Bizarre Twists In Uk Travel Advisory

[george]

Bizarre twists in UK travel advisory

PHUKET: -- In a bizarre twist possibly sparked more by politics than reality, Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) yesterday took Phuket off its list of places for British travelers to avoid, and then, within hours, put it back on.

On its website, the FCO had advised, since the tsunami struck, against “all but essential travel to affected resorts and towns along Thailand’s west coast, in particular Phuket, Krabi and Khao Lak.”

The advisory continued, “Some coastal areas of Thailand were hit by a large tsunami on 26 December, resulting in widespread flooding and damage. Large numbers of casualties have been reported. The infrastructure and public services are severely disrupted.”

Intense lobbying by the British community in Phuket appeared to have had the desired effect yesterday afternoon when the advisory was changed, telling would-be travelers that although Khao Lak and Phi Phi should be avoided, Phuket was rebuilding and was, in essence, functioning normally.

The change was greeted with sighs of relief from those who had been grinding their teeth at the earlier assertions, knowing that travel and insurance companies base decisions on such advisories.

Later in the day, however, this more accurate version was taken off the website and the old one restored.

The first change came at almost the same time as the boss of the FCO, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, was giving a press conference in Phuket, at which he was asked when the dire warning in the travel advisory would be rescinded or altered to reflect reality.

Despite being in Phuket where he could, presumably, see for himself that infrastructure and public services were working normally, and were not “severely disrupted”, Mr Straw sidestepped the issue, saying only that he would first have to discuss the matter with colleagues in the British Cabinet.

Only hours after that statement, the advisory was changed back to the original wording.

--Phuket Gazette 2005-01-08

[Richard W]

Only hours after that statement, the advisory was changed back to the original wording.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The two versions are compared at New Quote From The Brits in the Tsunami Disaster Thailand Forum.

It wasn't a straight change back to the original wording - there are some inconsequential changes in wording, unrelated changes in pagebreaks in the HTML. I'm not sure when the link for 'information for families affected by the tsunami' was added; it wasn't there on 5 January. It looks as though someone retyped the orginal text. Poor change control?

[Richard W]

At 18:28 GMT 9 January (notification date), back to a Phuket-friendly version:

Some areas of Thailand’s west coast remain badly affected by the recent tsunami, with extensive damage to infrastructure and public services and large numbers of casualties. We advise against non-essential travel to these most badly affected areas, which include in particular Khao Lak and the Phi Phi islands. In other places, including Phuket island, some hotels and other facilities remain in good order.

There's nothing about re-building, but there may not have been in the earlier Phuket-friendly version. On the other hand, this earlier version's summary said nothing positive about Phuket.

[astral]

It is all down to the biased reporting on the BBC.

This morning they were talking about the problems of identifying corpses, in Thailand, due to decomposition.

Why just Thailand? It will be the same problem EVERYWHERE!!

The tourist deaths here make us a high priority story, out of proportion to the deaths elsewhere.

[andyadam]

new one today!!

This email is to advise you that an article matching one of your interests has been published on the FCO website:

Thailand

This advice has been reviewed and reissued with amendments to the Summary and Natural Disasters section. The overall level of the advice has not changed.

Tsunami: Information for families affected by the tsunami can be found at Thailand: Information for Families. Families visiting Thailand in connection with the Tsunami are requested to contact the British Embassy in Bangkok or the British Office in Phuket.

Bangkok: The British Embassy is providing a consular assistance service at Bangkok Domestic and International Airport for British Citizens affected by the disaster. The office opening hours are 09:00 – 01:00. This service is only available on arrival at Bangkok Airport International Passenger Terminal 2 by calling:

(++66) (0)1 1909 1286

(++66) (0)1 1914 1925

(++66) (0)1 1909 1288

Outside office opening hours please contact the British Embassy at Wireless Road, Bangkok, 10330, telephone (++66) (0)2 305 8333.

Phuket: British Embassy Office, Phuket is located at the Royal Phuket City Hotel, 154 Phang-Nga Road, Muang, Phuket, Thailand. This office is open to the public 09:00 – 18:00. There is also an Embassy reception desk at Phuket Airport, which is manned 09:30 – 17:00.

Outside these hours please call. (++66) (0) 76 264 473

Some areas of Thailand’s west coast remain badly affected by the recent tsunami, with extensive damage to infrastructure and public services and large numbers of casualties. We advise against non-essential travel to these most badly affected areas, which include in particular Khao Lak and the Phi Phi islands. In other places, including Phuket island, some hotels and other facilities remain in good order.

If you are intending to visit any of the areas of Thailand affected, you should check carefully with your travel and/or accommodation agents to make sure that it is safe and tenable to proceed.

We recommend against all but essential travel to the far southern provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla. On 25 October 2004, in Tak Bai, Narathiwat Province, over 80 people are reported to have died following clashes between protestors and members of the Thai security forces. There have also been a number of explosions in both Narathiwat and Yala, in the latest incident on 9 December 2004, a series of three explosions occurred on rail tracks, no injuries were reported.

There is a high threat from terrorism in Thailand, particularly in the far southern provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla. Attacks could be indiscriminate and against civilian targets, including places frequented by foreigners. Following the increased violence in the far south, the Thai authorities have taken additional security measures in other parts of the country, including tourist centres and Bangkok.

Watch out for crimes of opportunity. Theft of passports and credit cards is a problem. Passport fraud is high and penalties are severe.

Penalties for possession, distribution or manufacture of drugs are severe and can include the death penalty.

There have been renewed outbreaks of avian influenza (bird flu) amongst poultry in Thailand. There have been five deaths due to Avian Influenza since September. Travellers to Thailand are unlikely to be affected, but you should avo