Good luck to you then. I suppose if you take boat tours (floating market perhaps) and focus on areas outside BKK maybe you'll be less affected.

Most shopping centres in central BKK are closed today because of the situation, hope they reopen soon.

Add on to the statement: Don't wear RED or YELLOW shirt whatsoever.

Reporting right in the city of Bangkok, my personal advice to all who wish to travel to Bangkok this week: Try and reschedule your plans. The situation here may get worse. Already since this morning, military forces have started firing shots and dispersing the protesters. Lots of tyres and buses were set ablaze and many intersections have been closed. Thankfully it's the Songkran festival, so traffic is generally light.

Getting taxis will be harder too, as most taxi drivers are supporters of Thaksin and are involved in the red-shirt protest.

Songkran (Water festival) celebrations in Bangkok have been cancelled, and the mood is rather quiet. So quiet that I can hear repeated gun fire from afar.

The military chief in charge of the Emergency Situation in Bangkok here has just given a national broadcast announcing that if necessary, the army will not hesitate to use force to control the situation. He urges everyone to stay indoors and avoid going out if unnecessary.

I will keep this thread updated from time to time about the situation here.

If you've already made plans for a holiday, then don't waste it. Trust me, the Suvarnabhumi Airport is not as beautiful as our own KLIA. Plus, it isn't 100% complete, and there are still some renovation / touch up work to be done on the airport.

Most tourist areas in Bangkok are still relatively safe to be in. Where are you planning to stay in? If you're going to put up at areas like Khao San Road or Silom or Sukhumvit area, I think it's still fine.

yes even though the demonstrations are on. many taxis are still working. someones gotta feed the family right?
if you are worried you could always grab the special limo taxis from the airport. heheh.

btw. the tollway is 70 baht.....i thought it was less. but yeah the two tolls are 25 and 45 baht each. so 70 baht.

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Added on April 13, 2009, 8:52 pmi was just reading this article.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...4616&sec=nation

and it says the pm. abhisit is probably gonna lose his job if the riot is not controlled in 4-5 days. which is ridiculous cause then there will be riots every year. red shirts riot. fella loses job. yellow shirts riot. fella loses job. blah blah.

but i guess that is a sign that in 5 days. there will be no riot...or there will be a new pm. hahah.

Flights Operate As Usual from Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok


AirAsia flights to and fro from Bangkok are operating as usual despite the state of emergency declared by the Thai government. We do not expect any interruptions or cancellations at this moment.

However, we are monitoring the situation closely and will provide regular updates for your convenience. Guests are advised to check our website for updates. AirAsia shares the concerns of our guests regarding the current situation in Bangkok. We have, thus, decided to provide the following options for our guests should they wish to defer their flights to Bangkok:

Option 1: For flights from April 13 (Monday) to April 19 (Sunday), 2009, we offer a credit shell, valid for 3 months - if guests cancel their flights to and from Bangkok during the valid dates. The credit shell can be used by guests to book flights to other destinations.

Option 2: If guests decide not to travel to Bangkok and want to change their destination, they can do so without penalty from April 13 to April 19 2009. They will, however, have to pay any fare difference for travel to their new destination.

Please fill out the Online Feedback Form , if you’d like to make changes to your itinerary.

As there has been an increased level of security at Suvarnabhumi International Airport, we would like to advise departing guests to arrive earlier at the airport for check-in to avoid any inconveniences.

my colleagues all came back yesterday night, due to the trouble there. but it seems the red shirts leader surrendered this morning, and the protesters are going home (majority of em).

hi...i actually booked return tickets to bangkok for travel period 19th april - 22 april ... due to the incidents that happens in bangkok, and based on the claim that airasia has publish on its website, we have decided to visit the airasia centre at kl sentral (due to the not so detailed description from the web, or my english sux perhaps)...
here's the details:
airasia will refund back (in credit shell) all the cost that you have paid for the trip, except the insurance only, if you request it within from 13th to 19th april, it doesn't matter that my return flight is on 22nd, because my ticket to bangkok is on 19th. this credit shell will expire on 31st of july, so we need to use it for booking before the date, it doesn't matter what's your travel period, as long as you book it in 3 months time from now.

so all in all, for my case, we only forfeit rm108 for insurance, we got 6 ppl travelling and that just makes us lose about rm20 per pax...
a bit disappointed because we cannot travel but we really need to praise airasia for the efforts...

just thought of sharing this in case other ppl has question like me before, and are not sure whether to travel or forfeit the plan altogether...

nope, if i didn't "eavesdrop" wrongly, there's a group of foreigners in front of us, that asked the same thing.
the same person that serve us, said he cant guarantee that can refund for the hotel, coz it's not just about
airasia anymore, it's about the hotel itself.

i remember he gave them a number to make inquiry about it and it's a goholiday num. perhaps u shud go to airasia
site and look for the goholiday number and call
what's your travel period? as what others forumer said, perhaps the condition is much better already.

nope, if i didn't "eavesdrop" wrongly, there's a group of foreigners in front of us, that asked the same thing.
the same person that serve us, said he cant guarantee that can refund for the hotel, coz it's not just about
airasia anymore, it's about the hotel itself.

i remember he gave them a number to make inquiry about it and it's a goholiday num. perhaps u shud go to airasia
site and look for the goholiday number and call
what's your travel period? as what others forumer said, perhaps the condition is much better already.

dya_ungu,

Your hotel place is very near to my home. Dun worry, the place u live is safe and do check out the night market at Ramkhamhaeng. You can get better deals as this nite market is for the locals ....

everyone busy. kekekek. all those that went to bkk this week. how was it. any update? esp. from teh person that said 15 people were going with him.

excited ke? hehehehhe. i need a holiday. one VERY FAR away. maybe like japan or australia

im still wondering what happened to that fella that went as a 15 person group to BKK.... hostage situation? hehe jk jk.

any new news on BKK?

any place to shop for clothes other than Chatuchat market?i bring my gal to bangkok by 8/5-10/5, tis trip main for her to shop, shop, shop, n shop for clothes...

i be staying at bangkok boutique hotel, taking MRT to chatuchat is easy?

where is tis platinum place???any nearest shopping market for her fr de place i stay?

good to know you are all safe and merry!~
how was the heat. last time i was there it was so darn hot.

That was a short trip, dya_ungu.  Apart from the shopping, had a good time?