The Department of State issues traveling warning to Thailand after its recent coup. The new ruling military junta announced Thursday that four top members of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's administration had been detained. Shinawatra himself is believed to have fled to England, where he reunited with his wife and family. The move came as the military banned meetings of political parties and barred the establishment of new parties. Also, coup leaders said they were assuming the duties and powers of parliament, which had been dissolved. Although many Thais favor the peaceful (but very quick and tense) military takeover and Bangkok has returned to normal state, I don't think I want to travel in the midst of heightened alert, not to mention that the military has cordoned off the Thai-Burmese and Thai-Laoian borders. So I have no point of going if I'll be greeted by road blocks. The trains are running ontime and coup has been largely unnoticed by travelers. But my planning to take a bus from Chiang Mai to the northernmost province of Chiang Rai and the subsequent trip to cross the border might present a problem. So I called the airline to cancel Bangkok and book an E-ticket to Kuala Lumpur instead, where I'll connect another flight to the tropical island of Langkawi. The return trip will be made via Singapore where I'll stay with a friend of mine before heading back to Hong Kong.
The Department of State issues traveling warning to Thailand after its recent coup. The new ruling military junta announced Thursday that four top members of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's administration had been detained. Shinawatra himself is believed to have fled to England, where he reunited with his wife and family. The move came as the military banned meetings of political parties and barred the establishment of new parties. Also, coup leaders said they were assuming the duties and powers of parliament, which had been dissolved. Although many Thais favor the peaceful (but very quick and tense) military takeover and Bangkok has returned to normal state, I don't think I want to travel in the midst of heightened alert, not to mention that the military has cordoned off the Thai-Burmese and Thai-Laoian borders. So I have no point of going if I'll be greeted by road blocks. The trains are running ontime and coup has been largely unnoticed by travelers. But my planning to take a bus from Chiang Mai to the northernmost province of Chiang Rai and the subsequent trip to cross the border might present a problem. So I called the airline to cancel Bangkok and book an E-ticket to Kuala Lumpur instead, where I'll connect another flight to the tropical island of Langkawi. The return trip will be made via Singapore where I'll stay with a friend of mine before heading back to Hong Kong.
2 Comments:
All in all - I hope you have a safe trip.
Yes, have a safe trip. At least you're not letting the coup shake up your plans too much. Kuala Lumpur seems like such an interesting city.
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