Friend was looking to book side trip to Thailand but was refused by travel agent. They said country is under martial law and 24 hour curfew. This was very disappointing to her but it was sounding a lot like Iraq so probably not the safest environment for her anyway.

Sounds like a pretty incompetent travel agent. I would not consider giving any further business to such an ill informed travel agent. Yea they had the whole little coup thing back in September 19. Net impact on tourists was somewhere between zero and some tourists came home with some interesting pictures. Unless you are a Thai politician or friend thereof everything is 100% normal and Thailand remains a safe and exciting destination. Not a single flight was ever canceled and no ones travel plans were ever affected.

Tell your friend to get a travel agent who isn't a fool.

It's true that Thailand has been under martial law since the coup. But it's not something any tourist is likely to even notice. Anybody who does the least amount of research will come on dozens of articles in the international press on how much things are just "business as usual." The troops are long gone from the streets.

24-hour curfew? In Thailand? Give me a break!

Funniest thing ever! :D

I believe much of the martial law has been lifted in Bangkok. Unless you're Thaksin supporter, and trying to fight the army, you'll have no problems.

I'd say your friend has an incompetent travel agent.

Thank you. This sounds like a joke but completely true. She is flying to Vietnam and wanted to do a side trip using of those all inclusive tours like she has done many times before. I said I would pose a question here. You know how rumors travel among certain older Asians by word of mouth and they take it as truth. This will make her happy.

It can be confusing here with "Martial Law". After the Military overthrew the democratically elected government on 19 September, the ruling junta (aka the CDR: Council for Democratic Reform) imposed Martial Law on all of Thailand. There was no associated curfew, and the law really only limited politcal gatherings larger than five people, and censored any anti-coup media. That Martial Law was lifted in stages throughout the country, and is not in effect with the exception of the four provinces in the deep south of Thailand. Here Muslim insurgents have been pushing for some sort of separate state, through violent means, for ~ 2 years. I would generally avoid the deep south (Songkhla, Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat), where the Martial Law may be more stringent, and the risk of violence, which is targeted at Thais, may be high.

Historically problems occur here one to three years after a coup.

no ones travel plans were ever affected.

I have to disagree with you. Just ask Thaksin :p

I have to disagree with you. Just ask Thaksin :p

Oh, I think they'd love Thaksin to come back home. His return ticket might age a bit before it got used, however. ;)

It's true that Thailand has been under martial law since the coup. But it's not something any tourist is likely to even notice.
Exactly right.
I live in Bangkok.
Life today is exactly the same as before the coup -- with zero effects for travelers.
And, this time of year, the weather is magnificent.
So come on over and enjoy Thailand.

- Peter

My last visit to Thailand was just last month for over 3 weeks and there was not one thing to make me think that there had been a coup except for a few Thaksin jokes and articles in the newspapers. Everything else was the same as ante coup.

In Bkk for Thanksgiving weekend, absolutely no changes pre vs post coup. Only thing was upcoming ban on beer advertisements (tv, outdoor signage, etc.), to take place on Dec 3 or 4....but not sure if ultimately implemented.

Sukhumvit buzzing as were the malls. It's actually high season right now and hotels should be more difficult to book.

New airport was even working ;)

I was pretty far off in my assessment of the current status of Martial Law here in Thailand! As of today Martial Law is still in effect in 35 of 76 provinces in Thailand, and the military has said, as of a few days ago, that they have no intention of lifting martial law for the forseeable future. As mentioned its effects on travelers is non-existent. Martial Law allows the military to be in charge of security (instead of the police), make arrests without warrants and monitor individuals deemed to be anti-coup. There may be curfews, 10 PM to 6 AM, in some districts in the southern provinces.

There may be curfews, 10 PM to 6 AM, in some districts in the southern provinces.

And that was the case in some of those places even before the coup.

I explained the situation in Thailand to her but she says she is still very uncomfortable with the situation and will not go even though she really wants to. She has read about it in the Vietnamese newpaper and talked to many other Vietnamese people and "no one is going to Thailand right now." At least in her circle. In her mind things could go bad there at any moment and having survived with her family in the concentration (re-education) camps in Vietnam 30 years ago she, and many other older Vietnamese travelers, are not risk takers when it comes to political instability. The other issue for her has been terrorist attacks in the country. She thinks the two issues are related. Funny thing is when a talked to a Thai person he felt the U.S. was much more dangerous than Thailand. Guess it depends on perspective.

I explained the situation in Thailand to her but she says she is still very uncomfortable with the situation and will not go even though she really wants to.

I guess you've done your duty.. now its upto her to decide whether she wants
to go or not.

We even had our corportate conference in Thailand (BKK) within a month after
the coup.. Hundreds of people went there from around the world
(from my company) and the colleagues who were based out of BKK
were calm about the whole thing.

And this was a blood less coup .. .just FHI (For her info) :)

Just return on Friday 12/23 from Bangkok. Was there the same time last year as well and observe no difference. People seems have the same life, streets are as busy, and everything seems in the same order as before.

There was "I told you so" after today's bombings in Bangkok. This is exactly what she was afraid of. The other Vietnamese she has spoken with were very aware that something like this this was going to happen. I actually tried to make her feel like she was paranoid but she feels this is just the beginning and there will probably be more to come and now I look foolish.

If the Vietnamese lady has her own sources and network in Bangkok, there may be more to the theory that anti government types or pro-Thaksin types, if not one and the same, are behind the bombings. Doubt if the Islamic types in the far South would have alerted anyone close enough to BKK to spill over into the type of women's networks this Vietnamese lady might have.

I was pretty far off in my assessment of the current status of Martial Law here in Thailand! As of today Martial Law is still in effect in 35 of 76 provinces in Thailand, and the military has said, as of a few days ago, that they have no intention of lifting martial law for the forseeable future. As mentioned its effects on travelers is non-existent. Martial Law allows the military to be in charge of security (instead of the police), make arrests without warrants and monitor individuals deemed to be anti-coup. There may be curfews, 10 PM to 6 AM, in some districts in the southern provinces.

Upon further review it seems as though the lifting of martial law in the 41 provinces was never put forward for royal endorsement. It was proposed to do so but never actually submitted. This fact came to light as a result of the military reinforcing Bangkok as a result of the bombings of 31 Dec.

A crazy rumor I was told is that the country folk don't like the city folk. Enough that they may form their own political party. Sort of like Alabama bombing NYC or somthing. :rolleyes: This notion sounds very crazy to me since one certainly would not hate the other enough to bomb them.

A crazy rumor I was told is that the country folk don't like the city folk. Enough that they may form their own political party.
I'm not sure how sarcastic you're being here, but that's a fairly accurate two-sentence summary of Thai Rak Thai ("country") vs the Democrats ("city") in Thai politics...

I'm not buying too much into the "TRT did it!" theory though, because that's what the junta wants you to believe. The Southern separatists have been doing bombs like this for a long time down south and it's a fairly natural if regrettable progression for them to escalate to the capital where it can't be ignored.

I'm not sure how sarcastic you're being here, but that's a fairly accurate two-sentence summary of Thai Rak Thai ("country") vs the Democrats ("city") in Thai politics...Actually, I am not at all familiar with Thai politics but after reading a story this morning I am very impressed with the Vietnamese rumor mill. Her connections are with travel tour planners in Vietnam and they were avoiding the country because this impending violence between political parties. I have been very critical of her paranoia but I am the one with pie on my face.