Milk78

I am arriving in BKK on Monday and looking for restaurant recommendations.... Definitely visiting the @vinapu rated 5* venue and will be taking the chicken and cashews. Where are the other reasonably priced star venues? I can go eat high end and I am sure I can get great food on the street - I am looking for those places that are not flashy or trying to hard. Somewhere I am not going to feel out of place wearing whatever I want to wear... and ideally close to the boys in Silom, but not exclusively if I can get there easily...

Wow - those numbers really are tiny. I am amazed there are any businesses still going. I will be doing my bit soon - arrive on the 28 March as long as I manage to avoid the plague pre departure!

That's a good point. I am an idiot and had not thought this through! Consensus seems to be to buy once released so that is what i shall do!

But that is also one of the issues - I will need to get it at the airport or get one in the UK as I will be holed up until test results come back...

Thai Pass all sorted so fingers crossed I manage to avoid the UK Covid spike at the moment and I get on a plane on the 27 March! To anyone who has been to BKK recently, what is the best advice getting a Thai Sim Card for use - am i better ordering one in the UK to be delivered to me here or waiting and getting one at the (BKK) airport? If the airport - where do I find the best shop?

I agree! Cases in the UK have shown a sharp increase this week - 120k Monday, 66k yesterday, but the hospitalisation and deaths is not nearly in line with those numbers (as compared to previous first and second waves in 2021). Population in UK now roughly 3/4 triple vaccinated and that is clearly having an impact on the (lack of) severity of Omicron. I have decided to go ahead with a trip to Thailand at the end of March. Fingers crossed!!

Anyone know if I have to buy my lateral flow test for Day 5 in Thailand, or can I bring my free NHS ones and use that?

True, but the Day 5 test was, for me, the most contentious. Yes, you could still test positive with a lateral flow of course, but the restriction of location and additional cost was annoying. In truth it is probably not that much of a reduction in restrictions, but it does feel like a bit of a shift and somehow less anxiety inducing.

Is ATK a Lateral Flow Test? Can I bring my own tests with me, or do i have to get them in Thailand? Do you have to document your result somewhere - or is it just on the individual's say so that they have taken it/ had a negative test result? Lots of questions, but seems like good news!

Just seen this posted. Can anyone else confirm or has more information? https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/tourism/thailand-test-go-update-no-more-day-5-pre-paid-hotel-or-pcr-test

I am staying at Banyan Tree and they are saying that if you get a test with them before 6pm then the result will be through that night. After 6pm it will be the next morning. Whether this turns out to be true or not is another question..... I too am arriving late March but my flight lands at 5.15am so very much hope I will be done and released before the evening! I am going ahead and booking the tests in the next couple of days so I can get Thai pass sorted. I don't want to leave it last minute. It might mean I end up paying for something that I don't need but better safe than sorry.

I am staying at the Banyan Tree in late March. Booked the room last July as the deal was incredible. I have recently been in touch to find out about the PCR tests and will, I am sure, book directly with them. Day 1 PCR - 3,500 bht Transfer to hotel in private hire taxi - 2,000 bht

Banyan Tree have offered me car and test. 4-6 hours results back for Day 1 test. Does anybody know if I am allowed to bring a few lateral flow tests with me in my luggage? If so, I will order a few before I fly out and take them with me.

Thanks @vinapu for you rich and through report! A really great and useful read. I am heading to BKK and then Chiang Mai at the end of March for a couple of weeks. any issues with joiners at Phor Liang Meun Teracotta Arts in Chiang Mai? I AirBnb last time i was in Chiang Mai but the hotels all have really good rates so might do that this time.

Thanks, that's helpful.

I have a trip booked at the end of March so plenty of time for things to change on the Test and Go front (both positively and negatively!) but could do with some advice on my travel planning. Any help gratefully received! I land in BKK on 28 March at about 2pm. My initial plan was to then hop on a flight to Chiang Mai and spend a week there before coming back to BKK for another week. The current Test and Go, if i have got it right, requires a PCR on Day 1 and 5. Do I have to take the Day 1 PCR in BKK, as that is the first point of entry, or can I get on the flight to Chiang Mai and take the tests there? If I have to take the Day 1 test in BKK are there hotels close to the airport that i can use so I don't have to spend all the time getting into BKK just to come straight back out to the airport again? Presumably it would be ok, if i have to stay in BKK for Day 1 test, to take Day 5 test in Chiang Mai? So take test, travel, take test in new location?

Thanks for the report @vinapu! I am hoping to get back to BKK and Chiang Mai in March. My first trip to LOS was January 2020 - right before Covid hit properly. I was in Chiang Mai for Chinese New Year and it was just starting to become a major thing. I found the scene in Chiang Mai to be really poor but I did hook up with a local student. We had an amazing few days, he was not a money boy, we hooked up on an app and we are still in regular contact. When I am back in March (all fingers crossed) we will hook up again.....

British Airways announced they were stopping their direct routes to Thailand again. Today there are reports in the Guardian that quarantine free travel is being considered. Not sure if they are quoting local media or whether they have their own sources.

In case anyone is interested for future reference, I have had confirmed from the hotel that joiners are allowed at the Banyan Tree in Bangkok.

Thanks for all the comments. I think I am going to Airbnb it in Chiang Mai. I met a local university student when i was there in January 2020 and plan to hook up with him again for the week. I am going to spend a week there and then back to down to Bangkok for another week. I have secured a great deal at the Banyan Tree at something like 35% of their usual price so hope it will be alright to have joiners there. I have taken advice previously given and booked the room for two adults. I might send them a separate enquiry about joiners. I can cancel up 24hrs before the first night with no penalty so nothing lost if they have an issue. I can just cancel and book somewhere else when i see a good deal. The deal i got was too good not to get onboard with.

Thanks. Having a look at options the Airbnb scene there is better and cheaper than Bangkok so may very well do that and avoid the issue completely. There is a boy I met when I was there in early 2020, just before it got pandemic. He is local student I met from an app, not a bar boy. I am hoping we'll spend the week together.....

Does anyone know if there are any issues bringing joiners back to hotels in Chiang Mai?

I need some help. What are the prices of Covid vaccines in Thailand? I am thinking about sending over the money to a boy I met when I was out there in January, 2020. He is a lovely student i met when i was in Chiang Mai and who i had a great few days with. He is not a money boy and i am confident that if i sent him the money he would spend it on a vaccine(s). But I have no idea of the cost or even if getting a vaccines is possible at the moment. He hasn't asked and i am sure he is not expecting the offer - he might not even accept, but i thought i would find out the details if i could before making the offer. Any help much appreciated!

Apologies for being slightly off topic, but i am really interested in the financial arrangement you put in place for long(er) term hook ups. For those BFEs that last a few days or who you invite to travel with you - do you pay them every day? Work out a fee for the trip and pay half up front and half at the end? How do you go about negotiating that - do you get a discount on the off rate if for a longer period of time?

The fact it has made the ok for Jon essential travel list means that travel insurance is not automatically invalidated.