My account has no miles in it right now.

The ROP site refuses me access to the THAI Air Awards section and the Star Alliance Upgrade Awards section, popping up a message that says I have insufficient miles and to buy some more. Oddly, the Star Alliance Air Awards section is accessible to me.

Last year I believe I *was* able to explore options with an empty account and I transferred miles over from my credit card only after I had decided to book. Not allowing this access on a website seems hostile and a bit silly as now I need to call their call center which I'm sure is a lot more expensive than serving a few web pages.

Are there other ways to explore these options?