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he knows people that live in bangkok, they send reports. i thought his reports from NZ weren't that far off, i live in bkk and frequent the night life areas. some of his reporting is biased, as he gets info directly from that bar owner or someone who loves a certain bar. but that was kind of the case when he was in bkk. i remember he constantly talked about how great tilac bar was/is. i've been here almost 15 yrs and i'd say tilac died off around 2010 or so. but different people have different opinions on all that. his column will obviously be more helpful to travelers, which has generally been the case in the past. but i will admit i picked up a few things from his columns at times, even though i was/am living here in bkk and he was/is in NZ.

my last sentence indicated that i knew of one go go open inside doing 'shows' but i didn't want to disclose it. i now know of two but the second one is more like a sit inside with a woman. not doing much on stage.

i help to support a 6 year old boy (thai). not mine by blood and doesn't live with me. his mother asked my opinion and i said vaccine not needed. that was her thought also. no underlying conditions. on the topic of the UK, where are they on vaccination for young children ? i saw this that covers 12-17, call those teens. are children eligible for the vaccine in the UK ? https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-resources-for-children-and-young-people/covid-19-vaccination-a-guide-for-eligible-children-and-young-people-aged-12-to-17 i also saw this. so i guess some children are eligible: Who is eligible? Children aged five to 11 who are in a clinical risk group or who are a household contact of someone who is immunosuppressed are now eligible to receive a Covid jab. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/22/covid-vaccination-uk-children-what-approved i got two pfizer doses in the US and got a moderna booster in thailand last week.

stickman should have an easy time filling up the column with updates as the nightlife places start to reopen. soi 7 has been going strong for months, nana opened about two months ago, and cowboy followed nana. the soi 7 beer bar complex is almost 100% outdoors/open air. the inside of the go go bars at nana and cowboy are not open (except for toilet use) but the patios are open and busy most nights. cowboy was deserted for a few weeks after new years as they started requiring a negative test to enter the soi. that ended recently so things are going again there. a friend of mine claims he ate dinner inside what most of us call rainbow 4, i think it was a restaurant a few decades ago. they don't have much of a patio going there but somehow they are open. i was also told one go go was doing shows inside but i'll withold the name for now.

for a data point, i ordered moderna on 12/30/21 from bumrungrad and got the shot yesterday. so i waited a month. i think moderna only arrived within the last month or so, maybe some was also here in november. regardless, it was going to be a long wait for an order from july 2021. but something is seriously wrong at hospitals that haven't taken care of those july orders by this point.

cowboy is dead right now. i was there on saturday night from 9 to almost midnight. some places are open, baccara, oasis (bar/restaurant only, never a go go bar), jungle jim, suzy wong and dollhouse. plus a couple places on the asoke side, country road, five star, etc.. but they require a test to get onto the cowboy soi, the entrances are blocked. on saturday they let me through without the test requirement. in the past, i've tried to get through and they wouldn't let me. several times i arrived at 5:30pm to eat dinner at oasis and the testing requirement wasn't in place yet. only the outdoor patios are open for these places (can dine inside oasis). very few customers, very few ladies. soi 7 is very busy (i was there on saturday before i went to cowboy). but they have to close at 9pm. hundreds of ladies at the soi 7 beer bar complex (not the biergarten from the good old days but the newer complex). they'll be open to 11 now. nana is also busy but not as much as soi 7. they also are held to the 9pm closing (but now 11). the patios out front of lollipop, twister, and erotica (other side of the inner plaza from the first two i named) are open and there are some real lookers at twister. but i'd say 1/3 of the number of ladies you'll find at soi 7. i've been going out to these places 3-4 times a week for the last 2-3 months. soi 7 has been crowded for a long time (bars were open there in september). then nana opened up and then cowboy opened up (i think cowboy was early dec). but again, very limited opening for nana and cowboy. soi 7 is fully open and new bars have opened there in the last couple weeks. edit: the testing started at cowboy after NYE. some bars at cowboy and all the bars at soi 7 were closed for a few days after NYE. they started the testing at cowboy when these places reopened but didn't at soi 7. when soi 7 was closed, alot of the ladies went to nana to work. they were open.

i've spent alot of time in the bar/restaurant areas around sukhumvit (nana, cowboy, soi 7, etc..), mainly outdoor areas, front patios, etc.... alot of the thais i talk with have had the virus already, they got delta when it hit and have since been vaxxed or they got vaxxed and had omicron in the last couple weeks. bar managers have also been infected. i'm not sure how much longer this can go before everyone has had it. there was a time when i didn't know anyone in thailand that had it and now it might be 70% know they had it 20% think they had it and 10% think they haven't had it. fortunately none of those i've talked to have been severely ill. i think mainly due to their age and/or they were vaxxed. edit: i'm vaxxed (no booster) and i think i had omicron last week. didn't test. stayed home for 5 days, i had zero energy so it was easy to stay home.

i walked in to bumrungrad to see what was going on there, reportedly they were doing walk in vax but that wasn't the case when i was there (december 30). instead, i reserved a moderna shot by paying 1,650thb. supposedly you can do this via their website as the lady at information desk there used my laptop to do it for me. i could not navigate to the proper spot after being told i could do it on the website. i think you have to look for the 'moderna package'. this is supposed to arrive in late jan or early feb. they recently received a batch but i didn't get a part of that. i've had two pfizer and 8 months have passed since #2.

i walked into bumrungrad last week. they didn't have anything, despite some reports on here about people getting them as walk ins. i signed up via their website for a moderna shot, cost 1,650thb. supposedly available late january or february. you can sign up via their website but i had trouble figuring it out. i had my laptop with me and the lady at the desk got me to the appropriate page. i had two pfizer in USA, last one was May 2021.

i went to bumrungrad today and they knew nothing about walk in service. but for all i know, they had it until yesterday, you never know. i made an appointment to get a shot of moderna when their next batch comes in (Lot 2), which is supposed to arrive jan or feb. cost 1,650thb. even though i was there in person, i had to make the appt online via their website.

there are a few places open on soi cowboy now. i think oasis was the first to open. then baccara. jungle jim/moonshine and suzy wong followed. sam 2000 (the restaurant on cowboy) is open and the outside area of tilac is open, i'm not sure if that is being run by tilac people or just being used by sam 2000. in all cases, only the outside patios are open. can only go inside for the toilet. the one with the live band at the asoke end (country road ?) is also open and i think five star next door. all of these spots are offering free BBQ food to the patrons or some of other version of free food (sliced meats with side dishes catered, etc...).

i tried the QueQ app and didn't have much luck. was with a thai friend at the time and we went through nearly all the vaccination centers on there choosing dates in january and they all came up with a message saying no more slots available. maybe my farang passport # caused the problem ? maybe they really are booked up ? not sure. i've had two pfizer but second one was May 5, 2021 so i'm past 6 months now. i'm in bkk. i'm guessing they've allocated all the doses they've recvd and waiting for the next big shipment(s). but just a guess. from what i've read, i'm not eligible to go to bang sue.

has anyone been to bang sue station recently ? i had my second pfizer back in may (in USA) so i'm due for a third, maybe pfizer or moderna. i remember reading that these two were starting to be the main vaccines available at bang sue. i'm 55 with no underlying conditions so i'm not at the top of the list for a booster but seems i might be eligible here in bangkok. i was going to wait until a friend's paid moderna arrived (they don't need it anymore) but the arrival date on that one is uncertain, could be january could be march. i remember someone saying they went to bang sue and the pfizer line was a thousand strong but the moderna line was wide open. any updates on bang sue ? wait times ?

i've been to the 'new nana plaza' twice now. thurs and sat night. every seat was taken on thurs and they opened up the middle bar area for saturday to allow more space. it is lollipop and twister bkk that are open in the front only. they've got a live band going, acoustic style and not too loud. plenty of ladies there but most are already with 'dates'. the restaurant piece is the taco truck in the nana hotel parking lot. i used to eat there all the time so glad to see it is back. menus inside the plaza and they deliver the food to you. beers 100thb. not a bad spot for beer/music/people watching. i'd rather be in the plaza than inside big dogs or morning night.

a friend of mine was at bumrungrad a few yrs ago and they helped him extend his visa. he didn't leave the hospital. maybe your hospital has a similar service. you could extend your visa exempt entry for 30 days to give you more time to recover and re-book your return flight. this is a link to show that bumrungrad does offer a service to patients. i assume other private hospitals may offer it as well. https://www.bumrungrad.com/en/patient-services/business-center

i would also recommend the stay in hotel for a week or two program while deciding on where you want to sign up for a longer stay. do not decide on place before you've been there. that might be okay for a one week stay but if you are doing a couple months, best to see it first.

it is early on but so far the cases of omicon are deemed to be mild. so that is good news so far. https://www.businessinsider.com/omicron-coronavirus-variant-cases-mild-south-africa-2021-11

the fox sports channel that showed F1 is gone but the F1 races are still shown on true visions. channel 666 now.

i also used the wellmed location on sukhumvit described in the post above. results in less than 24 hrs.

most major airports in the USA have testing onsite. you can make an appointment or go for walk up service. be aware that the walk up service can be a long line. appts get priority. i did mine at the seattle airport, waited onsite for an hour to get results (whole process about 1.5 hrs). i went on monday and flew out on wednesday, approx 48 hrs later. i forget the name of the testing service but you should be able to use google to find out about the airport nearest you. the service i used had many airport locations nationwide. i think i paid $250.

i like clubhouse (not on list) on soi 23. would go there before any of those on the list. i also prefer o'sheas to robin hood and royal oak in the same area (33/1).

i forgot my photo when i went to CW. i did it in one of the copy shops downstairs. it took 2 minutes. so don't stress if you forget your photo. i believe i got 4 of them for 100thb.

i wonder how many of those US arrivals actually came from the USA. when i've spent time in the resort areas like samui and phuket, i've come across a number of US citizens that live/work in the middle east. they could be coming in for a short vacation. i assume the beaches/water are very clean right now.

i would suggest the difference btwn 67% and 47% isn't as large as it may sound. in addition, the unvaccinated in the UK most likely have more underlying conditions, like obesity. we always see deaths by age group but the more relevant data would be the underlying conditions. of course older people tend to have more underlying conditions so that makes one think it is an age thing but maybe not as much as the media portrays it to be.

this sounds like a normal day. i typically arrive about 9am and get a number in the L50's to L70's range. sometimes i'm done before the lunch break. other times, i see the immigration people before lunch but passport returned after lunch. i don't really mind spending the lunch hour at CW. i don't like sitting in the L desk area (even during non covid times). the less time sitting there, the better off i am. as i noted in my report last week, i got L114 and i believe due to a recent holiday that jammed up the place for the next few days. they made it to L100 before lunch that day. which was surprising. about 11:30 i went into the L desk area to see where they were at and a guy next to me had L173. OP, you wouldn't have had good trip if you pulled L173 when you arrived !!!