Pattaya’s Koh Larn has reopened with a limited ferry service starting over the weekend.
An estimated 150 people ‘qualified’ for the ferry and were permitted to travel across to what is now being described as an island resort.
90 per cent of those were locals.
Passengers had to present identification, pass health screenings and either scan the Thai Chana contract-tracing app QR code or use the Mor Chana app, which indicates if they have been exposed to someone who had Covid-19.
Anybody whom the app determined had been exposed to the virus were barred from the ferry. Many were denied permits although 154 ‘lucky ones’ made the journey throughout the day.
Pattaya-Koh Larn boats leave at 7am, midday, 3:30pm and 6pm, while return journeys from the island to the mainland at leave at 7am, 9:30am, midday and 5pm.
Showers at the golf club now permitted
Meanwhile, on the outskirts of town, Pattaya golfers will find the changing rooms and showers re-opening at clubhouses and other sports facilities.
Clearly taking a shower after playing golf had been deemed life-threatening by some sort of expert but now the District Chief Amnart Charoensri has decided that golfers should be permitted to use locker rooms and take showers.
Thai media have not reported if the Chief is a golfer himself or if he had been personally affected by this closure. Although some have noted the announcement was a ‘little specific.’
Why, for example, are parks and playing fields still considered too dangerous to use and yet golf club shower rooms are perfectly safe now.
Without answering Charoensri insisted that, despite the relaxations, people must remain vigilant about hygiene and social distancing.
It will be interesting to see what else is soon to be determined as safe again as Pattaya’s finest minds keep us all safe and healthy. – Albert Jack
