Government Advise not to Travel to Thailand

cormaclynch

http://www.dfa.ie/home/index.aspx?id=8493

I'm flying to Bangkok on May 13th and travalling round SE Asia for 6 weeks before flying to Oz. Just found out that due to the unrest in Thailand we're being advised not to fly.

Was anyone meant to fly in past few days and been cancelled or anyone due to fly in a few days and what is the advice or arrangements been given to them?

Did this happen to anyone else and if so what did the airlines do etc?

Cheers

Dante10

cormaclynch wrote: »

http://www.dfa.ie/home/index.aspx?id=8493

I'm flying to Bangkok on May 13th and travalling round SE Asia for 6 weeks before flying to Oz. Just found out that due to the unrest in Thailand we're being advised not to fly.

Was anyone meant to fly in past few days and been cancelled or anyone due to fly in a few days and what is the advice or arrangements been given to them?

Did this happen to anyone else and if so what did the airlines do etc?

Cheers

Im just back from Asia and was in bangkok 4 times between january and last week and the unrest has been there the whole time and has really been going on for ages. The red shirts tend to move around the city and pick different spots for protests each time and this is usually well documented on the news. So as long as you know where the protests are and dont go looking for trouble, you're going to be 100% fine and will have a super time as bangkok is an amazing city!! Enjoy

Dubsox

Cormac, as Dante said the protests have generally been contained within certain areas of the city and, depending on what you want to do and see in Bangkok, you may have been able to avoid these areas completely (personally I would consider it a major inconvenience to have to avoid many of my favourite places in Bangkok such as Lumpini Park, Siam Square, Siam Paragon and Central World). However, in the last week a couple of things have happened which have changed the picture considerably, which is why the Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday followed the lead of the FCO (Foreign & Commonwealth Office) in upgrading its travel warning to advise against all but essential travel to all of Thailand .

Firstly the grenade attacks in the Silom/Lumpini Park area which resulted in one death and multiple injuries to travellers on the BTS Skytrain. The implications of this are quite serious as the Skytrain is used by ordinary Bangkok citizens and tourists just trying to get from A to B. Bangkok is a big city and you really cannot go anywhere without using public transport so these attacks make it very difficult to have any confidence that you won’t find yourself caught up in the violence.

The second and far more relevant issue is the expansion of the violence to outlying areas, mostly in Issan Province, which has prompted the FCO to upgrade it’s warning to cover all of Thailand. The implication of this move is that it immediately invalidates your health and/or travel insurance policy. This means that if you are unfortunate enough to have an accident or to fall ill and require hospital treatment during your stay, you will not be covered by any health or travel insurance that you may already have purchased or were planning to purchase. And while the standard of hospital treatment in Thailand can be excellent, it will very much depend on how much you are able to pay (you won’t see too many poor Thai people in the big international hospitals). This would not be a problem of you were able to draw on your own health or travel insurance but, since this is no longer an option, you could be faced with a medical bill that you and/or your family will be paying off for a long time.

Personally I’m not prepared to take that risk. In all my years of travelling I’ve never needed to draw on my health or travel insurance but surely it’s just Sods Law that, on the one occasion that I have no cover, I will find myself requiring hospital treatment.

However, the decision is entirely up to you…I’m just offering you some things to consider and you can only make an informed decision if you are aware of the risks.

If you do decide to go ahead, I hope you stay safe…it’s a great country to visit and I’m sure you’ll have a memorable time.

Dubsox

Just a quick update.

I emailed a few insurance companies today and recieved a reply from Justcover.ie stating that their travel policy will cover me for accident or illness providing it has nothing to do with the civil unrest.

Good enough for me !

cormaclynch

Cheers for the advice Dubsox.

I think i'll email a few places next week and see if they will cover me in Thailand and then make a call on wether to go or not.

Chickus

They advise the same about Colombia. My family are freaking out about me going to thailand, but have said nothing about my brother being in Colombia for the past month.

I've mailed the VHI there to see if our insurance will be valid. Passed through Bangkok a couple of weeks ago and saw no sign of protests. I think it will be fine, as it is at the moment I reckon you're far more likely to get hit by a car in Thailand than to get caught up in the protests.

To my eyes its a similar situation to people being scared to come to Ireland due to the troubles in the North years ago. That turned a lot of people off coming to any part of Ireland. Trouble in Bangkok shouldn't put you off going to the rest of the country.

Naid23

Thanks for that Advice Dubsox,

Me and my BF are travelling to Thailand in 4 weeks time and I was really worried about going there with out travel insurance.

Gonna ring/email a few places now to see what they say.

Thanks Again

NaiveMelodies

Say if the Department of Foreign Affairs stated travelling to thailand is a no-no, would travel agents have to refund the full fare?

Dubsox

Another update,

I've now been informed that the information I was given on Saturday was in error and any travel to Thailand will not be covered while the DFA warning remains in place.

As for refunds, I'm not sure where you stand...I booked independently through the BA website and had been planning to travel on a Qantas flight out of Heathrow...Qantas are now offering travellers to Bangkok the option to defer their flights without incurring any costs or to use the value of the flights to travel to another destination....maybe other airlines will follow suit.

spideog7

Chickus wrote: »

To my eyes its a similar situation to people being scared to come to Ireland due to the troubles in the North years ago. That turned a lot of people off coming to any part of Ireland. Trouble in Bangkok shouldn't put you off going to the rest of the country.

It's not really about being scared to go or not when the Dept. of Foreign affairs advises against travel it has consequences for a lot of other things, it's not a matter of them saying "I wouldn't do that if I were you".

Most importantly as has been mentioned here every travel insurance policy I've ever seen had always says that if the DFA advises against travel to the country then your policy is void. I would be very wary of taking any sales persons word on that. I would need it in writing.

I believe most airlines will usually help you out if the DFA advises against travel, but I don't know if they are obliged to.

I don't think they take it lightly advising against traveling to a specific country. Obviously they can't really dictate to you where you go but I would be inclined to heed their warnings. Then again I don't have much desire to go to Thailand anyway!

dearg lady

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0504/breaking3.html

hopefully this proposed election will bring an end to the conflict, we should know today if the redshirts will be happy with this.

perri winkles

Hey guys,
I know its a few months away yet, but the BF and I are travelling to Bangkok in August. Parents, undestandably, are freaking out, but Im presuming by August it will be alright?

I know nobody can really say, but If people think its gonna be a long term thing, then I'll probably have to start arranging another holiday or something :(

Also wasn't there something like this happening last year? I know alot of my friends were freaking out about going over but it all turned out alright in the end. . Cant remember what this was though

dearg lady

perri winkles wrote: »

Hey guys,
I know its a few months away yet, but the BF and I are travelling to Bangkok in August. Parents, undestandably, are freaking out, but Im presuming by August it will be alright?

I know nobody can really say, but If people think its gonna be a long term thing, then I'll probably have to start arranging another holiday or something :(

Also wasn't there something like this happening last year? I know alot of my friends were freaking out about going over but it all turned out alright in the end. . Cant remember what this was though

As I recall things weren't as bad last year, but could be wrong on that. There is literally no one who could tell you or even speculate on how long it will last, how bad it will be, or even if things will calm and then resurface by August!

spideog7 makes the good point that many insurance policies are made void by Dept Foreign Affiars warning against all but essential travel.

It really is up to yourself, but I would wait it out a little longer if I were you. I posted a news link above, hopefully soemthing positive will come out of this.

Dubsox

The recent history of political grievances, popular uprisings and bloody conflict in Thailand would take too long to explain here but suffice it to say that the protests of late 2008 were equally serious in terms of the damage done to the Thai economy and essentially led in no small way to the current impasse.

The shirt colours may have been different (yellow shirts of the People's Alliance for Democracy) and the battleground somewhat removed from the centre of Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports were closed for a week) but the effect on travellers was equally disruptive with many people trapped in the airport for up to ten days.

As for this particular dispute, I am reasonably optimistic that the solution offered by the Prime Minister will provide the red shirts with a way out that allows them to claim it as a victory among their own people. Saving face is a big part of Thai culture and this proposal will allow the red shirt leaders that dignity.

cormaclynch

Hi All,

I spent a lot of the day visiting insurance brokers and calling brokers on the phone....No luck whatsoever.

I doubt it'll clear up in the next few weeks either. If anyone does find some insurer crazy enough to insure people please let me know!!

Cheers

Punchesnpeaches

I've never had a policy with these guys, so I can't recommend them, but it looks as though they do cover despite the warnings.

http://journals.worldnomads.com/safetyhub/post/57228.aspx?affiliate=FISH01&subid=b4ros&_wat_id=cc39179ec7f34839be2e377ee3ae0c05_3

cormaclynch wrote: »

Hi All,

I spent a lot of the day visiting insurance brokers and calling brokers on the phone....No luck whatsoever.

I doubt it'll clear up in the next few weeks either. If anyone does find some insurer crazy enough to insure people please let me know!!

Cheers

Crocklip

Hey,

I just bought 6 weeks of cover with worldnomads.com via their website- I am flying to Bangkok tomorrow morning and according to their country-specific policy, they will cover you for Thailand, provided the DFA travel advice does not change to "do not travel".
According to numerous reviews on the net they are a good cover, but their true value of course can only be shown if a claim is required....

Btw, thanks for the referral, Punches

Dubsox

Good news folks...the FCO (Foreign and Commenwealth Office) has changed its advice as of this evening:

This advice has been reviewed and reissued with amendments to the Summary and the Terrorism and Security section. The overall level of the advice has changed; we no longer advise against all but essential travel to the whole country. We advise against all travel to specific parts of Thailand. We advise against all but essential travel to other specific parts of Thailand, including Bangkok.

Travel Summary

• We advise against all but essential travel to Bangkok, in view of the continued political unrest in the city.
  
• You should exercise caution, especially in the northern provinces and Pattaya. The political situation is unpredictable and throughout Thailand there is a continued risk that protests may result in violent disturbances. Travellers are advised to avoid political demonstrations and large gatherings.

The blanket warning for all of Thailand has been removed...I expect the Department of Foreign Affairs to follow suit tomorrow.

Chickus

I got word back from VHI re: their global insurance policy cover for Thailand. Apparently only medical cover is in place while the travel advisory is in place. Although I get the impression they're not too sure what is covered and what is not covered, took them days to email me back with a proper answer.

Doesn't seem to make a lot of sense really, can't see why if I had a claim that was completely unrelated to the civil unrest why it wouldn't be covered. Like if my bag got stolen on Koh Samui or something.

Anyways the medical cover is the most important thing. So I'm covered while I'm here for the next week.

jennypeny

So.. Am I right in thinking travel insurance is completely useless if the Government just cancell my trip?

Its booked for the end of June all paid for, and I am not in a position to change the dates of it due to work constraints.


I see thailand lifted the ban on all unecessary travel but ireland did not.

Is it more or less pointless to wait and get the travel Insurance when Ireland lift the ban.. if ireland lift it?

I feel in a bit of a pickle now as we have paid thousands out on a holiday tand we dont know what to do. :mad:

Oh and then stick an ash cloud on top of it all!

Dubsox

Hi Jennypeny,

Have a look at the link posted by Punchesmpeaches above...Worldnomads appears to provide cover for Thailand.

Also check out Ace Insurance http://www.aceinsure.ie/travel I spoke with them today and they confirmed that they will cover you for everything except flight cancellation or if you are injured as a result of the violence.

Bad news tonight...a drive by shooting in Bangkok, killing and injuring a number of policemen and civilians...not much chance of the travel warning being lifted now.

v.e.r.b.a.l

we were leaving from Bangkok airport on the 14th, the first day of the huge protest. we'd been in Bangkok for about 4 days a few months before and headed off North and through Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia and were back in Bangkok to fly home.

it was completely different the second time round. streets that were normally really busy were completely empty (except for the military enforcing a curfew and lots of riot police!) it was really eerie. luckily for us, we'd done all our sightseeing and just had a bit of shopping and drinking (drowning the sorrows) to do.

the first day of the protest didn't really have any issues, but since then it's gone mad. we were talking to a local in a shop on Koh San Road and he was showing us his red shirt, telling us that they won't give up until the old Prime Minister is in power.

they're still sticking to the goverment buildings, which leaves any sightseeing out of the question, but i wouldn't feel safe going back there until the whole protest is over and done with.

pity, cos it's a really nice city with lots to see

dearg lady

Just to let anyone know who's been following this thread, dept Foreign Affairs have downgraded their travel warning to 'exercise extreme caution' for most of Thailand. They still advise against all but essential travel to four southern provinces.

http://www.dfa.ie/home/index.aspx?id=8493