Anyone else changing travel plans?

[rxpharm]

CNN just showed an announcement made by a Suvarnabhumi airport official. He stated flights out start Thursday, Dec. 4 and incoming flights by Friday Dec. 5. He didn't say passenger flights, but since air freight flights started already - we may be lucky. The CNN report also included a reporter who did a walk through up to immigration. He said he did not see any damage and if this is true, said the airport could be open in a couple of days.

Hopefully this is true since I have a flight booked for Friday Dec. 5.  

[PANICOS]

i wish that happent 2 weeks ago.The high court of thailand forced the prime minister to step down today.so in the next few days everything is going to be normal again.both airports will be operational again in the next few days.i wished that happent last week because i had to come back to cyprus on sunday.ofcourse my flight was cancelled so i had to be driven by friends to utapao and from there i ended back to singap. and from there to athens and then to cyprus.
a long trip but a rewarding one because on my plane back to athens i met fantastic lb who leaves in athens and who i will visit next week there.
rxharm i have some news for u about the lb hostess do u want me to put the news on the forum or shall i email to u?photos of my trip for the first time will be up in the forum in the next few days.

[bigmick22]

the following in today's Irish Times - yippee!!!!

Thailand€™s People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) movement has said it is to end its blockade of Bangkok€™s airports tomorrow and halt all rallies.

The cessation follows a court ruling this morning that banned prime minister Somchai Wongsawat from politics for five years and ordered his People Power Party to be disbanded.

PAD leader Sondhi Limthongkul said the blockade of Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports, which have left hundreds of thousands of tourists stranded, would end tomorrow morning.

He also called a conditional halt to the PAD's political rallies.

€œWe have gained our victory already,€ Mr Limthongkul said at a press conference in Bangkok. €œIf there is something wrong, we will mobilise people and stage another protest.€

Around 250,000 foreign tourists €“ including 250 Irish people - have been stranded by the week-long sit-ins at Don Muang and the bigger Suvarnabhumi international airport.

Acting president for Airports of Thailand Serirat Prasutanond said passenger flights could resume out of Suvarnabhumi by Friday.  

The PAD invaded Bangkok's two main airports last week in a "final battle" to topple Mr Somchai. The PAD had refused to negotiate until Mr Somchai steps down. They accuse him of being a puppet of his brother-in-law, ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Earlier today, members of Mr Somchai€™s party vowed to "move on" and vote for a new prime minister on December 8th, setting the stage for another flashpoint in Thailand's three-year old political crisis.

First deputy prime minister Chavarat Charnvirakul would take over as interim prime minister, a government spokesman said.

The Constitutional Court also disbanded two other parties in Mr Somchai's six-party coalition for vote fraud in the 2007 general election and barred their leaders from politics for five years.

Hours before the court decisions, one person was killed and 22 wounded after a grenade was fired at protesters besieging the domestic Don Muang airport.

Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who has intervened in previous political crises during his six decades on the throne, made no mention of the country's current troubles during a short speech at a Trooping the Colour military parade in Bangkok.

The annual ceremony, in which the king speaks about the need for military probity, was a picture of tradition and serenity in marked contrast to the chaos elsewhere in Bangkok.

[bigmick22]

woooohooo

[sev7en]

(rxpharm @ Dec. 03 2008,01:04) Hopefully this is true since I have a flight booked for Friday Dec. 5.  

I hope so, rxpharm, but i think that´s very optimistic.

[TiaoLang]

Nope, I will not be altering my travel plans, fuck em.

However, I am flexible on dates I can travel and airports/countries that I can arrive to in Asia. It is totally different and understandable for people who are constrained by time/dates to reconsider there plans.

And no doubt many people will alter the Thai destinations and ultimately the country that they decide to visit - what a great marketing excercise this has been for Thailand

Regards.

Tiao

[dutch]

(tampanugget_2001 @ Dec. 01 2008,08:48) I feel forced to cancel hotel reservations and get a refund on my airline ticket.

Anyone else doing the same.  

I cannot get a refund on my airline ticket so I hope everything is back to normal again on Jan 20, otherwise I have to stay in Kuala Lumpur for the last 10 days of my vacation.

[aktiv-passiv]

Thai Airways Call Center here in Germany says everything will be going on plan at least from Dec. 7. Lufthansa officially announces "back to normal" on their homepage from Dec. 6. TG already abandonded Utapao for rescheduled flights, they fly BKK from now on.

[Masahiko]

I got stuck and had to be in Dubai by today 12/3. I wound up with a last minute ticket from Utaphao to Singapore, then Singapore to Manila, and then on to Doha and Dubai. I made it but it was very expensive and time consuming..2 days of travel.

On my flight out of Utaphao I met a large group of Aussies that were going from Australia to Paris and had just stopped in BKK to change planes when it all started. They have no idea where all their luggage is and did not expect to spend more than a few hours in LOS and wound up spending 6 days.

[Guest]

I almost canceled my flight tickets. What a mistake would that be. I just hope airport stays open until I land, afer that...

[donnnnnny]

The only thing that would have stopped me traveling to thailand this christmas would have been thai airways not uplifting me because of the airport shit
see ya christmas

[dummy_plug]

I'm not changing my plans, but I know a ton of people (mostly families or worry warts) who are. Thailand is going to take a big hit over this...

[mardhi]

Not withstanding the great comments made here - sometimes you need to step back and look at what we are visiting and how on earth its so tolerated. lets face it, if the country became like the West, we would find it a very very different place. And I am not saying thats really any better, just maybe give you an additional insight into this country called Thailand. By the way, wonder which one of Thaksins relatives will be taking over the PM role? What ever happened to his sister???

Wierd but true - Thailand.

Cheers
Mardhi

[Dieter]

(donnnnnny @ Dec. 03 2008,20:38) The only thing that would have stopped me traveling to thailand this christmas would have been thai airways not uplifting me because of the airport shit
see ya christmas

Same here....

me so ....

Dieter

[TTChang]

Travel plans? Confused of  

Some airlines already announced 'normal service from Saturday' (eg Etihad & EVA).  Others say 'blah blah, maybe next week' (eg BA).  Might speak to Qatar in the morning, see if they can get me routed back to BKK instead of SIN on Sunday/Monday.

Happy days .... cos I will be back in the warm arms of (one or other of ..) my LBs. Next week, for sure  

Did I say 'arms'?  Nearly right