Londoner

I booked yesterday for a trip in three months time....and I agree with vinapu; we cannot allow our lives to be circumscribed by such possibilities, real as they are. All we can do is to take as many sensible precautions as we can. Every journey we undertake has its risks. My guess is that I shall be in most danger of catastrophe when I drive along the M4 to Heathrow Airport. And then, of course, in the taxi from BKK to Pattaya. All the other dangers, anxieties and possibilities are way down the list. One thing I have done is to spoil myself by booking Business Class on EVA Air, where the seats are partitioned and set well-apart. For those who are interested, the cost was £3400. I won't be able to afford that again!

Yes. My morale rose a week ago. Didn't last long....now all the uncertainties are oppressive.

An item from a Youtube report suggests that the only email address that the Pass accepts is gmail. Is this true? Or was it another glitch now rectified?

Thanks; that seems sensible advice. It's a bit of a nuisance juggling hotel room availability, ASQ booking, flights and the Pass....but worth it!

worrying information. And in Business Class? I'm splashing-out for the next visit after saving cash for my missed trips. On EVA, for example, there are privacy shields already available for sleep. And in Elite, which is my usual class, there is more space between passengers than in Econ. Whatever happens, I shall seek to find a secluded seat, if possible.

Regarding timing, buying a flight ticket before getting the pass has its dangers. And vice versa. Could the successful applicants tell us what came first, please?

Thanks everyone.....I now much more confident about the process.....and my return. A much-needed morale boost in dreary November.

This is why I'm waiting. Or at least, one of the reasons. And what the hell are jpg and png? I struggle enough with the everyday operation of this infernal machine and so it appears that I shall have to employ a technician to help me. A home visit, I suspect , will be expensive. And this is not a joke. To be blunt, I'd rather queue-up at the Thai Embassy in London. Another thought; I do have a computer and have just bought my first (and probably last) mobile phone, specifically for Thailand.. There are some technologically-deprived souls who own neither....are they to be permanently denied a trip to meet their boyfriends?

One thing we'll never be told is why some (if any) potential visitors have the applications refused, or (even more distressing!), make it as far as BKK Immigration...and no further.

I'm too old to wait....time has become more precious over the past couple of years. Accordingly, I wish to go when I'm still active....which includes "that"! Naturally. I 'm prepared to wait a couple of months to see how the new scheme pans out, particularly regarding the flight and arrival in BKK. To this end, I want to read posts from the intrepid explorers who'll be this forum's guinea -pigs. So for me, it's late January / early February.

Me too. I see too many problems, inconveniences and ambiguities relating to the journey....which, as older posters know, becomes more stressful as the year roll by, even without Covid's intervention. Here's one of them; when booking a trip, can we apply for a Pass next month , ready to use in January or beyond? or do we have to have a flight already paid for?

.....particularly if they have an age-limit of 75. like the Thai AXA one. After two years of absence and a lot of money saved , I'm happy to pay an extra Covid insurance with a Thai company. If I can find one with no age limit.

An important question. My UK bank insurance is worth up to about $1.5 m.....a lot more than Thai insurances I've seen. Is the requirement to spend the first twenty-four hours in quarantine definitively dropped? And where do we obtain the RD-PTR tests? s it straight-forward to do so? I'm not happy about paying for a flight before permission to enter is guaranteed.

Simovac will apparently no longer be provided at the end of the month. If there is enough Pfizer and AstraZeneca available, infection rates should decrease, bearing in mind the inadequacy of Simovac in resisting the D variant. 70% sounds better than the reality when so many of those inoculated have been so with a vaccine that is not as effective as others

Yes..... a day or night on a plane, arrival at BKK at an inconvenient time, a test, imprisoned in a designated hotel for the night, a wait for the result. And then travel to Pattaya or wherever. Too many days lost. By the way, the vaccination figures are reassuring but remember that most use a vaccine that is less effective against the new variant. My boyfriend is waiting for Pfizer's arrival. I'd rather he take what's on offer but I| understand his reasoning. He requires a vaccination that is recognised in the UK for his visa.

My morale was lifted when the UK took Thailand off the Red List; and then further when Thailand (it is suggested) decided to welcome us back. Subsequently, each day has brought further uncertainties, prevarications and threats of even more cumbersome procedures. To put it bluntly, I'm p***** off.

Find a hotel before you book. Most are closed.

Frustrating though it is, I'm waiting until the middle of January. I want the place to liven-up, with hotels, restaurants and bars fully open. Reopening will not happen over-night. Remember that most hotels, even those which have kept up maintenance, will need to re-staff. There will also be more flights available and at better prices. At the moment (though this may change) EVA are only offering two LHR/BKK flights a month. Restructuring timetables, perhaps bringing back into use mothballed planes, will also take time. Sorry to be the harbinger of unwelcome advice, Mateo, but my advice is to wait. if you want a taste of what you would be seeing if you went too soon, check out recent You Tube videos of boarded-up shops, empty sois and queues for food hand-outs.

Yes, worth remembering before we complain about price rises. Assuming we return to a semblance of normality in 2022, I can look on the bright side by remembering how much money I saved by missing five trips. Here in London, as an example, a new h fi system I'd never have considered without Mr Covid's intervention, while in Kamphaeng Phaet, an enormous spirit house the size of the Vatican. More or less. And that's just a start.

Yes, I suspect that it is still the same. The super-rich often want complete privacy. They can do their shopping in NYC or London and Paris. Many probably never set foot inside a shop anyway.

Bearing in mind how relatively cheap Thailand is for us- whether it be spent at a beach resort, in a city, touring or (significantly for us) enjoying ourselves in other ways, I find it impossible to be bothered about an expense of a few hundred baht.

I suspect that it will have reservations about the return one type of tourist....us! However, our money talks so I do not despair.

Very short-sighted. The inhabitants who have to live in slums are the same people who clean the streets of Silom and the malls of Sukhumvit. And the same issue arises worldwide. Until all are safe, none of us are.

More guys make a success of their time in Pattaya than some may think. Yes, there are certainly casualties- hiv, drug abuse and, alcoholism take their toll and sometimes, an apparent LTR with a falang is suddenly curtailed when a new and younger boyfriend is found. A few years sago, P went through a list of ten or so of his friends (now Facebook contacts) from Dream Boys circa 2003, who had found their falang and were still enjoying financial support. Some of the falangs had relocated to Thailand to live with their boyfriends. And to underscore this, I've noted more couples recently in Pattaya consisting of a falang in his sixties (or thereabouts) and a Thai in his thirties, suggesting that these are indeed LTRs.

Thanks for the clip. I'd love to see Alan Bennet's "take" on Boyztown.