State of Emergency in Bangkok

[kapitan]

I am due there 9th to 13th and very much likely sticking to my plans...... Staying out of BKK and taking another route to aiport on the 13th, unless of course they occupy the Swampy....

[kapitan]

its now announced that these intersections will be blocked by the MOB.....

[CarbonMan]

Just heard that SQ will be canceling some flights to BKK between mid Jan and mid Feb due to lower demand. Didn't see any PR on SQ website though.

[reddevil0728]

SIA to cancel 19 flights as travellers avoid Bangkok

SINGAPORE Airlines will axe 19 flights to Bangkok in the coming weeks as political tensions in the Thai capital keep some travellers away.

Travel agents are also seeing fewer bookings as leisure travellers opt for less-troubled spots in Thailand like Phuket. The slowdown has even affected Bangkok's popularity as a destination for corporate travel, and meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (Mice) events, they said.

SIA, which flies five times a day to Bangkok, will cancel about one in 10 flights between Jan 14 and Feb 25.

Affected customers will be put on other flights or given refunds if they choose to cancel their plans, airline spokesman Nicholas Ionides told The Straits Times.

SIA is a major carrier on the Singapore-Bangkok route, deploying its Boeing 777 and Airbus 330 aircraft that can typically seat between 285 and 320 passengers.

Other key players include low-cost carriers Tigerair, AirAsia and Jetstar. All three, which operate smaller single-aisle planes, said their flights are operating as usual.

Industry watchers though did not rule out future cancellations among the budget players, saying that unlike full-service carriers that tend to plan their schedules weeks and months in advance, low-cost carriers typically give travellers shorter notice.

Dynasty Travel's director for marketing communications Alicia Seah said travellers with confirmed bookings to Bangkok are adopting a wait-and-see attitude and there are few fresh bookings.

She said: "We used to receive about 20 Mice-related calls per week from people inquiring about Bangkok but now there is none."

If the political crisis persists, the travel firm expects a 70 per cent drop in the number of bookings for the January-March quarter compared to the same three months last year, she added.

Chan Brothers Travel also saw a 20 per cent year-on-year dip in the number of bookings to Bangkok last month, said spokesman Michelle Yin. Not everyone is staying away though, she said.

"We have about 100 people heading to Bangkok for the Chinese New Year break later this month which is about the same number as last year," she added.

Retired civil servant Mary Chai, 90, who is affected by SIA's flight cancellations, said: "My nephew just came back from Bangkok and did not experience any problems so I'm going ahead with my plans.

"SIA has cancelled my return flight and given me a later departure on the same day but I'm trying for an earlier flight so I don't have to miss a family dinner."

http://www.straitstimes.com:80/premi...ngkok-20140104

[Kyo]

Any idea which flights are affected? I have three tickets going in between the 20-25th Jan...

[MAN Flyer]

They have promised not to close the airports or BTS/Subway but with the intersections they are claiming to be closing it will undoubtedly have a knock on affect.

I may swing through on Saturday for the last time until Prayuth sorts it all out.

[MAN Flyer]

Looking at some of the comments from the judiciary and others 'departments' in the last few days I think we can all see where this is heading....

[Lobster]

I took a little walk around Asoke this morning. The BTS station was packed



There is definitely a big crowd at the Asoke intersection.



But most businesses seems to be open and of course the sit in itself is a great business opportunity



And Terminal 21 is doing great business with all the protestors going for some retail relief after some hard protesting



But Sukhumvit Road is deserted



Apart from some moped groups riding around

[kapitan]

situation tensed?

on Saturday night, the club I went after was surprisingly not very pack compared with usual Sat nights.... took me 30 minutes from Rama 3 to airport yesterday afternoon.....

[MAN Flyer]

I But Sukhumvit Road is deserted

That's a collectors item.....

on Saturday night, the club I went after was surprisingly not very pack compared with usual Sat nights.... took me 30 minutes from Rama 3 to airport yesterday afternoon.....

When you left we walked to the 4P for a drink in the rooftop bar then walked back to the SGS to BarSu. For the last 30-45 minutes we were the only people in BarSu, on a Saturday night.

[Lobster]

to BarSu. For the last 30-45 minutes we were the only people in BarSu, on a Saturday night.

That is probably going to seem like a busy night compared to the next few days. Walking about last night there were so few people out and about. I would say probably 80% of tourists have decided to avoid this place.

[Lobster]

The number of people on the streets protesting is dropping dramatically each day. This is Asoke today



Traffic is probably back to 50% of normal, just about all businesses are operating as normal, taxis have found routes around all the closed junctions. it really is not much of a shutdown.

But the worrying things is as this shutdown is looking more and more like a total failure what will they do next.

[sqdazz]

Good to see things are relatively calm.

TG has cancelled a number of flights, many domestic. My partner had his BKK-HDY flight cancelled tomorrow and I notice TG is only offering 2 out of the 4 daily scheduled flights today and tomorrow on that route (1 x TG mainline 1 x TG smile).

[MAN Flyer]

But the worrying things is as this shutdown is looking more and more like a total failure what will they do next.

Here's one route they're trying:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25759007

After they managed to hiariously get a previous 'Yellow' PM removed because he committed the terrible crime of having a cooking programme on TV I can see this going the same way.

[sqdazz]

Here's one route they're trying:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25759007

After they managed to hiariously get a previous 'Yellow' PM removed because he committed the terrible crime of having a cooking programme on TV I can see this going the same way.

hang on, Samak was Thaksin affiliated and therefore a red pm right?

he dropped dead not long after.