goa4711

It means you need a single ticket from your long haul carrier which covers the whole itinerary including BKK-USM (Samui). The latter part is actually performed by Bangkok Airways, so your long haul carrier needs a code sharing agreement with Bangkok Airways. Somebody published a list of airlines which do have such an agreement a couple of weeks ago in this forum.

Yes I did with KLM (changing an existing ticket, changed flight date and route from BKK-AMS-HAM to USM (Samui)-BKK-AMS-HAM), no problem. KLM has a code sharing agreement with BKK airlines, somebody published a list of all airlines which do have such an agreement a few weeks ago in this forum. You should be booked on a 4-digit Bangkok Air flight number for USM-BKK, the 4 digit flight number (mine is PG5172) indicates it's a Samui+ flight as compared to 3 digits for regular flights.

In the original announcement for Surat Thani (see posting from Friday) it was said 'No alcohol sales in shops and restaurants'. I understand that on Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, and Koh Tao, this is only applicable for restaurants, not for shops. How about the rest of Surat Thani, can't you buy a beer in a 7/11 there anymore now ?

Has anybody travelled from Samui to Koh Tao for diving lately ? If so, are there any restrictions like PCR tests either way ? How's the diving situation on Koh Tao, dive shops open and nice prices due to low demand ?

Checked with KLM (code sharing partner of Bangkok Airways) today, rebooking my current ticket BKK-AMS-HAM on 18.8. to USM-BKK-AMS-HAM (1st leg Bangkok Airways Samui+ flight) would be no problem and would cost only 58 €. Changing to USM-SIN-AMS-HAM would be also possible for 108 €. The advantages would be to have one ticket that covers the whole itenerary (no fingerpointing in case of missed connecting flights), a small disadvantage that I had to do the PCR test on Samui (cheapest 3.480 THB at Samui Hospital Nathon) instead of Bangkok (cheapest one I would consider 2.600 THB at Dr. Donnas).

Paid Samui Home Clinic in Bangrak a visit today, according to the reception desk they will report every positive Covid test to the authorities without asking for your consent first. I assume all hospitals on Samui follow the same procedure, so taking a PCR test on Samui can easily end up in 14 days quarantine in a hospital with a huge bill (I've heard something about 1/2 mio baht) which might not be covered by your health insurance (e.g. because the PCR test turns out false positive later or because you are an asymptotic case). Maybe Dr. Donnas in Bangkok would be a better choice for the test, they told me they will consult you before forwarding results, but I assume all clinics and hospitals are obliged to report any positive test by law and therefore will do it eventually in every case.