Chester-le-Street dad trapped in Thailand since lockdown desperate to get home

[smedly]

2 hours ago, nausea said:

Running out of money focusses the mind, I suppose. Like people say, bit difficult to believe he couldn't find a way home if he'd really tried, plenty of others managed it.

put yourself in his shoes

 

It is very easy to sit at home and spend several hours on the net looking for flights etc, not so easy when you are staying at a hotel with limited access to computers etc 

 

I am sure if I tried right now now to check for flights to the UK from Thailand it would take me some time, there are also checks need to be done to make sure what you book and pay for will actually be available when you go to the airport - there have been many horror stories and even more horror trying to get your money back if a flight you just booked and paid for is cancelled

[owl sees all]

32 minutes ago, pixelaoffy said:

Pathetic comments from keyboard *****s who know nothing about someone situation ! ' just buy a ticket remarks '   after the guy had already lost 90,000. Sums you all up 

Well said pixelaoffy. 

 

Some of these posters have never had bad fortune and been in difficult circumstances.

 

I was in the desert, with no transport. My boots had disintegrated and I'd torn the sleeves off my tunic to wrap around my feet as the sand was so hot. Hungry, thirsty and tired. But then. a stroke of good luck. And I survived.

 

Now in Isaan. Still think of those tough times.

[blackcab]

The British Embassy published excellent daily information about flights back to the UK, including cost and availability. The British Embassy also has a covid find-a-flight service if you really can't find a flight yourself.

 

The UK government also arranged loans to pay for a flight back to the UK for those in genuine need.

 

 

[Raphus]

Yes. He must have given up. I managed to fly out with Thai air on the 28th. After 2 nights waiting for a standby at BKK. Plus a 34000 bht price tag. Only to Paris. Then 2 other flights, paris frankfurt. Frankfurt to Vienna. so basically it is his fault. He could have easily left with perseverance, I have no sympathy for him.

[Jai Dee]

A troll post has been removed.

[happy chappie]

3 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

How many are domestic though?

I flew back udon to Bkk,Bkk direct to London.20,000b on the 10th of may..no problems from door to door.i think there's a 2+2= 5 going on with this fella.

[natway09]

I don't think Qatar ever stopped flying the the UK

[4737 Carlin]

57 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

I was in the desert, with no transport. My boots had disintegrated and I'd torn the sleeves off my tunic to wrap around my feet as the sand was so hot. Hungry, thirsty and tired. But then. a stroke of good luck. And I survived.

Was this back in the nineteenth century ? Sounds like quite an adventure.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wKA-mWJjZw

 

[owl sees all]

14 minutes ago, 4737 Carlin said:

Was this back in the nineteenth century ? Sounds like quite an adventure.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wKA-mWJjZw

 

No, no no! Far more recent. 'Adventure' is an understatement.

 

In my younger days 4737 Carlin.

 

At night, even now, I dream of that giant snake or the sharp knives. Wake up in a cold sweat thinking insects are being put into my mouth like they were in the desert.

 

Being able to reflect on those terribly tough times has helped me survive in LOS. Many have not made it in Isaan (Mark and Ren are two). But I'm still here; trying to push boulders up hills and cutting the grass with an army knife.

[khunPer]

I don't understand his problem, as he seems to be quite well off, being able to afford luxury holidays. There has been flights out of Thailand all the time, and to my understanding also to Britain; and even the price for a repatriation ticket might be higher than normal, it must be cheaper to pay little extra to get home, than being stuck here when self employed at home, there he might still have a chance for creating some income. But there are so much I don't understand about Thailand...

[khunjeff]

4 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

Apparently the only flights available would have cost 88,000 baht (£2,200) and he didn't have the money.  

According to him, yes, but in actuality there have been flights available virtually every day for far less than that - and even if we accept that 88k price tag as true, how did it make sense for him to pay for three months of accommodation and forego three months of lost income rather than just bite the bullet and buy the overpriced ticket?

[RichardColeman]

Easy to condemn without knowing his full resources and financial status. Someone could have to save again after a cancelled flight if they have no access to money whilst paying for living expenses in Thailand - its not like the airlines are refunding in a hurry. 

 

 

[Nong Khai Man]

4 hours ago, petermik said:

I booked two seats with Eva Air to Heathrow for pals in this same position early May for 21,000 baht....no problems...so why cannot this chap do the same...

He Was Too Busy Having " A GOOD Time " With The Ladies I Guess....

[Pilotman]

2 hours ago, Ian Nagle said:

Rubbish. Airline fuel is very cheap and airlines will find a way to be competitive no matter. Furthermore, more and more people will be flying in 18-36 months so the prices will once again be affordable. 

good luck with that thought.  

[Nong Khai Man]

4 hours ago, Pilotman said:

wants to go back to Chester Le Street eh?  Odd wish to have. ????

Probably because his Balls are dried up now.....????????

[drbeach]

4 hours ago, Kerryd said:

I call bull.
There have been flights out of Thailand ever since the crisis started and there is NO reason he couldn't have made arrangements to fly Qatar, KLM or Lufthansa back to the EU at ANY time.
My (Thai) g/f flew to Germany in the second week of April with NO hassles of any kind (she was giddy over being able to stretch out across 3 seats and sleep most of the way).
Oh and she paid for the flight herself so it wasn't that expensive.

I get the impression this guy was expecting his embassy to book a (free) flight for him (lol) and of course, when Thailand announced the Visa Amnesty, suddenly he no longer needed to get home for some reason.

Until it looks like maybe the amnesty might end and he might have to pay his own way home.

How come she was allowed into Germany as a foreigner? Unless she has a residence permit there?

[Kerryd]

Just now, drbeach said:

How come she was allowed into Germany as a foreigner? Unless she has a residence permit there?

She had (has) a visa (forget what it's called). She's doing an apprenticeship program there. When she got back she had to "self quarantine" for two weeks but as the school she was going to and the place she was apprenticing in were closed anyways, it wasn't a big deal.

As far as travel was concerned, no issues with leaving Thailand and she was in transit in Doha so no problems there either.

I think they closed "Europe" off to "foreigners" some time afterwards.

[drbeach]

Emirates has confirmed it will start flying to Bangkok again on July 2nd with 1 daily flight (revised schedule). The original flight plan was showing 2 daily flights to Bangkok to begin on July 1st, and 1 daily flight to Phuket. Under the revised schedule, Phuket flights resume July 16 I think with initially 5 weekly flights.

 

I don't think Thailand will extend the flight ban this late, given the situation is under control now, it's almost the end of the month (and last month they extended it like 10 days before the end of the month). Plus, starting July 1st, a large group of foreigners (50,000+) are going to start arriving in Thailand. They wouldn't be able to, on the current skeleton schedule of just 6-8 daily international flights in place until June 30th.

 

While THAI won't resume flights until August or September (or perhaps never?) other airlines should slowly see schedules return to normal during July and August...except Qantas, which won't offer any flights to/from Bangkok until late October at the earliest. Interestingly, Bangkok Airways from the beginning said - no international flights until October 24th, not even to Myanmar or Laos.

[thonglorjimmy]

7 minutes ago, drbeach said:

Plus, starting July 1st, a large group of foreigners (50,000+) are going to start arriving in Thailand. They wouldn't be able to, on the current skeleton schedule of just 6-8 daily international flights in place until June 30th.

As a matter of interest what is this large group of foreigners (50,000+) who are going to start arriving from Wednesday?

[pineapple01]

Another Brit Doley desperate to sign on.

[Redvic]

4 hours ago, Pilotman said:

Sorry, but they don't have anything to answer for.  They are not Charities, they are profitable (hopefully) fully commercial businesses. I think a lot of people around the World are going to have to adjust to flying becoming what it used to be 40 years ago,  somewhat of  a luxury item and not so everyday as it has been in recent years and since low cost airlines become so common.  When this all shakes out, many airlines will have gone to the wall and the remainder with be charging much higher prices for their services. Get used to it, it is here to stay.

I bet your a lot of fun to hang around with. NOT. 

[geordie]

There are plenty of flights out of Thailand.

I flew KLM Bangkok to Newcastle uk on the 4th of June for 472 euros.

[Foxy52]

These small town papers are usually short of news, so they leap at 'exotic' articles about locals in Thailand. When I was visiting the UK from HK a few years back, I asked the local rag in Grantham about locating a long-lost sister, which became a front page splash

[condobrit001]

So this used car dealer comes to Thailand, with another booking to Mexico a few months later, is crying that he can't get home! The British Embassy has arranged several repatriation flights during this period. This guy should not be allowed to travel without a minder, and I have no sympathy for him whatsoever. He needs to sell a few more lemons before he travels again. 

[BritManToo]

5 hours ago, Pilotman said:

Sorry, but they don't have anything to answer for.  They are not Charities, they are profitable (hopefully) fully commercial businesses. I think a lot of people around the World are going to have to adjust to flying becoming what it used to be 40 years ago,  somewhat of  a luxury item and not so everyday as it has been in recent years and since low cost airlines become so common.  When this all shakes out, many airlines will have gone to the wall and the remainder with be charging much higher prices for their services. Get used to it, it is here to stay.

Slightly off topic,

In the 1960s my working class parents used to fly to Benidorm for a couple of weeks every year.

I can assure you air travel 50-60 years back to Spain was extremely cheap.

Taken by my dad in 1964 .........

 

Did you mean 100 years ago?

[Pilotman]

10 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

In the 1960s my working class parents used to fly to Benidorm for a couple of weeks every year.

I can assure you air travel 50-60 years back to Spain was extremely cheap.

 

Did you mean 100 years ago?

It was cheap if you could afford it. In the early 1960s my Fathers salary was £15 per week, not unusual in the North at that time.  We could barley get to Mablethorpe for an annual, holiday. Travel to Spain was unheard of in my neck of the woods at that time. 

https://www.travelandleisure.com/airlines-airports/history-of-flight-costs

[Pilotman]

28 minutes ago, Redvic said:

I bet your a lot of fun to hang around with. NOT. 

don't like the truth then? 

[Eibot]

So he told his wife and family ????

[Don Mega]

10 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

In the 1960s my working class parents used to fly to Benidorm for a couple of weeks every year.

I can assure you air travel 50-60 years back to Spain was extremely cheap.

 

Did you mean 100 years ago?

Because Iam not that old I had to google flight prices in the 60's and found the below.... not too bad at I reckon, until i google average wage (USA) in the 60's and find that number to be about $110.00 a week which makes the flight prices a tad exxy but still reasonable !!

 

One-way fares in May 1965:

NY-London $375 first class, $255 coach during peak season, $210 coach for most of the year.
NY-Buenos Aires $442 first $340 coach.
US West Coast to Tokyo $700 first $435 coach.

The above are the standard IATA fares, on the big airlines. Here and there slightly cheaper flights existed, and you could save on round trip.

Add 5% federal tax to all the domestic fares below:

NY to LA/SF $160.90 first $145.10 coach
NY to Chicago $52.30 first $43.70 coach

NY to Washington $17.14 Eastern Air-Shuttle

San Francisco to Los Angeles $28.45 first, $13.50 to $23.70 coach

[NCC1701A]

I'm trapped in Bangkok right now. A unemployed gogo dancer will not let me leave.