STRANDED IN BANGKOK
I spoke to a couple of American tourists earlier this morning while attending a meeting at one of the hotels on Sukhumvit in central Bangkok. They were due to fly out this afternoon and were frantically asking anyone, including me, if they knew what was happening.
Their calls, and those from the hotel staff, to Thai Airways, the Airports Authority of Thailand and even the tourist police were drawing a blank. They were debating trying to get to Suvarnabhumi Airport but were struggling even to find a taxi to take them.
These two women have been in Thailand for two weeks and admitted they were pretty much out of money and couldn't afford to stay more than one more night without some kind of help. They were hoping that would come from friends back home in the form of a money transfer. After scanning their insurance policy there were shocked to discover that civil unrest is considered a specific exclusion - something that's pretty common no mater who you choose to insure your trip with.
"We had a great time here but ending up in the middle of a frickin' war isn't what we planned" one of them told me. They'd considered Bali as an alternative right up until a few weeks ago but stuck with their original choice. Now they're wishing they hadn't.
3 comments:
Friends of mine at the airport tell me via email that the guys in yellow who have taken the airport are pushing people around (including foreigners). Also taking cameras and phones and erasing pictures and so on. This is being done in a very abusive way. So much for friendly Thais. These are nasty and frightening thugs.
I think this will have a lasting effect on Thailand. This is how Cambodia got started on it's road to the killing fields.
Ralph - if you'd care to email me at bkkandy @ myway . com I would really like to get some first hand experiences from your friend for a story in my magazine.
I've already spoken to a number of people and will be trawling Sukhumvit today to speak to more.
Thank you.
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