Vietnam tourists cancel trips to Thailand after blast

[webfact]

VN tourists cancel trips to Thailand after blast



BANGKOK: -- Tourist agencies in Vietnam said most of their clients have cancelled their planned trips to Thailand after a bomb attack in Bangkok killed at least 20 people, half of them foreigners, according Thanh Nien News.

A representative of Ho Chi Minh City-based Lua Viet Tours, told Thanh Nien on Tuesday that a group of 50 people and 20 individuals scheduled to travel to Thailand in coming days have cancelled their bookings.

Tran Bao Thu, marketing manager of Fiditour, also based in HCMC, said many of its clients who had planned to visit Thailand changed their destination, with some choosing Singapore and Malaysia and others switching to local tourist sites like Hanoi and Phu Quoc.

Meanwhile, Hanoi Redtours said it decided to halt all trips to Thailand. “A tour group of our company was near the blast site in Bangkok on Monday, the day the incident occurred. All of them returned home safely but were very scared,” said Nguyen Cong Hoan, deputy director of the tour operator.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday recommended that Vietnamese citizens currently living in Thailand or going to Bangkok in coming days should avoid areas near the explosion.

A Vietnamese man was badly injured in his face and feet in the Monday night blast. He is being treated at a hospital in the Thai capital.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/vn-tourists-cancel-trips-to-thailand-after-blast

-- Thai PBS 2015-08-20

[Jimlove]

I wonder how TAT is gonna spin that one ...

[masquerade]

I wonder how TAT is gonna spin that one ...

Silence is golden!

[NeverSure]

I think it's a shame. I don't recall having these #@% terrorists or anyone else murderously inflicting these inhumane acts on people. This is relatively new in my lifetime and civilized people should start getting really tough about it. There's nothing uncivilized about having zero tolerance for this behavior.

I don't think it's time to start ragging on TAT or even the government for having this add to their problems. It's not their fault. The fault lies with whoever set that bomb off. I hope they catch him and blow his nuts off in the public square.

Cheers.

Edited August 20, 2015 by NeverSure

[Brit_Doggie]

Tourists cancel dontcha mean illegal workers cancel long stay visits.

[anto]

I think Singapore is only an alternative for very well off Viet.

[Morakot]

I wonder how TAT is gonna spin that one ...

Breaking news:

Reduction in Vietnamese Tourists Gives Opportunity for Influx of Other International Tourists!

[MobileContent]

I should have two business meetings with Singaporeans next week in Bangkok and they cancelled as well.

[ratcatcher]

I wonder how TAT is gonna spin that one ...

TAT will say the Vietnamese have had long experience with bombs.

BUFFS etc.

[Somtamnication]

I wonder how TAT is gonna spin that one ...

Breaking news:

Reduction in Vietnamese Tourists Gives Opportunity for Influx of Other International Tourists!

Breaking news:

Thai made Vietnamese Spring Rolls are better, spicier and more expensive than over there. Come on over!!

[Morakot]

^^^ ^^^

[Tomtomtom69]

I wonder how TAT is gonna spin that one ...

TAT will say the Vietnamese have had long experience with bombs.

BUFFS etc.

Not for over 40 years they haven't. Vietnam is a country with a high degree of stability and absolutely no need to worry about bombs going off - the political situation is stable, and any social dissent is kept under control. Guns and other weapons are banned and anyone found in possession can be faced with penalties ranging up to death.

Apart from the traffic, Vietnam is an extremely safe country and the chance of encountering any violence, except for minor snatch and grab attacks is very low.

Read any travel advisory for Vietnam and you'll soon realise that most governments have nothing particular to say about that country and will simply state "exercise normal safety precautions" whereas Thailand is a country for which you need to exercise a "high degree of caution".

The Aussie government for instance has for years warned of the potential for terrorist attacks in Thailand, including in places frequented by foreigners. There was already a bomb that went off on New Year's Eve 2006 at Central World and now this.

[phuketandsee]

"Not for over 40 years they haven't. Vietnam is a country with a high degree of stability and absolutely no need to worry about bombs going off"

Sadly they do have a great many bombs to worry about - thousands left from terrorist carpet bombing 40 years ago

[fred Kubasa]

I cancelled my trip to Thailand and I live in Thailand !

[laobali]

I wonder how TAT is gonna spin that one ...

Silence is golden!

If only that were true.

[rlopes]

Good riddance.

Now the viets can focus on invading Laos, as usual.

[Brer Fox]

Tourists cancel dontcha mean illegal workers cancel long stay visits.

You describe yourself very well with your member caricature. I travel Hanoi/BKK regularly and always see many Vietnamese tourists on the plane. Instead of sitting at home sending yourself blind you should get out and about a bit more.

[Tomtomtom69]

"Not for over 40 years they haven't. Vietnam is a country with a high degree of stability and absolutely no need to worry about bombs going off"

Sadly they do have a great many bombs to worry about - thousands left from terrorist carpet bombing 40 years ago

Yes, 40 years ago but not anytime since then.

Have you been to Vietnam?

Apart from some unpopulated areas in central Vietnam, UXOs don't affect any major population centres in the country.

More importantly though, violent crimes and terrorism in particular, are virtually unheard of since the end of the Vietnam (American) War.

Vietnam is safer than Thailand. That is a fact.

[Tomtomtom69]

Good riddance.

Now the viets can focus on invading Laos, as usual.

But as you already know, Vietnamese who go to Laos are not visitors, they are going there on business (usually agro-business) and/or to reside.

Vietnamese do come to Thailand and go to Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore as tourists.

[Linky]

Funny that. I cancelled my trip to Thailand and am going to Vietnam.

Not so much because of the bomb, more to do with the junta, the murder trials underway down south and the lawlessness that has become of the place.

[callaway]

I live in Thailand and work in Vietnam. If I wasnt married to a gorgeous lady in Thailand I would be out of there in a heratbeat. My place of residence would be Vietnam. Genuinely friendly people, so much cleaner and safety is never a concern. Ok traffic can be a nightmare but that applies to Bangkok as well.

[phuketandsee]

"Not for over 40 years they haven't. Vietnam is a country with a high degree of stability and absolutely no need to worry about bombs going off"

Sadly they do have a great many bombs to worry about - thousands left from terrorist carpet bombing 40 years ago

Yes, 40 years ago but not anytime since then.

Have you been to Vietnam?

Apart from some unpopulated areas in central Vietnam, UXOs don't affect any major population centres in the country.

More importantly though, violent crimes and terrorism in particular, are virtually unheard of since the end of the Vietnam (American) War.

Vietnam is safer than Thailand. That is a fact.

Have I Been there? I lived there for 5 years and frequently return and know many people working on the UXO problem. Central Vietnam is far from "unpopulated." For example Quang Tri province, one of the worst affected areas has a population of 616,000 and thousands have been killed and maimed in the last 40 years. And while, yes, HCMC and Hanoi are unaffected Hue and Da Nang are not exactly minor "population centers".

I would agree that terrorism is virtually unheard of but violent crimes are not not rare and are increasing. As for whether it is safer than Thailand I have no statistics to support that either way. Do you?

[spidermike007]

When was the last time you saw a Vietnamese tourist in Thailand, anyway? What are there, maybe 300 per year? Who cares if the Vietnamese do not come, with their attitudes? Not me. Probably not many Thais either.

[Assurancetourix]

Good riddance.

Now the viets can focus on invading Laos,Kampuchea , as usual.

I did a little rectification in your post

[jerojero]

If it's your time to leave this earth, you can't necessarily hide at home to avoid it. But the odds of being in an exact location at the exact second that a bomb may explode is infinitesimal. Far bigger chance of dying at home walking across the street or car accident or heart attack! Perspective needed, rather than fear mongering.

[puukao]

70 people not coming!!!!!

let me adjust TAT forecasts..

234,145,523 minus 70

plus 98,232,978

[Tomtomtom69]

"Not for over 40 years they haven't. Vietnam is a country with a high degree of stability and absolutely no need to worry about bombs going off"

Sadly they do have a great many bombs to worry about - thousands left from terrorist carpet bombing 40 years ago

Yes, 40 years ago but not anytime since then.

Have you been to Vietnam?

Apart from some unpopulated areas in central Vietnam, UXOs don't affect any major population centres in the country.

More importantly though, violent crimes and terrorism in particular, are virtually unheard of since the end of the Vietnam (American) War.

Vietnam is safer than Thailand. That is a fact.

Have I Been there? I lived there for 5 years and frequently return and know many people working on the UXO problem. Central Vietnam is far from "unpopulated." For example Quang Tri province, one of the worst affected areas has a population of 616,000 and thousands have been killed and maimed in the last 40 years. And while, yes, HCMC and Hanoi are unaffected Hue and Da Nang are not exactly minor "population centers".

I would agree that terrorism is virtually unheard of but violent crimes are not not rare and are increasing. As for whether it is safer than Thailand I have no statistics to support that either way. Do you?

I know central Vietnam very well, used to live in Nha Trang but have visited Danang and Hue and been up to the Lao border at Lao Bao and in fact went all the way up to Hanoi on that trip. Outside of the major cities there, there is not a whole lot of population, especially in the rural areas outside of Danang/Hue/Dong Ha/Dong Hoi towards the Lao border, which is where most of the UXO problems are. Still, Vietnam is fairly densely populated and intensely farmed, so yes, UXO do cause their fair share of damage.

But speaking of mines and UXO, did you know that even Thailand is home to some of these devices? Mainly along the Burmese and Cambodian borders. In the former case, they were laid by either the Thai army or more likely, the Burma army or Myanmar based ethnic insurgents in their long raging war with the central government. In the case of Cambodia, it started with the Khmer rouge and there are reports that more mines have been laid along disputed parts of the Thai-Cambodian frontier during the Preah Vihear/Khao PPhra Viharn conflict at the Preah Vihear/Ubon province boundary line in 2011. Most of the mines in Myanmar and Cambodia are actually located along their shared borders with Thailand.

Violent crime in Vietnam. I doubt this is a major problem - it's mostly snatch and grab attacks and while there may be the occasional madman who goes on a stabbing spree or whatever, violent crime is usually dealt with very harshly in Vietnam. Guns are virtually unavailable (although criminals will always find a way of course, such as smuggling by car from Cambodia and hiding the gun(s) in a compartment not checked by Vietnamese customs) and penalties for even being in possession are very stiff.

I could probably dig up some statistics comparing violent crime statistics between Thailand and Vietnam if I have time. But anecdotal evidence is clear - this site is full of stories about foreigners (and locals) getting into trouble in Thailand every single day. But there are relatively fewer incidents in Vietnam. Thailand also has one of the world's highest murder rates, and yes it is higher than that of Vietnam, possibly much higher. I clicked a link to the Daily Telegraph website from Stickmanbangkok.com with an article about Thailand's high murder rates and gun culture. It's one of the recent articles from August. Check it out if you're interested.