BK

Being the complete travel geek that I am, I can reel off on demand a list of the countries on the Foreign Consulate Office's "Don't Go" list. I also know where they are in order to not waste time gazing at them on my map-of-the-world shower curtain. (Don't joke, this is where much of my travel inspiration comes from). I have, as yet, no desire to visit any of the countries on this list, excpeting possibly Yemen, but was sad to see that Thailand had made an appearance due to the volatile political situation in the country.

The FCO's advice is as follows:

We advise against all but essential travel to the whole of Thailand due to the increasingly volatile and tense political situation. Violent incidents of an unpredictable nature are occurring in many parts of Thailand. On 28 April there were serious clashes between troops and anti-government protestors as they travelled towards Talad Thai in Pathumthani province (close to Bangkok’s second airport, Don Muang). One soldier was killed and at least ten people were injured. In the early hours of 27 April, substantial numbers of troops deployed in Central Bangkok. On 26/27 April there were at least eight incidents in various parts of Thailand involving protestors setting up barricades, in some instances leading to clashes with the security forces. In the last week, protests and violent incidents have taken place in other parts of Thailand including popular tourist destinations such as Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Ayuthaya and other locations.

I visited Bangkok last summer at the end of a month-long trip to South East Asia with my friends Sam, Jen and Nicola. Some government protests had taken place prior to our arrival, including the siege of Suvarnabhumi airport, but by then the situation had calmed down (although my Mother, still haunted by news pictures of a burning bus on a Bangkok street some months before, barely slept while I was in the city). On one day, the concierge at our hotel advised us not to go to a certain part of town where anti-government sentiments were high, and on another our tuk-tuk drove past a group of protesters, although this demonstration appeared to be peaceful. Bangkok happened to be my least favourite city on our South East Asia journey for reasons I find it difficult to describe. I guess it just didn't have the charm of the places we visited in Vietnam and Cambodia. I just didn't like the vibe there and am not sure if the underlying discontent among the people was a factor in this or not. Although it was momentarily suppressed, you could still sense it.

Thailand's recent status as a no-go zone will inevitably have effects on the travel of South East Asia. Bangkok is considered to be the gateway to the region due to both the abundance of overground routes departing from it daily and its well-connected airport. Many of the people we met, like ourselves, began or ended their travels in Bangkok for this very reason. Of course, it is possible to explore South East Asia and avoid Thailand, but it could be argued that in doing this, you deny yourself part of the experience. Although Bangkok was not for me, I would never dissuade anybody else from visiting it as it is one of those places which has to be seen. I plan to get back there one day but for the sole purpose of using it as a base to explore the rest of Thailand. It looks as though these plans will need to be put on hold, at least for the time being.

Some happy memories in Bangkok with Jen and Sam:

By the way, you can buy map-of-the-world shower curtains from Habitat for £22.00 here