General Reports

I'm already here but my buddy's flight here on Emirates mid-May was just cancelled yesterday.

I think that those of us with feet on the ground might find a little more opening up of commercial and entertainment options, international flights will still be down. By May the working girls will be very, very desperate for paid companionship.

[QUOTE=LittleBigMan;2443680]Rumors sometimes they are just ridiculous but I think they will start to open things up on the 1st of May? When it comes to the Nightwish group the owner is pretty connected with the BIB in Pattaya. I've been hearing stuff along that line along with what I see globally talked about that things will open what is allowed is anyone guess but they will continue many of the CDC guidelines like " social distance " mask, take your temperature and alcohol gel? I heard from a Thai today a few suggestions that would make your eyes roll? Okay To have cockfights, bird singer contest, massages even Softball is on the list?

Every expert opinion I've heard when it opens expect the numbers to go up a bit (consider normal) but they will need to flatten or drop for it to continue. As for the nightlife I see the GoGos being hit the most I'll be surprised 30% ever open again. I see BeerBars, massages and Gentlemen clubs doing much better?[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Almond812;2443816]
Hey all,
Currently, August round trip flights out of O'Hate are less than $600 during the month of August & September. What are your all's thoughts? Think things will be open for travel by then? Things starting to get back to normal?

I figure if anything, flight can be refunded, voucher given, or credit for the future.

Hope you all are well and staying safe during this trying time.

Warm regards.

Almond.[/QUOTE]Out of Chicago, so I assume you are talking about a United ticket. I rescheduled my original April flight with United for mid August a month ago. Mid August was the farthest out departure date United was willing to reschedule me for at that time.

Know one knows what the situation will be like in Mid August. If flights are still grounded I am sure I will be able to reschedule once again. But if the flight is not cancelled and Thailand has a 14 day quarantine period for new foreign arrivals I will most likely be screwed ie no refund or reschedule.

I don't expect Thailand will be back to it's good old ways by mid August. That is too soon to expect a full return back to normal. I expect many bars will never re-open although some will hopefully be open by mid August. Same Same for massage parlors. I expect many restaurants may not make it either. Social distancing & temperature checks will be enforced at all mall entrances, hotels, brick and mortar restaurants, and nightclubs. I do expect that there will be lots of available girls and not many tourists in mid August. It will be interesting. Adventurous Punters will have to be flexible and adapt under these unusual circumstances.

So bottom line I will go in mid August because I miss the girls and I am getting tired of living in the USA, but I will only go if:

#1. My flight is not cancelled.
#2. The Thai government allows American Citizens in for 30 days with no quarantine.
#3. Both BKK & Pattaya have free mobility intra city and inter city, and
#4. The USA will allow my unfettered return.

Unfortunately all 4 of my criteria are big ifs at this moment, but I am somewhat hopeful things will work out and I will be able to go. I think that although Thailand will be a very different place in Mid August / September and definitely not fully recovered, I think it might be really great and uniquely memorable in many unforeseen ways in the immediate post Pandemic period.

[QUOTE=Chacal60;2444126]By May the working girls will be very, very desperate for paid companionship.[/QUOTE]What makes you say that? As I have pointed out many times, nobody is around here starving. Also, I have pointed out in a couple of reports that some working girls have already been desperate for even free companionship. Women crave dick just as much as men crave pussy.

[QUOTE=NattyBumpo;2444130]
So bottom line I will go in mid August because I miss the girls and I am getting tired of living in the USA, but I will only go if:

#4. The USA will allow my unfettered return.

Unfortunately all 4 of my criteria are big ifs at this moment, but I am somewhat hopeful things will work out and I will be able to go....[/QUOTE]I can't speak for other countries but mine (not USA) is actively discouraging International travel. They have formally said that they will re-open domestic travel and flights well before International holidays. Our local tourism industry has been devastated by the virus and there is no political will to promote funds being spent overseas while local businesses are going bankrupt.

I'm expecting a long wait before I can head off to hunt LBFMs.

Enjoy. G.

[QUOTE=NattyBumpo;2444130] But if the flight is not cancelled and Thailand has a 14 day quarantine period for new foreign arrivals I will most likely be screwed ie no refund or reschedule.

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.... but I will only go if:

#1. My flight is not cancelled.
#2. The Thai government allows American Citizens in for 30 days with no quarantine.
#3. Both BKK & Pattaya have free mobility intra city and inter city, and
#4. The USA will allow my unfettered return.[/QUOTE]It is exactly the fear that I have and the conditions that I set on my return to Thailand (or Philippines).

My booking Air France / KLM Paris Bangkok flight in May was canceled. There are only 2 flights per week maintained for these companies. There are other companies which open about 2 flights per week (Lufthansa / Swiss / Austrian, Qatar.) but I still prefer to book with Air France these months because in case of force majeure only Air France will provide flights repatriation to Paris. There is flights still quite affordable around 380 € - 480 € round trip ticket.

For the same reasons for the moment I hesitate to change my flight and take another one in May. I am waiting for the news of the deconfinement of the French government but especially I await the measures of the Thai government.

There are still couple multi-company flights Paris BKK in April they are all over 6,000 € LOL.

[QUOTE=Goferring;2444195]I can't speak for other countries but mine (not USA) is actively discouraging International travel. They have formally said that they will re-open domestic travel and flights well before International holidays. Our local tourism industry has been devastated by the virus and there is no political will to promote funds being spent overseas while local businesses are going bankrupt.

I'm expecting a long wait before I can head off to hunt LBFMs.

Enjoy. G.[/QUOTE]It's the same in France. The President said that the Schengen borders would remain closed until further notice. Some speak until September.

But as I said before, flights from Europe to Thailand open in May. Not as usual, but there are. Maybe I'm wrong but I think that after the end of confinement date (May 11th planned in France), normally I can go to the airport and if I can go to the airport I can get on the plane. To my knowledge at the moment there is no ban on leaving the country.

The closing of the borders seems to be especially for foreigners who want to enter France.

The only questions that remain are on the entry conditions of the host country. So for me, those of Thailand.

Now, it is true that national governments will prefer that people stay spending their money in their country to get their local economy restarting. Especially considering the pandemic that there has been, the measures of social distancing this summer for example on the beaches, the closed museums and the cultural and sporting events canceled there will not be many foreign tourists to come to France this year.

[QUOTE=NattyBumpo;2444130]Out of Chicago, so I assume you are talking about a United ticket.

#1. My flight is not cancelled.
#2. The Thai government allows American Citizens in for 30 days with no quarantine.
#3. Both BKK & Pattaya have free mobility intra city and inter city, and
#4. The USA will allow my unfettered return.

Unfortunately all 4 of my criteria are big ifs at this moment, but I am somewhat hopeful things will work out and I will be able to go. [/QUOTE]Yes, I also have have hope things will work out. I agree with your criteria. I did also notice flights out of Indianapolis on Delta were comparable in price. I'm in a position where O'Hare and Indy are about equal distant.

Best.

David.

[QUOTE=NattyBumpo;2444130]I will only go if:

#1. My flight is not cancelled.
#2. The Thai government allows American Citizens in for 30 days with no quarantine.
#3. Both BKK & Pattaya have free mobility intra city and inter city, and
#4. The USA will allow my unfettered return.
[/QUOTE]These are sensible criteria, but it's worth pointing out that even if all 4 are true at the time you purchase your ticket, things might change by the time you're about to depart, or worse, during your stay.

Covid situation won't be resolved when the initial lockdowns are loosened. It will stay volatile, especially when it comes to international travel, for a long time to come, up until the point when a vaccine is deployed. People have different risk tolerance and lifestyles, and while some might be ok with the risk of forfeiting the ticket or being unable to go back from their holiday, many would not.

[QUOTE=Crocodilexp;2444626]These are sensible criteria, but it's worth pointing out that even if all 4 are true at the time you purchase your ticket, things might change by the time you're about to depart, or worse, during your stay.
[/QUOTE]Pretty good point. Once lockdown is over, whenever that be, and some clubs start to open and exptas and retirees and few tourists who are able to come starts to gather in clubs. There's a good chance of new surge of cases. It would take couple of deaths before the international pressure is on again to ban flights to and from Thailand. Yes, I am talking about one of the worst case scenario but it's quite possible. Don't forget testing in Thailand has been negligent.

I am expecting things to start open up by Mid May in bkk and pattaya. When will npe / cowboy / walking street and massage shops be open, well it depends on how much risk govt wants to take.

[QUOTE=Crocodilexp;2444626]These are sensible criteria, but it's worth pointing out that even if all 4 are true at the time you purchase your ticket, things might change by the time you're about to depart, or worse, during your stay.

Covid situation won't be resolved when the initial lockdowns are loosened. It will stay volatile, especially when it comes to international travel, for a long time to come, up until the point when a vaccine is deployed. People have different risk tolerance and lifestyles, and while some might be ok with the risk of forfeiting the ticket or being unable to go back from their holiday, many would not.[/QUOTE]You are absolutely right. The scene will not return to normal normal until a vaccine is made widely available to all. But I am a fairly adventurous guy willing to take on a little more calculated risk than many. I am also in pretty good shape for a guy my age, so I will go as scheduled in mid August fully knowing the risks if my 4 basic criteria are met. I plan to bring along the z-pac (Plaquenil + Azithromycin) just in case and I am also prepared for the possibility of getting stuck in LOS should the virus spike again while I am in country. Mr Enternational's entertaining posts of his life in Pattaya under the Corona cloud are a great read. By August the situation on the ground in LOS should be more open and free or I won't go/can't go. We shall see. Mid August is still a long way off.

[QUOTE=Gargano19;2444636]Pretty good point. Once lockdown is over, whenever that be, and some clubs start to open and exptas and retirees and few tourists who are able to come starts to gather in clubs. There's a good chance of new surge of cases.[/QUOTE]This is what happened during the Spanish Flu epidemic. After about 5 million deaths worldwide it started to subside and people thought it was over. They resumed normal life and about FIFTY million died in the second wave.

[QUOTE=KCQuestor;2444684]This is what happened during the Spanish Flu epidemic. After about 5 million deaths worldwide it started to subside and people thought it was over. They resumed normal life and about FIFTY million died in the second wave.[/QUOTE]The slingshot effect of relaxing protection was devastating. We've learned nothing in just over a century.

Not taking sides just another opinion.

I seriously doubt anyone really has an answer to any of this? Right now it seems politics is just as bad as the Virus when things do open up and it will the numbers will rise and then it will taper off but regardless both sides will spin it to their advantage.

A hundred years things have changed then there were no antibiotics nor there the research there is today. Most of all there was no global economy in which everything is so linked whether we believe it or not money today is what makes the world go around.

You have science vs. Economy is there a compromise not for a hundred-year past but for today based on today there is no way things can be shut down until a vaccine is found.

[QUOTE=LittleBigMan;2444716] there is no way things can be shut down until a vaccine is found.[/QUOTE]Right, there is no way things can remain in shut down much longer. We are in the process of killing our economies and thus killing our way of life. At some point soon all the world's various governments will have to open up their respective economies or face civil unrest. The good news is Corona is NOT nearly as lethal as something like the Spanish Flu and the hope is that the world's mitigation strategy has worked well enough that we can all go back to work following certain safety guidelines and not reignite the virus. But regardless of whether this mitigation strategy worked or didn't work we still must get back to work. The world survived, innovated, and began a sustained period of economic growth never seen before following the Spanish Flu scourge with no mitigation attempts whatsoever. History will decide if this lockdown strategy for this particular virus was worth the cost or not. Take note of Sweden's approach. They are the only advanced Western Nation that did not go into lockdown. Their government trusted their people to act rationally and in their own best interests. It may have worked.

[QUOTE=NattyBumpo;2444651]The scene will not return to normal normal until a vaccine is made widely available to all.[/QUOTE]Stickman weekly makes some interesting points on the future of the bar sector of the scene. He reports:

1 - Seven NEP bars have quit and handed back the keys already. They are London Calling (actually closed pre-Covid), Mandarin (closed pre-lockdown), Lollipop, and all four Rainbow bars. He also questions how many other bars can keep paying the rent whilst closed, and will landlords seek to re-purpose their portfolio of premises to non-P4 P and "persuade" those bars that still operate to surrender their leases?

2 - One bar owner has openly admitted that even if restrictions are relaxed in May he won't be opening because the custom just won't be there. The potential business from Expats only would not cover the additional costs (staff, utilities, etc.) of opening.

3 - For those hoping for an influx of herds of young office girls desperate to make the rent having been laid off, think again. By far the majority would go down the Thai P4 P scene rather than the farang / East Asian.

4 - Twenty staff of Hillary 2 on Sukhumvit Soi 4 have tested positive and are in hospital.

On point 4 I should emphasise that anyone who tests positive in Thailand is hospitalised (with the possible exception of famous actors). No information has been given on the quantity of onward transmissions if any.

However, if anyone thinks bars and gogos are going to be allowed to reopen any time soon, think again. The Hillary 2 and Thong Lor clusters will be cited as reasons why bars are high risk and cannot be reopened (my view, not Stick's).

In Pattaya a lot of weight is being given by the vest (singlet to some) wearing unwashed to the Chonburi Governor's aspiration to re-open "all" businesses from 1 May, but little regard taken of the caveat of "with appropriate social distancing measures". My opinion, for what it is worth, is that the view will be taken such measures are not possible in bars and gogos and they will remain closed by Govenrnment order for quite some time.