I don't regard Starbucks as "a restaurant" and a food court probably doesn't count as one either (no waiters, for example)
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I don't regard Starbucks as "a restaurant" and a food court probably doesn't count as one either (no waiters, for example)
Double Dutch:I do t think those places you list serve alcohol.
It’s alcohol that the are after (again). Bars and “restaurants”.
Yes, the initial reports were that all restaurants are affected by the diktat, but then later reports said this was places serving alcohol only.
Whether this was down to the clown not defining the rules properly, or mistranslation, I don't know.
Meanwhile on Fantasy Island, plans for memorable events for Pattaya in 2022 are progressing - https://thepattayanews.com/2022/01/0...ival-songkran/
Agree, but apparently they're not taking that option.
The only thing any of us can do is just go-with-the-flow. It sounds like most of the restaurants are still operating without these new restrictions anyway.
Just enjoy your holiday...find a bar that's open and get a buzz on...a restaurant that doesn't require tests...and a boy that says "Up2U".
The Caddy Shack is my favourite restaurant. Ops normal Monday evening.
I’ll advise if I go there tomorrow.
Chonburi Public Health Office is reporting 499 new cases today, the highest since 12th October 2021, and no deaths. Most new cases are in Chonburi City (16), Si Racha (94), and Bang Lamung/Pattaya (336). There are 3,235 patients in care
AFAIK these are PCR tests; ATK/RAT results are not necessarily recorded
The good news is, according to a report in today's - January 4 - Pattaya Mail, restaurants outside the city part of Pattaya at least so far are ignoring the edict.
The last paragraph of the article says:
Full article: https://www.pattayamail.com/latestne...mandate-385101Quote:
While places checked by police and the media were following the rules, there were copious reports online Monday from Pattaya residents who visited restaurants and bars in Jomtien Beach, Naklua and elsewhere away from the media spotlight that, as expected, weren’t bothering with the onerous new rules without any authorities bothering to check or enforce them.
The real question is whether there is Covid in Jomtien Complex, as there is in many bars in Pattaya.
"The real question is whether there is Covid in Jomtien Complex, as there is in many bars in Pattaya."
Yes.
The bars/restaurants in Thailand are opening and closing like a Walking Street walkers privates. On the surface this seems like a bollocks to buggery half baked policy. And yet it brings in lifeline money for the bars and workers even for a short while so maybe not so hslf baked.
There was no testing required in the complex on Monday night. I did see some bars with test kits stacked up by the entrance, but I didn't see anyone taking tests.
I guess the rules will be ignored for a while, then it remains to be seen if the BIB show up and shut the bars for a night.
Sinlapin issan had been operating until yesterday in their new outdoor area. Closed now for a week due to Covid.
Similarly some stores in terminal 21 have closed (notably h&m) due to Covid
Coqtaile Bar was asking customers for proof of covid testing. Most bars were not. Bar owners are meeting soon to discuss having the entrances to the Complex blocked to screen customers.
There have been reports of covid infections at various Complex locations. Some close contacts of those infected are still attending the Complex showing photos of their negative tests which does not convince me. They should be isolating with their partners.
And now there are almost no test kits to be found, all sold out. I tried many places yesterday, including the big Fascino shops, and all were sold out. How can they possible expect to test all customers in restaurants and bars when there are no test kits for sale.
After hearing from friends that there have been many infections among staff and customers in the Complex I have no intention of going there for a few weeks now.
A sensible decision, IMHO.
Some of us - including myself - are so desperate to hop into bed with a hot Thai guy that we are in danger of throwing caution to the wind. Keeping a cool head in these circumstances is very difficult, at least for me.
I was ready to fly up to Thailand the moment Western Australia opened its borders. Now I'm not so sure. I've given up on my planned April visit and will wait a bit longer to see how things pan out.
I wouldn't be surprised if I don't make it there anytime this year, even if rapid antigen tests are widely available.
Omicron will come and go quickly.
But, while it’s here, I suspect that the infection rate for those who go to bars will be very, very high.
Omicron is supposed to be mild, so I would think anyone under (say) 80, in good health and with good vaccines shouldn't be sat at home in fear.
For as long as I'm allowed to, I intend to carry on visiting Jomtien and other places. But I won't be taking any COVID test that will have the result shared with the authorities. I'm not being sent to a quarantine hospital.
On that topic, there was an article in the Bangkok post today, saying Phuket has assigned about 500 rooms in quarantine hotels, as tourists are refusing to go to quarantine hospitals and refusing to pay the hospital deposit.
Thanks to stupid quarantine policies, I expect Thailand has no clue about how many people have COVID. After all, who will share test results if they will be sent to a COVID jail ?
There are quite a few people coughing around South Pattaya at present. That includes me, but I passed a lateral flow test, bought from the UK. I need to preserve my stock of those, as the supply of new tests may be tight for a few weeks.
[QUOTE=goji;286079 But I won't be taking any COVID test that will have the result shared with the authorities. I'm not being sent to a quarantine hospital.
On that topic, there was an article in the Bangkok post today, saying Phuket has assigned about 500 rooms in quarantine hotels, as tourists are refusing to go to quarantine hospitals and refusing to pay the hospital deposit.
[/QUOTE]
Link to that article in the Bangkok Post. https://www.bangkokpost.com/business...uest-isolation
I bought several tests online from Lazada and happily have tested negative, I take a screenshot of the test result with the date and time of the test and keep it on my phone as this is adequate proof for 72 hours as I too am leery of using the 3 official test sites. I enjoy dining out but frankly I have seen little or no enforcement of the required test of customers. I spend no time in the Complex and doubt if every bar/restaurant is following testing protocol.
Theoretically, I believe we are either supposed to test on the premises that we visit or use the official test centres, where they firstly take details off our ID cards.
Photographing a test proves nothing as I could photograph the same test result every day.
Does it really have to? From what I'm hearing, very few venues have been asking for test results in the first place and the ones that do want to see test results have been accepting whatever they are shown.
The only way I know of to prove the results would be to do the test right there at the venue with a staff member witnessing you do it. Even then, you could be keeping one in a pocket that shows a negative result and you can do a switch if the one you do at the venue results in a false positive.
However, if the test does result positive and you can't be sure whether you are truly positive or not, I'd say to get to a doctor and find out. If you legitimately are ill and need to be quarantined, I'd say to do it for your own good. I take Omicron or any other variant seriously and I'm not going to play games. If you do have to be quarantined, it may not be so bad or so expensive. My understanding is unless your symptoms are severe, they are letting people self-quarantine at home.
Of course, if you are in Thailand for a holiday and test positive, that could be a completely different story. If you are not already staying in one, you might have to move to a "hospitel".
I am among those who think having to do the test just to in a restaurant is absurd and overkill. But doing the test on your own every so often - to me that's a good idea.
I thought the diktat required us to either test at one of the official centres or at the actual venue we are visiting. The official tests are presumably documented, but we have to show ID first, so they can forget that!
In practice, so far, none of the restaurants are requiring a test, so I can't comment on their procedures.
If I fail a COVID test, there is zero chance of me voluntarily going anywhere near a doctor, unless I were seriously ill. Which could happen, but is very low probability.
The plan would be to isolate in my room.
To each his own.
The approach that Jai and I are taking is very simple; We're avoiding going to restaurants, or anywhere else for that fact, where a lot of people are gathering until this wave of Omicron has passed. If by chance either of us starts to feel ill we will take test(s) ourselves at home. If either of us were to test positive we would immediately self-quarantine to keep others safe. We wouldn't report this to anyone.
End of story.
Another Jomtien Complex bar/restauarant has been closed for the last two nights with a member of staff testing positive for Covid. With the lights out it is getting very dark at that end of the soi near the Thrappaya road entrance..
If rapid antigen testing of staff members was mandatory in each and every business operating in Thailand at 72 hour intervals- each and every business in Thailand would be closed. That would include all airports, banks, government agencies, schools, recreational facilities, shopping malls, convenience stores, and the list goes on.
This mandatory testing at public venues appears to be TARGETED at select businesses. I'll leave it at that.
Last night I went for a drink with friends in the Jomtien Complex.
Like them, I had tested negative on an antigen test.
As the bar staff had also tested negative I felt comfortable that I was in a covid safe environment.
I received a message from a friend who worked in a nearby bar. He was self-isolating after testing positive.
I hadn't seen him for a few days but it was good of him to contact me just in case.
He had lost his senses of taste and smell and surmised that he had the Delta variant.
This morning he contacted me again. His condition had deteriorated, fever and chronic fatigue, and he was being taken to hospital.
I went on an errand by Motorbike taxi up Thepprasit Road. We were overtaken by two police trucks carrying about 15 people each, all Thai as far as I could tell.
As they flew past with sirens wailing I asked the mototaxi driver what they were going to jail for?
"Covid" was the unsurprising reply, the consequence of testing positive was two weeks quarantine at the government's pleasure.
Things are getting a little bit serious...
If there's any perception of the government detaining people, the population will do the obvious and avoid testing.
According to the CCSA briefing today, the options for people with covid are 1 Hospital at your own expense, 2 Field hospital or 3 Isolate at home. They didn't explicitly say who chooses if we can isolate at home. So until that's clear, I don't trust them.
Don't feel bad, nobody else trusts them either.
Can you imagine going out to dinner and end up getting tossed in the back of a police pickup truck and carted off to quarantine in a field hospital for 14 days. I'm sure the field hospitals in Thailand are really comfortable too. You go in with a mild case of Omicron, and get discharged 14 days later with Delta from the overcrowded conditions in the hospital and die a few days later from double pneumonia. Too much fun!
I don’t know the current status of the bars/restaurants in the Complex simply because I don’t go there however, at lunch today 2 friends went to a bar there last night and they were asked to show their test, each carried one and had the date written on it as they did the test in their room, test kits that were given to them for free in the U.K. they were then allowed entrance and actually saw the bar owner refuse entry to a fellow who had no test.
Good on him!
We visited a grand total of 4 bars this evening and were not asked for tests anywhere. Well done to the bars concerned.