Too-tight virus policy is strangling Thai economy, experts warn

[connda]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

Too-tight virus policy is strangling economy, experts warn 

Perhaps too many experts with conflicting opinions and agendas are actually strangling the economy.  Food for thought.

 

[Saint Nick]

4 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Additionally, most will not have the money to even fly here and visit.  International Tourism as I see it is a dead prospect at least for another year or so.  People need to get back to work to make up for the losses they incurred during the past 5 months since they started loosing there jobs.  Talked to my grandfather, those folks like him in the US who are on SS and received the government $1200, went out and bought freezers and stocked up on beef and other meats to carry them down the road.  His generation, he is now 92, have always lived very frugally, and know how to stretch that dollar.  He would love to come for a visit, but still has cows to milk, and a ranch to run.  He said that unless a stiff policy is put in place the world over then we are all cooked....

You are aware, that there are countries out there, who took way better care oof their citicens, then the US did, aren't you?

Not all countries bankrupt their citizens with medical bills, for example!

Some countries actually helped their citizens financially during these times, not all people, all over the world are now to poor to pay rent!

...or a holiday!

[Aussie Col]

5 hours ago, Henryford said:

I am surprised many companies aren't taking this opportunity to move out of Thailand to Vietnam/Cambodia/India etc.

Give it time. It will happen, unless there is a sharp drop in the value of the overvalued baht

[connda]

9 hours ago, CLS said:

Only the urge to make money will bring them to reason.
But Thais have been brainwashed for 4 months and the evil foreigner was made a scapegoat for their misery. What will it take to reverse this process?

Free money!

[Aussie Col]

The reality is Airport workers are losing their jobs due to lack of tourists.

Taxi drivers aren't earning enough to support their families due to lack of tourists

Hotels are closing due to lack of tourists.

Restaurants and bars are closing due to lack of tourists.

Overall there are a 100's of thousands of people out of work due to lack of tourists in Thailand and they don't have the benefit of social security.

[paulikens]

7 hours ago, american2 said:

If the country wants to gamble...If tourists bring the virus back   how many more infections will they produce.

@american2 out come the usual im alright jack selfish brigade 

[paulikens]

JESUS!!     a thai talking some sense. although the government will ignore him.

[ChaiyaTH]

7 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

You are NEVER, EVER going to get 38 million tourists back. Give it up.

 

Breakeven is probably 30 million tourists. Anything less than that you'll lose money.

Well it always been less than 30M already as they count many millions that are not 'real' tourists. I guess 15M is more realistic unless they send entire China.

[ChaiyaTH]

As the virus is not even near dying off yet it could get very bad when the summer ends and cold rainy weather followed by winter comes. This could stay until late next year... Can imagine everyone finally opening up in a short while to then be struck again at winter. Winter is coming!

Edited July 17, 2020 by ChaiyaTH

[Madeline Thompson]

I agree with this article. It is essential Thailand open up it's borders

to tourists and economic life.  The state of emergency appears,

unquestionably to my mind, a serious threat to the economy and

an attempt to maintain power and suppress political opposition.

Thailand needs to get back to full democracy.

[EricTh]

Ironically, the death by car accident is higher than death by Covid in Thailand.

Edited July 17, 2020 by EricTh

[AndrewMciver]

20 - 30 % of the economy and the government don't want to do anything proactive to protect it? 

 

Bizarre. Where's the innovation, or the ideas coming forward?

Edited July 17, 2020 by AndrewMciver

[Raphus]

Interesting read. It has been said all along, the longer Thailand stays closed, the further the economic situation will spread into other industries and sectors. The tourism industry supports secondary industries. Straws for drinks. Chairs for bars. Beer for customers. Coffee for patrons. Food for hungry tourists. All these support industries are losing their 20% income. The loss that is being experienced goes further than just hotels.

[joecoolfrog]

7 hours ago, Yinn said:

Most Thai people not want foreigner come thailand now. 

Especilally foreigner from countrys refuse mask, selfish. 

Up to us. 

 

Be stupid allow that. 

Money not important when you dead. 

 

Control covid= Welcome to Thailand. 

 

Eg Trump think “open” before control be good for economy. 

He wrong. Control covid THEN open economy. 

 

I not want foreigner come thailand now. Most people same. 

Sorry.

Up to us. 

 

Best thing can can happen for Thai economy is= other country’s control there covid. 

 

Situation not improve. It unimprove now. 

No thankyou. 

 

 

 

 

This article is not about the USA 

, it is about the Thai economy.

How long do you think you can close the borders for without serious long term consequencies , 1 month , 3 months , 1 year ?

Europe is reopening because a balance needs to be struck between keeping people safe and allowing them to earn a living. They are also reasonably confident that social distancing protocols and robust healthcare systems mitigate against further outbreaks.

Long term lockdowns are simply not possible , they would lead to mass poverty , social unrest , a huge increase in crime and suicides would rocket.

That is in developed countries , how do you think Thailand would cope with minimal social security , huge income disparity and an economy hugely dependent on foreign tourism and investment ?

The virus is not going to go away soon so you had better hope your government are prepared for its arrival , it will have to reopen borders soon.

[AndrewMciver]

Can someone tell me why they don't just build a lab for testing at the airport? 

 

Thailand (if we are to believe) has very cases in general society, so the need for testing is very limited in that sector. Many countries are building labs that can handle up to 100,000 tests a day. The only place Thailand would need that sort of capacity for is for visitors to the country, hence why it should go at the airport. 

 

If you could build a large testing facility at the airport, get the results back quickly, and have visitors on the way. I doubt the numbers needed would be huge anyways in these coming months.

 

The alternative to inaction is destroying 20-30% of your economy, and ever closer links to China through bailouts. 

 

Makes no sense as to why they don't follow some other countries and be proactive. I can understand many countries not adopting this approach, as they already have high numbers of infections in the wider community, but Thailand claims to have none. Thus gear your testing to save your economy. 

 

Thailand should open, but open safely. Inaction is bizarre

[Destiny1990]

5 hours ago, bipper said:

There are groups saying that in Texas, Arizona, Florida, Victoria in Aus and Israel too. The old, those with serious health conditions, all health care workers and their families are not among them.

If u really want to safe lives then mandatory replace cars for horses.

[natway09]

The old chicken & the egg syndrome has arrived.

[NoshowJones]

5 hours ago, kg1947 said:

Thailand is killing their economy due to the fear of Covid-19 .

Instead of learning from other successful countries , the authorities

here they are the ones - who know best  .... 

Too proud to admit - that there are others with higher level of 

thinking brain ....

Thailand government, educated in military academies. UK and other western governments, mostly educated in universities and have degrees. go figure.

[Jumbo1968]

6 hours ago, owl sees all said:

A vaccine (not that anyone on TVF would want it) cannot prevent the C-19. It will mutate into C-21 or C22 and render the vaccine only good as a personal GPS.

 

The best thing it to build up your immune system with lots of good stuff and go out and catch it.

Agree vaccines for any disease I believe don’t stop you catching/having a disease, it just lessen the effects, so even if there is a vaccine you can still catch it and pass it on.

[barney42bb]

We are often reminded that Thailand is not reliant on Tourism and foreign Investment.... Have I missed something folks?

 

[NoshowJones]

5 hours ago, Caldera said:

I wholeheartedly agree with this article. Virus elimination is futile anyway and the cost of attempting it is outrageous.

 

Better to plan for a manageably low level of infections, as that will allow the economy (including tourism) to reboot. I think a good compromise would be to require a coronavirus test before travel plus health insurance. No silly Certificate of Entry, flight restrictions only from infection hotspots, no quarantine.

 

So if someone is waiting to come back to Thailand to be with his wife and family, he should have health insurance? So what about someone who is too old or has past health problems and cannot get health insurance, should just accept he will never see his wife and family again?

[Trillian]

2 minutes ago, barney42bb said:

We are often reminded that Thailand is not reliant on Tourism and foreign Investment.... Have I missed something folks?

 

The country is not reliant on those things in a much as terrible things would happen to the entire population if they didn't exist! But no sensible economy gives up elements that they have worked hard to develop and have grown, unless they have an extremely good reason. The country may feel that savings the population from a pandemic and a high death toll is one of those reasons.

[swerve]

The prominent investor and so-called expert in this story is a self-serving scammer idiot.  Another click bait nonsense article.

[RandG]

11 hours ago, ezzra said:

Until and when a vaccine will be found there are no other safe ways to contain the virus and stam the pandemic, if there was, every other country in the world would have done it already... so do what many others governments did, pay and support people and business to sit home... 

But unfortunately that is only sustainable for a relatively short period of time. 

[Blue Water Sailor]

9 hours ago, AhFarangJa said:

Certainly not the case here in Hua Hin. Last night at least 90% of Thais were walking along without masks, only putting them on when they had to enter any premises. As for social distancing, lots of local restaurants with eight round a table all eating from the same four dishes on the table. I think everyone is getting tired of the rules and restrictions. 

This whole thing is BS 

[gameyey]

I like the idea of opening up completely internally like Vietnam did, as there is no community transmission whats the point of all the confusing little rules towards each type of business and what people are allowed or required to do? It's pretty close now with even some nightclubs open, but ridiculous when some bars ban dancing, and some restaurants still won't let you sit more than 5 people on the same table.

 

They should just focus their effort making sure nobody brings it back in, mass tourism should not be the first priority, but everyone with work or family in Thailand should be allowed to return with a reasonable 10-14day quarantine and testing package, without all the bureaucracy, hassle and uncertainty. They could also just allow people who are already here to stay, as it seems like a terrible idea to force people out who can afford to be here and spend money.

[DogNo1]

On BBC yesterday, I learned that the Thai population is rather old.  Since we now know that the virus attacks many organs in the body including the blood vessels, catching the virus can result in a fate worse than death for old people - lifetime disability.  Thailand could do as America has done: open up and experience a huge number of cases.  Once again hospitals are overwhelmed with seriously ill and are experiencing a shortage of PPE.  There is also a shortage of tests.  People are waiting in many-hours-long lines to get tested with no toilet facilities available any where.  Those tested outside of hospitals are waiting as long as ten days to get their test results back.  If Thailand were to let in tourists and suffer a couple of local outbreaks it could result in a nightmarish situation.  At my age of 77, with six stents in my heart and weak kidneys, the outcome could be bad.

 

I have information from the front lines in America.  My daughter works in healthcare and still can't get tested because she lacks certain criteria.  My sister had to be tested last week before her knee replacement and because of her weak bladder control, suffered three "accidents" before she was able to be tested.  She had brought along a couple of diapers but went through all of them.

 

There is a solution that the business people don't want to consider.  That is to continue the government payouts and allow the national debt to increase.  That would eventually result in a fall in the value of the Baht which they definitely don't want.

[Trillian]

2 minutes ago, gameyey said:

I like the idea of opening up completely internally like Vietnam did, as there is no community transmission

What you've written is confusing, Vietnam is closed to foreigners:

 

https://www.vietnam-briefing.com/news/covid-19-vietnam-travel-updates-restrictions.html/

[ukrules]

9 hours ago, hotandsticky said:

Perhaps a coup in the UK would have resulted in less than 45,000 deaths.

Based on what I've been reading the UK COVID death figures are complete fiction anyway.

 

It looks like someone decided to count the death of anyone who has had COVID at any point in the past, even if they had it in say February and died yesterday from any cause - they're going on the list. This is an emerging scandal, probably politically motivated by some government hating official in PHE.

 

[mommysboy]

Thailand has boxed itself in to an impossible corner and there is no way out at this stage.  It didn't even have a first wave anyway.  An extremely severe recession is beginning to make itself known, and even a return to some semblance of normality will bring modest economic benefits, yet raise the almost certain prospect of a real outbreak.  Besides reopening tourism won't be like pressing the standby button again: the movie is long over.  The population appears terrified of even small spikes  The damage has already been done, and the nation must live with it somehow.  A good way to start might be looking after its poor and vulnerable.