Tourst Dies At Phuket Airport Awaiting Relief Flight

[alanmorison]

A PASSENGER died while trying to board an emergency relief flight at Phuket International Airport last night.

It is believed the passenger, a 71-year-old man from Australia, suffered a heart attack while waiting to take his seat on a special Qantas flight.

The man, reportedly suffering from chronic illness, had been forced to endure a 12-hour bus ride from Bangkok to make a connection with the special flight.

-- Fuller report and more details as they come to hand at www.phuketwan.com

[pgrin]

That is 4 deaths now as a direct result of the PAD clowns. 2 from Canada(Van crash), 1 from Hong Kong(car crash), and now this poor man. All they wanted to do was to go home.

P

[huggybear]

That is 4 deaths now as a direct result of the PAD clowns. 2 from Canada(Van crash), 1 from Hong Kong(car crash), and now this poor man. All they wanted to do was to go home.

P

And all PAD wants is an ethical government.

I don't see how you can say "That is 4 deaths now as a direct result of the PAD clowns" without looking at who was driving the vehicles that resulted in the deaths. Those guys falling asleep at the wheel seems a little more direct to me.

[alanmorison]

P

And all PAD wants is an ethical government.

I don't see how you can say "That is 4 deaths now as a direct result of the PAD clowns" without looking at who was driving the vehicles that resulted in the deaths. Those guys falling asleep at the wheel seems a little more direct to me.

That's a reasonable point. And the Hong Kong resident turned out to be a Canadian passport holder, so his death should not be counted twice. Nevertheless, these deaths are quite unnecessary and do have a connection with the protest.

Edited December 5, 2008 by alanmorison

[londonthai]

suffering from chronic illness, had been forced to endure a 12-hour bus ride

come on, nobody forced him to travel - knowing his condition he made this decision. It was rather stress than the travel itself which caused the heart attack

[hanno]

Whilst I think what the PAD did was completely unreasonable, you cannot put every death at their doorstep. I am sure there are a fair number of tourists dying every week, even when the airports are not blocked by protesters.

[1000baht]

There are two ways to look at all these deaths. Its easy to put blame on the PAD, I mean the 2 Canadians might have lived if they didnt have to drive to phuket....the 71 year old may not have had a heart attack if he didnt take a bus, he might have had it on the airplane. It sounds wrong and mean saying this , but it really is just the luck of the draw, the 2 canadians could have been killed in the taxi ride when they arrived home, who knows, no one does.

Edited December 5, 2008 by 1000baht

[terryp]

And of course they would never have died in Thailand if they weren’t here…some of you guys are idiots.

Rushing around Thailand to get to airports.. to get back home... to work…. you know loose your job, mortgage, bills to pay etc etc etc

There has been more than 1 case of doctors stranded that were due to fly back after hol's to perform serious operations ...all had to be cancelled because of the madness here. still if they wern't here blah blah blah..lets string em all up.

This should never have been ..all down to the authorities having no balls to clear the PAD...or dare I say BLOCK THE AIRPORT APROACH ROADS Duhh!!!

Happy New Year

[Thaddeus]

It's all very well to say that they 'may have been killed in Canada' or 'the old chap my have died on the plane'

The simple fact of the matter is they were never given the chance to.... they died right here on Thai soil, and you may say that they weren't forced to make those journeys, no one put a gun to their heads, but they were overwhelmingly compelled to because of the actions of a group of individuals.

And I would expect that that is the way their friends and families will see it.

May they all RIP.

Edited December 5, 2008 by Thaddeus

[chinthee]

It's all very well to say that they 'may have been killed in Canada' or 'the old chap my have died on the plane'

The simple fact of the matter is they were never given the chance to.... they died right here on Thai soil, and you may say that they weren't forced to make those journeys, no one put a gun to their heads, but they were overwhelmingly compelled to because of the actions of a group of individuals.

And I would expect that that is the way their friends and families will see it.

May they all RIP.

lawyers use the term "proximate cause." without a direct causation of death caused by Thailand, it's just another farang who died.

Sorry to all who have been affected.

[huggybear]

some of you guys are idiots.

This should never have been ..all down to the authorities having no balls to clear the PAD...or dare I say BLOCK THE AIRPORT APROACH ROADS Duhh!!!

First statement, uncalled for.

In your mind you think the Army could have blocked over 100,000 people from getting to the airport by blocking the roads? So your conclusion is the only way those 100,000 people could have gotten to the airport was on the paved road? Hmmmmmm, I guess you see PAD as an orderly bunch?

Considering the massive open space around the airport please revise your hypothesis. Your conclusion is fallacy.

[Macx]

My father is 72. He visited and left just before the whole airport closed down. He is frail. I took care to book him in the best hotels and had him catered to everywhere. If he were caught in this fiasco, I do not doubt that it would have caused him plenty of stress. A 12hr bus ride certainly would have done some serious damage to his health.

I don't know if any of you have ever taken a 12hr bus ride.

So, he was lucky to have left when he did, and he said he won't be coming back ever again and risk getting caught up with this political turmoil. The events also made my mother decide not to come in the spring. My sister and her family of four have also canceled their plans to vacation in LOS this coming March. My uncle and aunt and their two children also canceled their plan to visit summer '09.

All in all, you could say Thailand lost out on at least 1.5million bhat from my family alone.

And that's really too bad since I was really looking forward to seeing them and showing them around Thailand. But still I wouldn't recommend them coming, not now, not for a few years anyway.

[huggybear]

My father is 72. He visited and left just before the whole airport closed down. He is frail. I took care to book him in the best hotels and had him catered to everywhere. If he were caught in this fiasco, I do not doubt that it would have caused him plenty of stress. A 12hr bus ride certainly would have done some serious damage to his health.

I don't know if any of you have ever taken a 12hr bus ride.

So, he was lucky to have left when he did, and he said he won't be coming back ever again and risk getting caught up with this political turmoil. The events also made my mother decide not to come in the spring. My sister and her family of four have also canceled their plans to vacation in LOS this coming March. My uncle and aunt and their two children also canceled their plan to visit summer '09.

All in all, you could say Thailand lost out on at least 1.5million bhat from my family alone.

And that's really too bad since I was really looking forward to seeing them and showing them around Thailand. But still I wouldn't recommend them coming, not now, not for a few years anyway.

I'm sorry your family cannot/will not come and visit you.

I too have elderly parents that I would love to have come visit me, but the thought of them having to deal with 24 hours of travel....................forget it, that's a burden I'll put on myself and go and visit them instead.

[LivinLOS]

some of you guys are idiots.

This should never have been ..all down to the authorities having no balls to clear the PAD...or dare I say BLOCK THE AIRPORT APROACH ROADS Duhh!!!

First statement, uncalled for.

In your mind you think the Army could have blocked over 100,000 people from getting to the airport by blocking the roads? So your conclusion is the only way those 100,000 people could have gotten to the airport was on the paved road? Hmmmmmm, I guess you see PAD as an orderly bunch?

Considering the massive open space around the airport please revise your hypothesis. Your conclusion is fallacy.

And you really think 100k people would have been coming there if they knew it was tear gas and water cannons when they arrived ??

This was a tolerated / encouraged protest

[londonthai]

there were not 100k - but a kilo or two, initially, growing to up to 10k during daytime and thinning out for the evening and night.

it is possible to block all the roads, even if there were 100k, jusr the protesters were allowed to move in and out, without any interaction from police

[Chaimai]

My father is 72. He visited and left just before the whole airport closed down.

But still I wouldn't recommend them coming, not now, not for a few years anyway.

So you were happy for him to come just before the occupation of the airport ?

Political uncertainty existed when he last arrived and, no doubt, many governments had some sort of cautionary travel advice for Thailand.

The only thing that saved you was 'timing' - had Somchai gone to Peru a couple of weeks earlier your father would have been caught up in the mess.

My point is that it is easy to make recommendations in hindsight.

[jdinasia]

there were not 100k - but a kilo or two, initially, growing to up to 10k during daytime and thinning out for the evening and night.

it is possible to block all the roads, even if there were 100k, jusr the protesters were allowed to move in and out, without any interaction from police

Blocking all the roads would have been just as futile ... since if the roads are blocked then the passengers could not enter.

Denying the protesters access into the airport buildings and negotiating a place for them to set up camp is probably the only thing that could have been much differently. Unless, of course, you want to put up a permanent system of k-rails and man them with police, and keep a police barracks on site at the airport all the time.

[londonthai]

it is possible to surround a few thousand crowd, for example on the stretch of the elevated road - just block the road from the both sides and eventually disperse away from the airport and arrest some or supply them with drinking water and loos and let them stay there endlesly. All other roads can be operational, even only if one road was accessible for use, the airport can fully function.

all easier done than halting travel for 250 000 travellers, arranging new airports, cancelling flights, stopping all cargo and international mail and crippling the countrie's image and the whole tourist industry

[JetsetBkk]

...I too have elderly parents that I would love to have come visit me, but the thought of them having to deal with 24 hours of travel....................forget it, that's a burden I'll put on myself and go and visit them instead.

Same here. I told my mum and dad I didn't want them to travel here - far too dangerous for old people to travel 10 to 12 hours in a low oxygen environment, the risk of DVT and all those germs being recycled.

[geriatrickid]

Basically, the message given is that for older travelers, Thailand should be avoided. That will hurt because those visitors spend money, don't cause problems and are the type of people to go on the little tours. Even before the troubles Thailand was difficult for the elderly.

Edited December 6, 2008 by geriatrickid

[vanalli]

Surely at that age he would have known how uncomfortable a 12-hour bus ride would have been and he could have opted to wait it out in a hotel somewhere. Is that not a reasonable point, rather than saying that he was forced onto a bus? Was it at knifepoint? Did they push him on?

[canadianmonkey]

1)

what is that old guy with CHRONIC ilness doing travelling? needed puuying too mutt?

2) what does the pad have to do with this? bus rides from bangkok are not harder than a flight, vip bus are quite comfortable usually, if the guy's too broke to take a 30$ bus instad of 10$ what the heck is he doing travelling at his age and in his condition?

3)i still hate the pad

[Nirvana]

it is possible to surround a few thousand crowd, for example on the stretch of the elevated road - just block the road from the both sides and eventually disperse away from the airport and arrest some or supply them with drinking water and loos and let them stay there endlesly. All other roads can be operational, even only if one road was accessible for use, the airport can fully function.

all easier done than halting travel for 250 000 travellers, arranging new airports, cancelling flights, stopping all cargo and international mail and crippling the countrie's image and the whole tourist industry

That seems to make sense to me

[thailandjunkie]

Yesterday there was a protest at Stansted airport in England.....blocked the runway apparently. Should the PAD put out a copyright on this?! Maybe make enough to cover the costs of repairing the lawn at Government House!!

www.thailandjunkie.blogspot.com

[thailandjunkie]

Yesterday there was a protest at Stansted airport in England.....blocked the runway apparently. Should the PAD put out a copyright on this?! Maybe make enough to cover the costs of repairing the lawn at Government House!!

www.thailandjunkie.blogspot.com

[dotcom]

This is the new reality.

Everyone needs someone to "blame" for their misfortunes.

Grow up.