Travel blogger left stranded in Thai holiday paradise for three months says 'there's worse places to be stuck'

Dan Worthy has been counting down the days in Phuket, Thailand after being unable to leave as tourist travel routes were closed down

 

Dan has been enjoying the sights (Image: Instagram)

 

A travel blogger has told of being holed up in a holiday paradise thousands of miles from home for more than three months because of the coronavirus.

 

Dan Worthy has been counting down the days in Phuket, Thailand after being unable to leave as tourist travel routes were closed down.

 

He arrived for a pal's dream wedding on February 28- and has since seen the country's whole economy shut down.

 

Dan is now going through local AIrBnBs after his hotel closed and is awaiting the reopening of the local airport.

 

The 29-year-old Manchester man regularly travels north of the border into Scotland on his journeys and claims Scottish routes through his mum.

 

Full story: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/travel-blogger-left-stranded-thai-22137522

 

-- Daily Record 2020 06-05

The 29-year-old Manchester man regularly travels north of the border into Scotland on his journeys and claims Scottish routes through his mum.

 

(My highlighting)

 

Presumably those are the routes that he travels on to see his mum... ????

 

 

18 minutes ago, webfact said:

He arrived for a pal's dream wedding on February 28- and has since seen the country's whole economy shut down.

must have been a long wedding

 

it didn't start to shut down until the last 2 weeks of March

A similar story here about Phuket expats:

 

https://www.watoday.com.au/politics/federal/aussie-expat-family-stranded-in-airbnb-for-10-weeks-after-covid-19-travel-ban-20200529-p54xqd.html

Yeah, total BS. Oh look, it's in a "quality" newspaper. What a surprise.

My (Thai) g/f travelled back to Germany (she's apprenticing at a cooking school) and she flew to Berlin on 9 April via Doha on Qatar Air.
Lufthansa and KLM were also flying a couple times a week and back then there was no problem for EU citizens to move between EU countries. The g/f had to stay in her room for 14 days after she got back.

Anyone that wanted to get back to the UK could have easily done the same thing as she did. And it wasn't that expensive (she paid for her ticket herself). If a Thai girl could afford a ticket I'm sure a UK travel blogger could as well.

But a story about a guy "stranded" in Thailand for 3 months sells better. 

Oh and he can't fly because "the local airport isn't open". 

And you can't go to the "Daily Record" and comment on the story unfortunately.

My Chum left in Taxi a while back when the Bridge re opened, apart from a longish wait at Swampy He and Wife got back to Norway easy enough. But that doesnt make a good story does it.!

i wouldnt mind being stranded in Phuket either. Even if they closed off the beaches.

A troll post has been removed. 

Look where he comes from ?

Why would you want to go home !! ?   especially at the moment

must be popular with the ladies in town ,he can cherry pick

 

the R number is on the rise back home in mancs so not a place to go

I guess he didn’t fancy taking any off the flights back that have been operating for the last 3 months,,,,,,,wouldn’t have left him much to write about in his blog I suppose

On 6/5/2020 at 3:03 AM, Kerryd said:

she's apprenticing at a cooking school

Sorry, but you never apprentice at a cooking school.  That would be attend and learn.  To apprentice is to be bound to work/train for a specified trade or craft by practical experience under a skilled  specified time worker, in this instance it would be a qualified chef.  She would gain practical experience in kitchen of a restaurant, whether it be a stand alone establishment or within a hotel.  Places such as chain outlets like McDonald's, Red Lobster, etc., do not usually have such positions as most of their menus are catered and pre-prepared and "cooked" at the location.  Many chefs who own/operate good quality establishments will not hire a person who attended a "cooking school" unless they have a couple of years experience in their chosen field.  Having training college or university with a Culinary Department is different and acceptable because the depth of knowledge acquired is much higher.  How do I know?  I am an erstwhile chef.

'nuf sed.  plamuk aka travellingchef

The point was, if she was able to make it to Germany in early April, using her own money, then there is literally no reason at all that (almost) any "tourist" from the EU in Thailand at the same time couldn't have also returned to (wherever). There were at least 3 airlines flying out of Bangkok 3-6 days a week back then including Qatar, KLM and Lufthansa.

The bridge out of Phuket was closed on 30 March. The Phuket Airport didn't shut down until 10 April.
So he had over a month to arrange to get out of Phuket and get home - and did nothing.

I'd find it hard to believe that your average everyday plumber/dock worker/dole boy couldn't have made it home then, let alone someone that is supposed to be a "travel blogger". 
Unless of course he suddenly found that his Visa was miraculously extended for a couple of months (for free) and suddenly there was no need to even try to get back. 

 

7 hours ago, wotsdermatter said:

Sorry, but you never apprentice at a cooking school.  That would be attend and learn.  To apprentice is to be bound to work/train for a specified trade or craft by practical experience under a skilled  specified time worker, in this instance it would be a qualified chef.  She would gain practical experience in kitchen of a restaurant, whether it be a stand alone establishment or within a hotel.  Places such as chain outlets like McDonald's, Red Lobster, etc., do not usually have such positions as most of their menus are catered and pre-prepared and "cooked" at the location.  Many chefs who own/operate good quality establishments will not hire a person who attended a "cooking school" unless they have a couple of years experience in their chosen field.  Having training college or university with a Culinary Department is different and acceptable because the depth of knowledge acquired is much higher.  How do I know?  I am an erstwhile chef.

'nuf sed.  plamuk aka travellingchef

 

I used "apprentice" as that was my understanding of what she is doing. I said "cooking school" because that is what it sounded like, a school where you learn how to cook by
learning and working in various restaurants. It's like people who say "Visa" when they really mean "Extension of Temporary Stay in Thailand".

When I was posted to Germany in the mid-80s, everything everyone around me did seemed to be called an "apprenticeship". I thought it applied to basically every kind of trade/craft training whether it be electrician, carpenter, mechanic or chef.

She was working/learning at Balthazar restaurant in Berlin for a couple years and is now in the kitchen of a large hotel in Berlin. Every so often she gets sent to other courses (like cheese or pastry making). 
Before the covid crisis she'd send pics of different dishes she'd made or we'd do a video call while she was doing different things like preparing a couple hundred desserts for an event at the hotel. It seems they also cater for functions held in other venues from time to time (before the crisis at least).

She also goes to school (German language) a couple days a week. My understanding is that this is one of the requirements of her "apprenticeship"
Lately she's been doing classes in the morning and then working in the hotel in the afternoon/evenings.

She's not flipping fries at a McDonalds. 

She was quite concerned when the travel bans started because she has a year left on her "apprenticeship" and if she hadn't been able to get back in time she might have had to do another year. (Her boss apparently told her that if she wasn't back she would miss out on some tests and would basically have to redo the whole last year. I think she may have lost something in translation between what he told her and what she told me.)

As her German gets better it seems her English is getting worse !