Red Shirt Protests: Is Thailand Safe For Travel In May 2010?: "
As the Red Shirt protests rumble on in Bangkok, several foreign governments including the UK, USA, Canada and Australia have warned against “all but essential travel” to anywhere in Thailand. Are things really that bad? (Short answer: no).
Given the violent clashes and bombings that resulted in the deaths of nearly 30 people during April in Bangkok, it’s unsurprising that numerous countries have issued warnings to their citizens about travelling to Thailand. What is surprising is the severity of those warnings – the UK and USA have advised against travel anywhere in Thailand, not just Bangkok. This is somewhat absurd, given that the troubles have been restricted to a small area of Bangkok that is easily avoided by tourists.
[Slideshow of images of the Redshirt protests by Bangkok photographer Dan White]
This is not to underplay the volatility of the situation – while the vast majority of Bangkokians are going about their everyday lives as normal, there is a definite sense of tension and uncertainity about what is going to happen next. For those travellers who can be flexible with their travel plans and take responsibility for themselves by keeping an eye on the news and staying away from any potential troublespots, Bangkok still remains relatively safe – and even more so if you’re just passing through to the rest of the country which is pretty much wholly unaffected by the protests. As I’ve written before, the main impact the protests are likely to have on travellers is not a threat to personal safety but inconvenience – traffic jams and so on that might disrupt travel plans.
I live in Bangkok and believe me, I’ve no wish to be somewhere that’s collapsing into anarchy. The situation here is undeniably disturbing and occasionally a little scary – but the international media need to spend more time reporting facts in an even-handed fashion (like, um, real journalists) rather than sensationalising every incident that occurs.
The best way to keep up with current events in Bangkok is to get on Twitter – Catherine at WomenLearnThai.com has put together a very useful list of Bangkok bloggers, from respected journalists to ordinary bloggers, who between them provide an ongoing real-time update and analysis of events that is much quicker than reading newspaper sites et al.
It’s also worth quoting Stuart and Sam from Travelfish here too, as I can’t really say it any better:
“The situation is not nearly as severe as some Western governments seem to think (UK and Canada, we’re talking to you!). We would not advise cancelling any planned trips to the region for the moment.
As Stuart said to a UK-based newspaper: “It beggars belief that the (UK’s) FCO truly believes a blanket ban on ‘non-essential’ travel to Thailand is warranted. The vast majority of the country remains utterly unaffected by the disquiet in Bangkok. The move is completely irresponsible and actively damages both the UK’s outbound and Thailand’s inbound tourism industries. It may well also invalidate the travel insurance of tourists who are already there and travelling responsibly to safe places. The situation remains volatile, but as it stands this is an absolute over-reaction by the FCO.
“Our advice is that if you don’t need to go to Bangkok, don’t go. If you do, then remain informed of developments and steer clear of the main protest sites. We view the developing scene of ‘protest tourism’ with distaste and highly discourage it.”
Government warnings do often err on the cautious side — after all, they’re in the business of covering their own backsides. These warnings, however, are over the top given the situation on the ground. We’re not saying the situation won’t go pear-shaped — it may well do — but the point is, at the moment, the situation is not dangerous for travellers, say, hanging out on a hammock on Ko Pha Ngan or trekking in Nan!”
Travelfish’s forums have a lot of regularly updated info and discussion on the Bangkok protests too – follow the links from the front page of the site.
Finally, be sure that your travel insurance will still be valid if you come to Thailand. One of the problems of the draconian warnings from various Foriegn Offices is that it can invalidate travel insurance policies – see my previous post re World Nomads’ take on the Thailand situation and make sure you’re getting the same level of information from your own travel insurance provider.
Thanks to my friend, ace Bangkok photographer Dan White, who kindly provided the images of the Redshirt protests shown in the slideshow on this page.
This article was originally posted at: Travel Happy
Get Backpacker Travel Insurance from World Nomads, as recommended by Lonely Planet
Red Shirt Protests: Is Thailand Safe For Travel In May 2010?
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