soi3eddie

I suspect so however I'm afraid that the hotel may try to extra an extra 6 days from me on arrival. I'm going to try for the Thailand Pass too first thing in the morning.

I travel on 3rd November and arrive in Thailand on 4th Nov. Applied for COE on Mon 25th October. Pre-approval on Thursday 28th. COE issued 29th October by RTE London. HOWEVER: My COE states: "Period of Quarantine: No less than 7 days eligible to enter Thailand on the following scheme; (1) Exemption from Quarantine (after receiving negative RT-PCR test result) or (2) Sandbox Programme." I submitted SHA+/AQ Hotel booking for only 1 day and that was approved. A friend received his COE on 30th October and his simply says; " Period of Quarantine: Exemption from Quarantine (after receiving negative RT-PCR test result). I'm alarmed by the bit that say's "No less than 7 days" period of quarantine. I have emailed the embassy. Thoughts anyone?

Often, a Thai business (mostly restaurants or bars) will only have a Facebook page as their online presence. As a potential customer I would like to see what they offer but not if it means having to have Facebook and be forced to log in to view their property/service. Why can't these places have a simple website (pictures, text, menus, prices, contact or booking page)? It often loses them my business as I move on to another establishment that has a regular website.

You are wrong Sir. Thai Airways from your chart above, offer free date changes. You just just need to book a "full flexi" ticket. Don't be a Cheap Charlie! Sorry, I'm just joshing you on this. To be honest that is the fare that I always buy (well used to) with Thai. Your price in Euros and arrival time suggests that you are not in London. I always bought this full flexi fare from London-Bangkok-London as soon as it went on sale for about £829 GBP. I bought my current ticket 4/11 & 10/12 back in Jan 2020 but due to pandemic am only using it next week after they extended the validity due to cancellations in 2020. IF one was to buy the same ticket again it would be over £1,300 GBP a huge rise of about 56% on what I paid for same ticket, same dates last time! The new normal. Now to add insult, I was sitting on "FREE" Gold Award upgrades to Biz Class. Normally the extra charge is about £100 GBP. Now they added a "Fuel surcharge" and "Gold Award admin fee" of £298 GBP. To be fair I did change this ticket many times for FREE so it has value to me. Plus, (other will disagree) I beleive THAI offer the best on-board service from Europe direct, non-stop to Thailand.

Assuming it's just for calls then Skype local number is a good option and works well for me. They have a choice of UK area codes. Calls to my London number come through to my phone app or PC where I am in the world - must be connected on 4G or WiFi though. Just £5.16 per month (received calls are free). A more businesslike option is "RingCentral" that works in a similar way with a huge number of features - I've been using this for my business for the last 4 years.

National Insurance is a tax too. 12% for UK employees and 13.8% for UK employer's NIC's at present Class 1 - due to rise by 2.5% soon. Don't know about Thailand but suspect nowhere near the same as the UK as few people in Thailand are even officially "on the books".

Plenty of ventilation. No need for more fans.

Would be intersting to see Pension Figures vs levels of General Taxation. Very few pay taxes at any level in Thailand. Even VAT is still supressed at 7%. A bit shocked to see UK only at #9 despite how much tax we pay.

Never seen any age restriction noted on COE (or Thai pass so far). Assume there might be. 17yr old in these times probably has more common sense for travel than many 60yrs older! My 10yr old half Brit/Thai son was quite happy to travel by himself from UK to Thailand and back a few years ago. Most airlines rule 14/16yrs for solo travel so your 17yr old will be fine in that regard. Just ensure that he/she has access to cash/debit card/phone in case of need.

The transport and PCR test is done by the SHA+/AQ hotel that you must stay at for at least 1 night. They could have mentioned that though.

I would bubble wrap each item and try to fit inside a carry-on bag or case so that there would not be any pressure on any components that might bend or break any connectors or pins.

My condo is on 5th floor of an 8 floor building. I wasn't sure how 3BB were going to get the fibre cable into my condo. I couldn't see how they would thread it through the existing trunking for the copper telephone wires. A 3 man installation crew arrived on time. They started in the hallway where there is a utilities riser shaft from the communications room in the basement. There was already some type of fibre splitter box in the cabinet. The installation team connected to the splitter and then ran the fibre cable through the suspended ceiling to my condo. They drilled a small hole in the ceiling void into my property. Then they continued to run through the ceilnig void to my TV, Phone, Entertainment cabinet. Dropped the wire down the wall discretely and plugged in the new router. 900MBPS/500MBPS real speeds with ethernet cable connection.

I booked a Pattaya 1 day SHA+/AQ hotel yesterday for 4th November. On the hotel confirmation it says: • 1 SWAB Test • Airport pick up from Suvarnabhumi International Airport So I'm guessing that the hotel's partner hospital does the test on check-in at the hotel.

Had one done at Bangkok Hospital, Bangkok in 2014. Was told no food - only water from 4pm. Doc gave me prescription for laxative tablets and 2 small (200ml?) bottles of something called Swiff. Started at 6pm night before and it was VERY fast acting. One does not want to be far from the pan! Had to drink a couple of litres of water too. In the hospital room they gave me a "sedative". In fact it actually knocked me out and I was just waking up at completion of the investigation. No pain and very professionally done. Was not given any different options for the "cleanse".

I very nearly turned away and left but the husband was genuinly nice and chatty (he had worked in Phuket until the pandemic). I was <deleted> off at first but I really wanted that coffee!

That's for sure. I can't help think that by blaming foreigners for the virus and Anutin's infamous comments last year, it's all part of the plan to distract Thais from criticising their government for all it's failings. More talk and fear of foreigners will maintain controls on everyone and divert attention from the Thai government. It will be interesting to see the poll attitudes to foreigners once the pandemic is well and truly over. I'm reminded of a situation in June 2020 while travelling near Khao Sok in Surat Thani. I stopped at a roadside coffee shop and was greeted by the owner's husband outside in the garden, he spoke great English and was a nice chap. On trying to enter the shop to place my order, his wife said I must leave as "foreigners have Covid". She was adamant that I could not enter the shop. Her husband persuaded her to serve me coffee at the table outside which she did. Cleary she was <deleted> scared of foreigners and covid.

Such a sad occurence, too young and tragic end of life. The parent/s may or may not be devastated. Riding bikes from age 10 in Thailand is the norm though not normally on busy roads but just in the village. The only way to stop this would be proper and fair enforcement of the laws but we all know that will never happen.

I switched to 3BB (1000/500 MBPS) full fibre to my condo in Bangkok in 2020. Excellent service and speeds. No outages. They supplied a WiFi6AX router which is fast. I pay a year upfront and they give one month free. IIRC it works out about 600 Baht/Month. IMO very good value. Before that I had AIS VDSL 80/30MBPS from 2014 to 2020 which was reliable too but their old pricing plans were more expensive than 3BB fiber. Before AIS I had TOT and you can all guess how bad that was (from 2010 to 2014).

I booked in hotel Pattaya. The site at: https://asq.in.th/?durationSelectedItem=1+Day had quite a few hotels. I'm sure they'll add Bangkok hotels (if not already)

For this trip I used Atlas Worldtrips travel policy with 1,000,000 USD medical cover that also covers Covid-19. Their confirmation states this. Got it through aainsure.net (Benny) and paid 159USD for 3rd Nov to 15th Dec. Not the cheapest policy however the cover is good and there is no exclusion accidents from riding motorcyles (The Luna Pass and Axa Sawasdee exclude M/C accidents). Next trip in January is for 3 months so not sure what company to use for that.

Today I have spent several hours booking a sha+ AQ hotel for 1 night. Bought the required covid insurance too. I already had the flight tickets (extended from 12 months ago to 3rd November) and non-o extension of stay (until May 2022). Even with the above and my tenacity in navigating beaurocracy and determination to return to my second home, I wonder is it worth the effort for 5 weeks stay! I'm not bothered about bars being officially closed (know plenty of places to have fun) but there is no way a 2 week "Tourist" would go through all of this. I submitted a COE application this afternoon in hope it may be accepted in advance of the Thai Pass being open for applications. Even then, I still have to get a PCR test before being allowed to board the plane in London. No tourist is going to go through all the hassle and cost. No wonder very few have booked and paid for flights yet. Easier places to travel to for winter sun closer to home for most.

Allegedly a senior figure of the Boys in Brown is a shareholder of the bar area in Sukhumvit Soi 7. When all else is closed it's a reliable place to find refreshment and entertainment. Ditto the beer garden. Was at both places a few times during the January 2021 lockdown and it was pretty much business as usual.

A good idea IMO but these clowns are so insulated from reality that the general populace can never get anywhere near them.

My guess is 15th November too for bar reopening. This would allow 2 weeks after the relaxed entry rules to see if infection rates increase with foreigners arriving.

All kinds of underhand arrangements go on that many are unaware of. You did well to remedy the situation.