Hello from the Five Star Vagabond

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Living-with-Covid-19
Living-with-Covid-19

Living with Covid-19

Living with Covid-19

Living with Covid-19

Living with Covid-19 in the first six months of 2021 makes me feel like I am just treading water. It many ways life is good, it’s very peaceful in Pattaya without tourists. The downside is not being able to travel & having friends & family who can’t visit me in Thailand.

In fact for the last year or so it feels like I have just been treading water.

A surprise addition to Pattaya

Living with Covid-19

 This monster is parked adjacent to Soi 6, plans are to turn it into a tourist food destination. Progress has stopped due to Covid.

Good value in Soi Buakhao

Cost of living Thailand

Cheap Charlies is a very popular restaurant, breakfast starts at B89, or $4.84 AUD.

A super breakfast

Cost of living Thailand

Robin Hood Tavern is the only place I know that offers avocado which is a perfect breakfast for me. 🙂

A-One hotel sidewalk food.

Living with Covid-19

 Very good dumplings for B50, or just over $2 AUD.

Fiber optic internet

Living with Covid-19

 Check out the fabulous speed, my old signal was 32 down & 11 up.

A-One hotel

Living with Covid-19

 A big renovation has been in progress for the last six months, however I think the original looked much better.

A-One hotel from my balcony

Living with Covid-19

This mob just like to spend a ton of money unnecessarily. 🙂

New hotel between Soi 2 & Soi 3

Living with Covid-19

There is no hurry to finish this project as Thailand’s hotel industry has been devastated by Covid-19. In May & June the average occupancy rate is only 6%.

Farewell Pothole aka John Martin

Living with Covid-19

This is the evening before Pothole Bin Laden travelled to Australia in early June for a 2 year stay to qualify for the Australian aged pension.

Pothole arrives on the Gold Coast

Living with Covid-19

 Here he is with his sister & niece, he is obviously feeling the cold in a mild Gold Coast winter. 🙂

Oyster frenzy at Patrick’s Belgian Steakhouse. 

Living with Covid-19

 My friend Hamish & his lovely wife May are with an always smiling Jamie Lord.

The rest of the mob at Patrick’s.

Living with Covid-19

 Certainly one of our favourite restaurant, for more shots please check out THIS LINK.

The view from my balcony, how lucky am I?

Living with Covid-19

See for yourself, just check out my webcam on THIS LINK.

I love seeing a storm roll in over Pattaya Bay from my condo.

Living with Covid-19

Once again if you bookmark THIS LINK you can see the bay on my webcam. 

Soi 33 Naklua

Living with Covid-19

Obviously there is a big project about to begin here. This is opposite Leckerle one of my favourite restaurants.

Luca is the owner of Toscana restaurant on Beach Rd.

Living with Covid-19

A very interesting guy who hails from Pisa, I caught up with him one morning for coffee. Here are some shots of his great restaurant.

There is always time for a pedicure

Living with Covid-19

Only B150, or $6.30 AUD, if you want to know more about the cost of living in Pattaya just follow THIS LINK.

Jasmine’s Cafe in Pattaya Klang

Living with Covid-19

Excellent low cost food for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Some of the dishes at Jasmine

Living with Covid-19   Living with Covid-19

Located between Beach Rd & 2nd Rd. Check out more of their dishes on

My new chair

Living with Covid-19

The old one finally collapsed under my 112 Kilo weight. Having said that I have been making an effort to lose some weight. Since the new year I have dropped 6 Kilos down to 106.

There is always a building being demolished in Pattaya

Living with Covid-19

This is in Soi 1 right opposite my condo.

Cottage Pie at the Sportsman Pub & Restaurant  in Soi 13

Living with Covid-19

Another excellent venue for very good food.

Finally Pattaya Beach is deserted

Living with Covid-19

I have lived here 10 years & this is the quietest I have ever seen the beach.

Food handouts for the Thai people

Food for Pattaya peopleSadly there are many people struggling to survive in the pandemic, daily food handouts are a great help for them.

OK, I’m ready for the next 6 months. 🙂

Living with Covid-19

Lets hope by Xmas Thai & Australian borders will be open.

It’s very sad to see so many businesses close their doos due to Covid-19, please see more on THIS LINK.

Thanks for visiting my Living with Covid-19 photo blog, let’s keep our fingers crossed that this awful virus will soon be behind us.  This article sums up my first six months of 2021.

  • Breakfast Bake n’ Brew

Counter only started June 26 2021

Author: David Herd

My history, particularly over the last 30 years is dominated by overseas travel. I sold my home in Australia October 20th 2011 and have have been living in Thailand since then. I don’t know where the time has gone? It seems like you go to sleep one night, wake up the next morning, and 20 years have flashed by. Not sure how many years I have left, however I have enjoyed a wonderful charmed life, and if it all ended today I would leave this world with no regrets. I was born in Sydney halfway through the last century, started my travels in the 60s with the usual U.K. Europe adventure at the age of 20, back to Australia and worked in Sydney, Melbourne & Adelaide in Sales & Marketing with multinational companies including Sanyo, Canon & Remington. Engaged to be married 3 times and never quite made it to the alter, finally realized by the mid 90s I was not cut out for "long term relationships" so I moved to the Gold Coast in Queensland in January 1987, worked for a couple of banks as a Financial Planner, I took a year off work in 1998 to travel and never went back to full time work again, after 25 fun filled years on the Coast I packed up and moved to Thailand. What is the purpose of this blog? Well I really want to use it to record my travel experiences & to display my photographs, give and receive travel tips, comment on places I visit, restaurants I eat in and use it to replace the autobiography I intended to write, apart from all that it helps me fill in my day. :) I moved to Thailand mainly because I wanted to keep travelling while my health allowed me to, there are huge advantages being closer to all the places I want to visit. Cost of living in Thailand is around 35% of the cost in Australia, plus flights are 50% cheaper because you are much closer to everywhere. ???? Consequently I am able to travel to many more places compared to living in Australia. Having said all that, it is & has always been my intention to return to Australia when my travelling is finished, I predict this will happen around 2021.

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