the amount of what you would be paying in rent, so all we have to do is pay for your food and utility costs etc etc as we do here, and its not asset tested.

 

Sometimes earning to much money while working and passing the government threshold as I used to before I retired here, obviously blinds one, i.e. had I known there was this amount e.g. 640,000 per annum of support for just having kids (4), I would have more than likely not moved to retire here, as you say, it's finished.

 

Good luck in Vietnam, a place I would probably visit with a mate or two to put some numbers on the board while the Mrs looks after the kids while I am away on a short trip ????

 

Edited May 30, 2020 by 4MyEgo

[Woolsgibb60]

On 5/29/2020 at 5:02 AM, totally thaied up said:

Yet the million dollar question is why Thailand did not suffer like others. We had the Chinese in here by the bucket load, yet it seems it did take off. What stopped it? That's my question.

I like to know the month thailand hit the peak with the virus and the fall off Thailand must be the only country in the world who didnt hit the peak there never been any reports in thailand saying when thailand hit the peak every country report the month they hit the peak 

[Accidental Tourist]

Too much talk about "Foreign tourism" at this stage. EU is open up right now and in the next 2 weeks and we will see how much input on Corona might this have. Mind you there will be mostly not much restriction except for a "Face mask and social distancing". No virus test or quarantine...

As for Thailand: International tourist have to air travel to the country, and air travel will open slowly and properly being more expensive than before the pandemic. So big arrivals will not be happen soon; if Thailand insist on quarantine and medical certificate, I doubt that big numbers will be happen at all. After all Holiday supposed to be FUN not PUNISHMENT.

[Patts]

17 hours ago, Anton9 said:

You just reported the death rate of those hospitalised, who are a very small percentage of all the infected.

Fact remains that you saying Covid is the same as Flu is BS. Covid has a much higher mortality rate then seasonal flu and kills far far more healthy people between 20 to 59 years old

[paulikens]

9 hours ago, Pattaya46 said:

Uh? What are you talking about ?? Seems to me that a huge number of tourists can easily stay 60 days in Thailand without even needing a visa. And seems it's even easier (before Covid) than 5 years ago.

what are you talking about? 5 years ago i was getting a 6 month visa tourist visa,now even for a tourist visa which is now only 3 months,you need to have to prove where your staying when you get there with a copy of a rent book or such from your landlord and have 5000k in ya bank, measures they have just applied so how is that easier?

[Patts]

18 hours ago, GAZZPA said:

I thought everybody is aware of this by now. The older people and people with underlying conditions are at much higher risk then the younger and healthier people. Pretty clear to me so must be to everybody else by now. Of course it doesn't mean younger people are immune, it's still a risk but less so... Simple stuff to understand really.

 

Simple for anyone who can read and has some common sense, sadly some of the comments indicate otherwise 

[Patts]

18 hours ago, Anton9 said:

You just reported the death rate of those hospitalised, who are a very small percentage of all the infected.

Oh well if it's only a small percentage of young people who die I guess it's ok then, I can only imagine that you're not a father or worse still you just don't care about others

[paulikens]

5 hours ago, tomauasia said:

They are manipulating the Baht..My friend is a broker in Sydney. He followed all Asian currency. He says 3 months there Baht folds.

well ive always thought that but then surely they cant do that forever,yet the baht has been strong for 3-4 years now so i dont know.

[Grumpy John]

15 minutes ago, paulikens said:

well ive always thought that but then surely they cant do that forever,yet the baht has been strong for 3-4 years now so i dont know.

One can only hope the baht gets a whipping. 

[Pattaya46]

46 minutes ago, paulikens said:

what are you talking about? 5 years ago i was getting a 6 month visa tourist visa,now even for a tourist visa which is now only 3 months,you need to have to prove where your staying when you get there with a copy of a rent book or such from your landlord and have 5000k in ya bank, measures they have just applied so how is that easier?

Uh?

You said "Thailand [] made it so hard foreigners to stay longer than a couple of weeks"

I replied that many tourists can easily stay a couple of months, and not even need a visa.

Why talking now about 3 months or 6 months ? 

The huge majority of tourists only stay a few weeks. (and never do TM.30 )

[connda]

I whole-hearted agree.  Keep those <da*m> farang tourist locked out until at least 2021 if not longer.  You know.  They wear smelly cloths and don't take showers.  Their money probably smells too.  Vile Covid-carries each and everyone.  Lock Them Out!!!

[Woolsgibb60]

1 hour ago, paulikens said:

what are you talking about? 5 years ago i was getting a 6 month visa tourist visa,now even for a tourist visa which is now only 3 months,you need to have to prove where your staying when you get there with a copy of a rent book or such from your landlord and have 5000k in ya bank, measures they have just applied so how is that easier?

A 6 months tourist visa u need to show rent agreement and £5000 in bank showing it been there 6 month and they are pulling u now with a 6 months tourist they are saying u are not a proper tourist u are living in Thailand they pull me in don muaeng and stop my Visa and told me if I ever try to entry thailand on a multi tourist I would not be allow in to thailand I went to penang for 1 and return at when they pull me he give me the 60 days and told me I can extend 30 days and I would not get the other 60 days so I got 120 days out of the 180 days so I could not get them extra 60 days he stop them days and told me dont try to enter thailand with any multi tourist visa u not be allow in