Thailand - We Made It | thesamosborne

Welcome back to Asia!!!!!!!!!!

After not knowing whether we were going to make it to Thailand for a couple weeks we finally made it. It only took like 17 covid tests, 52 emails back and forth with the Thai consulate, and four changed plane tickets. Not bad. After all that we have been rewarded with the luxury of staying in a small quarantine hotel room for 16 days.

Thailand has this whole international traveler thing locked down tight. When we got into the international terminal at midnight last Saturday there were a swarm of young English speaking people showing us off the flight and towards a sitting area where they checked that our documents were in order. Then we had to pass through three different checkpoints in the airport for all our covid and quarantine related documents. When we got through customs, they had shuttles lined up for each quarantine approved hotel. It was all silky smooth, and I was impressed.

Our hotel is like every girl on tinder. She looks really good in her profile pictures, but when you finally meet for the first time you realize those pictures are 5 years old, she smells kinda funky, and she gets inexplicably dusty every single day even though you feel like you’re sweeping constantly. For Asia though, it’s really not that bad. We checked the Google reviews on this place before we got here, and they helped set our expectations low. Here’s one of my favorite reviews:

A demolition building. Everything is dirty. The beds are worn out in the room I had.
It’s an experience I could have been without.
The staff at The Cotai Luxury Design Hotel, 30 minutes from Suvarnabhumi, don’t speak english and don’t answere when you try to get in contact.
No one cares about the hotel guests.
The food is worse then terrible and not one meal have been served warm.
There is no difference if it is breakfast, lunch or dinner.
I have to force my self to eat some and one day I got food poisoned by a lettuce leaf.
There was several days I have to be without any food. I have asked for vegetarian food and got sausages for breakfast. Chicken soup …
The mini bar, two of the pictures below, shrimp and seaweed flavored chips, 3in1 coffee so you have to learn to drink coffee with sugar and milk.
The pool is very dirty. The water have a brown color. The pool is not for swimming.
– Mr. Boel Jakobsson, 2020

Boel’s review is a little harsh, but not at all untrue. I will say that he should have known not to eat the lettuce. Rookie mistake.

I am trying to be grateful for the things that we do have here. I’m grateful for our amazing air conditioner. I’m grateful for our 32in TV. I’m grateful to have Kailtyn here so I don’t have to do this alone. I’m also realizing how grateful I am for the things that I don’t have right now. I am very grateful for fast internet. I’m grateful for good food. I’m grateful for shower curtains. And I am grateful whenever those two strange men on the other side of the hotel aren’t sunbathing in their underwear.

We can get through eight more days. Looking out the window at mopeds zooming through the overgrown green landscape helps remind us that this whole adventure is going to be worth 16 days of suck. If you are reading this, please send your love our way. Thanks.

-Sam

We got to go outside for our covid test on day 5! Best 15 minutes ever!