Playing devil's advocate here:

 

- Thailand currently has many thousands of visa-less foreigners from different continents who could return to their native country and are young enough to not be at risk from covid-19, or could travel to a third country such as Turkey or Mexico, but they don't want to because they prefer Thailand and so are claiming leave to remain in Thailand. 

 

- The UK currently has many thousands of visa-less foreigners from different continents who could return to their native country, or more importantly to France where they safely were before a small boat carried them across the English Channel, but they don't want to because they prefer the UK so are claiming leave to remain in the UK.    

Try getting into Thailand using an inflatable boat up the Gulf of Thailand with no passport and see what happens.

Of course it is a fair comparison. Many many retirees are here because they cannot afford the prices back home. And no family support. So they come here for a better life. Economic refugee.

 

Similarly, there are  migrants in western countries, who left the poverty in their home country to find a better life and food to eat. Economic refugee.

17 minutes ago, Promula said:

Thailand currently has many thousands of visa-less foreigners from different continents who could return to their native country and are young enough to not be at risk from covid-19, or could travel to a third country such as Turkey or Mexico, but they don't want to because they prefer Thailand and so are claiming leave to remain in Thailand. 

I don't think they are asking to stay for the rest of their life, and be given the rights to work etc etc ......as in the foreigners in the UK.

12 minutes ago, saakura said:

Of course it is a fair comparison. Many many retirees are here because they cannot afford the prices back home. And no family support. So they come here for a better life. Economic refugee.

 

Similarly, there are  migrants in western countries, who left the poverty in their home country to find a better life and food to eat. Economic refugee.

Yes but the retirees ,note retirees ,came to Thailand with their money ,pay for everything ,get nothing free from the govt, have legal visas so contribute to the Thai economy ,so no comparison whatsoever to the economic migrants who come to Britain ,get free accomadation ,free money every week and when they are refused the right to stay get free legal aid to keep them their for years  ,with very little chance of being sent home.

 

34 minutes ago, DaLa said:

Try getting into Thailand using an inflatable boat up the Gulf of Thailand with no passport and see what happens.

Happens quite often on the Andaman side of the country https://www.fortifyrights.org/tha-inv-2019-06-12/

yes they feed them ,give them water and send them on their way ,its been reported many times ,also the numbers doing it are tiny compared to those coming from War Torn Calais.

In the uk they can claim 'asylum', almost all are liars then get put up in 4 star hotels and given 40 quid a week, any attempt to remove them when the claims and years of appeals fails, even after a prison sentence is met with lawyers claiming deportation contravenes something called human rights.

In Thailand if you are found to have no legal right to be here you are arrested and stuck in the IDC until you pay for a fare home, then are blacklisted on the way out. Thailand has a better system.

Then again, that's a matter of perspective. There are people who believe that, like birds, having been born on this planet and being part of it, they're entitled to live on whichever bit of it they want.

 

A hundred years ago or so ago, or a thousand, they'd be right. National borders set up by the locals to assume control over people born outside of them is a recent development.

On 10/10/2020 at 4:37 PM, saakura said:

Of course it is a fair comparison. Many many retirees are here because they cannot afford the prices back home. And no family support. So they come here for a better life. Economic refugee.

 

Similarly, there are  migrants in western countries, who left the poverty in their home country to find a better life and food to eat. Economic refugee.

 

The difference is the retiree earned his money.

 

The economic refugees in the West now have not gone to work, but to play the social security system.

 

They are not the same as the migrants decades ago (e.g. Irish going to USA, Indian going to UK, Greek going Australia) who went to work, earn, and integrate.