TMax

Now that would make too much sense to do it then

There was a notice by Arena that they were reopening on October 1st when the lockdowns rules were relaxed and I believe they did reopen and that other massage places were able to as well.

Definitely the 2 for 1 short times in Bangkok 😅

Maybe just maybe, hope they do go down the path of the rapid test. The government is considering replacing the RT-PCR test with other screening methods for vaccinated tourists under the Test & Go scheme, and easing high-risk close contact (HRC) rules which force airplane passengers who had sat near Covid-19 patients to undergo mandatory quarantine. Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor Yuthasak Supasorn said these decisions would be up to the national communicable disease control committee, and would also require approval from the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) meeting to be chaired by the prime minister on Friday. As the RT-PCR test requires at least six hours for the result, and inbound travellers must book and stay in a hotel room while awaiting the outcome, alternative methods, such as antigen test kits, are more convenient and help manage the flow of tourists better if the number of arrivals increases. Mr Yuthasak said the CCSA will also consider easing current HRC rules which force those who sit two rows in front of or two rows behind infected passengers on a plane to be relocated to quarantine facilities. Under the new proposal, only passengers who had sat next to a Covid-19 patient would be kept in quarantine, for a shorter period, meaning there would be a maximum of two travellers affected by the HRC rule. Meanwhile, those who test positive with mild or no symptoms don't have to be relocated to hospital to receive treatment, but can choose a hospitel or alternative quarantine instead with a shorter period of up to 10 days, from the current 14 days Maybe rapid testing

It's good to see things getting easier with Singapore, hoping the Thai government take notice of this and can maybe do something similar. SINGAPORE - As of 11.59pm on Thursday (Nov 11), most travellers can take an antigen rapid test (ART) performed by a trained professional overseas before flying into Singapore. This applies to those returning via the vaccinated travel lane (VTL) and from countries in Categories II and III, which include Australia, Britain and the United States. Previously, all travellers, except those aged two and below, had to take a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to return and test negative within 48 hours before departure. Travellers now have a longer window to take the tests as a pre-departure test taken any time on Nov 12, for instance, can be valid until 11.59pm on Nov 14. Here is what you need to know about the new measures and how to book an ART overseas. Full story on this link

I get a bit of a laugh sometimes, if we currently had flights from Perth to Bangkok (like the direct Thai airways flight we had before all this started) we would be more at risk of catching covid either in Thailand or on the return journey than we would going over. Just as a clarification, in Western Australia we currently have no active covid cases.

Apparently it happened with the Phuket sandbox (from memory more than the one time), when someone tested positive with the arrival test that person and those sitting near them on the plane were taken from their hotel and put into ASQ hotel quarantine at their own expense (I think it was the usual 14 day quarantine period). The hotels they were booked in were supposed to give a refund.

Seeing the hassles people are reporting on the Thai Pass I'm real happy to be waiting a bit longer before trying (that sort of hassle drives me crazy). Never know, by the time I'm ready things might be a bit easier or at the very least the bugs with Thai Pass will have been sorted

Good to see and hope they continue it on with other klongs, it's going to look fantastic when finished

I'm prepared to wait, been patiently waiting this long so a bit longer won't bother me too much. Plan A is mid year June / July depending on airlines, the situation in Bangkok and any quarantine requirements back here upon return (if any). Plan B is October / November and once again just depends on how things are or have been going there and here and again the airlines. Really hoping we get direct flights again and things have settled down a lot so that I can enjoy some hot times with some Thai hunks.

Yeah that's why I'm patiently waiting, just don't fancy having a trip to Thailand or Singapore and having to then quarantine for 2 weeks. Happy being in WA and not having to go through what those in the east have, still waiting that bit longer gives us a chance to see how it plays out at the start. Also need the airlines to get back those Perth to Bangkok direct flights again.

Well we're almost there, the only issue is which state you fly back into as per quarantine rules (and the airlines of course) but we are slowly seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. I will still be waiting until things get back to some form of normality or at least to the new nomal. Travel exemptions to leave Australia officially scrapped for fully vaccinated travellers from November 1 The federal government has removed the need for fully vaccinated Australians to ask for permission to leave the country from Monday, but those who are unvaccinated will still have to ask for an exemption if they want to leave. When the government closed the international border in March last year it also barred Australians from leaving the country unless they had an exemption. It was able to make the rules under the Human Biosecurity Determination — a law created to protect the population from people bringing COVID to Australia from overseas. Last night, Health Minister Greg Hunt changed the Determination so that from November 1, anyone who was fully vaccinated could leave as they pleased. "Australian citizens and permanent residents who want to travel overseas will need to provide proof that they are fully vaccinated with a [Therapeutic Goods Administration]-approved or recognised vaccine, with the second dose occurring at least seven days prior to travel," he said. Australians almost there

Yeah they were the sort of stupid prices I noticed when searching fares, I looked for April and Singapore airlines had them at a more reasonable $1644 in economy with a short transit at Changi both ways. Closer to my travel plans but I'm hoping better fares become available if things settle down more by mid 2022.

Sara Duterte is a mystery really, she has so far turned down all attemps of her fathers party to join them and run for president, she is a member of an opposing party. She has also nominated and confirmed that she is running for a 3rd term as mayor of Davao and has said several times she is running for mayor, she even apologized to some people that she couldn't turn her back on the people of Davao by withdrawing and running for president. It's going to be very interesting time up until November 15th (deadline for replacement candidates), there will be a lot of pressure put on her to run for president and to come in as a replacement for one of the current candidates, most likely the joke candidate Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa. He's the one that had a massive dummy spit when the US refused him a visa and entry (last year from memory), went crawling to his mate Duterte to take action against the US over it.

Thanks for that, I think our flights from here to Bangkok would be Singapore Airlines for a while at least.

Just hope the new "new web-based application" is built better than some of their other stuff.

The CCSA were meeting today and it was expected that they would announce more of the ten countries but they didn't, so we have to sit back and await their decisions.

I remember when Body Club reopened just near BTS Bang Chak (address Sukhumvit Soi 97/1, Bangkok), tried finding it one day but was off a small soi and had a plain looking outside with no signage at all, gave up and moved on to another place. I'm sure it's closed at that location though, was only a small place compared to the old place.

I gave up looking at flights from Western Australia, when I did look we had gone from a direct 7hr well priced flight up to ultra ridiculous 2 stop 22hr plus flights and at exorbitant prices. I did notice on Singapore Air that they did have more expensive prices for April onwards with just the one short transit at Changi but they may be old fares that haven't been adjusted in a long time. Hopefully by June or July things will have settled down a bit and I can book for a Bangkok return with no quarantine, 2 weeks of throwing myself at the mercy of the guys there.

"Try some cock" Seriously wish I hadn't hesitated to experience it for so long, better late than never I suppose, now to start planning my next trip to get my hands (and other parts) on some hot Thai guys.

Yeah the old departure tax, that was incorporated into the price of the airline ticket a while back, most countries did the same but some still slug you that tax at the airport on the way out

Just going to post the link here as it's a pretty long article but well worth the read. It looks like Sinopharm and Walvax Biotechnology are starting up on the mRNA vaccines now. Nations switch away from Chinese vaccines

Great news, now if only I can be there fir the reopening

Don't know anyone personally but I have friends that have lost family members in both England and the US, some also have family suffering long covid (ongoing health issues after initial infection is cleared). Even though I have now had both shots of Astra I still don't wish to get the virus, even if it's only a mild infection as I am in an at risk group with some previous respiratory health issues.

Travel fund is quite healthy but I would rather save as much of that for the fun times to come after I get there, fares should come back closer to normal by the time I go back. From Australia we still need a valid reason to travel overseas, unfortunately 2 weeks of sex with some smoking hot Thai guys is not reason enough for our government 😉