Originally Posted by
Sirhalberd
I have been inconvenienced by plane crashes closing runways and my plane diverted to another airport far away. I have had breakdowns and other problems with aircraft that screwed up my connections all down the line. Not to mention snowstorms, hurricanes, typhoons and heavy wind messing up schedules. Even NineEleven sidetracked me overseas for a while.
So crap can happen anywhere and at anytime that we have to adjust to. I am not changing any future travel plans because some protests might happen. If something comes up I and probably a few more like me will just have to deal with it. There is always a possibility that something will happen somewhere at some time anywhere we fly. Crap just happens sometimes!
I live in Bangkok, and love the country, but I can't help but question your statements and attitude.
Plane crash: more or less the same odds in any country.
Airport shutdown: if you were flying to Sydney, Honolulu, Athens or Bangkok, which airport do you think is most likely to be closed due to political turmoil?
Not everybody wants to "deal with what comes up" if they're traveling on vacation and have limited time off work. I live here and accept the instability, but I'd definitely think twice if I had 10 days for a trip... for most vacation destinations, you consider climate/weather, price, activities, etc... in Thailand, you also
need to consider current political landscape. I can't even get my own mother to come here, and in a sense, I understand her sentiment.
As for the Thai govt preventing future airport shutdowns with certainty, I disagree 100%. It could happen easily, tomorrow, and likely will happen again in the next few years. The only possible difference will be whether the govt uses violence to evict the protesters and re-open the airport (I think they will).
There's exactly 1 thing holding Thailand together and preventing all these "little inconveniences" (as some would call them) from snowballing into huge events (a.k.a., tragedies), and he's basically a living symbol of the country, and he's over 80 years old. Good luck to those with the people with the "all these little things are no big deal" attitude when that glue is gone.
PS -- all this is happening amongst the beginnings of a global, deflationary depression... even if the country were more stable, they'd see a decrease in tourism, but this is going to make it even worse.