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Change plans for Thailand in February because of political situation?

Change plans for Thailand in February because of political situation?

Old Dec 21st, 2013, 05:47 AM
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Change plans for Thailand in February because of political situation?

I am scheduled to land in Bangkok on Feb. 2, to start a longer that will also include Cambodia and Vietnam. Feb. 2 will be election day and the Democrat party announced they will not take part. Should I eliminate the Thailand part of my trip? I don't want to postpone the trip because I have various non-refundable costs. I just want to know if I should change the itinerary.
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Old Dec 21st, 2013, 05:55 AM
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no
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Old Dec 21st, 2013, 07:18 AM
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I wouldn't. As the time gets closer, and events unfold you can see if you want to make any adjustments. If things feel too tense to you in Bangkok, you can go elsewhere in Thailand first.
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Old Dec 21st, 2013, 10:24 AM
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Thailand is a big country and Bangkok is a big city. You could hold off booking hotels to the last minute. Since it is not Christmas or News Years holiday periods and lots of nervous Nellies are changing their minds - booking a hotel room at the last minute shouldn't be a problem.

You can first visit other cities in Thailand before Bangkok too. Then evaluate the situation.

You really can't even guess right now for certain what current events will take over your own capital city 2 months from now.
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Old Dec 21st, 2013, 11:16 AM
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We are not changing our plans which include stays in Bangkok from 1/29-2/1, 3/10-3/13, 3/29-4/1, and 4/3-4/5.

People are saying to just stay away from the demonstration areas. We were in Kenya right after the election protests back in 2008, in Greece for the protests in 2011, and in Egypt after the revolution in 2011 so this is just another to add to our list. We didn't encounter any significant problems in those 3 countries.

Check out www.richardbarrow.com for helpful info.
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Old Dec 21st, 2013, 04:28 PM
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We also arrive in Bangkok on 2/2. Not changing plans at this stage, but monitoring.......
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Old Dec 21st, 2013, 04:48 PM
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I'm in Bangkok right now. Today will be one of the biggest demonstrations in the city. We'll see how it goes. It will be visible from our balcony. I'm not sure if I read the newspaper headlines correctly, but it seems that IF there is a big enough crowd of demonstrators today, they MAY want to try to stay put, and that would really tie up the shopping and major retail areas of the city. I'm hoping this doesn't happen.

We'll see.

Would I change plans? NO.
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Old Dec 22nd, 2013, 03:46 PM
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Chinese New Year on 31 January. There may be lots of such tourists in T'land, esp in the north, round Chiang Mai. Also CNY means Vietnam goes on countrywide holiday, for a week.
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Old Dec 27th, 2013, 03:23 AM
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Anyone have any further thoughts on this?
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Old Dec 27th, 2013, 08:45 AM
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I would wait and watch. I wouldn't change any plans at this point.
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Old Dec 27th, 2013, 08:59 AM
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We are scheduled to arrive in BKK on 17 January. We will keep following the news and make a decision right before our departure from DC.
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Old Dec 27th, 2013, 01:22 PM
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Our plans have not changed. We arrive in BKK on Jan 20th and will see how things are at that time. The events change too rapidly to make plans several weeks out. If the focus of the protests are outside of the tourist area, there is no reason not to go. However, we will wait and watch and see if we need to make any changes when we leave.
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