Supposed to arrive BKK this Sunday - should I?

[Docno]

Hello all. I am supposed to meet up with a childhood friend from Australia on Sunday the 29th in Bangkok. We have rooms booked at the Asia Hotel (Bangkok), located at BTS Ratchathewi station (Phayathai Road). I'm mostly concerned about how the protests are likely to affect moving about, especially between the airport and hotel. These are my questions:

1. How difficult will it be getting from Suvarnabhumi Airport to the hotel?
2. Best to go by taxi or BTS? (I understand that last Sunday, the BTS system was swamped by protesters)
3. Anything else I should know or be aware of? (yes, I plan to stay clear of the protest areas).

My friend is currently traveling in Cambodia and is mostly off the grid. If I can't get in touch with him, I'll have to proceed with the flight to Bangkok regardless. But if we do manage to get in touch in the next couple of days, we can still change to another destination. Would we be nuts to come to Bangkok at this time?

Thanks.

[partington]

Without a crystal ball it is impossible to predict if some new protest site may disrupt traffic to and from the airport, but so far none of the protest sites have done so, and are not likely to, if they stick to the same general locations.

Last Sunday the protestors did swamp the BTS, but simply as commuters travelling to various demonstration locations. In any case there is no direct BTS connection to the airport, there is only the airport railway line which connects with the MRT at Makkasan (to Petchaburi MRT) and stops near Phaya Thai BTS, which is only however one BTS station away from Ratchathewi BTS, so not a problem. If you don't have much luggage the airport rail line would be fine.

As long as you stay away from protest sites, in the current situation you would not be affected in any significant way during a visit to Bangkok except maybe by traffic hold-ups on some taxi journeys. If it doesn't escalate there is no problem.

Edited December 26, 2013 by partington

[Docno]

Without a crystal ball it is impossible to predict if some new protest site may disrupt traffic to and from the airport, but so far none of the protest sites have done so, and are not likely to, if they stick to the same general locations.

Last Sunday the protestors did swamp the BTS, but simply as commuters travelling to various demonstration locations. In any case there is no direct BTS connection to the airport, there is only the airport railway line which connects with the MRT at Makkasan (to Petchaburi MRT) and stops near Phaya Thai BTS, which is only however one BTS station away from Ratchathewi BTS, so not a problem. If you don't have much luggage the airport rail line would be fine.

As long as you stay away from protest sites, in the current situation you would not be affected in any significant way during a visit to Bangkok except maybe by traffic hold-ups on some taxi journeys. If it doesn't escalate there is no problem.

Thanks - this information is very useful.

[theoldgit]

Nonsensical post removed, sorry OP, there's always one.

[smokie36]

I wouldn't worry about it now OP....if the reds arrive in town then you might want to reconsider....but its just an inconvenience for now.

[impulse]

Partington has given good guidance.

95%, you'll be fine and not even notice the protests (unless you seek them out just to say you were there).

98%, you won't have any problems with transport if you use the Airport Train to Phaya Thai station. Express is the way to go if you have luggage, and want a chance at a train car pretty much to yourself. You may have to wait for a while (up to 45 minutes), but the ride is FAST. City Line is okay, but lots of stops and it could get crowded and your luggage will be a nuisance. Go express if you can. You may have to hunt for the entrance to the express line because so few people use it. Sad really- I love it.

Taxis will be 90% because, as other folks have said- that hotel area could be hit with traffic.

99.95%, you'll be perfectly safe. Your chances of being hit by a scooter while walking down the sidewalk are higher than being caught up in protest violence.

Don't pass up a chance to meet an old friend, worrying about Bangkok.

[Curt1591]

At this point in time, all those injured have been directly involved in clashes.

Don't hang out in the protests, don't be confrontational, and you should be fine.

[WaioWai]

I'm due to arrive 4 Jan and also booked into Asia Hotel. I've read that they will try to shut down the city around that time and I wonder if I should fly straight to Chiangmai?

[Briggsy]

Stick with it. You should be fine staying in Bangkok.

[backstairs]

But what about weekend of 5/6th. The mouth from the south wants to shut bkk down. Will the two airports be, too? Will flight crew be able to reach thier planes? Any predictions, folks?

[Rumblecat]

I think it'll be fine. It was easy enough moving around the city last time there was trouble. Life pretty much goes on around it.

[Curt1591]

I think it'll be fine. It was easy enough moving around the city last time there was trouble. Life pretty much goes on around it.

If you're talking about 2010, the upcoming plan is a different prospect. Last Sunday's "shutdown" turned much of downtown into a parking lot.

[Rumblecat]

If they shut down the BTS then yeah, I think there'd be problems. But if it's running then the city is pretty easy and quick to navigate. Just thinking by what the OP has said for where he's staying and so on, it shouldn't be an issue.

Although I'll admit I don't know what happened that Sunday with the BTS (as mentioned in the OP) as I'd gone to the beach. Did protestors take it over or something? I did hear that it stopped working due to wifi control problems, I didn't realise it was connected to the protests.

[partington]

The BTS was working fine, the protestors didn't shut it down, just used it to travel around on so every train was full.

There was no difficulty in travelling other than being squeezed and having a to wait if a train was too full to get on.

The problems with the shutdown were absolutely nothing to do with the protest, happened on a different day, and were caused by technical problems with the wifi control mechanism.

There is no real problem travelling.

[tartempion]

Jeez, what's with all these panicking people?

Never traveled?

I traveled for work every week for 20 years, experienced a few travel issues, say around 1% of my travels, so what???

Missed a plane or 2, one because of London traffic: taxi got stuck, a few delays because mist at some airports (even had the most expensive hamburger paid by company, could only have lunch at destination, missed the meeting, had hamburger and taxi back to airport)

Would take some time to remember some travel issues, got stuck one night on a plastic chair at Kuwait airport etc.

Will travel to Bangkok by air next week 8 to 12 January, have hotel booked on Sukhumvit, don't worry a second, certainly will enjoy stay whatever this idiot of a Suthep decides to gridlock Bangkok

Edited January 2, 2014 by tartempion

[impulse]

Jeez, what's with all these panicking people?

Never traveled?

I traveled for work every week for 20 years, experienced a few travel issues, say around 1% of my travels, so what???

Missed a plane or 2, one because of London traffic: taxi got stuck, a few delays because mist at some airports (even had the most expensive hamburger paid by company, could only have lunch at destination, missed the meeting, had hamburger and taxi back to airport)

Would take some time to remember some travel issues, got stuck one night on a plastic chair at Kuwait airport etc.

Will travel to Bangkok by air next week 8 to 12 January, have hotel booked on Sukhumvit, don't worry a second, certainly will enjoy stay whatever this idiot of a Suthep decides to gridlock Bangkok

Things are very different if you're on your own dime and your own time.

Missing a flight can easily double to total cost of a holiday after the airline digs their mitts into you. Buying a walk-up replacement one way ticket can cost more than an R/T airfare and a week in a hotel. Ask me how I know that.

Not to mention that you were still getting paid when you were delayed on the company's nickel, and not burning up your precious vacation days.

Panicky people? I think not. Frugal people who don't want to risk their precious money and vacation days? Nothing wrong with that.

[tartempion]

I am on holiday since May 2000 still travel a lot: Thailand, Asia, Europe, went to Montreal last September.

Got stuck in Abu Dhabi for one night when Belgian airtraffic went on strike and transited through Bangkok from Phuket to Udon minutes before the yellows managed to close the roads to Suvarnabhumi, don't remember other problems besides a few Air Asia delays.

My 8 and 12 January flights for family of 3 to Bangkok and hotel bookings are prepaid (20K baht), I still don't worry a second.

The OP is worrying for nothing, there are always solutions to problems, problem rarely occur. Start worrying when you get one, not before.

Edited January 2, 2014 by tartempion

[millwall_fan]

I'm due to arrive 4 Jan and also booked into Asia Hotel. I've read that they will try to shut down the city around that time and I wonder if I should fly straight to Chiangmai?

Go to Chiang Mai anyway: its a far superior place to Bangkok - especially at this time of year. The only drawback are the hordes of Bangkokians who are up here because their own city is being f**ked by that Nazi Suthep.

Edited January 2, 2014 by millwall_fan