First Day in Pattaya

Above is the view from my room at the Pattaya Marriott Resort & Spa

Today I decide I was going to try to deal with some of the loose ends from the cancelled flights caused by the blockade of the Airport. My flights to Vietnam and my flight next week to Phuket are on THAI Airways. Since I couldn't reach them on the phone during the last 5 days and the Bangkok office was a mob scene, I went to their local Pattaya office. It was crowded but orderly. I took a number for the line and was number 521. They were serving number 103 at that time. The doorman estimated that it would be 3-4 hours before I got to the head of the line. He suggested that I go across the street for a whiskey or two. I decided to go back to the hotel and return in 2 1/2 hours.
Once back at the hotel, I decided to try the phone line; lo and behold after 8 tries I got connected and was put on hold for 10 minutes and then got an agent to talk to. She cheerfully said my Vietnam leg deserved a full refund and it would be credited to my credit card in about 45 days. She said I must call back 2 days before my Phuket flight and if it was not flying I would get another full refund.
My plan then would be to hire a van or car with driver for the 10 hr trip to Phuket. The airport in Phuket is functioning and so I would not return to Bangkok at the end of the stay. Instead I would fly to Singapore where I could get on United back thru Tokyo to catch my flight to LAX on the 23rd. I hope.

I did get a waiver of the cancellation fee for my hotel at Nha Trang, Vietnam and I was able to cancel my Saigon hotel online. Myone nite in Hanoi hotel was not refunded. And my tour guide will send me the info about the cancelled Vietnam Airlines flights and what I owe him.

Here are a couple of photos of the beach in front of the THAI Airways office: