Not sure if this is the best spot for this, but I'll start here and move to a different thread if appropriate.
Following up on my situation since last I posted in this thread as I've successfully navigated my way into Bangkok. I'm only on Day 4 of quarantine and haven't gotten COVID tested here yet, but barring anything coming up on that, it should be downhill from here. Overall, a pretty straight forward process so far.
HK Portion
- HK airport a ghost town. I know you can see online videos, etc. but until you are actually there you don't fully grasp it. There had to have been more staff then travelers. I took a few pictures, but doubt they are of interest to anyone. If so, I can add them.
- Arriving and departing in HK are quite different experiences. Arriving involves all the testing, etc. with a much more monitored environment and long process. Departing is more open, but most everything is closed so nothing really to do.
- Side note, it's really refreshing to see the politeness that COVID seems to have brought out of people at the airport. I'm sure that when things reopen, the madness and "airport attitudes" will return, but fingers crossed.
- Even with limited options, flight was <15% full. Upgrades were extremely cheap and even with that cheap option to upgrade, there were more attendants then passengers in business class.
BKK Portion
- Plane sat at the arrival gate for a good 45 minutes before doors opened. I couldn't get a good answer on what they were doing, but they just said it was COVID precautions. They left plane entertainment options on, so no big deal.
- Inside the airport was a little odd. On the surface not efficiently designed, but very organized and fast overall.
- After leaving the plane, there was a basic temperature check.
- Following that, there were a series of checkpoints to pass through. These seemingly could have been streamlined quite a bit, but no big deal (for me at least).
- At the first, you sat down and eventually a staff member came over to look at some of your paperwork and fill out a form with information that was already in the forms you had prepared. Again, pretty fast so not an issue.
- What was odd, was that you did this routine three or four times. Finish one short interviews, get shepherded a little further into the airport and do the same thing, with a new question or two sprinkled in.
- I assume they were doing something behind the scenes with the application, but if not it could have been done in far fewer steps.
- Despite the number of stops, it all went really quickly and I think we were out of the airport in less than an hour, so I was quite happy. A few other passengers apparently didn't agree and got upset. Never will understand this given the overall good attitude and helpful nature of the staff (who didn't design these processes anyways).
- After passport is updated and fingerprints taken, you get your own luggage and head to the transportation area.
- Transportation is all arranged for you. They had dedicated airport staff that took your name and escorted you to your vehicle, so no work or searching necessary.
- Driver gives all of your luggage a thorough spray down with disinfectant (outside of luggage only, they didn't open anything) and you're on your way.
- Hotels are required to keep a lot of documentation, so there was a lot of paperwork and signatures needed upon arrival, but that was about it.
Quarantine is slightly different in HK and TH based on going through both
- In HK, a COVID test is required when you arrive. This makes for a long first day sitting at the airport. In TH, no test on arrival.
- In TH, transit to your hotel is part of ASQ. In HK, it is not and you can take taxi, uber, subway. This is really bizarre since it is the one big gab in the HK process where you are potentially with general population.
- In TH, with a couple exceptions, hotels are either 100% ASQ guests or 100% regular guests - no intermingling. In HK, hotels have both types (floors are designated as quarantine/non-quarantine), not hotels.
- In TH, all meals are required to be included in the ASQ package. In HK, this is not the case.
- In TH, there are no monitoring tools you have to use. In HK, you have to wear a bracelet at all times and use an app that has your room dimensions so that they immediately know if you leave your room.
- In both locations you have to take your own temperature 2x a day and provide to hotel.
- In HK, hotel staff was not allowed in your room for any reason. In TH, if your room needs something fixed, you go (by yourself) to a waiting room while a hotel staff in hazmat suit goes in and does whatever they need to do.
- Similarly, in TH you do get your room cleaned a few times (after first negative test result). In HK, nobody is getting in your room.
- In TH, you have to take a full nasal and mouth swab COVID test twice. In HK, you don't.
- In TH, after 1st negative test you are able to leave the room and go to the recreation area for 45 minutes a day. You can't use the equipment, but can get fresh air and move around. In HK, you can't leave your room.
Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised by how well everything went. I had prepared for a long stay in the BKK airport or something to happen that would make for a long night, but it was all really well managed. Maybe when traffic picks up it will get a little worse, but given what were going through here I don't know how anyone can complain.
My only two bits of advice are...
1. Keep the positive attitude. Nothing good comes from the frustration and having the workers on your side helps. This should go without saying, but we've all traveled and know how that goes.
2. Print out at least two copies of everything in color. Probably three just in case. In reality, the only thing they actually kept at the airport was the actual COE, but having everything ready seemed to put the staff at ease (in both HK and TH) that I was ready and wouldn't be the difficult passenger. Plus, if they do happen to keep something you need later, you'll be the one scrambling. The hotel pretty much needs a copy of everything. At either the airport or the hotel, they did check everything at least once. Every item used in the COE process (flights, etc.) was checked at least once at the airport or hotel. I won't list them out since they are pretty well documented (ping if you want), but two of note that ARE checked are post-ASQ place of residence and flight out of TH. | |
