Lekha Shankar | Bangkok — so near, yet so far

Covid does strange, surreal things. One of the strangest, most surreal things I did recently was take a shockingly long return-flight to Thailand from India.

The normal four-hour flight took as long as 35+ hours (including two huge layovers), and the ticket cost eight times the normal price.

Welcome to travel in Covid times. Or, should I say welcome to travel-bans, in Covid times?

It happened with the recent Covid-surge in India. Thailand suddenly announced a ban on flights from India, at very short notice. I was in Coimbatore, and had to pack up almost immediately, to beat the travel-ban.

But travelling in Covid times is not just about packing up and flying out.

It’s about a whole new system of tests and documents, quite unsurpassed in the travel industry.

Every airline/country has its own set of rules and regulations, and…

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