Thai Turmoil

[+ Lucky]

10,000 tourists are reported to be stranded at Bangkok's main airport as protesters have blocked the road leading to it. Outbound flights have been canceled and inbound passengers are finding it hard to get in to the city. 4 bombs have gone off in Bangkok.

 

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister, en route from Peru where he attended a conference with President Bush, among others, is now reportedly going to fly into Chiang Mai (instead of Bangkok) and declare a state of emergency. His rule is what is fueling the protests as city folk claim he is a figurehead for the former Prime Minister, now in exile after corruption charges were proven.

 

No word on how the Patpong bars are faring, but my guess is that business as usual is being conducted.

Once the dust settles, look for lower hotel prices and perhaps a weaker baht as the country regroups.

[+ Axiom2001]

Lucky, thanks for this post/thread. Additional info. can be found at http://www.thaivisa.com. I found out about the turmoil from the heading of its email that was sent to me, but I thought that I would not read and delete.

 

That website has been and is quite useful.

[jeanclaude44]

I am there now. Was to spend 1 day in BKK on my way to 2 weeks in Vietnam and then 2 weeks back in Thailand after Vietnam sightseeing..

Airport closed last nite and an information embargo ensued. Thai Airways phones on interminable hold; vague info from authorities.

Went to the Airport this morning to hope to catch a 0750 flight. Taxi driver charged double but knew back roads thru a maze to get me to the terminal. No one was working: no airlines reps other than Malaysia Air; no immigration; no air traffic control (therefore no air traffic). Looked like a strike in sympathy with demonstrators. Stayed 4 hours chatting and exchanging rumors with Aussies, Americans. General drift was it would take at least 3 days to get it up and running again.

One bomb was rumored to have been heard. Protesters were chanting and marching and sitting blocking the departure level driveway. Most of us decided to return to safety of hotels. Again a double fare!

Since tourism is way down because of the troubles so there are lots of hotel rooms are available for those stranded.

 

Everything else in the city seems to be working as usual but with fewer tourists. Last nite Suriwong bars were open as usual with lots of nice looking boys and few western farangs, so I was treated as royalty. Had a nice B&N massage after I returned to BKK from the airport this afternoon.

[fedssocr1]

I am also in BKK at the moment. Due to fly out late tomorrow night to head home after 3 weeks in SE Asia.

 

In general I would say the city itself is business as usual. Although the protesters have also closed several streets around the parliament, Grand Palace and royal residence. So traffic is a nightmare in that part of town. Took several taxi rides yesterday that were fairly interminable in that area.

 

Tourism was already down, but frankly the crowds in Pattaya over the weekend seemed to be pretty strong to me. Hard to really tell in BKK as there are lots of people here all the time. The guy who runs Fan Club massage has been pushing 4 hand massages pretty hard so I assume business for them has been bad. I don't know how so many massage boys can survive. In Pattaya Boystown especially you have three massage houses right next to each other all with many boys hanging out and working. Few of them ever seem to get a customer.

 

I am staying at the Sukhothai which seems to be pretty empty. I would guess there are deals to be had. There are so many huge luxury hotels here and smaller less luxurious properties as well.

 

If I do manage to get out I probably won't be coming back, at least not for many years. The political situation is untenable. The revered king is old and frail. Frankly I think he could end this situation, especially the airport closure, if he told the protesters to leave. They claim they are doing this in the name of the king. He should tell them to stop. He and his council must know how badly the country is being damaged.

[+ Lucky]

Thanks for the on-site reports. It's nice to know that you thought of us in a time of turmoil. I agree that the king should just stop it, but that would probably lead the way to Thaksin coming from behind the shadows to rule again.

[+ Axiom2001]

>Thanks for the on-site reports. It's nice to know that you

>thought of us in a time of turmoil. I agree that the king

>should just stop it, but that would probably lead the way to

>Thaksin coming from behind the shadows to rule again.

 

 

 

 

Men, I solidly ditto Lucky's sentiments. I, too, thank you for your personal and immediate updates.

 

As a lover of this country and its people, it is truly unfortunate that the government is in such a tumultuous state and that the protesters are hindering those who do not have much direct connection with to situation.

[+ Lucky]

Luxury hotels in Mumbai, India are being attacked as part of turmoil there that has seen 78 killed. Not that I understand violence, but the people committing it in Mumbai seem to be targeting Americans and Britons. In Thailand, the international tourists are being victimized by what is a national protest. Neither country will win any points for what is going on, but Thailand in particular is dependent to a large degree on its tourist industry. So it seems strange to antagonize the farangs.

[Guest icon513]

RE: Thai Turmoile

 

I'm here, too. Life is as normal, unless of course you need to fly anywhere.

[+ Lucky]

RE: Thai Turmoile

 

Thanks for the info, but are people not worried about the state of events? The loss of tourism to any great degree could affect all of them...or do I overrstate the value of our tourist dollars?

[fedssocr1]

RE: Thai Turmoile

 

Are you in Bangkok or elsewhere in the country?

 

Things feel a bit tense here in BKK to me. The rumors are flying over coups and what will happen next. People on the street certainly seem a bit stressed to me. Maybe I am projecting. :-)

 

Since my flight today was canceled I managed to get rebooked for Monday morning. We'll see if that happens. I am supposed to be back at work Monday but I will settle for getting out of here.

 

Tomorrow I am moving from the Sukhothai to a more affordable serviced apartment that is run by the same company. There's a story in the Nation that some hotels in the provinces are offering free rooms to stranded tourists. Average people seem very embarrassed by the situation. The ladies at the United ticket office were very helpful in rebooking me and apologized for my inconvenience even though for once it's not United's fault that there is a problem.

 

It sucks that I am stuck here, but at least I know for sure that I am here through the weekend, and there are worse places to be stuck. Hopefully that travel insurance policy I bought will cover some of my expenses. I wonder if there is a category for "entertainment" expenses. :-)

[fedssocr1]

RE: Thai Turmoile

 

I am sure if you care about this you know there are many information sources out there.

 

The current news is that nothing has really changed one week later. The airports are still closed and in fact the protesters are moving more people in. The police refuse to stop them. The airports will not be open for at least another week or two. Once the protesters leave (if they ever do), all of the IT systems and security apparatus needs to be reactivated and tested and then recertified by aviation authorities before it will be fit for passenger service.

 

My advice to anyone contemplating a short visit here would be "don't do it." If you are coming here to retire I suppose you would be fine. But there looks like a lot more turmoil on the horizon between the anti- and pro- government sides.

 

The airlines are attempting to adjust as best they can but there are still tens or hundreds of thousands of people stuck here. Extra flights are being added to Phuket and Chiang Mai. If you just want to visit Phuket you should be fine.

 

Utapao airport near Pattaya is being pressed into service but it is not designed to handle the enormous crowds there. It was chaos over the weekend. My guess is that the airlines using that airport will make some adjustments. They are now planning to use a convention center in Bangkok for check in and then they will bus passengers (2.5 hours) to the airport at Utapao. I think they are also busing the arriving passengers to Bangkok as well.

 

I am planning an attempted escape on Wednesday via Phuket. A one way flight from there to Singapore is running about $500. And the cost of a private car from Bangkok to Phuket (8+hours drive) is a further $400. But staying in Bangkok is costing at least as much.

[+ Lucky]

RE: Thai Turmoile

 

Well, good luck. At first I would have thought being stuck in Bangkok a couple of days more would be just fine. But, as it drags on, I would want out, especially as the red shirts are now ready to take it up versus the yellow shirts. Violence may ensue, but I wouldn't be surprised if it all got settled on the King's birthday this week. It sure was a big mistake to take over the airport and annoy the tourists, present and potential.

[+ Lucky]

How can 2,000 police route 50,000 protesters from the airport? They can't. A Nation columnist discusses the standoff:

 

http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/thanong/2008/11/29/entry-1

[fedssocr1]

Right it will take police plus military to remove them but you would think that the police could have at least set up road blocks to keep more protesters out.

 

Now that the government ruling party has been dissolved by court order as expected it will be interesting to see what the next move is. The PAD have said all along they wanted Somchai to resign. Now that he is out of the picture what is their reason for continuing to hold the airports?

 

It turns out flights from Phuket to Singapore are not quite as expensive as I thought. Tiger Airways wants clost to $500 for a coach seat on their special flights. But Silk Air is only charging about $235 one way coach. Business class was only about $425.