I decided to raise this topic following another gold shop robbery due to the loss of work from Covid-19.

 

Covid-19 destroyed millions of ordinary people's lives,  through loss of their job,  market depreciation on investments,  bank foreclosures,  loss of business,  car repossession,  house loan foreclosure,  life savings lost,  and many other tragic effects.

 

We see on the news where many people have resorted to crime following their loss of income because of Covid-19.

A few weeks ago I was reading where a well dressed chap almost in tears in the US was talking on the news after being arrested and saying ' I've lost everything because of Covid ' 

Thousands if not millions of folks lost their houses because they could not pay the mortgage.   

Thousands has their transport taken back or repossessed by finance companies.

and the list goes on ....

 

Now,  the point I really want to make and get across is what consequence's or punitive measures or punishment has been placed on

China since Covid-19 first broke out from Wuhan China back in 2019   ??

What repercussions have been forced onto China as a result of their horrendous lack of safety and virus containment that caused Covid-19    ??

Have they been punished    ??

Should someone be punished   ??

or should we all forget and just move on ....

 

 

It's an interesting subject  ... what's your opinion   ?

 

 

 

22 minutes ago, steven100 said:

another gold shop robbery due to the loss of work from Covid-19.

 

This is not like there is A and obviously it is followed by B.

There must be millions of people who lost their work who didn't rob any shop. Stop making such stupid connections! 

Did you miss the news who financed that lab?

Here is one such article, it's not difficult to find more.

Coronavirus: Was US money used to fund risky research in China? (bbc.com)

 

So, maybe think again who should pay. 

"Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book has been rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And that process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except the endless present in which the party is always right." 

 

"All tyrannies rule through fraud and force, but once the fraud is exposed they must rely exclusively on force." Orwell, 1984.

 

Translation - In the eyes of the Oligarchs and MSM, Covid didn't really happen, and you can't hold anyone accountable for something that didn't happen. And if you rock the boat about this or any other political malfeasance, you will be unpersoned. 

13 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

 

This is not like there is A and obviously it is followed by B.

There must be millions of people who lost their work who didn't rob any shop. Stop making such stupid connections! 

 

Well,  while you may be correct,  I'm just pointing out that many fell on hard times as a result of Covid.  

2 minutes ago, steven100 said:

Well,  while you may be correct,  I'm just pointing out that many fell on hard times as a result of Covid.  

Ain't finished..times will become even harder. 

5 minutes ago, steven100 said:

Well,  while you may be correct,  I'm just pointing out that many fell on hard times as a result of Covid.  

 

Many fell on hard times as a result of the Orwellian reaction to Covid.

 

3 minutes ago, Ben Zioner said:

Ain't finished..times will become even harder. 

yes,  I tend to agree with this as jobs suffer,  populations continue to grow,  folks refrain from spending ...  

 

it's not rocket science .... 

1 hour ago, steven100 said:

 

I decided to raise this topic following another gold shop robbery due to the loss of work from Covid-19.

 

Covid-19 destroyed millions of ordinary people's lives,  through loss of their job,  market depreciation on investments,  bank foreclosures,  loss of business,  car repossession,  house loan foreclosure,  life savings lost,  and many other tragic effects.

 

We see on the news where many people have resorted to crime following their loss of income because of Covid-19.

A few weeks ago I was reading where a well dressed chap almost in tears in the US was talking on the news after being arrested and saying ' I've lost everything because of Covid ' 

Thousands if not millions of folks lost their houses because they could not pay the mortgage.   

Thousands has their transport taken back or repossessed by finance companies.

and the list goes on ....

 

Now,  the point I really want to make and get across is what consequence's or punitive measures or punishment has been placed on

China since Covid-19 first broke out from Wuhan China back in 2019   ??

What repercussions have been forced onto China as a result of their horrendous lack of safety and virus containment that caused Covid-19    ??

Have they been punished    ??

Should someone be punished   ??

or should we all forget and just move on ....

 

 

It's an interesting subject  ... what's your opinion   ?

 

 

 

Eventually China MUST pay................if the world has the gonads to do anything about it!!!

31 minutes ago, steven100 said:

Well,  while you may be correct,  I'm just pointing out that many fell on hard times as a result of Covid.  

 

You should have pointed that out without any connection to any robbery.

Because hard times and robbery are not directly connected. 

 

And about hard times: Many of us get used to better and better living standards. Over the years we have bigger homes, faster cars, we eat better and more expensive food, maybe go on more expensive holidays, etc.

And then, when we can't afford the maximum version of our lives anymore, we call it hard times.

 

I think we should get back to the idea that some form of shelter and enough food to survive is all we really need to survive.

It's nice to have luxury, but we don't need it. And from time to time, it is good that we learn to live with less.

And having more does not make us automatically happier. 

49 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I think we should get back to the idea that some form of shelter and enough food to survive is all we really need to survive.

It's nice to have luxury, but we don't need it. And from time to time, it is good that we learn to live with less.

And having more does not make us automatically happier.

Great, but I want that new Iphone 16 Pro with the 120mm telephoto lens.

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

So, maybe think again who should pay. 

You always sound so anti American, like people of my generation. Always thought that they hated owing so much to the US.

59 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

And having more does not make us automatically happier. 

 

hmm.....   well money  ....    I guarantee you I would be happier. 

1 hour ago, Ben Zioner said:

You always sound so anti American, like people of my generation. Always thought that they hated owing so much to the US.

There was a time, decades ago, when the USA did some good things for this world.

 

Now they are not all bad, but bad in many ways. And it gets worse. Will it ever get better again? Maybe, but I wouldn't bet on that.

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

There was a time, decades ago, when the USA did some good things for this world.

 

Now they are not all bad, but bad in many ways. And it gets worse. Will it ever get better again? Maybe, but I wouldn't bet on that.

I would much sooner have the USA in charge than not have them there ....  just look at Putin for a start ..

 

imagine the anarchy if no one stopped them ....  the world would be in a lot bigger mess.

They do alot of good things around the world.   I respect them for that ...

Talking about destroying millions of people's lives as in the OP, COVID the virus also KILLED somewhere between 7 MILLION (the official figure) and about 30 million (the estimate of excess deaths due to COVID and related factors) worldwide. Numerous studies have shown that those numbers could have been much smaller had more people chosen to get vaccinated and better followed public health precautions... But many didn't, and we can see the results.

 

However, given the choice between temporary economic hardship from COVID vs. being dead from COVID, I'd choose the temporary economic hardship. Hardship a person can recover and come back from. DEAD, there's no coming back from.

 

In the case of Thailand, its economy and workforce perhaps suffered  more than others because it was and is so substantially reliant on tourism, which of course took a hit during the pandemic, as it did pretty much everywhere.

 

If Thailand didn't have an economy where the vast share of the wealth was before COVID and even now still is concentrated in the hands of a very few elites, and many of the ordinary people with low skills and marginal education scraping to just get by, people left bereft by the loss of tourism might not be driven into committing crimes. But that imbalance existed long before COVID and COVID didn't cause or create it.

 

Also PS - before people start talking about punishing countries for COVID, it might be a good idea to actually establish some proof that there's something to be punished for. Contrary to a lot of right-wing claims, most public health researchers and scientists believe the specific COVID virus emerged naturally jumping from animals to humans and was not an engineered virus or one unleashed from a lab leak. And thus far, at least, there's been no actual proof to the contrary.

 

 

Also, in terms of the economic hardships that COVID caused on people, it might be instructive to compare how Thailand's government responded vs. how a place like the U.S. responded.

 

Even before COVID, Thailand barely had any social safety net provisions for its people. And although the government promised economic/financial aid to people during the pandemic, it seems from news reporting that most ordinary Thais didn't end up receiving much or any, including the many who work for themselves or are part of the cash-only gray economy. In short, the ordinary Thai citizen pretty much was left to financially fend for themselves.

 

In contrast, the U.S. had and has a pretty robust system of unemployment benefits (monthly payments) that people who lost their jobs during COVID were able to receive, along with separate food/grocery subsidies (food stamps for the unemployed). The federal government also enacted several years of cash tax credits on a nationwide basis (covering pretty much everyone) to offer financial support. And there were federal loans widely available during the COVID era to support businesses. Although fraudulent applications resulted in a lot of that money being misused, still a lot of it also went to support needy and legitimate people/businesses.

 

So, IMHO, with its considerable wealth, I believe Thailand and the government specifically could have done a lot more than they actually did to financially support its neediest people during the pandemic. But that's simply not the way things work here, and that's not where/how most of their money gets spent.

 

Any and all news related to China is BAD NEWS, and it will never change. 

The cure of "border closures" accomplished little or nothing

 

The Chinese aren't much bothered by being blamed for covid, or whatever. In world terms they reckon they are winning and that is all they care about.

8 minutes ago, Thingamabob said:

The Chinese aren't much bothered by being blamed for covid, or whatever. In world terms they reckon they are winning and that is all they care about.

 

This is correct.  They just keep plodding away and are not really that concerned what others think or do around the globe  ...  that's China 

the fact that 4 years later they still don't have an official 'who did it' reeks of US involvement!

Two points I would like to make here:

 

It seems to have been forgotten that a Chinese Doctor in Wuhan who discovered the Covid virus reported it to the authorities who quickly admonished him and hushed it up. That Doctor later died from - Covid

 

I think this can suggest that those Authorities is at least partly responsible for allowing Covid  to leave their borders. Reparations or even accepting any responsibility?  Good luck with that one! 

 

Secondly, as it relates to the USA, the first diagnosed case of Covid was of a woman from Wuhan but little was done to prevent the debacle over the next two years under the Trump administration.

 

 

Covid19 certainly didn't destroy the lives of Tories who took advantage of the VIP lane offered by Mr Johnson......Lady Mone, along with many others, are laughing all the way to the bank.

On 8/10/2024 at 9:59 PM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Talking about destroying millions of people's lives as in the OP, COVID the virus also KILLED somewhere between 7 MILLION (the official figure) and about 30 million (the estimate of excess deaths due to COVID and related factors) worldwide. Numerous studies have shown that those numbers could have been much smaller had more people chosen to get vaccinated and better followed public health precautions... But many didn't, and we can see the results.

 

However, given the choice between temporary economic hardship from COVID vs. being dead from COVID, I'd choose the temporary economic hardship. Hardship a person can recover and come back from. DEAD, there's no coming back from.

 

In the case of Thailand, its economy and workforce perhaps suffered  more than others because it was and is so substantially reliant on tourism, which of course took a hit during the pandemic, as it did pretty much everywhere.

 

If Thailand didn't have an economy where the vast share of the wealth was before COVID and even now still is concentrated in the hands of a very few elites, and many of the ordinary people with low skills and marginal education scraping to just get by, people left bereft by the loss of tourism might not be driven into committing crimes. But that imbalance existed long before COVID and COVID didn't cause or create it.

 

Also PS - before people start talking about punishing countries for COVID, it might be a good idea to actually establish some proof that there's something to be punished for. Contrary to a lot of right-wing claims, most public health researchers and scientists believe the specific COVID virus emerged naturally jumping from animals to humans and was not an engineered virus or one unleashed from a lab leak. And thus far, at least, there's been no actual proof to the contrary.

 

 

And it's on the rise again because folks don't care and think its just a cold or the flu....but we know it's a very dangerous virus....

 

https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/global-covid-19-tracker/

Chinese Undercut Competitors Economies in Several Ways & then Swoop in to Buy Bankruptcies & Fire Sales.  They learned a lot from Sun Tzu.

 

Chinese Companies Eye Struggling Thai Bus and Restaurant Sectors for Expansion, Thai Business Owners Concerned - The Pattaya News

Quote: "On August 10th, 2024, Thai business insiders reported that several local bus operators are facing severe financial difficulties, with rising costs and continued losses forcing many to consider selling their businesses.  In response, Chinese companies, both bus manufacturers and operators, began negotiations to acquire these struggling Thai firms as a means of expanding their market into Thailand.  A source revealed that the Chinese are particularly interested in introducing electric buses, noting that half of Thailand’s bus fleet has already vanished from service due to the ongoing business crisis.  Chinese investors are reportedly setting up their own restaurants, similar to the ‘zero-based tours,’ where tourists dine only at Chinese-owned establishments,”.

well all the conspiracy believers can think what they like,  but the fact remains Covid-19 killed millions around the globe, so it wasn't the flu or a severe cold as some conspiracies would like to believe.

 

Covid-19 is real.

It does kill people.

 

anyone who thinks otherwise is very naive or a dreamer.   

If I remember correctly, the Spanish Flu killed 50 million and no one punished the Spanish. No consequences at all.

 

2 minutes ago, Purdey said:

If I remember correctly, the Spanish Flu killed 50 million and no one punished the Spanish. No consequences at all.

 

good point ...

3 minutes ago, Purdey said:

If I remember correctly, the Spanish Flu killed 50 million and no one punished the Spanish. No consequences at all.

 

 

And of course, contrary to the historic common name given to that pandemic, it wasn't actually the "Spanish" one in terms of its origins.

 

"The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 subtype of the influenza A virus.

 

The earliest documented case was March 1918 in the state of Kansas in the United States, with further cases recorded in France, Germany and the United Kingdom in April.

...

The pandemic broke out near the end of World War I, when wartime censors in the belligerent countries suppressed bad news to maintain morale, but newspapers freely reported the outbreak in neutral Spain, creating a false impression of Spain as the epicenter and leading to the "Spanish flu" misnomer.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu