350 British Tourists Cause Near-Riot At Bangkok Airport

[fallingoffthemap]

From the BBC article:

"There are hundreds of people camped at the airport - it's like a concentration camp ."

Jesus H, what is wrong with people? No, it's NOTHING like a concentration camp! Shame on the BBC for posting this quote!

Why are people flying halfway accross the world if they can't afford a $5 room at Khao San? That's the type of stunts I used to pull when I was 15. Seriously.

On another note, the DailyMail article references showers at the airport. Never seen these before - anyone know where they are?

[BlackJack]

I am not 100% sure, but my understanding is when a particular air carrier, in this case Thai Airways the story was alluding to, when they get permission to fly as a regular scheduled service into a country, part of the licensing rules will have thing s assoiated with those flights. Eg, to get permission to fly Bangkok to LA the Americans can say, all flights will have XYZ security checks and insurance for ABC when on this route. The EU says that when a person buys a ticket to a destination that the EU has given Thai Airways permission to operate, that in the even of a CXL over a certain number of hours a hotel room will be provided and food. These condition also cover this end for people on those flights. If Thai Airways says Mai Pen Rai, that's ok, the EU can fine them or simply not approve them to operate on those routes. These are the conditions Thai have to provide or stop flying to Europe. Just like they had to update their aging fleet to fly to Europe and other western countries that will ban of fine them so heavily in the coming years due to carbon controls. Again, simple, if Thai doesn't get new planes then they cant operate into EU.

I expect that the EU will fine Thai Airway Millions of Euros over this, and if they dont pay, they will ban them, like over 60 other airlines at the moment. Amazing Thailand. It's not like there is a shortage of hotel room in BKK at the moment like happened in Singapore.

(Edit) I don't know this news paper, sounds like tabloid trash though. Also, the BBC has been doing some pathetic bias reporting in the last year, (external to Thailand stories) that Fox, North Korea state TV and CNN would even be proud of !!!! I have actually found Al Jazeera English to be more reliable than the BBC now.

Please don't suspect and hypthosize over a field you no nothing about.

I expect that the EU will fine Thai Airway Millions of Euros over this, and if they dont pay, they will ban them

Do you research and find out how many passengers the EU is sending here to Thailand versus Thailand is sending to EU each year

Thailand is the cash cow destination for many EU airlines and will never be fined or banned

Airlines and economics. The airlines will never do anything to hurt the bottom line any more than it is already hurting

Do you honestly think the EU would risk Billions of Dollars in travel business to Thailand over 350 stranded tourists?

If you stranded yourself in any worldwide destination with no cash, ATM, credit card that tells me these are the kind of travelers the airlines could care less about.

Running out of money in a foreign country?

If you are that broke, why are you traveling in the first place?

ahhh there is a typo in your rude post

[Sunderland]

Has Sukhumwit Soi 12 moved to the airport??? I find that even more shocking than the riot at the airport

Sorry that was in response to some completely off topic posting above that appears to have been moved or deleted now.

Edited April 24, 2010 by Sunderland

[exuk]

I'm one of these stranded passenger but fortunately a calm one not joining the Brown shirts at the airport. My flight was cancelled Tuesday night by my Asian airline and the earliest guaranteed return seat Ive been offered is May 5th - two weeks later. My airline have a waiting list for getting people back earlier if seats are free but it's long. They tell us it's better to stay at hotels and not go to the airport.

I'm lucky enough to know Thailand, to have a local SIM with Internet access and have relatives here - so dealing with this situation is easy enough for me. I'm staying at a £20 a night hotel in On Nut (with pool), keeping updated with the web and not going near the reds (except our airline office is in Silom). Staying longer here is great in some ways but still not ideal. I'll overstay my visa and the Thai gov are only waiving the fees until the end of the month so that's no good for me. My travel insurance will only pay £15 a day up to £250 which is hardly cover for 2 weeks is it? Plus my work will make me take more of my annual leave AND send me work to do here.

But I'm in a better situation than others Ive met and frankly far more clued-up. Most people are tourists needing to get back to university exams or jobs who have no way of keeping up with events except texts their Daily Mail reading mums are sending them everyday. Imagine that! The news they're getting is so wrong half the time that they must be in such confusion. Outside the EU they have to pay their own way while they wait to be rescheduled. Most don't know this so are camping at the airport or airline offices feeling unjustly uncared for. "Mum back home says it's a right!"

Still, despite the hardship and stress it does annoy me the way my fellow Brits act in these situations and Ive seen it myself at the airline office this week. We've adopted this culture in the UK in the last 15 years of "He who fusses the most gets the most back". I hate this attitude and it's so far from Thai ways it's a recipe fo disaster.

I doubt it's a near riot like the last days of Saigon (stupid journo) but I can see how 500+ people stressed out and trying to make the biggest fuss to 30 Thai girls is not a good situation. It only took 2 rude Australian ladies to queue-jump the hour wait at our airline office to nearly start a protest movement.

(the other topic was locked so I thought I'd post my perspective on this here)

In my experience the brits are the worst now in any airline / customer delay situation. They think by creating enough fuss they will get what they want. I put this down to them Airport TV shows, teaching them how to throw the toys out of the pram !

As for the news coverage of the situation apart from the general coverage of the Ash crisis , the BBC as well as other sky news channels have covered nothing on the red shirt situation this week . Since the UK elections dates were set for May 6th the coverage of the trouble in Thailand has been zero ...!

[Neurath]

Does this mean the British were/are revolting?

[paulandmaneerat]

The Daily Maul.

P&M

[rreddin]

I actually was there a few hours earlier and the French almost started a riot also, they had to call the airport security.

They made the people queue from one counter to another one from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and at 11 p.m they annouced, sorry the flight is full, nobody on waiting list can leave today.

And there must have been about 2000 very tired stranded passengers in front of the counters at that time.

There, my friend, I think you have identfied a major contributing factor to the problem - 14 hours of queuing with inadeqaute information waiting for the chance to get on a flight is bound to cause serious resentment. Tempers are short when people are tired and hungry. The situation could have been handled better. Perhaps they could learn from the UK airports' experience of similar delays when the French or Spanish air traffic controllers go on strike - as the seem to do every summer stranding thousands of holiday makers.

[melbpete]

Does this mean the British were/are revolting?

Always have been.

[jackdawson]

Today an estimated 350 Britons clutching 'promissory notes' angrily crowded around check-in desks after they were refused permission to board flights. One British official described the scene as like 'the last days of Saigon'.

Shouts of 'Tell us the truth!' 'Give us the information' and 'Get us out of here' went up as crowds surged in the main departure area.

the mere thought of this well keep me awake tonight

[BlackArtemis]

Maybe they've just been sober for too long?

[YORKSHIREPUD]

NEAR RIOT ! now there's a buzz word for you.

Maybe the Thai's could learn something from 'our' 'near riot' !

joking aside the European press has never been kind to Asia, something about spending our Euro's outside of Europe, me thinks.

I personally have two very friends 'stranded' here, one's gone to Samui to, and i quote 'get out of Thailand' ! and the other is swimming in his pool drinking gin and tonic.

Both have businesses in London and they need to be back there, but they both said 'no planes, what can we do?'

Just a small point of order, If you are in Samui, you are still in Thailand or is my memory gone altogether!?????? :D

[hoilai]

I am beginning to trust TWITTER and FACEBOOK more than mass media.... people are LYING to sell stuff and gain recognition.

include Youtube when source of reports are from private individuals....

dump the media reports.....

[swifter]

Ahhh yes, English news media. The same English news media who spent 3 straight weeks describing the only paths to stability in Thailand as "the bullet or the ballot", after spending the previous 3 weeks doing everything they could to weave the words "red shirt" and "democracy" into as many news cycles as possible. Whatever keeps viewers attention is fair game, I guess, who cares if it contributes to the collapse of the closest thing to a free government on the entire South East Asian peninsula?

Edited April 24, 2010 by swifter

[hoilai]

I actually was there a few hours earlier and the French almost started a riot also, they had to call the airport security.

They made the people queue from one counter to another one from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and at 11 p.m they annouced, sorry the flight is full, nobody on waiting list can leave today.

And there must have been about 2000 very tired stranded passengers in front of the counters at that time.

those "rioters" athe airport were yellow shirters disguised as passengers....they wanted to check out if they can shut down the airport a second time around....except this time, the donned multi-coloured shirts.....

[hoilai]

Ahhh yes, English news media. The same English news media who spent 3 straight weeks describing the only paths to stability in Thailand as "the bullet or the ballot", after spending the previous 3 weeks doing everything they could to weave the words "red shirt" and "democracy" into as many news cycles as possible. Whatever keeps viewers attention is fair game, I guess, who cares if it contributes to the collapse of the closest thing to a free government on the entire South East Asian peninsula?

if thailand is not the supremo of democracy on the entire s.e.asian peninsula, then all men should return to their caves.....

the english media here?????

just ignore them.....

[rogerdee123]

I was in the departure area from 4 - 7 PM yesterday and didn't see anything like a riot. The airport seemed quiet to me.

I actually was there a few hours earlier and the French almost started a riot also, they had to call the airport security.

They made the people queue from one counter to another one from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and at 11 p.m they annouced, sorry the flight is full, nobody on waiting list can leave today.

And there must have been about 2000 very tired stranded passengers in front of the counters at that time.

those "rioters" athe airport were yellow shirters disguised as passengers....they wanted to check out if they can shut down the airport a second time around....except this time, the donned multi-coloured shirts.....

[ALFREDO]

Its a money problem, sure.

If you want to or have to leave the LOS, than you buy a new ticket-for an expensive price of course and off you go, some money back than in Europe from your Original airline.

I met 3 Germans booked on Thai to Munich for the 20.4. on the same day at the Airport.

They slept two nights in BKK Hotel, got a new booking for 4.5.

One bought than on the third day a Etihad ticket for 1.200.- Euro, one a ticket to Germany-had to fly to Korea first price?

And the youngest had no money for such a deal, he still on the airport?

The boys had been very confused!

[draftvader]

Please let me assure you that all nations produce their "idiot" travellers in the same percentage. Myself and my wife have travelled to well over 30 countries (I have been to nearly twice this amount on business) in our time together and we have always travelled with US$ cash, empty credit cards, the intent to dump our possessions in time of strife and the knowledge that there is little our embassy can do to help us....we're on our own. We have met numerous people from many different countries with a similar attitude and we have survived riots, floods, volcanoes, a tsunami and the beginnings of civil war (note...if you see us in a country...leave ). We have been inconvenienced and dealt with it without any more alarm than was necessary to get things moving in the right direction.

Having said this we have also met idiots from every corner of the globe that believe that being in another country should not change their lives one bit. Naive thinking all round. During our lives we have run 3 guesthouse/hostels on 3 different continents allowing us to observe tourism/travelling at its best and worst. We have quite a few friends who run guesthouses/hostels/resorts and they all seem to favour bashing their dominant demographic. The reason we all like to Brit/US/Aussie/whoever bash comes down to the demographic breakdown of the visitors to Thailand. Check out the TAT figures over the past 5 years and these are just as likely to represent the percentage of bashing each nation gets here on TV.

I am not actually defending myself here, merely using an example of rationale that appears to be needed. Yes, I am embarrassed by the idiots quoting "...like a concentration camp" and have personally passed comment to the editorial staff of the BBC for allowing this kind of representation. We must imagine that either:

a) The journalist had little time for his interviews at the airport and got lucky/unlucky....depends on which way you look at it

The more mature, understanding people refused to be interviewed

[innbkknow]

Went to the airport last nite, Thai check inn's row H/J are by far the most chaotic. My inlaws have now being told nx flight is 6th May, however if you want to pay for a new ticket we can get you out on Sunday. No brainer really:

1. option one 2 more wks with mother in law

2. option two Pay and get rid of it

Thai staff were every helpful and even escorted me to the ticket office. It amazes me at how stupid certain farangs think other nationalities r. Whilst waiting I was privy too some quite bizarre stories on why they should get priority, ranging from blatant lies, my father has passed away to my goldfish is having babies.

[ukrules]

Some lessons will be learned from this. I suspect all of these people will think twice before booking with a non european airline in the future.

I'm not 100% on this but are European carriers still obligated to provide hotel cover when they fly outside of Europe ? I know they are obligated when the flight is within Europe ?

[gisjames]

Went to the airport last nite, Thai check inn's row H/J are by far the most chaotic. My inlaws have now being told nx flight is 6th May, however if you want to pay for a new ticket we can get you out on Sunday. No brainer really:

1. option one 2 more wks with mother in law

2. option two Pay and get rid of it

Thai staff were every helpful and even escorted me to the ticket office. It amazes me at how stupid certain farangs think other nationalities r. Whilst waiting I was privy too some quite bizarre stories on why they should get priority, ranging from blatant lies, my father has passed away to my goldfish is having babies.

You've clearly never suffered the emotional pain and anguish of your goldfish going through childbirth

[wlcart]

Good thing it wasn't Americans who did this, everyone and their mothers would be bashing yanks.

Don't believe me. Last week there was a post about America asking Thailand to resolve their problems peacefully and the forum was lit up with half the post suggesting Americans are too assuming and full of themselves. For asking for peace.

Double standard?

[jackr]

and why dont they bring a few credit cards for emergency situations. Were these Cheap Charlies really so stupid to travel and get drunk for their last pennies??

The airport is not a nursery and neither a hostel. Let them sleep in the parking lot, not in the departure hall, so they are not blocking the way for travellers with valid tickets.

Why am I not surprised that those Cheap Charlies are Britons?

I don't know, why are you surprised and who said anything about Cheap Charlies? Probably best to keep twatish comments like that to yourself rather than jump on the bandwagon and make yourself look a complete arse. Perhaps some of these people don't have credit cards or there could be any number of reasons they couldn't get cash. People with jobs, families, homes have been left stranded for days on end in a foreign country through no fault of their own, and who probably also have travel insurance and, yes, VALID TICKETS! These people want to get home, now, and the reason they're hanging around is to get the next available flight. So what would you do in the same situation sat on your ass for a week in an airport, perhaps with elderly parents or young kids to take care of, and a job you needed to get back to? Would you sit there twiddling your thumbs and say mai pen rai to yourself. Grow up.

[eurasianthai]

Some lessons will be learned from this. I suspect all of these people will think twice before booking with a non european airline in the future.

My daughter sure learned the lesson

Edited April 24, 2010 by eurasianthai

[Maestro]

...

I never realised that EU regulations applied in Thailand....

This is the EU regulation in question:

eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2004:046:0001:0007:EN:PDF

It applies to all flights from an EU airport and all flights to or connecting to flights to an EU airport.

This EU regulation describes in minute detail the obligations of airlines in case of a delayed or cancelled flight, but please don’t skip the preamble, which includes the following text:

(14) As under the Montreal Convention, obligations on operating

air carriers should be limited or excluded in cases

where an event has been caused by extraordinary

circumstances which could not have been avoided even

if all reasonable measures had been taken. Such circumstances

may, in particular, occur in cases of political

instability, meteorological conditions incompatible with

the operation of the flight concerned, security risks,

unexpected flight safety shortcomings and strikes that

affect the operation of an operating air carrier.

--

Maestro

[SantiSuk]

Firstly, if people want to be pampered when things go wrong they should pay for a package tour with the relevant protections. Independent travel means what it says on the tin!

Secondly I agree wholeheartedly about Aljazeerah being the best apparent source of intelligent journalism now. BBC has totally lost it for me in its superficial and slightly biased reporting of the conflict - shame on a once great corporation. Have they not even asked any of the local British community what is going on.

As an aside, it is strange they have not commented on an obvious institutional aspect of the conflict where lies great uncertainty. Are they also covered by certain stanzas of Thai legilslation if their output is broadcast in Thailand?

[Skywalker69]

If you can't get the flight you want just sharpen some bamboo and pile up some tires and someone eventually will give you what you want.

Good post, thanks!

[My Friend Same]

There are serious problems in England these days. The only word I have for the much of that country now is "THUGS". Not sure what happened there the past few decades but clearly something is not right over there

[Lodestone]

In my experience the brits are the worst now in any airline / customer delay situation. They think by creating enough fuss they will get what they want. I put this down to them Airport TV shows, teaching them how to throw the toys out of the pram !

If Thailand were to make more liberal use of the persona non grata, aka "black listed", designation I think that might remove a good portion of these. Once they, and their friends, understand they've gotten themselves into a database that permanently bars them from ever being allowed back into Thailand because of their airport behavior, I think they might finally begin to grow up.

Hmmm, seems this kind of rudeness isn't anything new:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/world/europe/24crete.html

[gamini]

I guess these "Brits have never traveled before" I've had delays by strikes bad weather and all sorts of reasons and make allowances for them. It is stupid to travel without extra funds for emergencies or proper travel insurance. There are plenty of cheap hotels near the airport for BT500 which is the price of a "snack" in the UK. They are the sort that give "Brits" a bad name by their behavior.