Looking back. How bad was it?

[PattayaMale]

I have just had a look at my iGoogle page which lists news from different sources. Reading it I thought back to the airport closures and demonstrations in a small part of Bangkok. This gave me a better perspective, a larger view.

 

Here is what I read:

Protests in Greece continues (with pictures of battles and flames)

Brazil protests 9000 disappearances in 2 years

Drug cartel deaths climb in Mexico

 

True no one closed the airports in those countries, but it has been very deadly.

 

So the question is, when we take a more global view, which countries tourism will suffer more over the next 3 months?

 

I had a friend arrive from the US yesterday and he said his flight was full.

[fedssocr]

well, people arriving now likely booked their trips long before the trouble at the airports. And now that the airports are operating you couldn't change your flights without paying hefty fees. If you prepaid for a package vacation you wouldn't be able to change that now either.

 

I think any drop off might not be evident until later. However, I also think that people have short memories as long as there isn't shooting in the street on Silom or at Siam Paragon. If the new government can actually get to work and get some things done confidence will be restored.

 

How bad was it? Well, it's true there wasn't a conflagration. But for those of us delayed and inconvenienced it was pretty bad. My extra week ended up costing me about US$1300 for hotel (although I clearly could have chosen much cheaper accommodation so I do take some responsibility for the cost), my transfer to Phuket, and my flight from Phuket to Singapore. Plus it cost me a week of vacation time which means I will not be able to spend the Christmas holiday with my parents as I usually do. While not physically harmful it is a bit of a blow. For those of us who could afford it, it wasn't a huge problem but that is money I won't be able to spend on other things. For people already strapped for money or elderly people or people with babies and small children I think it was a bigger hardship.

 

For sure there are many, many, many worse places to have been other than Bangkok during that time. As the world's economy keeps falling I think we'll be seeing more and more civil unrest around the world related to that even though the current big trouble in the world isn't directly a result of the economy I think it does play a part in that people act out when they are desperate.

[Guest laurence]

It was bad! When a mob can shut down a major airport and the government is unable or unwilling to prevent it is a bad situation. Of course if there were bloodshed then the situation would have been far worse. This event speaks poorly of the Thai government and the current political upheaval. I think many potential tourist will look elsewhere for a vacation other than Thailand.

[Guest lvdkeyes]

I certainly don't condone allowing a mob to take over any facility, but, perhaps, the government wanted to prevent bloodshed. It could easily have turned into a civil war bloodbath. Remember the PAD are the royalists.