bamboozled

3 hours ago, Aussiepeter said:

I lived in C Mai for twenty-five years or so, but finally left in 2013. At one stage I visited many of the abandoned buildings and wrote a story about them for a local magazine, only to have them lose my draft. The movie theatre was still operating in 1989 as I went there once or twice - very nice & very cheap (no double pricing). I recall a sad occasion when a farang was found dead there after the end of a film. Apparently a cobra had slithered in at some time during the film and had bitten him several times - it was rainy season. If you go down Changklan Rd past the old theatre about 500m, just before the next traffic lights there is an abandoned 14 storey building in a Soi on the right - it's been there unfinished  since at least 1990. It had been approved as eight floors from memory, but the builder illegally added extra floors. A similar hotel building that had been "modified" collapsed in the early 90's (in Udon Thani from memory), killing a US Medal of Honour winner from the Vietnam conflict, his Thai wife & others eating dinner. After that they clamped down on illegally modified high-rise buildings. They demolished the old railway hotel opposite C Mai railway station, but not before I climbed up to the top and got some amazing (pre-digital) photos. The best secret is Asia's first ever revolving restaurant, which sits on top of the long abandoned Bpoy Luang Hotel. It is on the main highway intersection with the road coming from the railway station. I left in 2013, but it was still there a few years ago when I visited. (I did write about it a while back on 'tv'). Assuming it is still there, it looks like a smaller round room on top of an old white rectangular building. I rode a Honda Dream up the ramp/fire-esape to the top about 20 years ago & climbed into the old revolving restaurant. It was a big G.I. hotel in the Vietnam War & had a disco-like mirror-ball in the revolving restaurant & it had a big swimming pool in the rear. All the lifts etc have been removed and it is just a shell now, but it was incredible back in 1968 or so. They started to refurb it in the 90's as a hospital, but the 97 crash killed it. They fixed up a couple of rooms and filmed episodes of a popular Thai 'soap' opera there in the early 90's too. I actually appeared in that show quite by accident, when I stopped & asked a BIB for directions (I speak local Thai). The 'cop' laughed and told me in perfect English that he was not a real cop but was an actor and, "would I mind riding my motorbike up the street again and asking him the same question, so they could film it" ! I was famous in local bars for a week to two. The 90's were a fantastic time to be in Chiang Mai (or elsewhere in Thailand for that matter) and, the air was clean !

I think that abandoned building 500m down Changklan and right onto a soi has been....wait for it.....refurbished! I could be wrong and I might have your soi wrong but I do remember a big graffiti covered shell that it seemed they used for rappelling or something. Anyway, driving by there a few weeks ago I was looking for that building and what I saw was a fixed up one. I could have been out of my tree, though. I will have to check again.

I did eyeball that round rest. many a time and wonder. I didn't realize it had been demolished. 

The cobra story seems hard to believe. I mean, wouldn't he have cried out? But what do I know??

Thank you for the info!

34 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

The provision of and access to health services varies widely across Thailand as does the infection rate.

 

There are very sound reasons to reduce the spread of the virus into provinces lacking health services and significant internal local political pressure to close provinces with low infection rates.

 

 

In the province where I live almost all new COVID cases are directly related to visitors from outside the province.

 

Only last week a family of 7 arrived from Bangkok and all tested positive after one of the kids showed symptoms.

 

For the hotel, restaurant and cafe’s they visited during their stay, it’s business they could do without.

 

 

 

 

I get that. But if those people are traipsing around Bkk they are spreading it, too. Just like they would in another province. It's like robbing Peter to pay Paul, it seems. If you're saying the leaders of each province want their province sealed off, I can understand it but it doesn't seem like it would change the overall rate of infection. Access to medical care makes some sense. I guess my main thought is infected people are going to infect or not infect other people no matter where they are. If they are in contact with more people because of travel, that would make some sense. But how much more contact does one have staying in a hotel than going about one's daily life...shopping, walking on the street, eating in a restaurant?

I was just thinking about the subject in the title and I feel I'm missing something as to the efficacy of the ban. I know the ban is not enforced so much but I was passing through the checkpoint in Chiang Mai and so it came up. I understand they want to keep the Covid numbers down. But if a sick person goes out and infects others, or vice-versa, what does it matter if it's in the same province in which the person lives or in a neighboring province? If you have 100,000 sick in Bkk and zero in CM or 75,000 in Bkk and 25,000 in CM, is it not the same? A province is just a line drawn in the sand. Is it just for statistical purposes? Or is it similar to the alcohol ban....when drinking alcohol you get rowdier and flaunt the distancing regs....and when traveling, sort of a similar thing happens? What aren't I understanding?

Cheers, Bam

Does anyone know when the movie theater was shut down across the intersection from Pantip Plaza? Has anyone ventured in there and poked around? Must be fascinating. It saddens me to think it has just been left there to rot when in my mind it could have been a great attraction given the location. But I suppose all those old theaters were abandoned because they weren't a draw anymore. Amazing it just sits there year after year...

1 hour ago, EricTh said:

I used to eat my Jok breakfast at the old Santhitam shop just before I go to my 'learn Thai classes' at YMCA nearby. I didn't know the reason that they moved out was because of the higher rental.

 

The price at the old shop used to be comparable to Jok Somphet back then. How much is one bowl of Jok now?  It's certainly not a 5 baht difference now.

 

I can't deny that it is more delicious than Jok Somphet though. The workers at Jok Somphet are mostly from Myanmar.

 

 

Me, too! I lived very close to YMCA for 4 years and frequented the shop often. Now, I live a bit further away so don't get there as much BUT our posts here inspired me to go for lunch today. I did not bring my phone to take pics of my BEAUTIFUL fish and shrimp pii-set jok with two eggs but it was divine. 3 big shrimp, a plethora of white snapper (as they reference it), thick/rich jok, and a sprinkling of ginger and spring onion on top. And the aforementioned 2 soft-boiled eggs. It was wonderful. The cost for that was 105 baht. But a regular size jok with pork dumplings is only 35 baht. I don't think that's more than Somphet and either way pretty darn cheap. You can add egg, pork, chicken, fish, shrimp, fish and shrimp, crispy pork, innards....you name it. Gong and wife (forgot her name) were as friendly and welcoming as ever. They are just really good people that care about their rest. and customers. Awesome.

16 minutes ago, EricTh said:

 

They used to be at the roundabout area and was quite popular. But their prices are more expensive than others like Jok Somphet.

 

Quite popular because delicious. Landlord bumped the rent way up and forced them out thus the move just down the street. I'm not sure about the prices between the two rest. but if it's true, the difference is what, 5 or 10 baht? Their jok is far better than Jok Somphet, in my opinion. Somphet is watery. Santitham Breakfast is thick and rich. And the people are lovely, family run place. Did you ever even get a smile at Jok Somphet? Yes, I am partial to the place because of a longstanding relationship of sorts I have with the owners but that aside, their food is really nice and the atmosphere of the place, too. The other offerings are also quite good and if you want a farang brekkie they can do that, too. That Vietnamese breakfast at the top of their FB page is tasty.

https://www.facebook.com/santithambreakfast

In Santitham, the jok is awesome. Can get it with fish, too, my favorite. Gong and his wife are great.

Ah I got it....because the spokes go through the wheel and the head of the spoke is on the inside....air would escape through the spoke hole? Thank you for the info. Learning is fun!

What's the reason for putting a tube in a tubeless tire? I'm curious.

I'm thinking that soon enough they will let people in without quarantine that are double vaxed. If they want to reopen, how can they not? It doesn't make any logical sense to me (if double vaxed) unless just a money grab for hotels but it will put off far more people from coming than can be pocked from hotel/island quarantine. In my head, at least.

9 hours ago, MarcIssan said:

I just went through all of that and travel to the USA was easy but the paperwork coming back was a huge issue for me. So let me explain.

 

For the return, my qualification was my marriage to a Thai national.  When applying for the COE I needed to upload a copy of my marriage certificate (which I never thought to bring), copies of both our U.S. passports plus my wife's Thai passport and her Thai ID card, Covid insurance valid through the end-date of my visa (for me that was 10 months) or a letter from my insurance provider stating specific covid coverage, and a 'written' PCR test within 72 hours of my departure, our ASQ hotel reservation confirmation, and a copy of our return flight reservation. 

 

A rapid test is not acceptable nor is a picture/text of a negative test on my telephone...it must be a printed document with specific information. 18 people were sent home at the check-in counter because they did a Rapid Test and only had a text showing 'negative' which is not acceptable.  All the free Covid tests, including the PCR tests, are not suggested for travel since no printable document is produced, the test results text does not conform to Thailand standards, and there is no guarantee the results will arrive by the departure date.  A Fit to Fly is no longer required as of April 2021.  I also uploaded our Covid vaccine cards.

 

The challenges I ran into included:

 

1-Asking my neighbor to enter my house in Thailand and search for our marriage certificate then send a photo for reproduction. Fortunately we gave him a key in case of emergencies.

 

2-Getting Blue Cross Medicare Advantage insurance company to write a letter of coverage that specifically stated "Unlimited Covid 19 benefits" internationally.  They were content copying and pasting vague and generic language from the handbook which  was denied by the Thai Embassy in Los Angeles.  He said "we don't what to think...we don't want to guess.. so the letter must say what we require or you cannot return to Thailand."  I requested the letter of coverage my first week in America and it took nearly 5 weeks to get what I needed. They only reply by physical mail and that takes 10-14 days to arrive.  In my case it took 2 requests which spanned 4+ weeks to receive a letter accepted by the Embassy. 

 

I thought about buying covid travel insurance but at my age it was around 120,000 bt for a full year, they required payment in full, and no refunds upon early cancellation.

  

3-I booked our ASQ hotel on Agoda for 88,000 bt.  I called the hotel to learn about any documents they need and if they had a vegetarian menu. They said DO NOT BOOK on Agoda since there are many documents to send in advance of receiving my paid-in-full reservation confirmation (which is also needed for the COE) and Agoda doesn't have the system in place to request them and they suggested I cancel with Agoda and rebook with them.  When I cancelled  with  Agoda, they stated I would get a ZERO refund!  ZERO!!  Really...<deleted>!! Upon checking with Agoda customer service (email request), they said it is up to the hotel and since the hotel offered zero refund they cannot do otherwise.  I called the hotel and they assured me they have not yet received my funds and this was all on Agoda.  Another call to Agoda..this time they said to call my bank to stop the charge.  I called the bank who said they cannot stop a charge that I authorized just because I changed my mind.  Checking on the Agoda site there  is no customer service telephone number listed anywhere and many of the complaint/request options link back to the same online request form or the FAQ.  So I Googled Agoda and found their HQ is in Singapore so I called them and to my relief they (eventually) gave me a full refund (after a full investigation) and I must say their service 'eventually' was pleasant and satisfying.  However I may not book again with them considering the trouble and the run-around I received early on.  Agoda is part of Hotels.com which also owns Kayak and a few others.

 

4-The COE website is pretty good but I had an issue that took a bit to sort out.  In the areas to upload documents there are certain limits applied.  For example, the number of documents allowed might be 5 and if I uploaded 6, one of them will not be saved.  The site will accept all 6 and show them in the preview window but when I actually saved them, only 5 got saved and the 6th was not.  Then I got denied due to the lack of THAT document.  I uploaded it again time and again but it was never saved because it was always #6 and the site doesn't pop up an alert of any kind.  Once I figured it out, my solution was to remove and re-arranged my uploads through the edit/update my information.  It was my fault but I would think the validation would be on the 'upload' telling me I am over my limit.  So my advice is to upload your docs, exit the system, then log in to view/edit your file to assure all the necessary uploads were saved.

 

5-More COE website issues.  I was required to enter my originating flight number departing America and my flight number entering Thailand if they were different.  My carrier was Japan Airlines.  My ticket showed a flight number of 707 so entered it. I was denied for invalid flight number or something (no further explanation was given). Then I edited it to include JAL707. It was denied again. I Googled Japan Airlines and found the ATA ticket designator is JL..so I changed my flights to JL707 ect and all was well. 

 

The website doesn't validate the ATA ticket designators against a table of values so when I entered it incorrectly and it was accepted, I thought all was well.  Since it takes 2-4 days for the Embassy to view my file each time I updated it, the days clicked by after every error I made.  It was only 1-2 days before we were set to depart that I finally got the COE and I started a full 2 weeks ahead of our departure.

 

The COE is very specific and they want what they want and when I called the embassy for certain exceptions (lack or marriage license) they were clear that "I may not qualify to return to Thailand" unless I provide exactly what they need.  They have no room for exceptions and they really didn't care if I returned or not!!

 

I hope that helps.  I vow not to travel to the USA again until all the covid restrictions and COE requirements subside.  The return to Thailand was costly, it wasted 2 weeks of my time, and the documents they require leave no room for exceptions or errors.  I'll pass up the hassle.

 

One more thing...the PCR test that we both got was the correct test however the certificate stated "Covid 19" test.  At the gate, they rejected the form since it did not specifically state RT-PCR.  I had to sort this out with the testing agency.  It took an hour for the check-in agent to arrive at that conclusion after saying a telephone call from them would do, then changed it to text from them would do, and lastly said only the proper written document would do.  

 

Ok so I called the testing agency and they edited my file to say RT-PCR. That took 30+ minutes!  Time is running out.  I logged into my account, downloaded the updated document, showed it to the check-in agent and they finally checked me in.  Then I went to the business office to get a printed copy since both JAL and Thailand immigration require only a printed document. I arrived 4 hours early and was first in line so the 90+ minute delay this caused me didn't disrupt my return flight. BUT if I arrived 3 hours ahead I would have been 30th in line or so.  At the rate of check-in, it would have been 90+ minutes in queue and this 90+ minute delay would have certainly caused me to miss the flight.  As it was we were at the gate with only 10-15 minutes to spare!

Well fer feks sake, I'm not leaving if that's what I'm walking into on re-entry. Thanks so much for providing so much info. When you say you "just" went through this...how recent is "just" since things can change quickly. Your story is the kind of thing I want to avoid and if it's that much hassle I can hold off on traveling abroad. Thank you!

It seems pretty straightforward. Thanks all, and to alw22 for starting the thread, double thanks!

Bam

Appreciate it, SW. I've imponed upon you to get info I prob could have found myself (like from CDC and State Dept. as you mention) but for laziness on my part. Thanks for not responding with "google is your friend". I know google can be my friend, of course, but so can chit-chatting strangers on social media which is the point of social media, me thinks.

Cheers, Bam

Thanks so much, Skatewash. It seems easy enough though my sister is a little wary of having a non-vaxed in the house. Of course, I'd stop and get my first shot coming out of the airport but I could be contaminated on the plane. Have you done this recently, a trip to the US?

As for the coming back part, I feel it's impossible to know what Thailand will require in a month or two.

Cheers, Bam

Hmm, I might be flying to the US next month if I decide to make the trip. I haven't done the research yet on what is needed. If you care to share what you got up to/what's necessary, I'd be obliged. Is there any kind of quarantine necessary on the US end?

I see a rapid antigen test and then check with the airline. That has to be done within 3 days of flying or something of the sort?

Thank you, Bam

Thailand just but a huge amount of gold to shore up the banking...whatever that means exactly. But I think that news is today so it doesn't explain the past week of losses but would most likely make for a stronger baht, in my confused mind.

I also have the Canon Pixma with the external tanks added by the shop. Those are easy to refill and cost effective. The cartridges do wear out, however, and cost 900 baht or so. At least that's what they tell me. Look, along with razors, printer cartridges in my opinion are a scam (pricing, I mean). They sell you the printer cheap, like they sell you a razor cheap, and gouge you with the refills.

...wait, they changed the name?

These numbers going down seem impossible if you look at what is happening everywhere else.

What about an agent? Aren't they magicians of sorts?

If you go to Guam, you can get vaccinated, too, so I've read.

14 minutes ago, jimn said:

Nothing to do with the USD  its simply the regained strength of the baht which is stronger against the USD, Euro and the pound amoungst other currencies.

That's all fine and good but: why? Why is it stronger? If I thought to invest my money in Thai baht somehow, through whatever vehicle, I would look at the landscape and think no way am I doing that. Because there isn't anything good to see on the landscape. But either some people see something I'm not seeing which is certainly possible (the reason for the post) or that quick baht rise over the past three days was due to something else. And now I guess it's moving back to where it had been 3 days prior.