Stillstand in Thailand – Traveling in the time of Corona

As a commuter on your way to university or later on to your place of employment you often have to think about hygiene. Very soon you get used to compensating for the poor access to basins in bus and train with hand sanitizer to avoid the flu epidemic in the cold winters in Germany. Especially at home one was ridiculed for the use of sanitizer, but that never mattered much, the flu stayed away despite the close contact to other people. A new kind of virus lets this ridiculed precautions become a logical solution, the risk of contagion is high when there’s no initial immunization in the population. And all of a sudden everybody wants and needs hand sanitizer. When we first heard of the outbreak of COVID-19 in China in January 2020 we would’ve never assumed the impact it’s going to have on traveling and public life in general. The first few worried calls from our parents back in Europe converted to us being worried about our friends and families at home in the past few weeks and months. This is why we want to give you a short overview about how the situation evolved around here and how the virus affects our travels. 

In the first month when the COVID-19 outbreak became apparent we were in Laos. At that time there was no unease at all within the population, moreover there were no precautions or active prevention to fight the virus. To the contrary we travelled side by side with many Chinese tourists throughout the country back then, because the Chinese New Years Celebrations were just around the corner. Only as recently as we entered Vietnam the worries about the spread of the new virus were more noticeable. Promptly entries from China to Vietnam were stopped and there were fewer and fewer Chinese tourists to be seen on the streets. In Sapa, in the North of Vietnam, we received our first face mask as a gift, we couldn’t have bought one anyways because they were out of stock wherever we asked for them. When we travelled on to Cat Ba we were advised by the bus operator to wear our masks, otherwise we wouldn’t be allowed on the island. Before our Ha Long Bay tour the staff checked everyone’s temperature, before the boat could set sail. We ourselves haven’t felt or didn’t feel insecure at any point in time because neither of us is part of the at-risk group, but of course we wouldn’t want to contaminate other people without even knowing it. 

At the beginning of March we’ve arrived in Cambodia which had only seven confirmed cases at this moment. However, having in mind how fast the virus spread in Italy these numbers could change any day. The worries about the virus were hard to sense or they probably weren’t even there in the first place. Just recently we’ve heard that entering Cambodia by plane from Germany is prohibited now for about 30 days as a precaution. From Vietnam we hear of new precautions every day, though. Just after we had left the country the 15 day visa-on-arrival was cancelled for Germans and most of the other European countries and by now even the regular visas can not be obtained by European passport holders. We have heard from other travelers that tourist attractions are closed and accommodations refuse to host tourists now. The country tries to save itself from being flooded by new infections which would hit the healthcare system and the medical supplies hard. A wise decision which is also reinforced in most European countries now by canceling larger gatherings and events. The economical effect can be seen already in form of declining stocks and extensive quarantines like the ones in Italy weaken the economy notably. 

Therefore, the average traveler isn’t worried to much about the virus itself, but rather about the consequences and probable entry bans that a further spread of the virus could mean for us. We’ve had to change our plans as well: at first we wanted to exhaust our Cambodian Visa to its very end, but when we were on Koh Rong Samloem the situation was worsening day by day. The police appeared with big guns on the island to stop loud music and larger gatherings and the accommodations closed their doors for tourists one after another. So we departed towards Thailand sooner than we actually wanted, because arriving at a closed border and begging the German Embassy for help was clearly the last thing we wanted. Our entry back to Thailand went really smooth and we were almost happy that this 12 hour journey would be our last one for the next few weeks or months. For the time being we’ll be calling Pattaya our new home, living in a beautiful, spacious apartment leaving nothing to be desired. Finally we are able to cook for ourselves again every day and we even baked our own break and cookies. Other than that we pass our days reading, watching Netflix, practicing our language skills, drawing, Yoga or playing card games. We are trying to isolate ourselves and only go outside for urgent matters or for a short stroll on the beach, as long as we are allowed to do so, but we also hope that all of this will soon come to an end and the situation will get better. For a start we’ll enjoy our time in our cozy apartment in Pattaya to the fullest and can assure you: we are doing really good and we hope so do you, wherever you are on this beautiful planet right now! 

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