Travel cautions issued amid protests in Thailand

Anti-government unrest and a state of emergency in Thailand are disrupting air and rail service, and some countries have issued travel cautions. The situation remains unstable.

As of this morning, the U.S. was not urging Americans to avoid Thailand. But a warden message, issued today by the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, said visitors should be careful and avoid areas of violent protests. Citing news reports, it said railway, bus, utility and airline workers may go on strike Wednesday, possibly causing delays and outages. Americans planning to fly to Thailand should reconfirm their flights, it added.

The British Foreign & Commonwealth Office issued similar advice. It said all flights from Hat Yai had been canceled today, even though that airport, along with those serving Phuket and Krabi, had reopened after being shut earlier. And it advised avoiding all but essential travel to the far southern provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla.

Canada also advised its citizens to avoid the southern provinces. While in Thailand, they should “exercise extreme caution,” it said, adding: “The security situation remains tense and could further deteriorate without warning.”

– Jane Engle, assistant Los Angeles Times Travel editor

[Photo: Anti-government protestors rally during a demonstration at the Government House in Bangkok today; Nicolas Asfouri AFP/Getty Images]

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 2, 2008 at 1:51 pm by Jane Engle and is filed under Asia, Business Travel, News, Tips & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.