After visiting Vietnam, I returned to Ko Samet Island for a short stopover before continuing to Cambodia and southern Vietnam.
After arriving in Ban Phe, I ended up getting a ferry boat ticket on a cargo ferry boat that was loaded with bags of purified ice, bags of food, drinks, and equipment. The passengers were mainly Thais and Russian tourists. Most of the European travelers were returning to their countries.
Once again, before tourists were allowed on the island, our temperatures were taken—37 C was the normal temperature and mine was 36.4—and we were required to use hand sanitizer.
As I walked by the beachfront restaurants almost all were deserted, especially the large restaurants that use to cater to the Chinese tourists that came in large groups to enjoy the surf and sand—eat and drink.
I was able to get a beachfront bungalow at Ao Pudsa Bungalows and most of the bungalows not directly on the beach were unused.
Normally all of the beach chairs would be filled with tourists and other tourists would use the Thai beach mats which would fill up the beaches, but this time few tourists were there. Those that were here seemed to be Russians.
Wedding Photography
The fire show went on even with few tourists there to enjoy the show.
On Wednesday, my bungalow neighbors from the Netherlands told me that Cambodia had just closed its borders to all European Union and US travelers. I also learned that if I were to go to Vietnam, I would be subjected to a 14-day self-quarantine before allowing me to travel around Vietnam.
That information made me change my travel plans. Instead, I was planning to go to the Thailand Immigration office to get a Visa Extension beyond the 30 days Visa I had that would cover me until my planned return on April 19th.
On Friday, I learned that the US State Department issued a “Global Level 4 Health Advisory—Do Not Travel”. This advisory said that we should arrange for an immediate return to the US unless you were willing to remain in Thailand indefinitely.
I decided to scrap my plans to extend my Thailand Visa and instead, planned to return to Bangkok on March 22nd, and check with Korean Air to get a flight home as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, I was going to enjoy my last three days on Ko Samet by checking out some other beaches there.
Ao Pudsa Bungalow waitress filling up time with some stitchwork.
When I went to the Pharmacy to get some ibuprofen to relieve the knee pain, the Pharmacist picked up my money with tongs and put it in a jar filled with sanitizer. She then gave me "laundered" money and my drugs in a tissue-lined box.
Beginning Friday through Sunday lots of Thais arrived on Ko Samet which was welcomed by the restaurants, hotels, and tour companies. This is a very popular getaway island for folks from Bangkok.
I have recently uploaded all of my travel videos to YouTube now that they allow longer uploads and you may want to see my travel adventures there. That link is
https://www.youtube.com/c/huntforgold.
If you do go there, please subscribe to my video channel since it will help me eventually get some income there and help with my future travels. Fewer people are using DVDs so I am transitioning to streaming my travels on my YouTube channel.
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