Bangkok Protests: The Effects

Apologies for not being able to write about this earlier. Mik & myself (Kerry) were happily out in the Similans having a ball with our lovely on-board guests and didn't have much of an idea until we returned to Chalong on 30th November. Understandably our day on land was spent trying to arrange alternatives for those guests leaving us and ensure those guests coming to join us on our next cruise could make it to us!

Believe it or not - I know the media can blow these things up - all went remarkably smoothly! All of our guests arriving for the next cruise had flown directly to Phuket with no problems. A couple were meant to be flying back to the US that day but made the genius decision to postpone their flights and join us for the next cruise, doing 2 cruises back to back. Brilliant! In the end, we had 3 familiar faces on board filling spaces that they had filled just a day before on our previous cruise. Mik and i would like to thank Alex, Steve & Beth for the ultimate honour of staying on board with us.

The long term effects are presumably not good, especially now that Thailand has been ranked in the top 5 most dangerous countries in the World to visit alongside Iraq and Afghanistan!! Really, it is absurd!!! But for any guests thinking of coming here, or for those of you that have already booked liveaboard trips with us for the rest of 2008 and early 2009, please do not worry or panic.

Phuket is safe. If you can fly directly to Phuket then you are probably at an advantage. Being on holiday in Phuket you would never have noticed the political situation in Bangkok. We are a good long way away here in Phuket and prefer the peaceful holiday environment that you are all hoping to enjoy on your vacations!

Bangkok is also safe but obviously any future closing of the airport will cause problems for anybody trying to reach us via Bangkok. All i can say is that the political situation for the time being is calm and doesn't look likely to explode into protests again any time soon. An election is currently being arranged (which can take some time) and it is highly unlikely that there will be protests during this time. If you are visiting Thailand, now would be a good time to make sure you have adequate travel insurance, but really, you should be fine.

In the meantime, relax and continue to dream of that diving vacation on MV Philkade. Check out some of these great pictures taken last week by Beth Welch of the USA while on-board for our Burma and Similan cruises. Also, if you do have any concerns or questions, please drop us an email at admin@philkade.com or check out our official web-site for all of our trip reports and general information.