Quarantine in Bangkok

My flight arrived in the early hours of the morning in August. The trip to Thailand from Egypt I will admit was a nightmare. This had nothing to do with Thailand but to do with the incompetence of Gulf Air who left me sitting in an airport terminal in Bahrain after putting me on a flight I should never been allowed to board. So before I even entered Thailand I had already spent 4 days in transit and hadn’t been outside.

Landing at Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) which I had done many times in the past was my first surprise. Normally a major transit hub, full of shops and transiting passengers, Suvarnabhumi was in a state of lockdown. All the shops were closed and the few passengers I was with were ushered through various hallways and paths closed off by security barriers to the first stage of entering the country.

It took about 35 minutes to get through immigration. This for Suvarnabhumi is actually much faster than it would usually be. Everyone was behind plastic barriers and wearing PPE to protect them from possibly contracting the Delta variant of COVID-19. Right from the moment I got off that plane I could see there had been big changes in what was once the land of smiles.

The staff was surprisingly upbeat and friendly. They are doing their best in a trying situation and a fine job. I had no issues with attitudes like I had before and everyone was very helpful, from a distance.

I was met a person from my quarantine hotel in the receiving area of the airport. She was dressed from head to toe in PPE like someone you would see in one of those bio-hazard films from a few years back. Except unlike those movies, this outbreak was very real.

We stepped outside to get our van. Oh how I longed to be outside. For those of you that follow me on Social Media or YouTube you will be well aware that I don’t spend much time indoors, although I will admit it’s been a lot more since the beginning of 2020.

I got into the van and we began our drive out to the Green View Hotel in Nonthaburi. It was about 8 am and there was rain on the horizon. The roads were mostly empty. It was an eerie scene.

I arrived at the hotel and was immediately escorted to my room. This would be one of the few times I would see another human being for the next 2 weeks. I brought my bags into the lovely, large and bright room and turned on the AC. It was time to count the days as they passed by.

I was horribly sleep deprived the first day and slept through most of it. I awoke around 5:30 pm to a gentle knock on my door. I opened it to find a stack of food from over the day. It was dinner time and there was a nice variety of fresh fruits, curry and rice and a stir fry that had been left there for each meal. I ate and went back to sleep. Day 1 complete, so far so good.

The next day I awoke and had to take a minute to realize where I was. This is normal for me lately, so it was no surprise. I was happy to be in sunny Thailand. It was about 5 am, I made a coffee and began to unpack. Around 6 am there was a knock on my door, breakfast had arrived.

I investigated my room, it was very well equipped. There was everything from a wash tub and soap for cleaning my clothes to a welcome basket of snacks. Lots of water, about 3L worth for each day, dish soap, dishes, toiletries and of course masks and a thermometer.

Around 8 am my phone rang. I answered and a very sweet voice on the other end answered “Good morning sir, temperature please”. I was then informed the next day I would need to take a PCR test and would be called when it was my turn.

Around 12 PM there was another knock at my door. A lovely soup and noodles with fresh fruit was waiting for me. I do love fresh fruit. Again at 5PM another knock and dinner was served. Aside from the PCR tests on days 3, 5 and 12 this was my new routine for the next 14 days.

I had planned for quarantine and left myself a bunch of images and videos to edit if I was bored. I also had games to play and my Bose speaker to listen to some tunes. As far as company, I have an extensive online community to interact with, a daughter and a couple old friends in Canada that always seemed to know when I was bored and drop me a message and of course many new friends I have met in my travels over the last 5 years.

The room at the Green View Hotel was great, the Wi-Fi was very strong and the staff was very hospitable. The food was quite good although I will confess I don’t eat hotdogs, tofu or fish so there were a few occasions where I didn’t eat what was sent up to my room as a meal. Although you do have a choice in menu options it’s only for 10 of the 14 days.

When I started to go a bit stir crazy there was a cat that would sit on these statues of lions they have outside the restaurant doors that kept me amused. There were beautiful tropical birds in the trees and from time to time there was a nice storm rolling by.

By day 12 however I will admit the isolation was getting to be a bit much. It had nothing to do with the hotel or my comfort I just require those walks outside to trigger my creative side. Also having been trapped in an airport (more about that later) for 82 hours it was a very extended quarantine for me. Day 12 was closer to day 16 and I really missed just going to her a chocolate bar or something baked at a shop or market.

All that being said, this is what it is like if you plan to visit a non-sandbox area in Thailand or enter without a vaccine. There are rules in place for your safety including no alcohol so if you are one of those folks that only travels here to drink you may find some issues.

I don’t find the quarantine to be a big deal. I came from a 3 month trip to Egypt that was not the most pleasant and I appreciated getting some rest. I can see how for people who are more codependent or social that being locked in a hotel room with no human contact aside from a PCR test would be a bit unnerving.

On the morning of my 15th day it was time to go. Time to see what has been happening in Thailand since I left over a year ago. Time to peruse Gulf Air for stranding me in an airport and ignoring my complaint. Time to move forward from one of many small journeys inside my larger trip of travelling through the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you would like to see more from around the world before and during the COVID-19 pandemic check out the Lovin' it on Phuket YouTube Channel. Since the start of this whole mess I have visited Thailand, Canada, Brazil, Turkey and Egypt before returning back to Thailand to show what tourists will need to expect while visiting this season.