About two weeks ago I had spent three weeks in Suratthani, the main town in the Suratthani Province and the port that carries most of the people to some of the very nice islands on the east coast of Thailand, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao.
But a few days before April 8 the hotel rang the room and said the government told them to close the hotel on April 8. Since I paid until April 10 I could stay until the 10th. They help me try to find other accommodations which was very difficult. Once they found something a few days later the police went to the place and told them they had to close down.
I tried Airbnb and most of those were asking questions how long I had been in Thailand and in that area. Once they found I had been there for more than 2 weeks they refused to except me. One Airbnb host said there was an airport hotel allowed by the government to accept guests. So I called the hotel, they confirmed they would accept my reservation so I booked online.
On the 10th I went down to check out and the police were there with people from the health department. They wanted to interview me asking questions concerning my travel to date, how I felt and what I planed to do. They were very nice, I answered all the questions and I got in a taxi and went to the airport hotel. When I got to the airport hotel the owner came out of the entrance which had blacked out the name of the hotel on either side of the door, an ominous sign. The owner confirmed I had a reservation but said the police had been there two days before and told them if he did not close the hotel on the 8th he would go to prison for one year and be fined 40,000 Baht (US$1,250).
The taxi driver passed some money to the hotel owner which I described in the next blog and explained the next province of Nakhon Si Thammarat had a hotel that would except customers but the ride would take an hour and a half and cost an extra 1,500 Baht (US$47). After some discussion back-and-forth about the different possibilities I decided to take the taxi ride. I got to the very small hotel with six rooms in the middle of the jungle, very nice place and nice people and I’m very happy here. Evidently the governor of this province noted that there are very few virus infections in his province and so did not issue the hotel closure orders that Suratthani had issued. I am still here in this little hotel bungalow and find it very sufficient for just staying and waiting until, I really don’t know what. But at 500 Baht/night (US$16) and a family restaurant with delicious food next door I can’t complain.