350,000 People Still Stranded

[Gaybutton]

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST:

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350,000 Stranded

 

The top official at the tourism ministry said on Monday that 350,000 foreign visitors and Thai tourists are stranded inside Thailand by the airport closure, and the number is increasing daily.

 

"Around 350,000 passengers remain stranded in Thailand since the closing of the airports," said Sasithara Pichaichannarong, permanent secretary at the tourism ministry, in an interview with the AFP news agency.

 

That figure includes Thais who were booked on flights out of the kingdom.

 

About 10,000 Thai nationals are estimated to be stuck abroad by the airport closures, an official from the foreign ministry said.

 

Earlier, Tourism and Sport Minister Weerasak Kowsurat said that the number of stranded foreign tourists in Thailand has reached 240,000.

 

The toll will continue to rise daily and exponentially, he said, as more tourists reach the end oif their holidays, with too few planes to take them out.

 

Mr Weerasak held a press conference at the Bitec Exhibition Hall in Bang Na, which has been turned into a massive, confused check-in centre for foreigners trying to leave Thailand.

 

Flights arrive and leave at U-Tapao air base, 150 kilometres to the east.

 

Some tourists are also flying out of provincial airports including Phuket and Chiang Mai. France, Spain and Australia have sent special flights to evacuate desperate citizens stuck in Thailand.

 

Passengers have been advised to check in at least seven hours before their flight time, to allow for the drive to U-Tapao.

 

The main Suvarnabhumi international airport has been shut since last Tuesday when protesters besieged it in their bid to topple the premier, and a day later they stormed the Don Muang domestic airport.

 

She said that the tourism ministry would on Tuesday ask the cabinet to give them one billion baht ($28 million) to fund repatriation efforts for stranded foreigners, and to bring back the Thais stuck abroad.

 

"We have currently received only a 10-million-baht budget for this operation, which is certainly not sufficient," said Ms Sasithara

 

The government has warned that the week-long siege of the airports will cost around one million jobs and about 50 per cent of the expected tourist arrivals.

 

(with reports by AFP)

[Guest fountainhall]

The tourism ministry would on Tuesday ask the cabinet to give them one billion baht ($28 million) to fund repatriation efforts for stranded foreigners, and to bring back the Thais stuck abroad.

 

In this unprecendented tourism crisis, I'd have thought the one organisation that should be posting regular updates several times a day would be the Tourism Association of Thailand. As with THAI's website, however, the information for stranded passengers is far from headlines. You first have to scroll down past a section deadling with "Festivals and Events". There is then a "Tourism Update" box, but it's positioned after one titled "TAT launches Special Brochure : Bike Travel Manual 'Cycling in Amazing Thailand.'"

 

So we now know the TAT's priorities!

 

The "Tourism Update" which follows has a lot of useful information, but it was last updated at 10:30 a.m. on 30/11/08. It's now 10:15 a.m. on the 2nd! To me, this is an utter disgrace.

 

http://www.tourismthailand.org/

[Guest fountainhall]

Just spoke with a friend who yesterday went through the rigours of re-booking on a THAI flight. As requested, he turned up at a THAI office at 5:00 in the morning. He was given a queue number and asked to come back later in the day. He returned at 2:00 pm. At 6:30pm he finally received a ticket on a flight departing U-Tapao tomorrow. He is now bracing himself for the marathon in-town check-in procedure and the chaos at U-Tapao tomorrow.

 

He considers himself lucky, but the question I ask of THAI is: why, in the 21st century, does a major international airline have to resort to this kind of Mickey-Mouse operation? All corporations should have in place emergency crisis control procedures which it practices from time to time. A complete closure of Suvarnabhumi due to some major catastrophe - terrorist attacks, plane crashing in to the terminal building etc. - should have featured prominently in these plans. Despite the complexity of the double airport closure, THAI's crisis control management has been pathetic.

[fedssocr]

I guess I have a little more sympathy for the airlines. This really is unprecedented. And there's no way to know when it might end.

 

I would imagine that any contingency plan for the loss of Suvannabhumi would have been to start using Don Muang for international flights. With both of them out of commission they are stuck. And so many of their aircraft were stranded for the better part of a week that really tied their hands as well.

 

At least THAI are doing something. United for example is completely at a loss. No flights operating at Utapao, Phuket, or anywhere else. Get yourself to Singapore or Hong Kong and they will help you. But they are not helping anyone get to those places.

 

I have a Thai friend from the USA who is also stuck here. ANA however is flying from Utapao, so he is getting out tomorrow that way. He has to check in at the Dusit Thani several hours in advance and will be bused to Utapao.

 

I think the airlines have finally figured out that it is a good idea to check people in in town and then put them on a bus to the airport. I wonder if they are even busing people right to the plane. That would seem the most sensible idea.

[Guest fountainhall]

I guess I have a little more sympathy for the airlines

 

When this started, I felt the same. But having now seen how THAI has reacted in comparison to some other airlines, I changed my view. I fully accept this is unprecendented and THAi is the most affected, but the chaotic queue system at THAI's Bangkok offices - also seen in Pattaya as referred to by GB in a recept post on another thread - is just plain idiocy. This situation requires military-like procedures - not Mickey Mouse antics. There are far better ways of collating information and then using emails, text messaging and other forms of communication to inform at least some passengers about tickets/flights.

 

I wonder if they are even busing people right to the plane

 

Not according to my information. You still have to fight to get through immigration and the few security scanners.