Phuket Sandbox

On September 22 we booked flights with Cathay Pacific from Saskatoon to Phuket Thailand via Vancouver.  We originally were scheduled to leave Saskatoon October 29 and return November 28.  Our plans were changed when our return flight was cancelled which forced us to stay 3 days longer.  Boo hoo, we are scheduled to depart December 1 and arrive in Saskatoon December 2. Actually, more on that later as our return flight home is cancelled.

We booked with Cathay Pacific because of their exceptional customer service.  It seems like once a week we are getting schedule changes.  Not just Cathay, but our Air Canada segment from Saskatoon to Vancouver as well.  Flying in a covid world has added a new dimension of complexity.  For example, before you can enter Thailand (as of October 1, 2021) we needed to book our airline passage, book covid insurance and apply for a COE – Certificate of Entry to Thailand from the Thai Consulate in Vancouver.  We uploaded the documents for our Passports, insurance and our vaccination status. Once pre-approved we booked our first week of SHA Plus accredited hotel in Phuket and two covid PCR tests each, one on arrival in Phuket and one for the sixth day. Once all of the conditions were met and approved for the COE we got our approval email and downloaded our Certificate of Entry to Thailand.  It includes our Passport numbers, flights numbers, dates of transit, and name of our hotel (Lady Naya Villas) in order to enter the Phuket Sandbox. 

The complexity of the Phuket Sandbox is daunting but not really all that difficult.  The Thai Consulate in Vancouver has been extremely helpful and informative.  

Our final step before departure is a negative RT-PCR test.  Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is a laboratory technique combining reverse transcription of RNA into DNA (in this context called complementary DNA or cDNA) and amplification of specific DNA targets using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). You got that, right?

Now for the tricky part.  You need a negative covid PCR test 72 hours (3 days) before departure.  That would mean before your first flight, unless your first flight is domestic.  Guess what? We leave Saskatoon at 6pm on October 29, then we hang around Vancouver for about 5 hours. We actually depart Vancouver at 2 am Saskatoon time.  We arranged for our Covid test to be 72 hours before our flight departing Canada, which is what is required but no one makes it easy to find that level of information. In fact we were told by Cathay that 72 hours before initial departure on the first flight of the ticket.  Not exactly correct.  

We arrived at the Saskatoon airport at 2:45 pm, about 3 hours before departure.  We presented our binder of travel documents to the Air Canada agent in Saskatoon.  We are the first people he has checked in for Thailand in a long long time.  There was a short lineup at security and they made Gary open up everything he had in his carry on case.  Both of us were swabbed with their sniffer for whatever it is they are looking for.  Drugs? Explosives?  We didn’t ask.

Both of us, are loaded to the nuts. The extra things you need to carry for COVID are bulky and heavy too.  We have extra hand sanitizer and about 30 spare masks in our carry-on.

Our trip started out on the wrong foot.  We arrived at Saskatoon Airport about 3 hours before its scheduled departure.  We proceeded to board the plane on time. We moved out onto the tarmac and sat. And sat.  Finally we were informed that a computer wasn’t working. They rebooted it which takes 15 minutes. Eventually we had sat there for about 45 minutes. Finally back to the gate and we had to we disembarked.  They had to refuel the plane and reset the computer. They tried several times, each time shutting down the power and waiting.  They shut off the plane completely and the pilots went for coffee.  They came back and finally got the computer started properly.  They had to file a new flight plan. We boarded and took off about 3 hours and 15 minutes late.  We made it to Vancouver and grabbed some A&W food.  Please don’t hate us for that, it was the only place open and closed right after we got our order!

We checked in at gate D68.  All connecting passengers had to provide their documents. We were well organized with our binder full of paper. We got to sit some more, waiting to board, but not as long as we would have had to wait if the computers on the previous plane worked better.  We looked forward to a 13 hour and 35 minute flight to Hong Kong.  We should make our next flight to Phuket because there is an 11 hour layover.  This flight to Hong Kong will depart 10 hours and 30 minutes after our friend Peggy dropped us off at the Saskatoon Airport.  

Our 13 1/2 hour flight from Vancouver to Hong Kong was was comfortable. We flew in an A-350-900 which is the Airbus equivalent of the Boeing Dreamliner.  We slept about half of the flight. We arrived in Hong Kong to an absolutely empty airport early in the morning HK time. The layover went fine, we ate a few snacks and wandered around the airport.  Hot lemon tea was the best thing for the dry throat from flying.  Our flight to Phuket departed at 4:15pm but due to the time change between HK and Phuket we arrived after 8pm, it was a 3 hour flight. We saw a glimpse of our first Thai sunset on approach to Thailand.  

The well oiled machine of the Phuket Sandbox worked flawlessly.  We got off the plane, herded onto a room with rows and rows of plastic chairs.  We were swarmed with staff all suited up that came and checked our documents, then we went through the health check document station. Then through a pre-check for immigration, then through immigration.  On the way from immigration to the baggage area, we stopped and bought SIM cards ($33.50 CAD for one month of unlimited data). We picked up our luggage and exited the airport.  Well, sorta exited.  We were each sent to a station where they prepared the test kit, we made sure our name and info was correct on the test vial.  They hand you the kit and escort you out to the testing area The covid test was set up outside the airport.  We should have taken some pictures but we were too tired.  The test stations look like small biohazard stations.  Each is a full plexiglass air conditioned booth where the worker has long gloves that are attached to the building and that’s how they reach you to do the swab.  Looks kinda like the Jettsons!! We got swabbed deep, and once wasn’t enough, both sides.  Gary’s eyes watered.  The sweet gal doing the test was so concerned. She said are you ok? He smiled, answering not really. Thankfully that part is done for now and only a faint memory.  Our next covid swab is on our 6th day in Thailand. We can hardly wait.  At that point, assuming we are negative, we are free to go anywhere in Thailand.  Let’s hope one Astra Zeneca and 2 Moderna shots will keep us safe. Yes, we have had 3 covid vaccine jabs and still managed to travel 40 hours from home.  

We walked a few more feet out of the airport and our prepaid car and driver was waiting.  An hour later and a few wrong turns and we were at the Lady Naya Villas.  We were definitely over dressed.  Long pants, long sleeves, elastic air travel stockings to the knees.  The reception area is like any tropical location, it’s located in an open air but covered area. We presented all of our documents to the reception.  We had missed printing the receipt for our covid tests, so we brought the info up on Gary’s phone.  All done, we headed to our room.  Our meals were on the table covered in saran wrap, Chicken with cashew nut and rice. A few minutes later we had two large Chang beer.  Life is good.  No matter how tired we are, if Thailand is the end result, we will soon forget the killer trip.