Member Since: 6/30/2007
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100,000 travellers stuck in Thailand
The vacation is over for tens of thousands of tourists in Thailand. But they can't go home.
The Hotel California-like drama began on Tuesday when anti-government protesters shut the country's primary international airport. The following day they moved in on the capital's domestic airport, grounding all commercial flights.
However, that didn't stop dignitaries Prince Frederik and Princess Mary from leaving.
About 100,000 others, though, have been stranded by the closures, dealing a severe blow to Thailand's reputation as a safe and reliable vacation destination. Officials project the tourism industry will lose about 150 billion baht ($A6.4 billion) from now until year's end, equal to 1.5 per cent of gross domestic product.
Hundreds gathered at Thai Airways' cramped ticket office in Bangkok on Saturday desperately seeking a way out.
Slumped in chairs or out smoking on the street outside the office, travellers swapped tales of being stuck in the airport for 23 hours or ending up in a cockroach-infested hotel.
"As time goes on, it becomes more and more stressful," said Julie Lewis, a 46-year-old manicurist from Devon, England, who came to Thailand for a wedding. "This has really put a complete damper on the trip. Our last memory will be the fact that this happened."
Protesters from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and police reinforced their presence at Suvarnabhumi airport on Saturday, but there was no word on when airports would reopen. The airport authority said Suvarnabhumi would be closed until at least Monday evening.
The longer the standoff, the more creative and desperate travellers are getting.
Some have taken buses hundreds of kilometres to airports on the southern island of Phuket or in the northern city of Chiang Mai or overland to neighbouring Cambodia and Malaysia.
Others headed to U-tapao military base, which has been opened for commercial traffic about 190 km south-east of Bangkok.
Thai Airways has arranged flights from U-tapao and some airlines including Malaysia, China Eastern, Emirates, SAS and Cathay Pacific have sent planes to pick up passengers there. But the tiny airport was overwhelmed by the influx.
The pregnant wife of England rugby league captain Jamie Peacock is stuck with the couple's four-year-old son. The athlete made an emotional appeal on Saturday for the safe return of his wife Faye, who is 31-weeks pregnant.
"The country is on the brink of a lot of trouble," Peacock told reporters back home. "It's as if they have forgotten about these people."
For the rich and famous, there are charter flights.
Denmark's Prince Frederik and his wife, Princess Mary, flew out from the military airport on a small corporate jet on Friday, according to Danish news agency Ritzau, citing royal spokeswoman Lene Balleby.
For the majority of travellers, waiting was the only option. Leaving Bangkok for other airports or other countries is fraught with additional cost and unforeseen travel glitches. Many embassies have advised against it.
I will never wish to go to Thailand
poor poor stranded people
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I knew some people (10, I think) who are stranded there. They were some of the church members of the church I attend to. They found another route to get back here in the Phils., where they'll take a bus to take them to Malaysia (which would take like 17 hours).