Vaxcation: Leaving Thailand (part 2 of 3)

The airline suggested that we arrive at the airport 4 hours early right now due to COVID-19, but when we got to Survarnabhumi Airport, it was downright spooky. Half the lights were off, and every footstep of the very few people who were there echoed around the cavernous departures hall.

In fact, looking at the flights board, there were only seven flights going out that day; everything else had been cancelled. BKK is usually one of the busiest airports in the world, and it's so odd to see it empty like this. 

The country is almost completely shut down right now. Living where we do, you almost wouldn't know how bad things are getting in downtown Bangkok or other parts of Thailand, but seeing the empty airport really hammered home how dire things are right now.

We are taking every precaution on our flight home. We will be wearing the fairly expensive N95 masks along with a face shield for the entire 48 hour journey. It's not comfortable, but it's far better to be safe than sorry.

Even the statues of the ogres from the Ramakien (Thailand's national epic) who stand in the departures hall are wearing masks.

Some ogres like Tosakan (who has five faces on his head) even wore multiple masks!

Check-in took a long time. They had to check our PCR test, fit to fly certificate, CDC form, and QR consent forms. They kept the latter two and returned our medical results to us. We'd need to present the fit to fly certificate and PCR test multiple times throughout our journey.

Eventually we got our tickets. This is the point when things finally started to feel real! Up until this point, I had this tiny worry that we might have forgotten something or missed some little detail and wouldn't be able to travel after all, but once I stepped up to security (it took seconds as we were literally the only two people going through) and passed through immigration (again, I was the only person in the foreigner line and all the officers looked bored out of their minds), it struck me that I was finally going to see my family for the first time in two years!

Inside the terminal, it was even spookier. Every shop and restaurant was closed.

The duty-free was empty, and all the shelves were wrapped up in plastic.

It was really, really creepy!

We didn't see another soul while we walked through the giant airport to our gate.

There was one little snack stand open near the gate. We had just enough time for a safe and responsible beer (drunk through the mask with a straw) before boarding. America, here we come!