Judysfinds

FYI - While one must be their own judge, this was posted today to employees of a major Texas corporation:

Thailand travel restrictions
On April 13, Thai security forces clashed with protesters from the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) in Bangkok, Thailand following the imposition of a state of emergency in the capital and some districts of Nonthaburi, Samut Prakan, Pathum Thani, Nakhon Pathom and Ayutthaya provinces. While major protests have been a regular occurrence in Thailand, the violence associated with the latest protests is unusual and cause for concern.

Due to the unpredictable nature of the situation in Thailand,
travel protocols for (corporation name) have been elevated to
"business essential only" and approval is required for all travel to Bangkok.

All non-essential travel to Bangkok and other regions under the state of emergency should be deferred until the situation stabilizes. Travel considered "essential" must be cleared with senior management and regional security.

WillJame

Judysfinds, this information from "a major Texas corporation"--and perhaps yours also--is seriously out of date. You might want to check the news from Bangkok for April 14th and judge for yourself. Then propose an update of this policy based on recent developments.

SirHalberd

I am in Thailand right now. The demonstrations for the most part are over. None of the demonstrations were directed against tourists.

Most of the tourists in Bangkok and for the one day in Jomtien/Pattaya were not affected unless they were in that particular area. So, if you get wind or hear of a demonstration coming up just avoid that area!

Right now the airport is open, the airport was not in any danger of being closed. I do not think that this Thai government will allow the airport to be closed again because so many tourist dollars were lost.

Nothing is ever for sure, but on the surface everything appears to be back to normal except for some clean up in the affected areas (near government offices.)

Whenever you travel you might encounter problems that delay or hinder your flight. Hurricanes, typhoons, NineEleven type attacks, plane crashes and political demonstrations. Have a back up plan available in case the airport is closed. From Thailand you can make your way to a different country - like Malaysia or Singapore and from there fly home. Your airline may transfer your departure flight to the second country for free. This is what happened to me when I was in Thailand when the airport was closed in November. I hopped a train and made it to Malaysia and from there made it to Singapore for a free flight home.

Right now, barring any unknown event coming up, if it was me I would continue with my flight schedule. Hotels will probably offer discounts and other incentives. Tourists in Bangkok were not the targets of these demonstrations. The news media makes it seem like the whole city is in turmoil - it wasn't during the demonstrations and it is not in any turmoil right now!

I would go for it!

SiamJai

Of course, they are a big company. They have to protect their employees. Just like national travel warnings.
All is back to normal in the capital now. All has stabilized.

hpeabody

I too was in Bangkok last week and returned to the US Saturday, April 18th. In the 3 days I was there there were no demonstrations. I am only aware of one tourist site closure, the mansion, but that was due to the Thai New Year holiday and not enough staff to work. Previous days, when there were demonstrations on-going, there were some road closures around some government buildings. My last full day, though is when the yellow shirt, POD leader was shot. There was high military/police visibility, but I never felt unsafe. The airport was fine and is a very nice airport.