General Reports

[Pimpampoumpipo]

"Premises offering a bath-sauna-massage service will reopen on the condition that customers and staff wear face masks and observe social distancing. Except during "bathing time", Dr Taweesilp said. ".

I like the expression "bathing time".

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand...sume-on-july-1

P.S. : the attached photo was sent to me by a massage shop contact in Pattaya.

I think everyone is anxious for everything to go back to the way it was soon. Except maybe the farangs who are already there lol

Pray that there is no 2nd wave of virus in the fall as I hear here or there.

[MonkeyPaw]

Take away the import tax exemptions on 3 be worth of goods, and they will find a way to fuck you up. Keeps getting more interesting for Thailand as being the pawn of the Chinese. Not looking good for those in the USA wanting to get back, on top of the price of Jasmine rice in the USA going up. Sucks for those trapped in the USA who eat yummy for your tummy rice. Meanwhile, the morning view is still nice, drinks are still cold, pussy still warm, and the beach has gone to the dogs in Pattaya. Keep those eyes peeled on the news.

https://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-u-b...081547305.html

[GettingFedUp]

Hmmmm, you are either an English trained attorney or a regular watcher of Law & Order: UK.

"I could have been a Judge, but I never had the Latin for the judgin'. I never had it, so I'd had it, as far as being a judge was concerned. I would much prefer to be a judge than a coal miner because of the absence of falling coal". Peter Cook, Beyond The Fringe.

[Turgid]

..............The case on the factual evidence for the defence rests, M'Lud.

Closing statement. Ladies, gentlemen and persons who because of their gender identity it might breach site rules to mention explicitly, of the jury. The defence has, as requested by the plaintiff, laid out a factual rebuttal to their case. On these factual matters your duty is to determine whether the defendant, Mr GettingFedUp is liable for a breach of duty in providing opinions as requested for the travel outlook to Thailand. That the plaintiff didn't like those opinions and so squealed like a pig is should not cloud your judgement. Thank you members of the jury, thank you M'Lud.

Hmmmm, you are either an English trained attorney or a regular watcher of Law & Order: UK.

[Mens2]

If you are not sure about availability.

Ask them directly on their socials.

1) It's much cheaper.

2) You get accurate information.

Right now hotels are just very unsure about the future.

Some don't even know if they will be open next week.

[Goferring]

TheBronx,

I doubt that, with a few exceptions, hotels are booked out for all three of those months. Without knowing specifics of which places and which channel you are looking at (hotel website, online agency or one of the comparison sites like Trivago) it is difficult to say, but I can think of 3 reasons why you see no availability.....

4/ don't forget that the hotel often may not want to release all its rooms to the aggregators (with their conditions, commissions etc) just as the aggregators may not want to publish rooms that they will not sell.

It's common for hotels to still have rooms available when Agoda et al are showing none available.

Cheers. G.

[GettingFedUp]

Looks like many others are having the same idea because just about all dates that I look into in late Oct, Nov, and Jan are booked solid for the places that I have been looking into.

TheBronx,

I doubt that, with a few exceptions, hotels are booked out for all three of those months. Without knowing specifics of which places and which channel you are looking at (hotel website, online agency or one of the comparison sites like Trivago) it is difficult to say, but I can think of 3 reasons why you see no availability.

First, some hotels have used the lockdown to bring forward refurbishment plans. Get the work done while there's no customers.

Secondly quite a few hotels (I am not saying a huge proportion) have not reopened yet as the inbound flight ban means no customers. No staff to input availability / rates on the system. Conversely hotels which show availability may not be open. When the closure order came down from the Government in April they just shut and laid off the staff. They didn't remove availability from systems so Expedia / Agoda et al showed availability for closed hotels. I know of a couple who arrived in Pattaya from Bangkok in April to find the hotel they'd booked the previous day for a 4 week pre-paid stay had been closed a week as were all of the local hotels of that particular company.

Finally, given the uncertainty about inbound travel (read elsewhere) hotels may simply not be taking bookings that far ahead. Bear in mind that there is zero certainty of what the inbound travel arrangements from 1 July are, let alone 4 months hence.

I had a quick look on Trivago for November availability. Plenty of hotels get listed. January 2021 should also not be an issue as the spike in visitors for Chinese New Year falls in February.

The most important advice I can offer (if you really feel you have to book now) is not to book a non refundable, non changeable rate. If travel restrictions haven't eased the hotel is likely to say "tough" when it comes to refund. I don't think I personally would be booking a room which required pre-payment now, as even if it can be cancelled you have to prise the refund out of them.

Caveat emptor (Let the buyer beware).

[Strikesfun]

The small hotels from my research continue to be closed due to social distance and cleaning requirements. I was considering travel from US in September however, the possible entry visa exempt does not appear likely. I beginning to wonder if January next year is possible.

[Franciscass]

" I guess you are one less person I have to worry about in front of me when the free pussy line comes.

No need to worry about me Mr E, I hate queues but more relevant I believe in paying my way.

[Franciscass]

When has a line for free stuff ever been any indication of how people are doing? Where I am from we have a saying, "If it is for free, then it is for me. " I guess you are one less person I have to worry about in front of me when the free pussy line comes.

Standing in line for food "where you cone from" you know Mr E now that I think about it that doesn't surprise me.

[TheBronx]

I had originally planned my second trip to Thailand this past February but because of the pandemic, I had to cancel those plans which I sure many of you had to do as well. Who knows when this virus will be under control (if that's even remotely possibly) but it seems like there may be light at the end of the tunnel. Phase 4 seems to be on track for this July so I've been looking into hotels to see what is available. Looks like many others are having the same idea because just about all dates that I look into in late Oct, Nov, and Jan are booked solid for the places that I have been looking into. I figure that there would be a rush but damn. The plan is to go to Phuket, BKK, and Pattaya for about a week each and trying to stay close to the action such as Bangla, Nana, Cowboy, and Walking Street. Just about every site I've used says "Property booked. Choose other dates". I would but at the moment these are the only windows of opportunity that I have. My question is, is it too early to start booking hotels or am I already too far behind to book the hotels I want on the dates I would like? Seems like everyone is eagerly looking forward to the virus subsiding and to places like Thailand opening back up that hotels are getting booked far in advance. I bet many are just booking hotels with free cancellation options to see what is going to happen. I suppose I could go that route but don't really want to spend more money to secure a what if scenario stay. I would appreciate any advise. Thanks in advance.

[Mr Enternational]

There is I believe real hardship for workers still around as evidenced by the length of daily queues for food handouts.

When has a line for free stuff ever been any indication of how people are doing? Where I am from we have a saying, "If it is for free, then it is for me. " I guess you are one less person I have to worry about in front of me when the free pussy line comes.

[Franciscass]

I don't dispute that there's hardship. There's two places that do the handouts either side of my condo that have big queues every time. There's also a big parking problem every time because most of them come on their scooters. I know of another big donor that does handouts of many food parcels rather than meals daily about 500 metres away. They all do it at different times in the afternoon.

Now how people afford fuel but not food is way beyond my pay grade, and judgement of whether the recipients are the local community as intended or doing the rounds to Hoover up what they can I leave to others. But surely these good samaritans could co-ordinate so they hand out at the same time and everyone gets fair dibs?

I cannot say I'm surprised but I am always disappointed and saddened when welfare programs for the poor are seen through a lens of abuse by a minority rather than the overwhelming need of the majority who use and need them to get by.

[GettingFedUp]

There is I believe real hardship for workers still around as evidenced by the length of daily queues for food handouts.

I don't dispute that there's hardship. There's two places that do the handouts either side of my condo that have big queues every time. There's also a big parking problem every time because most of them come on their scooters. I know of another big donor that does handouts of many food parcels rather than meals daily about 500 metres away. They all do it at different times in the afternoon.

Now how people afford fuel but not food is way beyond my pay grade, and judgement of whether the recipients are the local community as intended or doing the rounds to Hoover up what they can I leave to others. But surely these good samaritans could co-ordinate so they hand out at the same time and everyone gets fair dibs?

[GettingFedUp]

The subject of my post is about people who are waiting to know when they can get plane tickets and how will happen their arrival in Thailand.. That's all.

Buying plane tickets is easy. Getting to your destination is a whole different ball game.

Look back to New Year and there was a 3 line item at the bottom of page 31 that some people in a Chinese city very few people had heard of had coughed and some had died. That's 6 months ago. Things have changed that quickly.

The outlook? Anything is speculation. Particularly in Thailand. As an example Government sources were quoted that the booze ban would be lifted for a 3 day window to allow restocking for home consumption before the Buddhist and public holidays in early May, then it was announced that the ban would stay in place. What happened? The ban ended on 3 May which had barely been whispered as an option.

The reality of the situation under the emergency decree is that until it appears in the Royal Gazette it's just hot air. Even once it does appear in the Royal Gazette the Provincial Governors can impose stronger measures. So Chonburi (Pattaya, Jomtien, Bang Saen and Bang Saray amongst others) shut beaches, Prachup Kiri Khan (Hua Hin) didn't.

The only certainty about the future available in Thailand or anywhere else is that everything is uncertain (although there used to be the get-outs of death and taxes).