thnaks to the Thais, I couldn't go to Cambodia
 

I was scheduled to fly from Phuket to Phnom Penh on Nov. 29 then to Siem Riep Dec. 2, then to BKK on Dec. 6. As the BKK airport was closed, and our PNH flight was cancelled I contacted Bangkok Airways to see what could be done. They scheduled us on a fligfht Weds. Dec. 3 to SR thinking things would be cleared up by then. Weds. came and went and no flights. So Bangkok Airways cancelled the rest of the flights I had PNH-SR, then SR-BKK on Dec. 6. We ended up stranded in Phuket for 6 days, couldn't get a flight until Dec. 5 to KL (which I had to pay $250 each for one way tickets and incurred unexpected hotel, meal, and taxi costs.
I am so disappointed and pissed at the Thais for ruining a trip I had planned for 11 months. I won't be able to get back to this part of the world until 2010. I also feel sorry for the 2 hotels I had booked and 2 guides and drivers who also lost our business.
When I try to come back, and I will, I will not be going anywhere
near Thailand ever again. I will have to find other ways to get to Cambodia. Hopefully in a few years there will be more flights there.
I used to enjoy Thailand, having been there three times before but it has become too unstable and unpredictable. I'll take my tourist dollars elsewhere to a country where they have their act together.
Next year, I'm going to Europe twice.
Sayonara Asia for now.
Susie

It's easy to get to cambodia without going through Bangkok. You'll have no trouble there. EVA flies into Phnom Penh as do many others.

Sorry you had such a bad experience, though it certainly is not the fault of the "average thai". I'm thinking that taxi drivers, tour guides, restaurant and shop owners are all as put out as you are!

I'm sorry your plans were altered by the demonstrations. Had you known how long the airport closure was going to last, you could have made alternate plans to get to Cambodia (e.g., flying though KL).

While I can understand that you are upset, blaming "the Thais" makes little sense. I agree, you should take a break from Asia.

offwego, the OP did express sympathy with the hotels, guides, and drivers who did not get her business.

susiesan was, indirectly, a target of the Thais who were protesting.

Hope you don't get caught in a Paris transit strike on your next trip, susiesan. ;)

No, you don't have to stay away from Asia. Thailand is not the only country in Asia.

Aren't those Paris transit strikes dreadful...have been caught up in a few along with an airport strike. Some years ago, the day I arrived into Orly, from Provence, the outgoing flight boards had noted that all flights had been cancelled. I had literally JUST made it back into Paris in time. Happy Travels!

I can understand the OP's anger at the Thai people in general.

They are the ones protesting and they did use the OP and thousands of other innocents directly to make their point, as do the Paris subway workers as well as the Hawaii bus drivers, etc.

I just hope that all realize that negative opinions like these are likely to fester and grow if they continue to use the innocent international tourist as their "hostages" for their personal gains

This post irritated me at first - but then I realized that susiesan just needed a chance to vent - and that's O.K. None of us make a lot of sense when we're frustrated, disappointed and angry. I'm sure she'll feel less pissed about this soon and maybe come to some more generous conclusions.

'it has become too unstable and unpredictable...'

Dear susiesan, LIFE is unstable and unpredictable. Good luck in your search for the 'safe' bit. I keep looking. I haven't found it yet.

Good luck in going to Europe. don't forget though, that place has had train bombings etc.... Much worse than anything in Thailand.

Blame the Thais in general, but who blamed all the Brits back in April after the luggage disaster at Heathrow which affected almost as many folk as in Bangkok?

It is unfair to blame the entire nation for what has happened.

Getting to Phnom Penh is easy from Bangkok. Take the bus to Aranya Prathet border. Over to Angkor Wat, see that. Then the bus down to Phnom Penh.
Or the othter scenic route. Take the bus to Trat. Boat into Cambodia. Bus to Sihanoukville, enjiy the beach there. And finally, the bus to Phnom Penh.

Pity you hadn't contemplated that instead of relying on the flight. I mean travelling for 11 months, what was the rush!?

"Getting to Phnom Penh is easy from Bangkok. Take the bus to Aranya Prathet border. Over to Angkor Wat, see that. Then the bus down to Phnom Penh."

The issue was the OP was stuck in Phuket, not BKK.

"The issue was the OP was stuck in Phuket, not BKK. " - presumably a bus and train would have gotten the OP to BKK, from where there are several overland possibilities for reaching Siem Reap. A bus and train were also an alternative for reaching KL.

However, the uncertainty was probably a big part of the problem - the OP didn't know it would take so long to resolve, and that she had six days in hand. But I'm with dogster - travel is a voyage into the unknown, where the only thing to be expected is the unexpected. At least the OP was in Phuket, not Mumbai.

Am I mistaken? Couldn't the OP have flown to SIN and from there to anywhere?

I do recognize that the closing of BKK caused a shift of plans and probably cash to rearrange flights, but I think a better title would have been "Thnaks[sic] to the Thais, I couldn't go to Cambodia without rearranging my plans and spending some more money".

While I can sympathize with Susiesan's frustration at the recent events in Thailand, I had to laugh at the thought that things would be better and smoother in Europe. I have encountered many more instances of travel inconvenience in Europe (tube diverted because of IRA bomb scare, airline strikes in Italy, etc) than I ever have in Asia.

I rarely take swipes or engage in sarcasm, but this one irritated me, too, at first... and at second. Perhaps "the Thais" didn't realize they were inconveniencing you?

Seriously, I'd have been ticked off, too--furious, in fact--at missing Cambodia, so I can empathize with your desire to vent. But geesh, things happen --all over the world. It seems an over-reaction to take your frustration out on "the Thais" (presumably all of them) and say you'll take your tourist dollars to a country "where they have their act together" - wherever that is. Thank goodness you weren't in Mumbai, where instead of missing part of your vacation you might have lost you life. It could have been much worse. I'm guessing your anger will likely lessen with time. Either way, I hope you make it to Cambodia one day (and will give us a trip report when you return).
Karen

Well, frankly those Thais were just so rude! I know, I know, they were protesting in hopes of making Thailand a better place for them to live, but really, couldn't hey have just rented billboards or something?

Europe is so much better...Greece, Spain, France, Italy, and England have never had their airports closed down by protesters. Train bombings, riots, rail strikes, and defective airports, maybe, but at least they keep their protesters out of the airports!

Seriously, Susie, travel always puts you at the mercy of local events and mother nature. Having a "Plan B" tucked away in the back of your brain is just good insurance. Even if you don't have a "Plan B" for inconveniences, you should work on enough survival skills (and extra cash) to get out of any country in the event of a major disaster.

I always expect issues with flying, so usually have at least thought about the alternatives such as trains, busses, taxis, private cars, bikes, boats.

I too think it is outrageous that this selfish country has the nerve to exercise their democratic right to protest. Who do they think the are to inconvenience foreign tourists on their holidays?

PS lcuy you are behind the times! We Brits don't always manage to keep our protesters out of our airports. Stansted (Essex) was taken over a few days ago by a group of idiots calling themselves "Plane Stupid" apparently they were protesting about climate change!!

Believe me susiean you would much rather be stranded in Phuket than Essex!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/m.../08/do0805.xml

A possible nomination for the L/AO award?

Indeed!

Susiesan, I see you plan to vacation in Europe twice next year, and would note that had you chosen to vacation in Athens or other parts of Greece THIS year rather than Thailand, you probably would be writing very similar things about the Greeks. If you can guarantee stress-free holidays in Europe 2009, let’s start laying odds now…but Alitalia is just about to be taken over in bankruptcy and who knows what will emerge, so do you really want to buy those Air One tickets to Rome?... and of course Lufthansa had a strike in July stranding lots of people. (It doesn’t just take an airport closure to cancel flights – Thailand like the rest of Asia is barely unionzed and a workers strike is the last thing you would worry about there, but the first thing you worry about in Europe.) And had you been in Mardrid in March 2005 you really would have been “inconvenienced”.

To paraphrase the fictional Lord John Marbury, the inconvenience you experienced is “is the price you pay for being alive, rich and free; all at the same time.” You had the money to go there, the freedom your passport and culture gives you, and the free time to spend being “inconvenienced”. Hundreds of millions of people in many parts of the world would have gladly traded places with you and been happily inconvenienced in a hotel in Phuket with running water, electricity and food. Perhaps a shift in perspectives is called for.

Yes, that's right, things like this have happened before and will happen again in other places at other times. Forget that this happened to you, now. There is no point in complaining about it because you are coming from a privileged country. It was a big mess but you don't have a right to complain.

We should all know better than to criticize the Thais. Don't blame them, they weren't responsible!

I guess that is what people are saying.

Yes, of course people blamed the Brits for the Heathrow thing. As if the Brits and the US and other first world countries don't get criticised.

I thought it was Thai citizens protesting against the Thai government. And that it was the Thai government and Thai military/ police that dragged the thing out.

If it wasn't "the Thais" then who was responsible for the mess?

mrwunrfl- You are of course correct that the world blamed the British for the Heathrow terminal 5 debacle. However, being English, I blame the Spanish. A Spanish company Ferrovial bought BAA, the company that runs our airports!!
O.K. I admit that we would have been perfectly capable of screwing up our own transport system without the assistance of our European cousins, but what the hell? lets dole out the blame wherever we can!