Will it be safe to travel to Bangkok in June?

[eddyxwb]

Greeting,

My families and I will be traveling to Bangkok first week of June and with this political unstability, what are my chances of getting caught in the crossfire? We plan to stay in Bangkok one week and the rest will be somewhere.

With the situation as is right now, how safe is it for those that lived there currently? Any difficulty getting around Bangkok? I don't want to change or cancel my plan because this has been planned ahead for over couple years.

Thanks in advance.

[roamer]

Hmmm. Like tattooing on a soap bubble. TBH in one sense it's impossible to guess what it will be like in 5 days time, 5 months time is an impossible call. However in all the time I've known Bangkok, many coups, I've never known it to really affect tourists, airport seizures not withstanding. The best informed observer in the world really couldn't answer your question with any real idea of accuracy.

[RAZZELL]

Can someone pick me some lottery numbers whilst they are at it?

RAZZ

[Jasun]

Ask me May 31st.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[dom samui]

June this year you mean , or what?

Dom

[angsta]

Have I lost 4 months of my life somewhere?

[steve187]

just come, avoid any hotspots that may be about, just looked in my crystal ball, but its cloudy this morning

[craigt3365]

As said above, nobody can predict what's going to happen. With that being said, I just can't see this going on until then. But, ya never know!

I'd put off purchase of tickets for as long as you can. If you do come, and there are still protests, your biggest problem would be an occupation of the airport (which didn't last very long last time) or an inability to travel around town easily.

[Pib]

I give up...my crystal ball ain't working today...what's the answer?

[geriatrickid]

If this continues until April , you won't need to worry about June. The country will most likely be suffering economic collapse and I would expect in the midst of civil war. This can't go on. There has to be a functioning government.

[JoeThePoster]

By June, Bubbles the clown will be prime minister of Thailand and every visitor will get a free balloon animal on arrival at Suvarnabhumi.

[WhizBang]

Ask us again around the end of May.

However, it might not be a bad idea to make some alternate plans.

[transam]

[55Jay]

Better question is, if someone on ThaiVisa told you it wouldn't be "safe", would you cancel your long held plans?

I think not.

Monitor the situation and short of a massive upheaval, civil war, and the airport closing., my opinion is come anyway.

If there is still tension at Bangkok in particular, adjust plans and spend more time at the other places on your itinerary.

[jimky]

eddyxwb, if you are not familiar with low-cost airlines here check out AirAsia.com, NokAir.com for cheap options. The reason I say this is because chances are it will probably be okay to travel Bangkok in June. However those are discount airlines and there are a lot of places that are cheap to travel to if you need to make late contingency plans. For Bangkok, there will be plenty of hotels available last minute regardless so don't prebook. Then if it comes June and Bangkok isn't looking like a good idea you can head somewhere else. If big city is your thing, I personally like Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. But there are so many low cost travel destinations once in Bangkok. Unless your plans are so highly bangkok specific don't cancel. You'll have plenty of options when the time comes for rerouting that single week of your trip. Is a ton to see in Thailand too. Many people legitimately spend months touring this country.

[eddyxwb]

Thanks. I am not worrying about it but my families are and I just want to asked some of you expats that lived there currently that's all. As long as only certain area that we will have problem accessing, I am ok with it. I understand that I cannot predict what will happend in June and I should have word it in "current situation" instead of June.

We will be staying mostly in Pratunam area while in Bangkok and tour around the city. Our three weeks trip is to go to Laos, Chiang Mai, and Phukhet and the last week will be in Bangkok. It has been over five years since my last trip to Thailand.

[roamer]

Pratunam is pretty close to where you can expect problems. Don't make any solid hotel bookings that are not fully refundable, massive surplus capacity in Bangkok. If there are still problems in June come back and ask for suggestions. For what it's worth, I'm sure that many of us believe that if it ever gets to the point where its a threat to expats then the only flights here will be evacuation flights so you won't be here anyways!

[impulse]

Come on in, the water's fine.

No, really- it's fine.

[Lakegeneve]

Thanks. I am not worrying about it but my families are and I just want to asked some of you expats that lived there currently that's all. As long as only certain area that we will have problem accessing, I am ok with it. I understand that I cannot predict what will happend in June and I should have word it in "current situation" instead of June.

We will be staying mostly in Pratunam area while in Bangkok and tour around the city. Our three weeks trip is to go to Laos, Chiang Mai, and Phukhet and the last week will be in Bangkok. It has been over five years since my last trip to Thailand.

It is understandable that the family is worried but the pertinent point has been made by others. Come June, another place in the world currently normal could well have problems similar to Bangkok or Kiev. (Especially anywhere holding a World Football Cup!). To illustrate that point, I had a BKK based friend who last year booked a trip to Brazil via Istanbul 3 months ahead. By the time he traveled mid year he landed in Istanbul to riots - even getting caught up in a police charge while at a restaurant - and then riots in Sao Paulo! Not that he really minded.....

Most informed commentators suggest that this current political impasse cycle has a few months to go, not weeks....(in actual fact it has been going on for years and will continue to do for some more). In past street protest cycles it was 2-3 months but this one will most likely be a bit longer given the stakes.

For now, most of your trip - the first 3 weeks - seems is fine to start planning and tentatively organise (though Chiang Mai could just as easily be a hotbed of protests in some scenarios by then). Leave the last week open and be flexible with your plans, think about a Plan B. No need to book hotels early, especially for June. Even a few days before is usually fine and especially so in the current climate - central BKK hotels are giving huge discounts for Feb.

I would not stay in Pratunam even without the protests given the traffic and pollution. Many more central and nicer locations. With the protests, a definite no no for someone travelling with family.