Travel in the Time of Omicron – A Saga

[CurtisD]

Prologue

During Covid I have been consistently too optimistic about the probability of international travel. I repeatedly book trips only to eventually cancel them. I carry on regardless and book the next trip, but my expectations have slowly diminished, to the point that I was not really expecting to make this trip to Thailand.

It was only after the e-tickets arrived that I truly believed that this trip was a Go.

I should have been elated, but after the initial euphoric rush I was strangely flat. I organized the mechanics of travel down to the last detail and took steps to eliminate anything within my power that could cause problems. I imposed a self-quarantine for the seven days prior to my PCR test, excusing myself from pre-Christmas events and Christmas dinner itself. I booked a limo service to the airport as Uber have become a little less reliable.

But I did not get into the usual personal preparation or have a plan of what to do other than seeing Bangkok Guy. I continued to drink and eat a little too much and not exercise enough. My mood should have been up, but pre-Christmas socializing was leaving me flat. One evening, returning home after a fabulous dinner party, the flat feeling really struck me – what was going on?

I know myself well enough that if I take the time to stop and reflect I find the patterns that point to the problem. When I am flat something is weighing on my subconscious, and the trick is to identify what it is so that I can deal with it. I realized I was very concerned. Very concerned that something would prevent the trip. Very concerned that after two years of Line-only contact the chemistry between Bangkok Guy and I will not be the same.    

Behind the concern is the fact that Bangkok Guy is deeply under my skin. Possibly too deeply. Many things have kept me bouncing along and sane during the disruption of the last two years and my connection with Bangkok Guy is one of them. Forced separation has intensified the importance of the connection.

There is no point in letting an anticipated problem which may or may not eventuate weigh you down. You need to do what you can to ensure the outcome you want and then hope for the best, but be mentally prepared for the worst and have an attractive Plan B.

So I took charge of my drinking, eating and exercising. I can stroll the beach confident that I look presentable in swim shorts. I went through the Koh Samui guide and found things to see and do. For the days in Bangkok I have a list of restaurants to try and possible overnight trips. The trip is now in shape to be an excellent holiday and a great first encounter with the World after the last two years. And if the chemistry with Bangkok Guy is still good, that will be the icing on the cake.

But if I am honest with myself, the icing is of more interest than the cake.

[Boy69]

1 hour ago, CurtisD said:

Prologue

During Covid I have been consistently too optimistic about the probability of international travel. I repeatedly book trips only to eventually cancel them. I carry on regardless and book the next trip, but my expectations have slowly diminished, to the point that I was not really expecting to make this trip to Thailand.

It was only after the e-tickets arrived that I truly believed that this trip was a Go.

I should have been elated, but after the initial euphoric rush I was strangely flat. I organized the mechanics of travel down to the last detail and took steps to eliminate anything within my power that could cause problems. I imposed a self-quarantine for the seven days prior to my PCR test, excusing myself from pre-Christmas events and Christmas dinner itself. I booked a limo service to the airport as Uber have become a little less reliable.

But I did not get into the usual personal preparation or have a plan of what to do other than seeing Bangkok Guy. I continued to drink and eat a little too much and not exercise enough. My mood should have been up, but pre-Christmas socializing was leaving me flat. One evening, returning home after a fabulous dinner party, the flat feeling really struck me – what was going on?

I know myself well enough that if I take the time to stop and reflect I find the patterns that point to the problem. When I am flat something is weighing on my subconscious, and the trick is to identify what it is so that I can deal with it. I realized I was very concerned. Very concerned that something would prevent the trip. Very concerned that after two years of Line-only contact the chemistry between Bangkok Guy and I will not be the same.    

Behind the concern is the fact that Bangkok Guy is deeply under my skin. Possibly too deeply. Many things have kept me bouncing along and sane during the disruption of the last two years and my connection with Bangkok Guy is one of them. Forced separation has intensified the importance of the connection.

There is no point in letting an anticipated problem which may or may not eventuate weigh you down. You need to do what you can to ensure the outcome you want and then hope for the best, but be mentally prepared for the worst and have an attractive Plan B.

So I took charge of my drinking, eating and exercising. I can stroll the beach confident that I look presentable in swim shorts. I went through the Koh Samui guide and found things to see and do. For the days in Bangkok I have a list of restaurants to try and possible overnight trips. The trip is now in shape to be an excellent holiday and a great first encounter with the World after the last two years. And if the chemistry with Bangkok Guy is still good, that will be the icing on the cake.

But if I am honest with myself, the icing is of more interest than the cake.

What is exactly the relationship with Bangkok Guy ? Are you sending him money ? What is the expectations of Bangkok Guy from you ?

[vinapu]

6 hours ago, CurtisD said:

Prologue

During Covid I have been consistently too optimistic about the probability of international travel. I repeatedly book trips only to eventually cancel them. I carry on regardless and book the next trip, but my expectations have slowly diminished, to the point that I was not really expecting to make this trip to Thailand.

 

I'm surprised you did not jump into Test &Go as soon as they announced it

[CurtisD]

5 hours ago, Boy69 said:

What is exactly the relationship with Bangkok Guy ? Are you sending him money ? What is the expectations of Bangkok Guy from you ?

This will become clear from later posts.

[CurtisD]

9 minutes ago, vinapu said:

I'm surprised you did not jump into Test &Go as soon as they announced it

I should have. Not all of us are as on-the-ball.

[CurtisD]

A Very Bumpy Start

This trip was booked back in June based solely on vague optimism that ‘things will improve’. The January timing was a matter of habit. When test-and-go was announced I lacked Vinapu’s prescience and instead of going immediately kept to the original schedule.

Traveling in the Time of Covid it should come as no surprise that this trip has been the most difficult trip to keep on the rails that I have ever experienced.

The airline canceled all flights to Thailand and I had to re-book. I went through the hoops of completing all the ThaiPass paperwork. To be sure of passing the first of four PCR tests I withdrew from Christmas celebrations. Double-guessing the Thai Government’s announcement that it was considering suspending Test-and-Go, I re-booked all the accommodation and internal flights, at some cost.

The day I am due to leave I lie in bed, dawn light coming around the edges of the curtains, and Bangkok Guy pings me on Line. He has developed the habit of pinging me in the morning if he wants to talk as he knows I am up early, but this is a little early. “There is a Big Problem”.

On the bright side, his English is coming along. He used the indefinite article.

When he answers my call he looks serious and without talking faces his phone toward his wrist. There is an intravenous drip attachment. Back to his face and, while he is looking good, I see he is in bed and the pillow has a blue hospital paper cover. He has Covid.

It seems to be a moderate case. He looks good, a cough but no problems breathing, and once we talk his smile is as bright as ever. His personality is also unaffected. His main concern is not his health but the cost of cancelations as he will not be out of quarantine in time to join me on Koh Samui.

A leading indicator that I have crossed the line from under-the-weather to truly ill is the loss of my vanity. For Bangkok Guy it would be the loss of frugality. With his frugality intact he is on the right side of the health line.

However, the third time I tell him he is looking good – a mechanical reassurance to myself as much as to him – he corrects me. “Outside look good, inside not good”. He is sick enough to be feeling it.

He is happy that I am still coming and that we will eventually meet in Bangkok. He will get out of the ten-day quarantine the day before I arrive in Bangkok from Koh Samui and I offer to extend our hotel booking so he can go there, be comfortable and have room service. He is not sure.

In case Omicron gathered speed, in Bangkok I re-booked into a hotel with a lot of outdoor space by the river which, if necessary, we can use as a resort and use the river to get around rather than the Sky Train or Metro. I have four PCR tests to pass during the trip and failing any of the three in Thailand will land me in hospital for ten days, which I have no intention of letting happen, so crowded spaces are verboten. The hotel is very high end (I got an attractive deal) and I suspect Bangkok Guy is not comfortable with the idea of being there alone.

I will play this by ear and possibly leave Koh Samui early (and expensively as it is too late to alter the reservation).

[vaughn]

Very well written! I look forward to the rest of your report, I hope everything works out ok for both of you.

[vinapu]

1 hour ago, vaughn said:

Very well written! I look forward to the rest of your report, I hope everything works out ok for both of you.

# me too,

this "inside not good " worries me a bit, I heard it already from somebody else

[CurtisD]

Pass PCR Test, Will Travel

I pass the first of four PCR tests, don my N95 mask and away!

After allowing for empty seats to separate passengers, both my flights are fairly full, in contrast to the terminals which are ghost towns. No taxiing delays with a que of one for the first flight and two for the second. Passengers all following covid safety protocols.

I had been warned that my ears would ache from the N95 mask and this was very true, but the only negative until the leg to Koh Samui. Thai health and immigration were very pleasant and efficient and it took only around 40 minutes from disembarkation to being seated in the departure gate for the five hour wait for the official quarantine connecting flight. The health officials in Koh Samui were also very efficient, so the whole process of checking papers to record who sat where on the plane, getting the PCR test and getting into the hotel’s single-party transport went smoothly.

Bangkok Airways, not so much efficient.  

The flight is supposed to be a quarantine one. However, the plane was not parked at the gate but some distance away. To get there we crowd into a bus, not a hope of distancing. Long drive, then a wait inside the bus until we can board. Among my fellow passengers were a group who were somewhat lax in masking, as though the mask itself was a powerful talisman regardless of how it was worn. I avoided them in the lounge, but no hope of doing so in the bus or on the small plane. Grrrr…..

Efficiency resumed at my hotel. They had me pre-register on-line a few days before arrival. On arrival I was taken directly to the room, shown how to get the room service menu from the TV and told to stay in the room until my test results arrived around 8am the next morning. I was not given a key, so if I left the room it would be obvious as I could not get back in, in theory. In practice my hosts had left me access to my private terrace from which I could slip directly into the pool and swim to freedom.

Not wanting to abuse their hospitality or be a selfish idiot I content myself on the terrace with sunshine, fresh air, the smell of flowers, excellent Thai food and a Chang beer.

[CurtisD]

Pass 2^nd PCR Test, Free! (at least until the 3^rd PCR Test)

8:30am I answer the phone and am greeted with a very cheerful ‘Congratulation you pass test! Welcome! Please come have breakfast!’.

Freedom begins with an excellent Thai stir fry and coffee on a grassed terrace, after which I visit the spa and book a Thai massage and a facial. My request for a manicure and pedicure is received with an expression which indicates I have crossed some line of logic and a muddled suggestion that I can simply walk outside. Muddled to me, as on arrival the street appeared to be nothing but trees, a few restaurants and the landscaped entrances to resorts.

Rejuvenated by the massage and facial I head to the beach-side restaurant for lunch, after which I walk the long crescent of white sand between two bluffs which my hotel shares with several others. The walk reveals the confusion at the spa as the beach is home to two local massage-relax-and-make-you-beautiful establishments. After my first manicure, pedicure and sole-smoothing in I-don’t-know-how-long my feet are fit to be seen unshod, and at a price which explains why the hotel does not bother to compete.

I Finally Acclimate

The build up to this trip had been stressful enough that it was only on the third day that I began to chill out and really enjoy myself. Stunning weather, good food, over a mile of white sand beach – how can I not eventually unwind despite the issue of further PCR tests and Bangkok Guy’s health?

Four high-end hotels and three mid-level ones share the long crescent of white sand. The deeper pockets of the high-end owners are reflected in continued pristine maintenance, versus signs of deferred maintenance at the mid-level places. While far from crowded, there are enough tourai to give a sense of life and action. After walking the beach for three days it is clear that none of the hotels is anywhere near full occupancy.

At one end of the crescent a local beach bar hides in the trees. Here at high tide you sip your Campari Spritz while the waves wash around your ancles, and it pays to watch how the incoming water is breaking over the end of the bluff as a noticeable boiling of white indicates a large swell which, in a minute or two, will wash over the top of the old sailboard serving as a low drinks table.

On-going confinement with no distractions but his cell phone is getting on top of Bangkok Guy, and my having fun in the sun and sand without him rubs salt in the wound. One of his messages has a strange meme suggesting great frustration. I move my flight forward a couple of days and extend the hotel in Bangkok so that I will be there when he is released. The tone of his communications improves subtly after I tell him of these changes: I will be there for him and this makes him happy.

[Boy69]

Excellent report @CurtisD looking forward for the next chapters !

[vinapu]

yes , waiting impatiently ( no pressure though ☺️)

[CurtisD]

7 hours ago, Boy69 said:

Excellent report @CurtisD looking forward for the next chapters !

 

1 hour ago, vinapu said:

yes , waiting impatiently ( no pressure though ☺️)

Happy to oblige!

[CurtisD]

Circumnavigating the Island

My original itinerary included a rental car which Bangkok Guy was going to drive, an idea he liked very much. There was no flexibility to either alter the booking nor to get a refund, so on the fourth day I collect a car which I will be returning halfway through the rental period. The things forbidden in the rental contract include smoking, animals and durian. The partial saving grace is that I can drive myself to my day-5 PCR test at Koh Samui hospital, avoiding having a taxi wait for me, the cost of which is equivalent to two days car rental.

Driving on Koh Samui is very easy and my little car is the right size for the narrow roads and right-angle bends – literally a right-angle in an otherwise continuous stretch of road. After the PCR test – efficiently organized on the hospital’s tennis court – I have lunch at a very isolated beach restaurant that was recommended to me. Not a place I would have ever found on my own and excellent Thai food. I send a pic to Bangkok Guy who apart from being envious - "So Delicious" – is amused that the mild spice level is at the upper end of my tolerance. He likes confirmation of his ides fixes about Falang.

My anti-clockwise circumnavigation of the island is singularly lacking in the picture postcard views which comprise one-hundred-and-ten-percent of Koh Samui according to the internet, guide books and advertisements for accommodation. Between the infinity pools of the hillside villas and the white sand beaches an ugly ring of random ribbon development encircles the entire island, excepting the South West quadrant. Think of the ugly bits of Pattaya (well, just think of Pattaya) stretched into a thin circle.

I saw the villa I had originally booked and, now I understand the lay of the land, I am happy to be paying the premium for direct beach access.

[CurtisD]

Things Veer Further Off-Course

I decide to spend my last day on Koh Samui dining at the two five star hotels that anchor each end of the beach. After a leisurely morning and strolling the beach I settle into a table next to the gently breaking surf and contentedly watch the World over a couple of glasses of pleasantly grassy sauvignon and a squid ink paella.

After strolling the beach to settle lunch I am on my way to an afternoon massage appointment when Bangkok Guy pings me. He says he has talked to the hotel and ‘cannot enter’. I asked him yesterday to bring his vaccination card as the hotel now requires proof of vaccination. I call him and things only get murkier.

He implies that he did not get his second shot. What?!

However, as he has just recovered from covid this should not matter, and I tell him to get a letter from the hospital saying he is just out of quarantine as recent recovery is equal to a vaccination. There is a conversation in the background and he says no, hospital tell him to go home, cannot go to hotel. His response to my “but this is not the way it works” is “but this is Thailand”. He can see me outside hotel but cannot go into hotel.

I feel sick. After all the effort to make this trip happen I will not spend time with Bangkok Guy?!

Fortunately the ninety minute massage is very good and gives me time to clear my head and think.

I call the hotel, explain the situation and ask what the rules are for someone just released from quarantine. They confirm my understanding: all that is required is a letter from the hospital saying he has had covid, has been in quarantine and has been released. No need for anything further.

I send Bangkok Guy a Line message explaining what is required and ask him to get the letter. Then I head to dinner at the opposite end of the long white-sand crescent from lunch, where I enjoy a beautiful sunset over excellent Thai food.

Next morning I catch my flight to Bangkok. Bangkok Guy is yet to read my message from the previous day.

[CurtisD]

The Confabulation Tendency

It is difficult to understand what is going on here. Why would the hospital require him to go home after ten days in quarantine? Why does he say he cannot see me in the hotel, when the hotel tells me a doctor’s letter is fine?

Given the propensity of the human mind when stressed to automatically seek out a narrative which fits the ‘know facts’ – to make up a story to meet our need to feel we understand - I need to be very careful.

My experience with Bangkok Guy, and the principal that the simplest explanation is most likely the correct one, suggest that what we have here is another example of linguistic/cultural fog. Something is lost-in-translation and I need to chill out and take time for things to become clear. Call this ‘Explanation A, Cultural Fog’.

However, that simple direct piece of reasoning is insufficient to calm my mind and halt its search for pattern-fitting narratives. Soaring in flights of fancy, my mind constructs two ‘fact fitting’ narratives.

The first of these, ‘Explanation B, It’s A Con!’ I have a sufficient grip on reality to dismiss. Beginning with the thought “Isn’t it odd that each announcement of not being able to meet came just at the last minute?”, in this narrative Bangkok Guy never had covid and never had any intention of meeting for any number of reasons which can be invented to propel the narrative. However, I think he has genuinely contracted covid. The whole thing is sufficiently elaborate and consistent that reality seems a much better bet than make-believe. Also, a complete con simply doesn't gell with my experience of Bangkok Guy, who is honest to a fault (I think?). 

In ‘Explanation C, The Curse of the Caring Falang’, Bangkok Guy has another Falang; contracting Covid has fouled up his careful management of his Falang; and he is now wildly improvising (for example, he tells me the hotel says he cannot enter, but the hotel tells me they will accept a doctor’s letter). This is a much longer narrative fitting many more ‘facts’.

This trip has been in the works for a long time, plenty of time to develop a story for Falang #2 that he will be back in home village over New Year when he will actually be with me.

In the initial discussion after he got covid his concern was canceling his flight to Koh Samui, nothing more. Meeting in Bangkok was good. It was only five days later that, in hindsight, his reluctance to go to the hotel ahead of me and the odd frustrated sticker he sent, signaled that something was off-balance (rather than simple frustration as I thought at the time).

What has gone off-balance is that Falang #2 discovered he was in hospital and insisted that Bangkok Guy stay with him once he was released. The Curse of the Caring Falang!

It is an old truth that the best lies contain a partial truth. However, my experience is that all our lies contain some truth as inventing a complete fantasy is just too difficult. Consciously or unconsciously, we incorporate elements of reality into our falsehoods.

The piece of reality in Bangkok Guys’ story is that someone is saying he has to go home after leaving the hospital. The unreality is that the someone is the hospital.

That Bangkok Guy may have more than one Falang is not ideal, but neither is it the end of the World. We have no agreement for, nor expectation of, exclusivity. His ideal Falang lives in Thailand and it is clear to both of us that this is not me. I am only in Thailand twice a year on average, two weeks of the four are business, so a maximum two weeks of his dedicated time. An entrepreneurial young man could utilize the other fifty weeks to his advantage.

‘Cultural Fog’ and ‘The Curse of the Caring Falang’ cast Bangkok Guy in very different lights. My experience of Bangkok Guy, and Occam’s Razor, suggest ‘Cultural Fog’ is the true situation here, but where emotions are involved (‘After all this I won’t see him!!!’) it is hard to clear the mind of a well-constructed narrative.

I need to chill out and wait for Bangkok Guy’s response to my request for a doctor’s letter. ‘Cultural Fog’ will enable him to provide the letter. ‘It’s a Con!’ he cannot provide the doctor’s letter. ‘The Curse of the Caring Falang’ he will be able to provide the doctor’s letter but will not want to, resulting in improvised excuses.

[vinapu]

now you got nice , Agatha Christie like,  mystery to solve and we are itching to find out what it will be in the end

[PeterRS]

So beautifully written @CurtisD. I so much hope that all worked/works out well for you.

[Boy69]

8 hours ago, CurtisD said:

That Bangkok Guy may have more than one Falang is not ideal, but neither is it the end of the World. We have no agreement for, nor expectation of, exclusivity.

That's true If we are not willing to commit to a boy why should he be exclusively ours ?

 

[CurtisD]

Clearing the Cultural Fog

My flight touches down early. To my surprise the domestic terminal is a hive of activity, a striking contrast to the international ghost town. A lady from LimoPattaya meets me in a very nice car for a fast trip into town. I notice that only one of the many large advertising billboards by the highway is in use, the others forlornly solicit business with their phone numbers.

I am enjoying lunch by the river when Bangkok Guy pings me with a photo of a doctor’s letter, which I take to the concierge for translation to ensure that it has all the information the hotel needs.

Bangkok Guy has a habit of sending me documents in Thai as proof of various things, such as the Time Payment Tractor, and I have always trusted that they show what he says they show. This is the first time I have had anything translated.  

The letter says Bangkok Guy has had covid, is about to end his ten days quarantine but then must return home for a further four days self-isolation. This seems overly cautious to me, but clarifies why Bangkok Guy insists he has to go home after he leaves hospital. His unwillingness to enter the hotel remains a mystery.

It seems the caution is justified. I ask Bangkok Guy if he would like to take a day trip to Ayutthaya. “I feel weak lately. Do not want to travel. So sorry.” Although he looks good on Line - he probably makes sure he looks good when I call - I should have been more attuned to his earlier comment ‘not good inside’. My guess is that he contracted the Delta variant which remains more prevalent in Thailand than Omicron. This means that it may take a while for him to be back to full health.

The concierge tells me that Bamboo Bar is open and I celebrate my first evening in Bangkok by returning to that old favorite to sip a Sazerac while listening to a very enjoyable jazz vocalist. Bangkok Guy will enjoy this once he is free as he likes jazz vocals, assuming he feels up to going out. I only stay for the first set however as there is an almost full house and I still have a final PCR test to pass.

Back with the front desk I discover why Bangkok Guy thinks he can only meet me outside the hotel. Contrary to my earlier conversation I am now told the hotel’s policy is double-vaccination only, no doctor’s letters (!!??!!#@%!) which makes sense of Bangkok Guy’s statement that he can only meet me outside the hotel. It seems the policy depends upon to whom you talk.

This misunderstanding is corrected.

Bangkok Guy will be welcome.

In the slightly fraught period during which the misunderstanding is corrected, I contact four alternative five star hotels to secure a back-up plan. Two are very clear ‘double-vaccination only’, one is open to accepting the doctor’s letter once they have seen it and can verify its contents, and one is equally clear at the opposite end of the spectrum ‘we have no vaccination requirement’.

[spoon]

I might be ahead of your story and if i do, feel free to answer this when its happened in your report but did u find out why bangkok guy did not get his second shot yet? 

[CurtisD]

11 minutes ago, spoon said:

I might be ahead of your story and if i do, feel free to answer this when its happened in your report but did u find out why bangkok guy did not get his second shot yet? 

I never asked.

I thought it was better to focus on dealing with the situation-at-hand than getting into a bunch of questions. The poor guy clearly felt badly about it and he plans to get his second shot and then a booster so there will be no further snafus. 

My guess is that having screwed up his courage to get the first shot he hesitated over the second shot, and while he hesitated contracted covid. 

My inclination to bop an anti-vaxxer on the nose if I meet one has risen exponentially.

 

[vinapu]

5 hours ago, CurtisD said:

.......four alternative five star hotels to secure a back-up plan. Two are very clear ‘double-vaccination only’, one is open to accepting the doctor’s letter once they have seen it and can verify its contents, and one is equally clear at the opposite end of the spectrum ‘we have no vaccination requirement’.

looks that it's better to avoid those 5 stars in covid time. In my 25 days there in Dec only one hotel (Zing Jomtien )  asked me for proof of vaccination but I stay in more modest ( read cheaper )  places.

[spoon]

12 hours ago, CurtisD said:

“I feel weak lately. Do not want to travel. So sorry.” Although he looks good on Line - he probably makes sure he looks good when I call - I should have been more attuned to his earlier comment ‘not good inside’.

Since he is not fully vaccinated, he is more susceptible to have a more severe complication from covid and potentially long covid too. I sincerely hope he will recover well, hopefully soon enough for u to see it yourself in your report 😔

[CurtisD]

14 hours ago, vinapu said:

ooks that it's better to avoid those 5 stars in covid time

You have a point. The need for vaccination to fly was clear early on, but the need for vaccination at the hotels was only made clear later. Often from their websites the policy was not clear. 

On balance I preferred to stay at hotels requiring vaccination/doctor's letter because, in hindsight, I was being overly cautious.

When I re-booked the trip I assumed Omicron would become prevalent in Thailand during my stay and given how infectious it is I wanted all the distancing and protections I could get. Who wants to be in hospital for ten days at a cost of $4,000-$5,000 plus the cost of cancelations and rebookings, especially for something that is likely to be asymptomatic to mild for someone fully-vaccinated-and-boosted? 

While I was in Thailand all the reports from friends back home were of them/family/friends getting Omicron, with no symptoms beyond a normal cold. The surge back home was massive.

While the surge I anticipated materialized back home, it did not materialize in Thailand while I was there (and still has not), so I could have been much more relaxed than I was.