gumbleby

That's more or less how it worked end of December. Before you're allowed to go to passport control there's a check for your Covid documentation. Then passport control and waiting to collect your bags. After you pass customs you get to the international arrivals hall, where you are greeted by a mass of hotel representatives and staff to get all arrivals in contact with the right people. It seemed a bit chaotic, there's so many hotels now, but there's plenty of people pointing you in the right way. Go with the flow and you should be on your way in no time. Just make sure you have a copy (or 2) of your booking and your Thailand pass at hand. In may case I was asked me to wait a bit before I was taken to the car, which took me to the hospital for a snot donation, and then on to the hotel for what turned out to be about 8 hours quarantine. I had time left for dinner at Circus (formerly Telephone Pub) and a short visit to Dream Boys. Everything had to close by 11PM.

I arrived around noon, and had my results around 8PM, so I skipped dinner at the hotel and went to Soi 4 instead 😇. I was tired and my room was in the quarantine section of the hotel (not exactly cheerfull), so I didn't bring visitors.

Another issue I had was with the second PCR test (instead of a self-test). I went to the same hospital where I had my first test (had to return the next day - they didn't have free slots anymore, and I didn't find a way to book ahead). Luckily I spotted the notice with a QR code for a web site where I could later download my results, because I wasn't contacted by the hospital (despite the having my telephone and e-mail). I believe other people had more trouble. I had the impression staff themselves didn't know about this web site, they certainly didn't point people in the right direction. On top of that a few days later I received a notice on the Morchana app to tell me I needed to enter my test results, again despite the hospital having all my details. Luckily I had downloaded everything. The process for receiving test results could have been better organised, to put it mildly (not that there's no issues in my home country).

I did my 1 day quarantine at the end of december. My hotel first took me from the airport to a hospital for my Covid test, only after that was I taken to the hotel. Maybe this works faster. If you're tired of waiting for the result, it might be a good idea to call the reception after 8 hours or so. In my experience receptions are not exactly proactive. 3 times out of 3 we got our result only after we called the reception. Once because I saw the result on the Phuket app first, once when I called to ask when I would get my dinner, and my boyfriend also had to call before het got his result

My in-law family had Sinovac + Astra, and recently a Pfizer booster (they live upcountry).

Just got my Thai Pass. Two more weeks. Now I just hope Omicron doesn't throw up some last minute obstacles. Just like last time, my annual travel insurance policy was accepted without problems. As usual, I'm not covered if I have to go into for quarantine (I might be covered for a few days if I'm lucky).

I actually travelled to Thailand for a short holiday in september, using the Phuket Sandbox system. I wouldn't repeat it tomorrow, but after 18 months with no travel it was quite a relief to have a real holiday, however short. The administrative overhead was more manageable than many of the comments everywhere suggested. I used my normal year-round travel insurance without issues.

6 weeks for me I can't wait. Will definitely visit. How are Sky Bar and Double shot doing?

In Jomtien complex, try the Massage shop betweenthe entrance to Jomtien Complex and Dicks Café. I had some great massages there. The masseurs are a bit more experienced than the ones in the twink massage places a bit further down the soi. No happy endings.

Actually, even today, the name of the central train station in HCMC is Ga Sai Gon.

There are minivans. I suppose you can arrange them on arrival. With AirAsia you can book Pattaya Central as a departure/arrival point. Your ticket includes the transfer. Departure point is Central Festival shopping Mall (minivans leave from the service road on the right side of the mall (when looking towards the sea).

I only occasionally do long time, when the boy prefers long time (happens fairly often).

Yet another incompatible system.

Normally laws do not apply extraterritorially. I've once been told that islamic laws on gay sex require a high level of proof (several witnesses,..) - so unless things happened almost in public, very little is likely to happen. Of course with internet registering everything, things might be more risky today, Another very good reason for imoposing much stricter privacy-rules on internet monopolies like Google, Facebook etc.

I'm confused. Tracing the location of a cell phone with reasonable precision has been possible for a long time already (at least when the phone is on). No need for special, fancy SIM cards. Not sure if telecom companies are doing this all the time (i.e. triangulating between cellular basestation) or storing the information for a long time. The SIM card by itself does not give away the location of the phone. Smartphones have a built in GPS, but this has nothing to do with the SIM card. Concerning identifying cell phone users, I remember it was announced a few years ago that every user of a SIM card would have to identify themselves or be cut off, Thai and foreigner alike. Long after that announcement shops in the arrivals area of the airport were selling SIM cards without asking for any ID. Does anybody else understand what this is all about?

I wouldn't worry about Thai authorities starting over in Pattaya. Moral crusaders are quite capable of shooting themselves in the foot however. I wouldn't mind a second Singapore if the boys are still there.

If Thailand wants to attract the fabled quality tourist, they'd better knock down all of Pattaya and rebuild, this time with proper infrastructure and urban planning. Pavements full of utility poles, cables in open air, etc. don't exactly exude luxury. I guess some of the bars in the center of Bangkok will feel the heat though. They're sitting on some valuable real-estate.

The whole repression of drug use and trade causes far worse consequences than the drugs themselves. First for the drug users themselves, who not only have to cope with their addiction, excessive prices and a supply of very uncertain quality, but also with all the legal consequences and further fallout. Then there's the whole corrupting influence of drug money on society (Mexico, Colombia,...). I feel the world needs to evolve to a different way of dealing with drugs. Full-on legalization without restrictions is probably a bad idea, but an arrangement where addicts (or just curious people) have a legal way of procuring drugs for personal use, in a safer environment, with counseling and a proper follow-up (unlike legal medicine nowadays: I'm thinking about Michael Jackson and Prince for example). Laws where the victim and the author are the same person seem like a bad idea to me (drug use, or prosecuting minors for taking sexy selfies come to mind).

It's the same T-shirt as the masseurs, but the manager is wearing a vest over it, (SA) DOM (EN).

If you're staying in a small hotel, make sure you have the precise name and coordinates available (e.g. phone number, adress,...). Last time I traveled with them, Bell Travel had no idea which hotel a group of Indians were looking for - In the end they had to take them to walking street to find their own way. If you're staying in Jomtien, be aware you'll be probably be the last passenger on the van that takes you to your hotel

Good that you mentioned it. I passed a few times through the airport last november and noticed the same thing - the exchange rates near the railway station were comparable to the rates in the city rather than to the usual (poor) airport rates. (I was taking the airport bus and the airport rail link to go from Pattaya to Bangkok - saves the long ride to North Pattaya - we were staying in Jomtien).

Good idea when barhopping, I never thought about this way of dealing with mammasans. How do they react to "OK, I'm not thirsty, you can have my drink"?

Too far from Tailand

I'll also arrive in Pattaya late next week (for one week), so if there's a party for forum-members, please keep us informed. I'm posting very rarely, but a regular reade. I'm easy to recognize as well ; very fat, handsome , no lack of hair yet, but it's slowly turning white, normally I sport a beard, but BF claims it scares the children so I have shave when in LOS

Concerning taxi's, I know of no better city than Bangkok. Unfortunately, the ones in my home-city are some of the worst (very expensive, arrogant and often dishonest). I've been coming to Bangkok for 10 years and had nice rides without issues on 95 percent of my taxi-hires. The biggest issue is that the seat-belts in the back seats are usually inaccessible. Rule number one is to avoid taking a taxi waiting along the road. Except for airport, bus stations etc, taxi's are supposed to pick up customers along the road. They do come handy when the bars are out and it's raining though. A big issue for the drivers must be that the flag fall rate for taxi's stayed at a 35 Bath all those years. On the other hand taxi's remain affordable even for average Thais.