With an upcoming Supreme Court decision on February 26th 2010 that might spark widespread protests, several countries have issued travel warnings about travelling to Thailand.
UPDATE: For the latest situation in Thailand as of May 2010, please see my more recent post Is Thailand Safe For Travel In May 2010
Warnings have been issued recently by British, Australian and Canadian embassies warning their citizens about the potential dangers of travelling in Thailand. The warnings have been issued because there could be significant poltical unrest in the aftermath of a Supreme Court decision made on February 26th regarding the fate of former prime minister’s Thaksin Shinawatra’s confiscated personal fortune.
For Thais and foriegners alike living in Bangkok it’s an unwelcome sense of deja vu – there’s the chance of a repeat of the violent protests in April 2009. However, for tourists there is unlikely to be any personal danger provided you stay away from any protest areas. More likely is that there could be disruption to traffic which might mess with travel plans. For backpackers who can change plans easily as they are not on a fixed schedule – it will be little more than an inconvenience – for families etc on a strict schedule it might be more hard work. However, there is always the possibility that something drastic, like the closure of Bangkok Airport in November 2008, might happen again. Essentially, however, the threat to tourists is minimal and the advice I wrote in Is Thailand Safe? directly after the military coup of 2006 remains pretty much valid.
I don’t mean to sound blase about this – if you are planning to be in Thailand in the next few weeks, it’s important to keep an eye on the local media, such as the Bangkok Post and The Nation newspapers along with the ThaiVisa news clippings forum, so as to be aware if any protests are going to cause you issues with your travel plans.
For my part, I have a trip scheduled on March 1st so I’m hoping everything will remain calm so I can go travelling as planned.
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
As a Bangkokian, I don’t think foreigners will be affected from the protest.
Just stay away from red-shirt guys and watch news.