In Reply to: what is happing posted by bali_ nut on Saturday, 30. August 2008 at 10:39 Bali Time:
its particularly dangerous for tourists. i live in bali now and prior to living here, i lived and worked in thailand for 8 years.
i was there for the last coup, where i was in phuket. reports coming out of australia (our tv stations were shut down) were particularly bad and my brother actually advised me to come home based on those reports (shots being fired etc). that day i drove to work and aside from the fact that the schools were closed, you wouldnt know that anything had happened.
on the way to work that day i called my old boss in bkk who was driving through the middle of sanam luang (the big park in bkk where the main protest was held) in a taxi. he said that that there were no problems at all and that the locals were handing the soldiers flowers.
now, getting to the protests that are going on now. the company i work for has offices in phuket, bangkok, samui etc in the south of thailand. flights in and out are still running, as far as i am aware. the main thing being affected is the transportation to and from the airport. vehicles have to stop outside the airport and guests have to be escorted in and out of the terminal.
in fact, this report is from a friend on the ground who lives 500m from the airport:
Update re Phuket airport - 07.20am (Saturday)
i just went to the airport to check out the situation. No sign of any PAD supporters, nor police nor soldiers. The airport is open but all incoming and outgoing flights are cancelled until midday. In the afternoon, extra flights will be laid on to catch up with the backlog.
my friends in phuket are going about their daily business as usual. there does not appear to be any threat to westerners and they do not feel as if they are in any danger.
i know people who are in the thick of it at the airport as i write this and they tell me that they do not feel as if they are in a dangerous situation.