Lock down extended … again, grey monsoon afternoon, beginning of the lonely season. The passage of time drags on. Thailand won’t let us out and Canada won’t let us in, so there it is. I’ve been traveling for decades and have passed some strange days, but these take the cake. The lock-down and emergency orders, including alcohol ban and curfew, announced in Thailand February 2020 has been extended five times, it’s now July 4th, 2020 and there’s no end in sight. BTW, happy Canada Day and 4th of July !
Many countries, including Canada and Thailand are murmuring about targets around the August 31st time frame, but we’ve been disappointed so many times already and expect nothing, until we actually see something solid, like bums in the seats of a new Boeing 787 Max taking off. Until then, it’s fingers crossed at best.
Today’s pandemic global catastrophic effect is nothing like any ‘travel fear’ I’ve experienced before, like a sudden near fatal illness in the Thar Desert, a tank battle in the town square of La Paz, typhoon twisters chasing my open cockpit yacht across the shallow South China Sea, kidnapped by drunk soldiers in the crime infested Golden Triangle, on a diplomatic convoy running like hell under fire from a Taliban Brigade out of Herat, where the Swedish boy in the seat in front of me had his head blown off, feasting during a wary truce with armed Palawan pirates, or spinning like a top down a Pakistan cliff-side in a disintegrating bus that missed a brittle corner on a ribbon of dust called the Khyber Pass…. and other travel anecdotes too numerous to name.
But here we are, stranded in Bangkok, Thailand. Every escape out of Thailand pinned shut by frightened bureaucrats. All the transit hubs of Asia, South Asia and Asia Minor are closed, foreigners barred entry. China has passed the dreaded Bill 35 which threatens imprisonment to every citizen of Hong Kong or foreign national who may have come under the notice of Chinese Security Services. There is no safe transit through Hong Kong to Canada anymore. Canada has issued a travel advisory which nullifies our travel insurance, and cancelled an extradition treaty with Hong Kong, but to no avail. Anyone , born in Hong Kong is no longer free to enter Hong Kong without fear of arrest. R.I.P Hong Kong.
We feel safe here, in absolute isolation. 58 dead in Thailand according to the authorities. We mask, distance, have our temperature taken at every door. We order in rather than shop, pay all bills online. The Thai government automatically extends visa’s for the thousands of foreigners who chose to stay. Our landlord, a doctor, understands our plight and has extended our lease without penalty. And, we’re so damned comfortable. The view is fantastic. We overlook an temple complex with fairy tale roof lines and golden spires above canal markets, everything you’d fly halfway around the world for and hope to see on your ‘trip of a lifetime‘.
Travel is slowly opening for tourists. Domestic openings have faced new infections popping hope of immediate security. Covid is like a chainsaw running amok. Fears will have to be managed if there is ever to be any semblance of economy return for individuals and especially hard hit small businesses. Thailand is opening in fits and starts for local tourists . International tourists are still banned.
What has been proposed is, tourists may only fly direct to their allowed destination and stay there. Tourists will be barred from freely roaming the country. Tourists will stay where they book and may not leave the designated area. For example if you book an island vacation and the flight calls for transit in Bangkok, you will not be able to leave the airport to tour Bangkok, but will be required to wait for your connection in a especially designed lounge to await your island vacation flight.
I wish the Thai government luck in implementing their plan. In the meantime, we try to take things in stride. A pot of Yorkshire tea and Antiques Roadshow on a VPN distracts us. There’s no tank fire or pirates, we’re gold. Best of luck to anyone who’s stranded by choice or circumstance anywhere in the world. The upside is that the beaches are nearly deserted.
J West Hardin Road Trip 