Phuket Opinion: A storm is brewing

[webfact]

People in Karon queue for food parcels provided by the PPAO earlier this month. Photo: Kata-Karon Municipality

 

By The Phuket News

 

PHUKET: The relief and financial support measures for employees and businesses suffering from lockdown measures in the ‘dark red’ COVID high risk areas have already been announced in a move that snubs the rest of the country.

 

The national Social Security Office on Wednesday (July 21) announced a slew of income relief measures for those in dark red zones suffering financial distress. The support ranges from B2,500, to B5,000 for some, and B7,500 to B10,000 for others, depending on their circumstances. To see the full range of financial and income relief measures being offered (in Thai), click here.

 

Of course all help should go to those in need and suffering due to circumstances beyond their control, but these latest measures announced by the SSO came just nine days after the “not a lockdown” measures were brought into effect.

 

Full story: https://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-opinion-a-storm-is-brewing-80810.php

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2021-07-26

 

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[sammieuk1]

A little to late for this government to start buying affection. this and supporting schools on the same day what's going on ????

[nobodysfriend]

3 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

what's going on

Social discontent is growing fast now .

[IamNoone88]

10,000, mostly very low quality tourists looking for beers and bar girls while riding around on cheap scooters. Glad to see double road blocks getting their back handers in action within days of the sandbox and the tuk tuks blocking beach road in Patong, despite hardly any customers. The sleeze is back and you cannot teach old dogs new tricks.

[ThailandRyan]

Not just Social discontent, but people who are suffering and their families are being left to fend for themselves.  Many others who have a little more are sharing as they can while this Governments social services net inadequacies has been exposed for what it is.  You either pay into a programs and then pay taxes then you are entitled to a meager handout.  If you were never lucky enough to have a job outside of living under the table, well then you are left to fend for your own.  I know families that are also suffering from severe depression and others who have lost everything they had because of the lack of ability to operate their businesses while they watch the folks who have friends in high places still keep their companies, factories, construction sites open.  I hope that the public does wake up from the abuse they have been living under and is able to one day take their beautiful country back.  Until then if you are able to assist them like my GF and I are please adopt a few families and buy them the necessities to live a daily life, they are extremely happy to accept it, many are to proud to ask, but the smiles you see when you give them the necessities show it is worth it.

[1duckyboy]

Sounds like Sandbox window dressing so the first wave of tourists get a less negative impression of Thailand and/or it's government.  

Edited July 26, 2021 by 1duckyboy

[spidermike007]

A storm is brewing alright. When your policies allow Covid to spread throughout the nation, then bungle the vaccination effort, and shut down millions of businesses, without providing an adequate safety net, people are going to get angry. 

 

And all this happened due to the extreme lack of talent appointed to begin with. Picking from the bottom of the barrel is never a good idea. But, sticking with those same incompetent fools during a national emergency is a far worse idea. 

 

Congrats Prayuth. You have reduced your nation, in seven years, from the Tiger of SE Asia, to a whiny, feeble, sickly, skinny, disease infested back soi alley cat, barely clinging to life. 

[NCC1701A]

you know things are bad when old girlfriends I have not heard from in years are texting saying they forgive me. 

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Congrats Prayuth. You have reduced your nation, in seven years, from the Tiger of SE Asia, to a whiny, feeble, sickly, skinny, disease infested back soi alley cat, barely clinging to life. 

Thailand COVID deaths 3,500, UK COVID deaths 130,000, US COVID deaths 610,000.

What do you have to say about the UK & US governments SM?

[connda]

Just transfer food and wages from the migrants locked in factories nationwide and give it to Thais. 
Are those migrate workers eating their shoes yet? 

[connda]

1 hour ago, NCC1701A said:

you know things are bad when old girlfriends I have not heard from in years are texting saying they forgive me. 

Especially when whatever it was wasn't your fault. 

[Peabody]

56 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Thailand COVID deaths 3,500, UK COVID deaths 130,000, US COVID deaths 610,000.

What do you have to say about the UK & US governments SM?

See UKNow.com and USNow.com.

This is AseanNow.com

[Peabody]

3 hours ago, IamNoone88 said:

10,000, mostly very low quality tourists looking for beers and bar girls while riding around on cheap scooters. Glad to see double road blocks getting their back handers in action within days of the sandbox and the tuk tuks blocking beach road in Patong, despite hardly any customers. The sleeze is back and you cannot teach old dogs new tricks.

Are you in Phuket? Patong is nothing as you describe

[connda]

3 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

I know families that are also suffering from severe depression and others who have lost everything they had because of the lack of ability to operate their businesses while they watch the folks who have friends in high places still keep their companies, factories, construction sites open. 

The war on the low-income earners started back in 2014 and has never let up.  Push the entrepreneurs and vendors off the streets in the name of cleaning up Thailand (Khao San Road is now the poster child for a Sterilized Thailand that now has all of the uniqueness of a puddle of dried cement) and since they declared The Plague Will Kill Us All they have specifically targeted low and middle income shops, vendors, and business as non-essential (forcing them to close) while calling large corporate stores as well as malls as essential and allow them to prosper. 
Now they have decimated the lower class and created more and more poverty with even more heading this way.  If you're part of the government's system you're taken care of.  If you're not then you're kicked to the side of the rice field and told to feed with the buffalo.
Remember when some exiled politician said he's "coming back?"  Any idea what wave he'd be riding on his return.   I've no dog in the fight.  Just an observer making an observation regarding the mechanics of social unrest, its causes, and its potential outcomes.
If getting the entire population on a life-long vaccination schedule to enrich a minority while throwing 1/3 of the country into abject poverty is a goal. 
Look out. 

[spidermike007]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Thailand COVID deaths 3,500, UK COVID deaths 130,000, US COVID deaths 610,000.

What do you have to say about the UK & US governments SM?

Well, I have alot to say. Obviously, things could have been handled far better. And the mistakes of the Trump administration are too many to list. The US botched it on so many levels. But, without the Delta variant, the US was on the path to a quick recovery, and the economy seems to be doing ok. Unlike here, where the economy is absolutely decimated.

 

Though the total number of deaths is a factor, the quality of life for those who remain alive has to be considered to be far more important. And that is the crux of the issue here. The haphazard, selective process used with regard to shutdowns, shows you just how unfair, and partial these toxic goons leading the nation are. Destroy the little man (85% of the nation?) while allowing the rich goombahs free reign, all the while spreading the disease all over the nation. 

[spidermike007]

These creeps keep on harping about what we should do to curb the spread of Covid.

How about if we turn this around on them. I don't know about you, but I am quite angry right now. They allowed this to happen, after all. This could have been so easily prevented. So, what the ex-pat community, and the Thai people should be asking is:

1. How can you demonstrate to us, that you are up for the task of leadership?
2. What are you doing to prove that you can and will protect us?
3. Instead of contact tracing us, how about we trace you, and make sure you are doing your job? How about you report to us daily, and let us know how you are handling and containing this epidemic that happened on your watch? Stop talking, and start working, and doing your jobs.
4. Why did you not prevent this? How did you allow these corrupt officials to let infected people in? Why is nobody in a position of power being arrested? Why aren't heads rolling?
5. Why are you not making the vaccines more of a priority? Why isn't the army sacrificing some of its huge budget for the people? 
6. What are you planning on offering the people in the way of assistance, so they can survive this disaster you helped create?
7. Can you demonstrate to us why you think Anutin, who has no background whatsoever in the filed of health, is up for the task of tackling this emergency? And if not, why is he not resigning now?
8. And why are you shutting down so many businesses, yet you allowed ground zero (Samut, and now Bangkok) to remain open to people coming and going since this latest outbreak happened? Why such bad decisions, and such extreme incompetence? How do you justify that? How do you explain that? Thousands of cases emanated from Samut province. You knew that would happen. 
9. How about a compulsory level of competence and experience, for all future administration appointments to key positions?
10. Why have you been so hard on foreigners, making it so incredibly difficult to fly in, yet so lax on the borders?
11. Why should we allow you to remain in power? What have you done lately to deserve that power? 

And in addition to the 40,000 expats and business people, how many tourists have signed onto your ridiculous sandbox quarantine program? Total? 8,000? Maybe? 
 
Any program requiring quarantine is destined to fail. Testing and vaccines. That is the answer. 
 
Trillions of dollars in tourism infrastructure is at stake, and millions of jobs. Man up. Get with the program. Stop the fear mongering, and roll out some creative and progressive programs. And be courageous and offer your people some real help. 3,500 baht per month for two months may be better than nothing, but it will not change lives. If the army was serious and cared, it could dig into its own multi billion dollar treasury. Same applies to other billionaires here. 

[Srikcir]

2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Congrats Prayuth. You have reduced your nation, in seven years, from the Tiger of SE Asia, to a whiny, feeble, sickly, skinny, disease infested back soi alley cat, barely clinging to life. 

The irony of your statement (that might serve as a satire) is that Prayut was a member of the army's "eastern tigers" faction, belonging to the Queen's Guard as elite troops of the 21st infantry Regiment within the 2nd infantry Division.

[spidermike007]

12 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

The irony of your statement (that might serve as a satire) is that Prayut was a member of the army's "eastern tigers" faction, belonging to the Queen's Guard as elite troops of the 21st infantry Regiment within the 2nd infantry Division.

Can you even imagine having him as one of your guards? He would be the last one I would ever choose to protect me. Must have been a favor of some sort.

[spidermike007]

4 hours ago, IamNoone88 said:

10,000, mostly very low quality tourists looking for beers and bar girls while riding around on cheap scooters. Glad to see double road blocks getting their back handers in action within days of the sandbox and the tuk tuks blocking beach road in Patong, despite hardly any customers. The sleeze is back and you cannot teach old dogs new tricks.

I seriously doubt what you are saying is the slightest bit accurate. More likely the majority are returning ex-pats. And there are very few girls to chase around, at this time. Nearly all the bar and massage girls have gone home. Same applies to Samui, and likely Pattaya. Not much to hang around for.

[thaibeachlovers]

2 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

you know things are bad when old girlfriends I have not heard from in years are texting saying they forgive me. 

Funny that. My ex tried to contact me through facethingy via my sister ( I don't use facethingy ) to ask me to come back.

It didn't work.

[xylophone]

4 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Until then if you are able to assist them like my GF and I are please adopt a few families and buy them the necessities to live a daily life, they are extremely happy to accept it, many are to proud to ask, but the smiles you see when you give them the necessities show it is worth it.

I haven't actually adopted a family, although the number of Thais I have tried to help would probably account for at least three or more families.

 

In the main the people are happy to accept what you can give, and one girl I helped with 10,000 baht as a gift to enable her to feed her three children and buy school uniforms for them, wanted to pay it back at some time, but I said there was no problem and she should consider it a gift without need of payback.

 

A few times when I've been shopping I have handed out a few hundred baht here and there to assist with filling shopping baskets, yet just the other day I offered a Thai woman a few hundred baht to help buy some food in a supermarket and she said she didn't want it, and I matter how much I proffered it, she wouldn't take it!!

 

As individuals we can only help where we can, and there is a guy called Dave (owner of the Halfway Inn resto bar) in Patong who has organised several collections of food, clothes and unwanted odds and ends to be able to distribute amongst the poor and he does a great job, however so much more is needed, and it should be a government-sponsored initiative – – but we all know that they are next to fxxxking useless.

[thaibeachlovers]

42 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Same applies to other billionaires here. 

I doubt anyone became a billionaire by giving their money to other people.

The rich in Thailand are seriously rich, and I expect them to still be seriously rich when corona departs. I for one doubt they will be "helping" poor people.

Ask yourself why, before corona, western people had to run charities in LOS.

[Somtamnication]

2 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

you know things are bad when old girlfriends I have not heard from in years are texting saying they forgive me. 

LOL. I was wondering why Noi, Hoi and Moi called me this week. That explains it!

[chilly07]

The Kitty Litter has already had way more than it's fair share of priority support! Complaining that Bangkok has priority  when they are suffering a real pandemic is ridiculous. And even though Pattaya is in a deep red zone like Bangkok and has local businesses shut down like Phuket Chonburi recieves zilch vaccine support and zilch financial support because it is sucked away by hard luck stories from the failed kitty litter experiment and by the Bangkok billionaires and their slave labour camps!

[RocketDog]

4 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

A storm is brewing alright. When your policies allow Covid to spread throughout the nation, then bungle the vaccination effort, and shut down millions of businesses, without providing an adequate safety net, people are going to get angry. 

 

And all this happened due to the extreme lack of talent appointed to begin with. Picking from the bottom of the barrel is never a good idea. But, sticking with those same incompetent fools during a national emergency is a far worse idea. 

 

Congrats Prayuth. You have reduced your nation, in seven years, from the Tiger of SE Asia, to a whiny, feeble, sickly, skinny, disease infested back soi alley cat, barely clinging to life. 

Well said Mike.

Specifically, worm and blood -sucking parasite infected.

[2umich]

Why would government to bother about vaccine rollout if they can just lock you down. Imagine what government would do if everyone refuse to be locked.

[IamNoone88]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

I seriously doubt what you are saying is the slightest bit accurate. More likely the majority are returning ex-pats. And there are very few girls to chase around, at this time. Nearly all the bar and massage girls have gone home. Same applies to Samui, and likely Pattaya. Not much to hang around for.

Take a trip to Patong. Agreed, many expats are returning and included in the numbers.

[Mansell]

The incompetence is staggering within the country by the so-called leaders. And we full know they and their cronies have all been vaccinated, and probably with the best vaccines available. There seems to be no forward thinking at all. Last year any person with a decent functioning brain should have been planning for this year. Just observing the other countries around the world who were handling this new phase with some success should have given indicators of what direction to go…..instead they seem to have used countries like Brazil for guidance. 
All this nightmare proves is that military leaders are the last people to be in charge, especially in what amounts to a national emergency. Eventually the Thai people like the people of Myanmar will have had enough……hopefully it doesn’t become a bloodbath. Prayut should resign today based on his complete incompetence and failure to lead the country out of this looming human disaster.

[Pumpuynarak]

4 minutes ago, Mansell said:

The incompetence is staggering within the country by the so-called leaders. And we full know they and their cronies have all been vaccinated, and probably with the best vaccines available. There seems to be no forward thinking at all. Last year any person with a decent functioning brain should have been planning for this year. Just observing the other countries around the world who were handling this new phase with some success should have given indicators of what direction to go…..instead they seem to have used countries like Brazil for guidance. 
All this nightmare proves is that military leaders are the last people to be in charge, especially in what amounts to a national emergency. Eventually the Thai people like the people of Myanmar will have had enough……hopefully it doesn’t become a bloodbath. Prayut should resign today based on his complete incompetence and failure to lead the country out of this looming human disaster.

Good post, i share your comments. Perhaps thats why we still have a "state of emergency" in Thailand, all protest gatherings illegal, hmmmmmmm

[connda]

2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Can you even imagine having him as one of your guards? He would be the last one I would ever choose to protect me. Must have been a favor of some sort.

Even funnier, can you imagine Prawit as a bodyguard?