I am so fed up about this, I am not due to travel until November, but as I only have flights to Bangkok booked at the moment I am unsure as to whether I should book any internal flights and hotels, I am seriously considering cancelling altogether, I phoned Emirates tonight and we will loose £100 pp

we are sticking with it. At the moment we only have 2 nights in Bangkok which we can change. Hua Hin is ok just now as are other areas of Thailand.

Shirley, I wouldn't make any rash decisions, let things blow over. Remember the situation is limited to Bangkok, and even then a distinct area around Lumpini Park. I'm sure by November there will be no issues at all. I've spoken to someone in Bangkok this morning, they havn't noticed a thing (they are staying near the airport though).

Just hold off for a week or two in terms of booking things if it would make you feel happier.

Yep give it a few weeks. However the two sides seem irreconcilable. Its one reason why we skipped Bangkok on our last Far East holiday. I fear Thailand may be heading down the road of continous unrest. Could you consder using another Far East city as a hub - KL or Singapore.

Unfortunately not Sunbear , as my flights are confirmed but I am not going to do anything rash, I will see how things go.....I have actually booked 1 nights hotel in Bangkok, I was going to travel on to Chiang Mai, then Samet. Will need to decide something soon as I don't want my internal flights to go up in price... decisions , decisions

you could always revisit Cambodia Shirley We have paid for our Bangkok flights too but there are options as Bangkok is a great hub airport.

Well, yes Fiona the thought had crossed my mind Sihanoukville looks good to me

I'm fed up too

Our flights are booked and paid for to fly to Phuket in October. We are not required to pay for our accommodation until August.

At the moment we have annual travel insurance which runs out the end of May so we have to re insure for the October trip. As I have a pre existing medical condition our travel insurance is expensive so 'we' decided to leave it until we returned from Bali in May.

Now this civil unrest in Bangkok has broken out the travel insurance companies have removed the cancellation clause for flights and accommodation as it is no longer unforeseen... this is for the whole of Thailand including Phuket.

*off now to give the OH an ear bashing as it was his brilliant (tight) idea to wait till later*

Cheers Geri

The talks now appear to have broken down completely.

***The talks now appear to have broken down completely*** and that's just me and my OH

Seriously... we have decided it is what it is and we will wait and see. Hopefully the Australian Gov will follow suit of the FCO and just nominate Bangkok as a trouble zone. Currently it's the whole of Thailand and not just Bangkok.

Just as an aside... we have to worry this is a financial consideration from the insurance companies here ... given we have had a LOT of natural mishaps the last couple of years. Black Saturday bush fires and terrible storm damage just naming two. This will push up the insurance premiums and they are not taking any chances on a Thai civil unrest.

Cheers Geri

The FCO have today advised against travel to Thailand (not just Bangkok)

The FCO warning is the nanny state at its worst.

Put it this way. After the London tube bombings a couple of years ago, would you have cancelled a trip to Edinburgh on safety grounds? Would you have advised anyone on a travel forum to cancel a similar trip if their country issued a warning against travel to all of the UK? Probably not, even if you had to fly into Heathrow in order to get your plane/train to Scotland.

Now double the distance between London & Edinburgh and that's how far Phuket (for example) is from the protests in Bangkok.

I can see that Bangkok city centre might be a bit worrying for some so just avoid it and head out to the beach as soon as you land.

Outside Bangkok, in the tourist areas, it is life as normal. No effect on daily life at all. Just pack a red shirt and a yellow shirt and also something khaki ( just in case there's another coup) and you'll have no problems.

The FCO warning is the nanny state at its worst.

Put it this way. After the London tube bombings a couple of years ago, would you have cancelled a trip to Edinburgh on safety grounds? Would you have advised anyone on a travel forum to cancel a similar trip if their country issued a warning against travel to all of the UK? Probably not, even if you had to fly into Heathrow in order to get your plane/train to Scotland.

Just wanted to 2nd macfarang who put it better than I could in my tired state having to work until midnight having to help our consultants rebook people travelling to Thailand today and salvage honeymoons. Travel insurance can in some cases be completely void. If you were in Krabi and fell over on the beach and hurt your leg, you probably won't be covered for medical costs, despite it being completely irrelevant to situation in Bangkok - therefore most people won't travel.

Tourism Concern highlighted a few major issues with FCO inconsistencies & Bali - I can't find the full report, but here is a snippet:

Indonesia and the USA both suffered horrific terrorist attacks in 2002, but the resulting UK travel advice could not have been more different. Indonesia received a blanket ban on ‘all non-essential travel' due to the bombing incident in Bali, but the FCO only advised ‘vigilance' to the USA, with the media actively promoting tourism to the country. The same travel restrictions continued to be imposed on Indonesia throughout 2003 and into 2004 and its tourism industry was devastated by the drastic reduction in visitors. Bali suffered an average income decline of 43% and its sales revenues plummeted by 71% - 31% of schools reporting students dropping out during 2003 as a consequence.

http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/index.php?page=foreign-office-travel-advice

Past events in Thailand may have swayed the decision. We've seen airports at Bangkok and Phuket be taken under protester control before - most people on a visit to Thailand will transit via Bangkok airport. Asean summits in Hua Hin have been disrupted in the past. So its not as if tourist areas have not been targeted before. Sadly Thailand looks like a country that is on the verge of civil war

Note that travelling to an area once an FCO advisory against travel is in force could invalidate resulting travel insurance claims.

Note that travelling to an area once an FCO advisory against travel is in force could invalidate resulting travel insurance claims.

This is far worse for tourism than the actual FCO warning as a large number of people will cancel or postpone trips if they cant get insurance. Anyone who's been to Thailand before realises the situation isnt quite as bleak as the FCO makes out and the risk of being shot is minimal. They still want to come but if they cant get insurance then many wont.

Surely there must be one sensible insurer in the UK who will still pay out for visitors to Thailand?

I would very much doubt that any insurer would pay out if travelling against FCO advice. To be honest, its the photos and videos from Bangkok that is having a bigger impact on me than the official advice. Lets just hope things settle down quickly for everyone's sake-Thais and holidaymakers

Bangkok 16th May. Out to buy a red shirt by the looks of it.

Spoken to two people now who have said "our insurance would still be valid as normal as long as claim not based on civil unrest" and still wish to travel to Thailand (avoiding Bangkok). Good for them!

One of the insurers are AMEX, will check on the other.

It's a scenario that was dealt with in Bali by Garuda Indonesia UK negotiating special insurance that would cover people travelling as long as any claims were not terrorist related. I'll investigate further with TAT, they should hopefully arrange something similar.