I am bored and diving in!

[vnman]

Weird, I just wrote something but the post doesn't show.

I landed at 08:43 AM and was at door number 10 around 09:05. That went fast. The longest wait was for the taxi. I arrived at the hotel at 09:45 and that was on time to get the test result later today.

I am tired and will go to sleep. I'll write about the experience and procedures a bit later.

[Oliver2]

Good luck; I hope the rest of the trip is successful.

Did you change your currency before being whisked off to your hotel? and did you buy a SIM?

[Dodger]

I am tired and will go to sleep. I'll write about the experience and procedures a bit later.

We don't care about the procedures. We want to see some pictures of the first boy you bag...including some closeups.

Congratulations on your successful and long awaited journey.

Tell us everything!

[Brad the Impala]

We don't care about the procedures.

You may not care about the procedures but there quite few board members travelling in the near future who are keen to hear about every possible wrinkle in the process!

[Dodger]

You may not care about the procedures but there quite few board members travelling in the near future who are keen to hear about every possible wrinkle in the process!

It was an attempt to be humorous. I guess it didn't work...LOL

[vnman]

To start with some information that might not be interesting to many, but if you decide on staying in a hotel near the airport in Amsterdam, I suggest you look at the Hampton by Hilton in Hoofddorp it's reasonably priced below 70 Euros (inc breakfast) and a few minutes by foot from the train station. There is a train leaving to Schiphol every 5 minutes and the trip also only takes 5 minutes.

A few days before my flight, Singapore Airlines asked me to provide all documents electronically i.e. QR codes. No problem for anyone with a smartphone but I also printed my documents. Good thing that I did, because the paper version of, Hotel reservation, PCR test, Insurance and Thailand Pass were requested for inspection at check-in. I had 2 copies of each but they only wanted to make sure I had the copies and could keep them.

I arrived 2 hours and 15 minutes before departure, and there was only one person before me at the check-in counter. The process takes longer and when I was done, there was a line for economy passengers but the line for business passengers was just as long. For me, this would have been unacceptable. When you pay a premium, you should get premium service. Anyway, my flight was in Economy so I couldn't care less.

From there, everything went smooth. The plane left on time and was only at 20% capacity...but that's really my best guess.

The first 4 rows were free so I established a little nest at the 3rd row. After take-off, I was blessed with two kids who decided that the row behind me was good enough for a playground. To be honest, they were very quiet but They left their overhead light on most of the flight. After a few hours, I noticed that they weren't wearing a mask. I asked the stewardess about this and she said that children up to 6 didn't need to wear a mask. So on a flight with only vaccinated, mask-wearing and recently tested people, I got the two behind me who were none of the 3.

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Flying over Bangkok was weird. it was still 2 hours to Singapore and of course, I had to come the same way back. Stopovers in Qatar, Dubai etc. make a lot more sense. They break the trip perfectly in half and you don't have to double back. What I did like was the fact that Singapore Airlines offered a morning flight. I just felt fresh, even flying in economy. The food was not that great and they were very stingy on a 12+ hour flight. The legroom is very generous.

In Singapore, they announced a 15-minute delay 45 minutes before boarding, and we pushed back exactly 15 minutes delayed. Because I really wanted to be at the hotel before 10 so I could get the COVID test result back today, that was a little worrying.

In Bangkok, we arrived at an E gate. I assume that all international planes land there because it has been set up to accommodate their document procedure. A picture would have explained it better but they basically have a line (50 meters) of chairs. There are two chairs next to each other and you just go sit in a free chair that is most to the front. A staff member will come to you and you will be asked for your passport, boarding card, immigration card (which we got before boarding the plane), PCR test and Thailand Pass.

If you have all of this they will tell you to walk to the first available desk and present these documents. They will check it and give you a little stamp on your immigration card and you can walk to immigration.
This was at the beginning of the E pier so you know it is not far from there to immigration. At immigration, they only want your immigration card, passport and boarding card. After that get your checked-in luggage and head to the exit.

The whole process from deboarding to exit took 20 minutes or so. But consider that I was the first out of economy class and the plane was not busy.

After customs, you will see many desks and people hoovering. Normally I ignore everyone there but this time you really need to tell them who you are. They might ask for your name or the hotel you are staying in. They seem to have many different systems but I had to wait for a car, which took only me to the hotel.

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They would not allow you to get a sim card (the path to that section is taped off) and I didn't see an ATM I could reach. I probably could have changed some money before I went through customs, but I only had that COVID test deadline in mind.

My Hotel is not that good. The food is very primitive but most annoyingly, the air system makes so much noise. I'm happy to sleep in the centre of town tonight.

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Tomorrow I'll be at Balcony. I have a boy coming over from Pattaya but I am not sure how long he will be staying. I thought it would be nice to eliminate the need for hunting the first few days and concentrate on fun stuff to do and see.

If you are interested in going out the night of arrival and you are able to come to this hotel before 10 AM, staying here might be an option. When you get back your results, you can immediately take a taxi or even a plane to anywhere. I would prefer this over test&go in Pattaya, if it means I have to wait until the next day.

[goji]

Thank you for the report.

I also printed my documents. Good thing that I did, because the paper version of, Hotel reservation, PCR test, Insurance and Thailand Pass were requested for inspection at check-in. I had 2 copies of each but they only wanted to make sure I had the copies and could keep them.

Last year I also had 2 identical sets of printed documents, in separate A5 folders in separate compartments in my hand luggage.
Plus copies on my phone, tablet and google drive.

When the documents could be checked a couple of times before arriving in BKK, having back ups reduces the stress.

[Jellybean]

Weird, I just wrote something but the post doesn't show.

I landed at 08:43 AM and was at door number 10 around 09:05. That went fast. The longest wait was for the taxi. I arrived at the hotel at 09:45 and that was on time to get the test result later today.

I am tired and will go to sleep. I'll write about the experience and procedures a bit later.

Congratulations vnman on 'diving in' and arriving safe and sound in Thailand. But I see that you travel light, just like arsenal. I’m guessing - one spare pair of pants (extra large), one spare white T-shirt XXL, one spare pair of white socks, toiletries, lube and condoms, extra large of course. Would that be about right?

VN.jpg

[Uranus]

In Bangkok, we arrived at an E gate. I assume that all international planes land there because it has been set up to accommodate their document procedure. A picture would have explained it better but they basically have a line (50 meters) of chairs. There are two chairs next to each other and you just go sit in a free chair that is most to the front. A staff member will come to you and you will be asked for your passport, boarding card, immigration card (which we got before boarding the plane), PCR test and Thailand Pass.

If you have all of this they will tell you to walk to the first available desk and present these documents. They will check it and give you a little stamp on your immigration card and you can walk to immigration.
This was at the beginning of the E pier so you know it is not far from there to immigration. At immigration, they only want your immigration card, passport and boarding card. After that get your checked-in luggage and head to the exit.

The whole process from deboarding to exit took 20 minutes or so. But consider that I was the first out of economy class and the plane was not busy.

After customs, you will see many desks and people hoovering. Normally I ignore everyone there but this time you really need to tell them who you are. They might ask for your name or the hotel you are staying in. They seem to have many different systems but I had to wait for a car, which took only me to the hotel.

Thanks a lot for useful information.

[vnman]

[QUOTE=Jellybean;284479]Congratulations vnman on 'diving in' and arriving safe and sound in Thailand. But I see that you travel light, just like arsenal. I’m guessing - one spare pair of pants (extra large), one spare white T-shirt XXL, one spare pair of white socks, toiletries, lube and condoms, extra large of course. Would that be about right?

Are you or have you ever been a member of the Paparazzi? Hahaha, well done!

I called the hotel nurse at 20:00 and she said that I had tested negative. I wonder how long she has been sitting on the information. After checking out I hailed a Grab taxi and went to Silom. Checked in the hotel and went for a walk. Some massage places left and right but not too many touts, which I actually wish were there :-)

I've never been to the soi where the boys' gogos are but I'll have a look there tomorrow. I know that they are closed but you never know what might be lurking outside.

Around 21:30, Soi 4 looked very lively still. I didn't walk in the soi but took a picture from the main street. Tomorrow I will try to get some better shots.

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The place at the beginning of the Soi on the right was packed. Sorry I didn't capture that. The system doesn't let me upload a picture with a higher resolution. That means that our GoFundMe for Arsenal is off.