It was supposed to be a simple scouting trip to Koh Samui in Thailand to check out a property I’m interested in buying. 2 hours on the phone with a Trailfinders agent and I’m booked. I’m due to leave from London 19th April.
I drive over to Marseille early on Sunday to catch a lift with a friend who is driving to London as my flight has been cancelled due to volcanic ash over London. Only when I arrive in Marseille can my travel agent confirm that my Monday flight has been cancelled as well, so I return to Nice. I rearrange my trip to Koh Samui, leaving on April 28th. April 26th I am told by Trailfinders that the Foreign Office are saying ‘Don’t go to Bangkok’ due to unrest. I decide to take my life in my hands by refusing to cancel my trip due to the redshirts demonstrations.
Yesterday i receive an email from Trailfinders my excellent travel agent. ‘The Foreign Office have advised against all but essential travel to Thailand. Please check their website’. So I do that. It talks about the upsets and its effect on central Bangkok. It mentions that Thailand has very strict laws against drug smuggling, including the death sentence. It mentions date rape being common, and increasing violence against tourists in places like Koh Samui. It mentions a few diseases. I begin to wonder if I should travel there on my own.Transiting Bangkok airport is Ok it says. So as I am transiting Bangkok airport, admittedly to fly on to Koh Samui, I look at Tripadvisor, typing in ‘Koh Samui unrest’. Immediately a thread comes up.. someone is asking what the situation is like, as she will be travelling there on May 10th.. every reply is the same.. ‘you wouldn’t know what is going on here if you didn’t watch the news’. ‘There is nothing going on here at all’. ‘Don’t worry, everyone here is having a great time’. I decide to carry on with my trip.
Wednesday morning, and I am showering when my mobile phone goes.. it’s my sister.. ‘Did you know the Foreign Office have changed their advice re Thailand? It’s all over the news.. they are now attacking tourists’. I say ‘I know, but I’m still going as I don’t think Koh Samui will be affected by the unrest’. Could be famous last words..
And so here I am, sitting in Heathrow airport, having flown in with BA, earlier today. My flight leaves at 9.30pm tonight, so I have a few hours to review that decision. I log on to the free wifi here, and recheck the situation. No change.
I’ve arranged to meet my sister for a quick meal at Heathrow. As we settle down to a drink, she passes a piece of paper to me.. it has the British Consul’s number in Thailand on it..’I’m not telling you you can’t go, but do be careful’. ‘Thanks’ I say, ‘I’m going, it’s my decision’.
Coming in to land at Bangkok airport I look for any signs of disturbance on the roads. I can’t see any at all..
At the Bangkok Airways transfer desk I ask whether they have had a lot of cancellations due to the FO’s announcement. ‘No, we haven’t had many at all’. Seems like everyone else decided to come too then.
I go buy a couple of books about Thailand, and Spa treatments (more to follow in later posts), and make my way to the departure lounge. I see no sign of any violence, and I am reminded at every step how friendly the Thai people are, and how organised. There are orchids everywhere..even in the ladies toilets at the airport. How I love orchids!
And so, the full plane lands at Koh Samui, tropical palms swaying in a sunny setting. No sign of redshirts here, just flower covered open-air passenger buses to take us to the terminal.
I am met and whisked to the Imperial Boat House Hotel.. at last I can relax and unpack, and plan my day tomorrow..
