Thailand 2020: Destination Ban Krut, Hua Hin and Bangkok.

Here I am back with our recently made trip to Ban Krut in March 2020. On Sunday March 1, 2020 we left with Qatar Airways to Bangkok with destination Ban Krut, Hua Hin and Bangkok.

First I have to bore you with explaining my medical history. Seven years ago I developed a deep venous thrombosis due to an omission of the surgeon. The result is guessable. Lifelong blood thinners and wearing compression stockings up to the groin as much as possible because my vein in the left leg was completely closed. Our trip to Thailand was canceled that year, but I'm still alive because that wasn't the only mistake that surgeon made. In the meantime I have learned to live with it, but traveling to Thailand is no longer a joke for me. My blood clotting is never perfect because of the long flight, different food and especially the heat. It has already happened to me twice that I urinated blood upon my return. Blood much too thin. So it takes some time for the INR to settle back down. However, not traveling to Thailand is not an option!

An additional problem for this year…as a precaution I visited the dentist because I felt a small gap in a filling. Long story short, I left with a temporary filling because that tooth had to be removed by an oral surgeon. At that short time I couldn't get an appointment anymore, also because I had to stop taking the blood thinner and then boarding the plane completely disrupted, was not a good plan. It later turned out that the dentist had hit a nerve during the anesthesia. My tongue is still swollen and red, very burning and has no taste. That could take months. The GP thought it was thrush, but after sending a sample to the lab twice, the result was always negative for a fungal infection!

So I left with two boxes of antibiotics and products against a fungus! It all started with the pressure difference in the plane. Toothache! My face on thunder of course. I had no toothache at all before going to the dentist. I just wanted to avoid this. Fortunately, the pain went away after landing. That tongue was a bit different, mainly because I didn't know what was going on. Oops this is going to be more of a medical report than a travelogue.

We stayed one night in a hotel at the airport because after the flight I didn't want to spend another 5 hours in a taxi. The Great Residence Hotel was conveniently located but very basic for me, but the price was very good. The next day a taxi from Jane Klein was punctually waiting for us. The female driver drove quietly and was very friendly. Regular sanitary stops and even a bank to change money. Really recommended. We reached Ban Krut around 17:XNUMX am and we normally stayed at the Baan Grood Arcadia resort & spa for XNUMX days. Fantastic hotel and our room was super big. We had chosen this hotel because a picture had appeared on facebook. Booked immediately and then first went to see where Ban Krut was… Oops, that was exactly far… but we have not regretted it for a moment.

Thanks to Lung Addie for his commercial. Hopefully we will get there next year because it is definitely worth repeating. Ban Krut is a small village but with a long boulevard for walking and especially cyclists will find what they are looking for. As always, we rented a moped to explore the area. This time we got a flat tire for the first time in all those years. Fortunately, this breakdown happened close to a resort so that we could be helped quickly (about one hour).

Near our hotel and on the beach we had a beautiful view of a large golden statue of Buddha and a beautiful temple 'Phra Phut Kiti Sirichai Pagoda'. The temple was donated by Queen Sirikit to the people of Ban Krut. When the sun shone on this shining gold it was like a fairy tale. In the immediate vicinity we had a choice of several restaurants where we could eat deliciously (except me because with a toothache and an annoying tongue it was not pleasant). We also discovered a fantastic bay towards Bang Saphan where it was wonderful to stay.

After almost 12 days of suffering, my husband took the plunge and decided: "We're going back home, this can't go on" (I had spent a sleepless night in the meantime and my head almost hit the wall).

Looked at a return flight and we booked a flight with Finnair for Sunday March 15 (11 days before the actual return flight with Qatar). Extra costs, of course, but it was actually not too bad… € 646 for 2 people. Our family has been notified and asked for urgent assistance from the dental surgeon. That tooth had to come out! My daughter who is a nurse told us that we would do well to come back early because the corona virus caused many countries to go into lockdown. We fell from the sky of course, who listens to the news on vacation? Just kidding. We had caught something but that it was going to run out of steam…

Furthermore, we had to cancel the hotel in Hua Hin who charged part of the price for this cancellation. So we didn't get there.

Luckily we got the same taxi driver to return to Bangkok. This time she stopped at a kind of shopping center so that I could still buy presents for our only granddaughter. Not a single shop in Ban Krut, my husband happy! We stayed one more night in the vicinity of the airport, but this time in the Thong Ta Resort. I liked it better and it was also in Lat Krabang. The flight with Finnair was not too bad, it was just terribly cold in Helsinki. Glad we landed in Brussels on time because later our return flight with Qatar turned out to be cancelled. Imagine being stuck with a toothache like that. Yes, I know there are good dental clinics in Thailand but with the problem of my INR I didn't dare to take the risk. I attract complications…

Do you want to know how it went further?

The next day I had to be at the Middelheim hospital in Antwerp at half past eleven for my consultation with a dental surgeon. I didn't get further than the front door because that day all consultations were suspended due to the corona virus. There I was, specially come back from vacation for that stupid tooth and still not being helped. My husband in particular was heartbroken. I persevered for another 14 days, but then my pain limit was really reached and my GP pulled out all the stops to take me to a dental surgeon in the Jan Palfijn hospital in Merksem. Her explanation was always: "I don't have an assistant because they are all in the corona department, I need someone who is virus-free". In the end it worked and I am now floating. She also confirmed that a nerve was indeed hit during the previous anesthetic and that I did not have to take that medication for thrush. Will be something I have to learn to live with for sure. I'm slowly getting used to it and my weight is benefiting from it...

Sorry for this lamentation but I am enclosing several photos from our partial trip as compensation. Hopefully next year we can do the trip again without pain.