Simona, who lives in Thailand: on different quarantines, fears of Europeans in Asia and disappointment of the mayor of Alytus | Life

– tell me How did you find yourself in Thailand?

– The decision to leave matured for a long time, it was not as if it occurred to us and we were flying away. I had my own business, but I felt it was time for a change in life. I convinced the man for a long time, and he finally agreed if he sold the business. I made it

We didn’t choose a country, we just knew it shouldn’t be Europe, we wanted a different cultural experience. I would consider Latin America, but there was very little information about it.

Friends recommended Thailand according to our needs. We wanted a good climate, having the sea nearby, having a good place to live with the children, having delicious food and keeping the country simple, without complications.

So far I remember: we flew with about 100 kg, because we did not know how long we would settle here. There were five of our twins at the time. We knew we had time before her school. We never had the idea of ​​leaving forever.

While we got nowhere, little by little life came together. We did business online, the man became a diving instructor. During that time, we lived in Bali, Vietnam, and finally returned to Thailand. And every year we decide again and again, whether we stay or leave.

All our activities here come from necessity, they were not artificially invented. This is how the tourism business emerged.

We flew about 100 kg because we did not know how long we would stay here. There were five of our twins at the time.

The people of Lithuania started asking me and asking me to plan trips for them. Websites were born for those problems thailandieciai.lt. And after that we started to organize excursions ourselves. Therefore, activities continued to increase until the hit coronavirus stopped everything. It all started with us in January: Thailand was one of the first countries to report cases outside of China.

Of course, various thoughts and fears arose, we began to consider what to do, especially since my husband had wanted to return to Lithuania for some time, and I kept saying that we couldn’t leave everything now. However, the system is already so well configured that we can do the same business from Lithuania.

In fact, we had a decision before the pandemic. At the time, we did not expect the virus to spread so widely across the world and that Asia would begin to fear the West.

– O Did Asians really start to fear the West?

– In Thailand, there has been little talk of a pandemic from the beginning, an atmosphere of fear has not been created. However, when the virus began to spread widely in Italy and other European countries, the situation changed.

At the time, I only had a group of tourists. We stopped to eat in a town. We go in and see people watching television: they show news of coronaviruses from Europe. Everyone looked at us and took off their masks. Even the waiter supplied us with food at the greatest distance. At that time, the virus had also started to spread in Thailand, and Europeans had become the ones who transmitted and transmitted it.

I heard that when the virus started spreading in Bali, the arriving hosts told Europeans who rented their villa to take it away, even though people had been living there for some time.

Another acquaintance who married a Thai said they moved from Bangkok to his wife’s village. He ran away there and then visited the market. The locals’ reaction was such that he realized that his show was causing panic. Soon the old man from the city approached him: that if he does not sit at home and keep walking, he will have to leave this area because he scares people.

– You planned to leave but you didn’t leave. Why

– Everything happened very fast. We plan to leave in May or June, and Lithuania closed its borders in March. Although the last trip was still organized, it was only announced a week ago, we couldn’t prepare so fast. We have animals that we cannot irresponsibly leave behind.

The business also had to close, and the paperwork takes time. We remained in such a situation of uncertainty. We decided to wait for more comfortable flights, because it is too difficult to return with all the property, children and animals through Germany by ferry.

When the virus began to spread in Bali, the hosts told Europeans who rented their villa to take it away, even though people had been living there for some time.

We are not going to forget Thailand either, as I said, we will continue the same tourist business, but when we think about children, we want them to know a different culture. They have now spent half their lives in Thailand. While this country certainly has many advantages, it also has its disadvantages; On the other hand, there is no ideal country.

Also, I want to be with my family, my parents, especially because now there is great uncertainty about the coronavirus. If we do not agree, we can return to Thailand at any time. When we left Lithuania, we also knew that we could return at any time.

– Where do you plan to stay in Lithuania?

– In considering this, we chose Alytus. There is a renovated mother’s house. Furthermore, Alytus is a small and quiet city with a simple and convenient infrastructure. We want a quiet life.

It was also important if there was a good school in the city. Children’s education is very important to me. In Thailand, we also chose this place because of the international school they attend.

We are so glad to hear that Alytus Benedict Gymnasium Street is planning to teach according to the 6th grade international program, so you will be choosing an additional 5th grade. Therefore, our children would have an opportunity to get into that. After all, in 2009, when our twins were born, there was a very high birth rate in Lithuania, so we had problems with kindergartens while we were still living in Vilnius, and now with school. All fourth grades at this school are finished, everyone wants to continue their studies at the same school. Therefore, those who want to arrive from another place, unfortunately, do not.

The school asked the municipality for permission to run the program. During the deliberations, the votes for and against were evenly distributed. The mayor’s voice was decisive: he was against it. Neither the cover letters I wrote nor the school’s arguments helped. It was disappointing because he is the man who urges all the deceased to return to his city, declares that he wants to attract families and promises many other beautiful things, but to a school that struggles to move forward and think not only of what it is now, but what which will be in 5-10 years has closed the door. And this is a young man with young children.

When the children found out about the decision to return to Lithuania, they objected at first, because the Lithuanian language was a very difficult matter for them, but gradually they got used to the idea.

I understand that the schools in Alytus are a completely political matter, because the directors of a few schools do not belong to any party, so they did not want to take them away from theirs. It has been said that we want parents to send their children to other schools as well. As in the Soviet Union, for everyone alike.

After all, to promote competition between schools, initiatives must be allowed: let others move and move on, then there will be a number of other schools that want to study there. This can be compared to a business: if one does well, would someone try to slow down so that others have room?

– Are your children still fluent in Lithuanian and can they study in Lithuanian?

– Our children speak and read and write in Lithuanian. We are currently hiring a Lithuanian language teacher to teach them remotely. We used to teach ourselves.

We speak only Lithuanian in the family, although they would love to switch to English as they speak English eight hours a day. Reading books in Lithuanian is also mandatory. I know that the municipalities also allocate funds for the adaptation of these children: they reduce their English lessons and increase their Lithuanian language.

It is true that the children themselves, when they found out about the decision to return to Lithuania, were opposed at first, because the Lithuanian language is something very difficult for them, but little by little they got used to the idea. They enjoyed living in Grandma’s house because it was their dream home.

I showed them the school, I told them that they could study English there, I explained how it would be with food because the daughter is a vegetarian. We look at what circles are running there, what programs are running. Finally, they got so hooked that they now ask about that school themselves and don’t know if we’ll get there anymore.

– And what is life like in Thailand now?

– We live well. Although the tourism business has now collapsed, a man can no longer work as a diving instructor, we earn a living from other activities. Since I am also a meditation teacher, I switched to virtual classes.

However, Thais were severely affected by the coronavirus. I do not think that people in Europe are aware of the great impact this pandemic will have on third countries.

In Thailand, 27 million people lost their jobs. people – about 40 percent. of the entire population. The state had promised to pay them benefits, but after the first month there was not enough money for them. People get some of these servings: white rice, white sugar, canned food. And both.

What do people have left? The number of suicides in Thailand, one and a half months after the start of the quarantine, already exceeds the number of deaths from coronavirus in three months. Incidentally, foreigners trapped in Thailand are also killed. They have no income, they cannot leave, and they do not receive state support because they are foreign citizens.

And in Europe you still think: we will sit at home for a while, we will wear masks and everything will end. Will the coronavirus pack up its bags and travel to another planet? It will not be so. Asian countries are already suffering the consequences.

– What is the situation with COVID-19 in Thailand? What does quarantine look like?

– Currently, not only the country is closed, but also individual provinces and even cities. Our province has entered the red zone due to the risk of spreading the virus, since it is an international airport and there were many foreigners, although only 19 cases and no deaths were recorded. This means that we cannot leave not only our province but also our city. However, we can move freely around the city, going to the beaches by the sea is not prohibited.

The number of suicides in Thailand, one and a half months after the start of the quarantine, already exceeds the number of deaths from coronavirus in three months.

All companies operating outdoors can work, including outdoor cafes. Mandatory temperature measurement and hand disinfection in stores were introduced three months ago, as soon as the first coronavirus cases appeared. If someone has a temperature, an ambulance is called immediately and a coronavirus test is performed on the person.

Asians have always paid a lot of attention to hygiene, especially the hands, which is not typical of Europe. When the coronavirus was already at its peak in Europe, the tourists who came to me were very surprised when I asked them where their disinfectant was. In my opinion, careful hand hygiene is much more important than wearing a mask because breathing fresh air is much healthier than mask bacilli.

If no more cases are registered in the province within fourteen days, it is transferred to a softer area. We only had to wait a few days to find ourselves in the yellow zone. Then cities will open, movement will resume in the province.

Domestic flights will be launched, but there will be no international flights until the end of May, currently it is only possible to fly outside the country. It is true that there is already talk that perhaps foreigners will begin to admit a little later, because everyone understands that this situation cannot continue indefinitely.

When the coronavirus was already at its peak in Europe, the tourists who came to me were very surprised when I asked them where their disinfectant was.

Scientists are talking about the fact that we all seem to contract this virus until immunity develops, so we have stopped spreading it, but it will not go away. Therefore, now is the time to take care of your health, review your lifestyle, your diet and dedicate yourself to mental hygiene. After all, it has been shown that, for the most part, all diseases depend on our thinking and life. When you live in fear, in bad emotions, your immunity weakens and then the disease “clings.” If you live in peace, in harmony, immunity only improves.

– Thais are like this: do you accept everything without panic?

– People are not angry at all the measures of moderation, they are calm here, they live accepting everything: what they are told is what they do, they do not turn their heads too much.

The number of people who play sports has increased, almost no one used to run with me before, now, the crowd. People are encouraged to play sports, just to wear a mask in a public place. Of course, if you are in the forest, there is nothing around, take it off. There can’t be more than five people in one place, but those five can do whatever they want: playing tennis outdoors, other games. I don’t understand why this was prohibited in Lithuania.

Since the virus will remain for a long time, we must learn to live with it: won’t we be closed all the time and scared? As my mother says: “I read so much, I have so much coronavirus in my head, that I begin to feel all its symptoms.” After all, coronavirus symptoms are very similar to signs of stress: shallow breathing, cough, chest tightness.

Therefore, instead of thinking about how not to get sick, you should think about how to be healthy. A great example is my children. My husband and I came up with the following wellness program: If they miss a single lesson during the semester due to illness, they get a certain amount of money.

In the past, they were constantly sick and we spent that amount on their medications, and now they have become really healthy: if they feel bad, they order tea immediately. This proves once again that we can create anything in our minds. If we create fear, then we will live in fear, and fear in turn will affect not only our health but also our work and life in general.

Instead of thinking about how not to get sick, you should think about how to be healthy.

I understand that there is no need to completely put your hand in danger, you need to follow certain things, but it is also not possible to sit alone in fear. Only Asians need to be taught hand hygiene, that’s what everyone does. Don’t touch your face. And protect others when you are sick.

In Thailand, you will never see a person coughing or sneezing on the street without a mask. The sick here always remained healthy. And what is happening in Lithuania? Every second one screams, coughs, but has he put on a mask before?