THAILAND Nov 2021 - Vlog (Travelling to Bangkok during a pandemic)

Hello there. Well this is it. Today is the day. Today I fly to Thailand. Hey everyone. Welcome back. I am so ready to take you to Thailand. In this video we go from Vancouver to one of the craziest cities in the world. Bangkok. The city of temples and tuk-tuks and 10,000 smiles. A city of 10 million people that has a style and culture that scares away many a tourist. But the brave few who venture into this city's inner core will find 10,000 reasons to love this city. Now getting around Bangkok that was easy but getting there that was a different story. So let's take it back to the beginning shall we? Well this is it. Today is the day I fly to Thailand. All packed up. Let the adventure begin. There's nothing left to do but... For weeks friends have been asking me if I was getting excited about returning to Thailand and I always answered not yet. The whole planning process of this trip was filled with so much uncertainty it was mind-boggling. It was just hours before takeoff and I wasn't even sure I was going to get on the plane. So as I make my way to the airport I make sure that my pockets are empty so I slide through security. I make sure that I got everything I need for the next 24 hours in my carry-on and I pray that at check-in they accept my finely prepared file folder of documents and certificates. Here we go. The most important document I needed to enter the kingdom of Thailand was the Thailand pass. In order to obtain a Thailand pass I had to meet the following requirements. I had to come from a list of 63 low-risk countries. I had to be fully vaccinated, had to have travel insurance specific to this current virus, as well I had to have flights and accommodations pre-booked and paid for. And with only one week before my flight I got the Thailand pass. Well I made it to the airport. It's time to check in. I just double-checked all my documents make sure everything's in order and looks like we're good to go. I'll see you on the other side in a couple minutes. Well I'm all checked in. It's a little bit of a lengthy process. I waited in line at the checkup counter for at least an hour and there was maybe only a dozen groups of people checking in in front of me. But it is what it is. Security was a lot quicker. I scooped through in about 10 minutes. They did have a search of my bag. They found something that was suspicious and it was just the handle for my tripod to tilt my camera. They thought it might be a screwdriver or something. Good to know. Anyways here I am. I'm at my gate. It's probably a half an hour before we start boarding. So I am all set. Ready to fly. In addition to the Thailand pass I was required to show official proof of vaccination plus produce a negative PCR test taken within the last 72 hours. They checked everything again at the gate and finally I was boarding the plane. And we're boarding. We're going down the gate. It's gate D71. First stop is Tokyo. It's a 10 hour flight and then a two and a half hour layover and then another seven hour trip to Bangkok. So here the journey begins. Thank you. Thank you very much. 32, 33A. There is my spot. Awesome. And it has begun. I am on the plane. Just as I boarded the plane the rain started to come down in Vancouver and I was so relieved to be on my way to somewhere warm. The months leading up to this the stress of planning this trip was over the top. Initially I had a flight booked with Cathay Pacific directly into Phuket. Bangkok wasn't an option at that time because tourists arriving there would have to quarantine in their room for 10 days. And I was not going to have none of that so I was entering under the Phuket sandbox program which allowed tourists to go anywhere in Thailand after 14 days quarantine on the island. Not confined to your room you're free to explore the entire island and after 14 days and a negative PCR test you are free to go anywhere. After I had everything all booked and confirmed my initial flight was cancelled. Not changed or delayed but cancelled and no options to rebook a similar flight to Phuket for 10 days later. I'd already had my flight and hotel and PCR test booked in Vancouver and trying to find an alternative flight from Vancouver to Phuket on those dates seemed nearly impossible. Things were looking pretty grim and I was thinking of cancelling the whole trip. However as luck would have it on November 1st just three weeks before my vacation the rules to enter Thailand changed once again. The new test and go program was announced where tourists could enter via Bangkok or Phuket and could go anywhere after 24 hours and a negative PCR test. Needless to say I'm going to Bangkok. With dozens of possible connections on several different airlines and much lower ticket prices as you can see everything fell into place. On our way to our stopover in Tokyo we fly over the Kamchatka peninsula of eastern Russia. In the distance I could see one of the largest active volcanoes in the world Kuchivskaya Sobka. A stratovolcano reaching 4,750 meters above the Bering Sea and is the highest mountain in Siberia. And not much longer after that the 10-hour leg to Tokyo was complete. We were arriving at night and was hoping to see some bright lights but the airport was 60 kilometers away from the city. Tokyo is the 35th country's capital city I have visited but not leaving the security section of Merida doesn't make it official. I'll have to return one day and do Tokyo proper. I've made it to Tokyo my first time in the land of the rising sun. I got a quick turnover here my flight was about an hour late taking off so I've only got a less just over an hour before I got to get my next connection Bangkok. So let's go find our connection. Bangkok gate 53 on time. Soon enough I was back on my way again this time to Savarnabhumi airport in Bangkok. With only one more hoop to jump through one more bit of uncertainty the PCR test on arrival crossing my fingers. Well we've arrived in Bangkok 10 hours flight to Tokyo and then another seven hour flight from Tokyo to Bangkok. So here I am it's midnight here on Tuesday night in Bangkok and looking forward to getting checked in get my PCR test and get into my hotel. 20 hours after leaving Vancouver I finally made it to Thailand. Prior to leaving the plane I made sure I had all my documents certificates and test results in order and ready for immigration. Then after getting my luggage and clearing customs I would be escorted by a private taxi to my hotel and then came the final most vital step the PCR test. The results could take up to 24 hours and if it was a negative result I was free to go anywhere in Thailand. If it was a positive result my Thailand experience would be completely different. If somehow I caught the virus between Vancouver and Bangkok and tested positive on arrival I would be taken by an ambulance to a hospital and isolated for 14 days whether I was sick or not. So there was a lot at stake. I made it through immigration it was quick and easy it was only a show them my papers get a couple stamps and we were through. Now I'm just waiting for my luggage then hopefully my hotel is here to pick me up and then we're gonna go directly to the hotel for the PCR test and then we're done. Thankfully my luggage did arrive and I was out of the airport quickly. On my way to the hotel we went to a drive-through PCR testing clinic where I received my nose poke and was told I would have my results by morning. So off to the hotel and now I wait. Well good morning from Thailand. Last night I got in around midnight. I went through customs and immigration like a breeze. I got a taxi well the hotel provided me a taxi. They took me through a portable PCR testing hospital. I didn't even have to get out of the car I just rolled down the window they gave me the nose poke and I was back at my hotel and in bed by 1am. So it took one hour to get processed through Suvarnabhumi airport all the way to my hotel here in the Suphanburi area and it's morning time now it's just before eight o'clock. I just woke up had a good rest I called down to the front desk and they told me my PCR test was negative and I'm clear to go. So let's go explore Bangkok. Well my first order of business of the morning was to find myself some breakfast and there's nothing I love more than hot and spicy Thai noodle soup. I found a perfect little vendor and for 50 baht I got myself an amazing hearty little breakfast. Having my noodle soup this morning at a local street vendor I was just sitting down and I glanced up and I seen this on the roof. Vive la Canadienne. After breakfast I went to meet the host of Thailand's number one daily news YouTube channel The Tiger. Thanks to this crew I was always in the know about traveling to Thailand. Welcome to Good Morning Thailand this is Natty and I'm Jay. I stopped in with some gifts from Canada and had a nice chat with the host Jay. After a quick ride on the subway I'm going to revisit one of my favorite places in Bangkok. When I was here nine years ago this backpacker mecca was jam-packed with people but these days things were a little bit different. I'm talking about Khao San Road. So we're going for a walk down the infamous Khao San Road. It's much more quiet than it used to be but hey we had to check her out. As you can see there are very few businesses open, very few street vendors and very few people. Here's a look back nine years ago. Here we are at the infamous Khao San Road in downtown Bangkok. I'll just take you through a little tour. Nine years ago was my very first trip overseas and this was one of my very first experiences in Southeast Asia. Like any backpacker I had to explore this infamous 397 meter road where people meet, plans are made and journeys begin. The drinks are strong and the beers are cheap. This is far from traditional Thai culture but this is Bangkok. Well I've stopped for some lunch here on Khao San Road and it is extremely extremely quiet. This place used to have a thousand people on it all the time and on an evening it would get up to three or four thousand people. It's a really busy place and unfortunately with this situation I've got to wait a little bit longer before things open up. But I heard that in the evenings this place does get open and some of the restaurants that serve alcohol also open up as well. After lunch I thought I'd support one of the few businesses that were open and I treated myself to a one hour Thai massage for 250 baht which is equivalent to about $7.50 US dollars. After that fatigue was kicking in and it was late in the afternoon so I decided to take the train back to my hotel to catch up on some much-needed sleep. Well good morning. It's day two in Bangkok and I'm just out for early morning stroll. I'm still getting my sleep schedule back on track. Hopefully if I push through today tonight will be an easy sleep and I'll be on schedule tomorrow. So anyways here's a few sights that I'm looking at this morning. Today I decided to explore one of the oldest communities in Bangkok in search of some breakfast. Chinatown. I just stopped at one of the local food vendors for some Tom Yam Boom. Some nice hot and sour soup. One of my favorites. You can see that there's a lot of these little roadside eateries all over the place. Have a look. The morning markets in Chinatown are a maze of tiny crisscrossing walkways and alleyways with a wide variety of goods and exotic foods and street vendors that seem to go on forever. One of the challenges I really enjoy is when I'm walking or exploring a new city I just like to keep walking until I get lost and right now I'm totally lost and I just love it and my goal is to try and figure this puzzle out and get myself back to somewhere I'm supposed to be. Hope I get there tomorrow. Of course one of my philosophies when I'm walking around the city is just to walk and let the world pull me along. I was successful finding my way out of Chinatown and walked past the temple of the Golden Buddha. It was closed today but I did visit this magnificent Wat nine years ago. I bet you didn't know Bangkok has 1,682 canals. Ten times the amount in Amsterdam with a total distance of 2,604 kilometers. I catch the subway near the Hua Lamphong railway station and make my way to the Silom area for lunch. Once I arrived in the Silom district I wanted to get some photos of one of the most unique structures in all of Thailand. Behind me is one of the most unique architectural buildings in all of Bangkok. I'm not sure the name right now but I'll put it down below here. I decided to get a closer look and when I found out there was an observation tower on top I raced back to my hotel grabbed my other camera and went back to watch the evening sunset. It was truly an amazing sight to behold. The King Power Mahanakhon tower is the second tallest building in Bangkok and has the city's highest observation deck at 314 meters. Atop this 78-story pixelated building you have an unobstructed 360-degree view of this incredible city. When I first came to Thailand nine years ago the advice I got was to get out of Bangkok as soon as possible and that's what I did. However I'm glad I gave it a second chance a few months later when I returned and I explored the entire city. It's all hustle and bustle in the daytime but when the sun goes down and the lights go on that's when the magic happens. The sights, the sounds, the smells, the amazing Thai people. From backpackers to business travelers this city has something for everyone. I highly recommend while you visit the Kingdom of Thailand that you explore this city. Give it a chance. You may love it, you may hate it but I guarantee you'll find something here absolutely amazing. This is where the adventure begins. This is where it happens. This is Bangkok. If you like this video please hit the like button and if you like to see more videos like this please subscribe to my channel and hit the notification bell so you won't miss my next video as I head south to Phuket. Here's a sneak preview. Well that's it for this video. Thanks again for watching and remember wherever you are, wherever you go, go with the flow.