Thai elections - should we cancel trip?
 

Hi folks,

Our trip is scheduled for Bangkok, chang mai and chang rai for 18th of November through 26th.

With the military coup etc happening is it safe to travel?

thoughts?

I leave for Thailand on Nov 3 and I'm not cancelling. Thailand has been through a number of coups, all peaceful. Unless something very unusual happens, I expect it to be perfectly safe to travel.

and i leave on oct 27 and i would not even think about cancelling

My only question is whether the new airport will now open in time. :)

rkkwan - lol

ok im feeling better already!

one of my friend's sent me the news clipping and said you don't wnat to be in a country during this type of emergency.

I was worried because the elections are postponed from Oct 15 to either Nov 17th or 26th...we're arriving on the 18th.

I was in Manila during their "mini attempted coup" this year. It will all blow over in a few days. So i say go ahead!

I've read that this happens pretty often, and that the thai people just take it in stride. With that said, I definitely feel your concern. We are scheduled to travel to be in thailand from 10/30 - 11/17. Hopefully everything will turn out well.

We leave for Thailand around the same time as you. We'll be there from Nov. 11th until Nov. 26th.
I, too, was concerned, but now I feel VERY reassured from asking friends who live there and have been through this before that this is NOT a big deal at all.
Believe me, with all that's going on in the world nowadays, I understand your concerns, but I wouldn't consider changing your trip unless something serious happens, an as far as I can tell, this is not serious.

My sister is scheduled to leave for Bangkok in 6 days - it's her honeymoon.

So far it's been peaceful and looks like it's not a big deal. I guess she'll just have to wait and see.

I am glad you are all so optimistic - wish I could be as cheery, but I guess you are right from the point of view of travelling here. November is a long way off and even if there is violence, this is Thailand and things will calm down. Keep an eye on the situation and if it still looks a bit hairy when it's time to go, just minimise time in Bangkok and Chiang Mai town center (Thaksin's home turf). You won't be in danger but you might not have much fun if things are closing early.

For heaven's sake, the coup is not yet 5 hours old -- there is no way at this point to have any idea of the repercussions, implications, and outlook.

If I were planning to travel to Thailand tomorrow, I would try to delay my planned travel.

If I were planning to travel to Thailand at any time after tomorrow, I'd sit tight, wait until the picture becomes clearer, and make an informed decision then.

I will be leaving for Thailand on Oct. 29-Nov. 30th and a herd of wild elephants couldn't keep me from going on this trip!

Cheers!

Ditto Rizzuto

It blows me away that people are willing to arrive at such instant knee-jerk conclusions without knowing the resolution of the event. Sometimes history repeats and sometimes it doesn't. I think a wait and see attitude is the most prudent. I would not travel to Thailand until the picture becomes clearer.

to 'vacation03' - do you have more info on your post below? thanks.

there's nothing to be shocked or amazed about. :) it's a forum to voice out thoughts. And we have only booked our tickets into and out of bangkok. This trip is part of a very expensive trip that begins from US to India to Maldives to Thailand and back as part of our impending wedding/honeymoon. And I have yet to book my domestic flights in thailand and hotels so if I can save us some non refundable $$$ grief and change our destination I would like to do so. It's perfectly unamazing that I would be concerned about this coup stuff. I'm from India and was in Bombay during the riots. It was certainly not pretty and not a place to be in during that time.

What more info are you looking for Obersee? We're arriving in Bkk on the 18th and leavin for Chang M on 21st. Plannin on Chang Rai for a few days from Chang Mai and back to Bkk on 26th for a day before we head back to SF. I'm getting ready to book our hotels and flights from Bkk to Chang Mai and Chang Rai to Bkk. Our tour guides and some hotels where $$ was not required for reservation are complete.

Well lets see the one we had in Manila lasted only a couple of days - so I predict it all blows over by Friday!

filmwell - good to read your earlier post!!!! If ppl who live in thailand are saying it's not such a big deal...maybe i'll go ahead and book our hotels n stuff after all. :)

If you read the latest reports from the BBC and Reuters you will see that "reasonably" non-vested reporting sources say the impact upon the general public and tourists visiting markets, restaurants and shopping malls, less than 24 hours after the coup, are going unfazed in their activities of daily life. You need to put this action in the context of Thailand over the last 50 years. In this coup according to the reports of the BBC and Reuters "NOT A SHOT WAS FIRED". While this may not be totally true it is closer to the truth than the figments of several travels imaginations as expressed earlier on this posting.
Having visited Thailand 3 times in 9 years and even gone within about 75-80 miles of the unrest in the south near the Malaysian border earlier this year I did not even know, if I had chosen not to listen to the radio/T.V. or read the newspaper, that there way a a problem.
Just as we are told in the US to be extra careful and alert of unusual behavior in the major cities like NY, etc. the same holds true when traveling.

Scores of Thailand residents (both native and expat) have been posting on the BBC website and none of them seems overly concerned about things. Seems to be one of those plus ca change kind of things around there...I wouldn't get too worried about it.