There are direct flights to Bangkok from Amsterdam on KLM.

@John *****

There are few outdoor masks in Italy these days. 😂

Europe is moving towards a “living with the virus” model. Asia stands alone in trying to eradicate it.

@Albert *******

My point is the crisis could last forever if the goal is to reduce Covid cases to zero…there’s no sign this is going away. And politically, it’s risky for governments to continue thinking they can keep regulating us into perpetuity. At some point, society will reject it, and you’ll end up with a coup in Bangkok, a Trump in Washington, etc. There has to be an end, particularly when this virus is not particularly deadly to most groups.

@Albert *******

When will that time be? They’ve shown zero ability to control the outspread, so how long do we remain shutdown across the globe? This time next year, when the “zeta variant” comes rolling out, are we taking the 5th or 6th jab and then shuttering in our homes to hide from a virus that isn’t killing anybody the flu wouldn’t take out anyway? At some point, enough is enough. There’s a breaking point…if society complies forever, then every democratic notion of “freedom over security” is tossed out the window in favor of public health.

In Thailand specifically, people are starving. Every time they close the border, it’s food out of people’s mouths. The politics are precarious in Bangkok on a good year. It’s just foolish.

@Del *********

At some point, people have to. Governments have shown a total lack of ability to get this under control, so the only option is to live with it if it’s not going anywhere. How much longer can the Thai economy survive without tourism?

@Piero ***********

I just read that the governor in Bangkok has stated that he will not allow Bangkok to reopen according to the previous plans until at least 70% of the city is fully vaccinated against the virus. So it doesn’t look like will be happening there.