If you've checked out the news in the past few days, you may have noticed that there are world-wide reports with headlines such as 'Bangkok under state of emergency' and 'Thai protesters vow more action'. You may even have read of protests in Phuket causing the shut-down of the airport. Unfortunately this is true but should be short-lived. (If you are contemplating the relevance of the image shown... This is Bay 2 on Ko Racha Yai and is where I have generally been while it is all kicking off in Bangkok!)First i must add that it is BANGKOK that is under a state of emergency, not Phuket. In fact, as a tourist on holiday here in Phuket right now you would have difficulty even realising that anything was going on at all. There was disruption at the airport last weekend causing temporary closure. It was however soon realised that Phuket airport was a key location for the protesters (as well as the tourists) to reach Bangkok however, hence within 24 hours, it was open and fully-functional once more.
Despite a short burst of violence in Bangkok, any Phuket protests have remained peaceful and centred around the Provincial Hall that is off the tourist path in Phuket City. The aim of these protests is quite simply to show support for the Bangkok protests in their wish to force Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to resign. Good news is that despite Samak giving extra powers to the military through his declaration of a state of emergency in Bangkok, the army have refused to become involved in a political situation that they believe cannot be solved by military intervention. Finally, some sense!
In the short term, our advice is that if you are planning a trip here in the next couple of weeks, be sure not to get involved in any gatherings. If you go looking for trouble then you can probably find it, but to continue with your 'normal' holiday plans should be no big deal. Of course we will keep you as up to date as possible. In the long term, there seems to be no doubt among locals that this will all be over soon, with or without Samak as Prime Minister.
Our message: Phuket is safe. With season after season of bad media reports of Bali bombings, SARS, bird flu, tsunami etc affecting the diving tourist industry here (all of which with the exception of the tsunami had little direct effect), we hope to see support for the coming 2008/9 season. In return, we will keep you as up to date as possible and if you have any questions about the current situation please feel free to contact us.
For more information about Thailand and diving vacations from Phuket you can always check out our Day Trip Diving website or the website exclusive to our luxury diving liveaboard.
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