240,000 Tourists Stranded In Thailand: Tourism Minister

[george]

240,000 tourists stranded in Thailand: tourism minister

BANGKOK: -- Tourism Minister Weerasak Kowsurat said the number of stranded tourists have risen to 240,000.

Weerasak is due to attend a foreign press conference at Bitec Bangna, the second city terminal which is open today for international flight check-in. He said he would do everything to send news to the world that Thailand is doing it best to send stranded travellers home.

The minister added that he would ask for the special financial package worth Bt10 billion to help small and medium-sized operators in the tourism and related industries which have been hard hit by the shutdown of Bangkok airports.

-- The Nation 2008-12-01

Related link:

Thaivisa Expat Repatriation Assistance

We offer help to stranded travelers and expats

http://www.thaivisa.com/latest/thaivisa-ex...assistance.html

[BSJ]

240,000 less the 280 Aussies that will be flying out of Phuket tonight. The 12 hour bus trip from Bangers is tiring enough, then 10 hours crammed into a plane........

[PhilHarries]

That's around 500 747's!

Never mind the time to get the airport up and running it'll take a while to shift that little lot bearing in mind the aircraft are not in Thailand.

[Warrior]

Thailand receives 14,000,000 foreign tourists a year, thats about 40,000 every day on average... this is high season... every day more we will have 50,000 more stranded passengers... or 100 747-400's.

[neverdie]

No wonder airbus built the a380, apparently thousands of people can be loaded into that mother at a time! They must have known PAD were going to do this.

[rainman]

Tourist minister says the airport will be opened within 24-48 hours of the PAD clearing it. The airport manager says it will take at least 7 days more to get the airport certification again.

Who do we believe?

[beejoir]

woo hoo 2 less we fly to U-Tapau in a couple of hours.

[CockneyGit]

Tourist minister says the airport will be opened within 24-48 hours of the PAD clearing it. The airport manager says it will take at least 7 days more to get the airport certification again.

Who do we believe?

Don't believe anyone, from either side. Get ready for a long haul with this inept Govt currently in charge.

If it does end fairly quickly it will be an added bonus.

[onlooker]

240,000 stranded tourists, all of whom can claim 2,000 Baht/day from the govt = 480 million baht in compensation per day if everyone claims

[siam4ever]

240,000 stranded tourists, all of whom can claim 2,000 Baht/day from the govt = 480 million baht in compensation per day if everyone claims

So they can pay for about 150 days just using the 76 billion baht they stole from the Shin Corp sale!

[beerchang]

Just to let people on this thread know... I've just phoned Brit Airways and they've booked me onto a Qantas flight out of Bangkok on 7th December! (don't know what airport, forgot to ask. Waiting for email confirmation) Left me a bit confused. Watching TV I can't see how they're gonna do this. Armed escort or give me a yellow shirt and say "Just walk slowly thru that little group of people and clap ur hands occasionally!"

Interesting development anyway. I'm offline 'till tomorrow in about 10 mins but will let people know what airport when I get emailed.

Edited December 1, 2008 by beerchang

[Pattaya_Fox]

Here is a link which British Nationals may find helpful.

http://ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk/en

[Samuian]

Thailand receives 14,000,000 foreign tourists a year, thats about 40,000 every day on average... this is high season... every day more we will have 50,000 more stranded passengers... or 100 747-400's.

Sorry, Sir, this is NOT high season, won't start before Dec.15-20th.!

40 Minutes ago CNN live from Suvannabhum, there it was said that approx. 100.000 tourists are "stranded" in Thailand....leave "stranded" out of the equation and we might come to a few thousand - which are still enough of a challenge to handle!

[Alwaysright]

Thailand receives 14,000,000 foreign tourists a year, thats about 40,000 every day on average... this is high season... every day more we will have 50,000 more stranded passengers... or 100 747-400's.

Sorry, Sir, this is NOT high season, won't start before Dec.15-20th.!

40 Minutes ago CNN live from Suvannabhum, there it was said that approx. 100.000 tourists are "stranded" in Thailand....leave "stranded" out of the equation and we might come to a few thousand - which are still enough of a challenge to handle!

High season?How about no season.

[astral]

I thought the high season started in November??

[Ulysses G.]

The best part of high season - at least in Chiang Mai - usually starts around the Loy Katung holiday, but it was delayed this year due to the world economy and the fools in Bangkok.

The fools took over the airport just as high season was really heating up.

Edited December 1, 2008 by Ulysses G.

[Hobgoblin]

It seems that nearly every high-season in recent years has had some crisis that's affected the Thai tourism industry...

2003/2004 - SARS

2004/2005 - Tsunami

2005/2006 - Avian Flu

2006/2007 - Coup + Bombings in Bangkok

2007/2008 - Still Under Military Rule, Post-election riot concerns

2008/2009 - THIS + Economic Crisis

[wasabi]

You can check in but you can never leave...

[davejonesbkk]

Tourist minister says the airport will be opened within 24-48 hours of the PAD clearing it. The airport manager says it will take at least 7 days more to get the airport certification again.

Who do we believe?

What's airport certification? You mean clearing the backlog and getting back to normal status?

[rainman]

Tourist minister says the airport will be opened within 24-48 hours of the PAD clearing it. The airport manager says it will take at least 7 days more to get the airport certification again.

Who do we believe?

What's airport certification? You mean clearing the backlog and getting back to normal status?

No, I mean the airport being certified again. The airport director said they needed international certification again since security had been severely broken. Without international certification, the airport is not up to international standards and not considered safe for travel, so no airline will fly to it.

[Tonycheston]

Maybe this will help some stranded folks.

I am now stranded and wasn't sure what I should do. I tried to call Air Asia, always busy. I tried to call TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) couldn't get a connection. It all seemed so helpless.

Anyway I checked the homepage of TAT and found a list of hotels that are under the agreement to support stranded tourists.

I phoned a few hotels and enquired what I needed to do.

VERY EASY. Show up at the hotel with your ticket and passport.

We did that and were given a room straight away. We get 3 meals a day and free accommodation until the airline gives a date to leave. Excellent service, great food and very first class staff.

I know this is no help to those of you who are anxious about losing jobs or business but for many I think the government are trying very hard to make your stay as pleasant as can be. Those of you who are blood thirsty and want to see fights, let me remind you, you are talking about killing mothers, fathers, grandparents and children. Do you really want that? I am happy that the police, army, navy, airforce or any other group are NOT using force.

I wish and hope for a peaceful speedy end to all of this and will try to enjoy my compulsory stay as much as I can.

Good luck to everyone and thanks to TAT for your help (after all it not TAT's fault that this is happening)

I cannot imagine the UK doing this, they are I think the only country who are not sending in relief flights to help their citizens. Very sad.

[fft100]

George,

dont know if the following from Reuters deserves a new topic - but i cant create one !

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4B00M820081201

Restarting Bangkok airport to take at least a week

By Ed Cropley

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Restarting Bangkok's $4 billion Suvarnabhumi airport will take at least a week from the end of the current sit-in by protesters because of security and IT system checks, its general manager said on Monday.

Anti-government protesters have ignored a police order to end their blockade of Bangkok's main airport, which entered its seventh day Monday.

"Normally, checking the IT systems takes one week. We have to check, recheck, check, recheck," Serirat Prasutanond told Reuters, adding that the delay would probably be even longer as some of complex's massive computers might need repair.

"I think some systems are damaged," he said, but declined to give further details.

The closure of the 125,000 passenger-a-day airport by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) movement has stranded thousands of foreigners and is threatening Thailand's tourism- and export-driven economy with billions of dollars of damage.

With the army refusing to get involved and police reluctant to use force against the 3,000 protesters, many of whom are women and who include children and babies, attention is on a court decision this week that is likely to dissolve the ruling party.

Even if the dissolution, expected on Tuesday or Wednesday, is enough to convince the PAD to pack its bags, Serirat's timeline suggests the airport will be closed until at least December 11, eating into the key Christmas tourist season.

It is also likely to be factor in Thailand's decision whether or not to postpone an Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit scheduled for December 13-17, even though the venue has already been shifted to the northern city of Chiang Mai.

"BUSY SEASON"

"We're coming up to the busy season for the tourism, but even if the airport is up and running any time soon, it's hard to imagine that you're going to see significant inflows of tourists," Nick Bibby of Barclays Capital in Singapore said.

Once Airports of Thailand has done all its checks, the Department of Civil Aviation and the airlines themselves have to do their own system verification before normal operations can resume, Serirat said.

It is not known how long those third-party checks will take.

The tourist misery is being compounded by the PAD's parallel occupation of Bangkok's Don Muang airport, which served as the capital's main air hub until Suvarnabhumi's opening in September 2006 and is still important as a domestic hub.

Serirat did not say how long it would take to reopen Don Muang.

Some international flights are now departing via U-Tapao, a Vietnam War-era military airfield 150 km (90 miles) southeast of Bangkok. Continued...

[dumball]

With all the zillion words that have been posted on TV , i cannot recall just one that has shown any thought to the way the tourism buisness is being affected in a multitude of countries around the world . Millions of dollars are being lost in those countries and it has also cost airlines millions more dollars to repratriate their aircraft .Just how many agencies and the requisite staff to opperate them is most likely un-accountable , and how do you think they are going to feel about advertising Thailand as a destination in the future ?

[wasabi]

With all the zillion words that have been posted on TV , i cannot recall just one that has shown any thought to the way the tourism buisness is being affected in a multitude of countries around the world . Millions of dollars are being lost in those countries and it has also cost airlines millions more dollars to repratriate their aircraft .Just how many agencies and the requisite staff to opperate them is most likely un-accountable , and how do you think they are going to feel about advertising Thailand as a destination in the future ?

Well at least that will put to rest that ridiculous I'm a proud Thai and you are just a Farang attitude for a few days.

[PeaceBlondie]

I think that new report already has its own thread.

[Master of the court]

Tourist minister says the airport will be opened within 24-48 hours of the PAD clearing it. The airport manager says it will take at least 7 days more to get the airport certification again.

Who do we believe?

If you check the flight schedule on bangkok airways homepage.........you only get "not operating this day" I even tried on the 23rd of Dec. but same message...............

[dumball]

Hello Blondie , where will i find that new posting and what is its header ?

Thank you .

[BigBikeBKK]

Tourist minister says the airport will be opened within 24-48 hours of the PAD clearing it. The airport manager says it will take at least 7 days more to get the airport certification again.

Who do we believe?

What's airport certification? You mean clearing the backlog and getting back to normal status?

No, I mean the airport being certified again. The airport director said they needed international certification again since security had been severely broken. Without international certification, the airport is not up to international standards and not considered safe for travel, so no airline will fly to it.

Please recall that when it opened Swampyboom operated for many months without international certification. I was working for a US commercial airline at the time and while the lack of certification was a concern, it did not mean that we could not operate flights to the airport. Barring any damage to the air traffic control system 24-72 hours is a realistic time frame to restart flight operations, though it will take much longer (at least a week) to return to full capacity.

[gk10002000]

Thailand receives 14,000,000 foreign tourists a year, thats about 40,000 every day on average... this is high season... every day more we will have 50,000 more stranded passengers... or 100 747-400's.

The number has to peak at some point, assuming no new tourists are coming in. Assuming the majority come in on 30 day visas on arrival, I would suggest that the max number can be crudely calculated by backing up about 30 days .

30 days times 40,000/day = 1.2 million and that is possible a high estimate. The high season had not quite started so the daily average probably was not 40,000 a day. In addition, more tourists than just 30 day visa on arrival should be counted from all the other types of visas, yet less tourists should be counted because some had gone home already. At some point soon, the total in country should start dropping?

Just my math late at night.

[awayfoe]

Tourist minister says the airport will be opened within 24-48 hours of the PAD clearing it. The airport manager says it will take at least 7 days more to get the airport certification again.

Who do we believe?

goooooooooooooooooooooood morning vietnam 40 years ago