Hey Mates, 

 

I am still in America, still hoping to one day come back to Thailand for my retirement years. Covid has jacked up my plans and the plans of the world. I do not feel like the world has held China responsible for this special [deleted] gift but that is another story. 

 

To you expats currently residing in Thailand how do you feel the current ... is affecting the economy and future of Thailand and your personal life and lifestyle? When I first came and lived in Thailand, Thaksin was in power. Sure everyone thought he was corrupt but the country felt so much more vibrant and I think we would all agree the average thai standard of living was much better than now. 

 

Do you all think the pendulum will ever swing back the other direction and there will be a return to free living, democracy, laissez faire and a vibrant economy or do you just see the situation inevitably sinking further and further into a cambodian existence?

 

 

US citizen living here since 2010. May not be the best comparison, since I am fully integrated - living and working here with a live-in girlfriend, Thai friends, Thai staff, speak Thai, etc. As my son says, "You are functionally Thai". Fortunately, I got most of my fun in before the thugs pinched a lot of the character that made Thailand the joyful place to live that it was. Since then, I have not really noticed any serious impact on my life. COVID did more to F things up than the thugs did, and hopefully we are near the end of that nonsense.

 

Much depends on what you like about Thailand. If you like the parties of the old Sukhumvit days, the debauchery of Pattaya, and the like, you will probably be disappointed for some time. If you enjoy more of the normal activities here, then things will be much better once the COVID insanity subsides. Even during the brief "openings" during the past 2 years, things started to recover quickly, only to be crushed again. In typical Thai fashion, even during the lockdowns, entertainment could be found if one was determined enough to find it. Thai people are hell bent on "living", unlike back home where people are more concerned about some fake "standard" of (non)living.

 

I have a great deal of faith in the Thai people. If they are allowed to flourish once again, the fun will return. The problem is that the thugs and COVID have now set the stage for years to come, and those years are likely to be attenuated. Still a world better than the US, in my opinion. Seeing what is going on back there, Thailand, even in its current hobbled state, is a far better place to live.

 

Will Thailand "sink into a Cambodian existence". I seriously doubt it. However, it does appear that its upward trajectory has stalled, and it is not likely to return anytime soon. That said, it is more like the other countries are catching up with Thailand, which is good for the region as a whole. Still, for health care, food, accommodations, infrastructure, cost of living, etc., I am not even considering moving any time soon.

1 hour ago, rowley said:

Do you all think the pendulum will ever swing back the other direction and there will be a return to free living, democracy, laissez faire and a vibrant economy or do you just see the situation inevitably sinking further and further into a cambodian existence?

 

That is purely a matter that the Thais must deal with it. If you don't like the way Thailand is now, stay home. 

Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way

1 hour ago, rowley said:

Do you all think the pendulum will ever swing back the other direction and there will be a return to free living, democracy, laissez faire and a vibrant economy or do you just see the situation inevitably sinking further and further into a cambodian existence?

Don't know but we wait to see ????

 

We moved away from Thailand in 2016 after two years of this Junta we knew it was different than previous ones we had

In hindsight we feel we were not wrong & are glad we left

 

We sold our business & condo but kept our country house near family. We continued to visit for 2-3 months a year till Covid struck

 

But we have always had hopes that someday the youth of Thailand would stand up & take Thailand back. If/When that happens we would gladly move back

 

If covid has shown anything it has shown how fragile Thailand is due to this inept lack of leadership ability by those who took over Thailand & continue to degrade it.

Covid while large is really tiny in reality & if this has decimated Thailand imagine a real problem occuring in Thailand like those that may soon come

 

So no for now we see no hope of change & they will continue this false lock down even now to suppress the young from protesting till elections are once again forced/tipped in their favor...

 

Sadly we think there is one way out of this & it is the same way it came in the first place. But it will have to be the young & old of Thailand both who take their country back by force if necessary because that is the only way they will ever have it....If not? Then sadly they have the government they deserve

 

CLOSED

 

NO POLITICS !