Bangkok airport resumes operation

[LaaMok]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7766390.stm

 

Thailand's main international airport has officially resumed full operations, two days after anti-government protesters left the site.

 

Flights have been leaving Suvarnabhumi since Wednesday, but passengers were still having to check-in at a convention centre east of Bangkok.

 

An airport spokeswoman said a flight to Moscow officially marked the resumption of full airport operations.

 

Meanwhile, Thailand celebrated its king's birthday amid political turmoil.

 

In an unexpected move, King Bhumibol Adulyadej did not give his traditional speech to the nation on Thursday, the eve of his 81st birthday.

 

Crown Prince Varjiralongkorn went on the radio instead to say his father was a "little sick".

 

Thais had been looking forward to hearing from their much-loved monarch, who has long been looked to for guidance in times of turmoil.

 

'Smooth resumption'

 

The most recent focus of that turmoil was two airports outside Bangkok, where anti-government protesters camped for more than a week to force the prime minister to resign, stranding thousands of travellers as all air traffic was stopped.

 

"Suvarnabhumi has officially resumed operations. All of the staff here are so happy to return to work," the Airports of Thailand spokeswoman said.

 

Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej

King Bhumibol is the world's longest-serving monarch

 

"Thai Airways TG971 bound for Moscow officially marked the full and smooth resumption of the airport."

 

There were puppet shows and dance performances as Thailand tried to inject an air of celebration into the re-opening, says the BBC's John Sudworth in Bangkok.

 

However, hundreds of passengers are still facing uncertainty about when they can return home as not all airlines are operating a full service.

 

There are still a large number of cancelled flights and those that have been scheduled are very overbooked.

 

Some passengers are being told that it may take as much as another week before they can be guaranteed a seat.

 

For the country, the crisis itself is very much unresolved, our correspondent adds.

 

The political divisions that prompted the protesters to stage their week-long occupation of the terminal building remain as strong as ever, and Thailand is leaderless with no date set for the nomination of a new prime minister.

 

Thousands of protesters from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) packed up their camps after a court on Tuesday dissolved the ruling party and forced the Prime Minister, Somchai Wongsawat, out of office for electoral fraud.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7766390.stm

[whitespider - RIP]

Just a few things to throw into the pile here.

 

The airport authorities say it will take weeks for all operations to be back to normal. That, coupled with the fact that airlines will undoubtedly have cancellations, could mean lost flights. Check with your carrier. Already I read that Etihad are "holding" ongoing flights from Abu Dhabi while they wait for other incoming flights to fill the seats. This has led to 40 minute stopovers becoming 8 hour stopovers. My advice if you are travelling soon is to TRY and get direct flights.

 

Also, THAI Air are suing PAD for 20 billion baht - that could be interesting.

 

Finally, and not so good news, a PAD spokesman was quoted as follows (not verbatim).

"we are leaving the airport because we have won this battle but I think within two weeks we will be back"!

 

That sounds like a reaction to the court ruling plus the fact its the Kings Birthday. Once the kings birthday is over and the new parliament reconvenes it seems they will step up action again.

[Posankka]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7766390.stm

 

 

 

Flights have been leaving Suvarnabhumi since Wednesday, but passengers were still having to check-in at a convention centre east of Bangkok.

 

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7766390.stm

 

 

Call your airlines before you head out to the airport.

 

I leave tomorrow, so I called Thai Airlines and there was a recording that said after 6am 5 Dec (today) you can check in at the main airport, where as prevoiusly they were checking in at a convention center.

Edited December 5, 2008 by Posankka

[smiler]

Just heard BA and QANTAS are resuming flights from London to Bangkok this weekend. Yippee

[jocky king]

That sounds like a reaction to the court ruling plus the fact its the Kings Birthday. Once the kings birthday is over and the new parliament reconvenes it seems they will step up action again......By Whtespider

 

Dont like the sound of it.. Looks likely PAD will be acting a bollox again in two weeks time...

[SneakySnake]

maybe this time, they can pre-emptively send half the millitary to Suvarnabhumi first, so PAD simply can not come in...

[growler]

That sounds like a reaction to the court ruling plus the fact its the Kings Birthday. Once the kings birthday is over and the new parliament reconvenes it seems they will step up action again......By Whtespider

 

Dont like the sound of it.. Looks likely PAD will be acting a bollox again in two weeks time...

 

Acting the bollocks Jocky.

[gaprau25]

OK, I don't like that last statement by the PAD bullyboy. I'm arriving on the 23rd, so they better not screw up my trip! But if they take over in January and "force me" to stay in Thailand for an extra week, that wouldn't be such a bad thing. lol

 

Gotta say though, I'd be surprised if the majority of Thai people -- who are pissed at the PAD people for causing this much damage to the economy -- will let them get that entrenched again.

[Scumbag]

maybe this time, they can pre-emptively send half the millitary to Suvarnabhumi first, so PAD simply can not come in...

I have no doubt that the military knew what PAD was going to do before it happen. I am sure that Sondhi spoke to some high up people before marching his muppets to the airport. Why would it be different second time around? Let's hope that if they try it again the police can put a stop to it before it happens.

[geld]

I don't really get whats going on. The papers and blogs are rife with dark rumors about coups and revolts, but the only thing they point to is that the PM who just resigned was really just a puppet of some previous PM. What are the actual issues involved? I would imagine that the resorts are near ghost towns now. Sad. Pattaya was a real hopping place when I was there in the late 80s.

[Rooster2b8]

Contacted NWA for a flight to Tokyo from Bangkok and booked a flight for Thursday the 11th in Business class. They could not tell me if we will fly out or not on Thursday, but since it is reserved in Business class maybe there won't be any problems. Of course the airlines doesn't want to turn down money, but I wonder if business class will take presidence over coach? Any ideas?

[big shooter]

Contacted NWA for a flight to Tokyo from Bangkok and booked a flight for Thursday the 11th in Business class. They could not tell me if we will fly out or not on Thursday, but since it is reserved in Business class maybe there won't be any problems. Of course the airlines doesn't want to turn down money, but I wonder if business class will take presidence over coach? Any ideas?

Yes, you might get bumped down to economy but at a business class price.

[scubaadiver56]

This is good news and somewhat surprised how quick they did this. i hope next time when this happens, and I think it will, the police and army step in and handle this type of issue immediatly.

 

Time to take a vacation....

[budhah]

Contacted NWA for a flight to Tokyo from Bangkok and booked a flight for Thursday the 11th in Business class. They could not tell me if we will fly out or not on Thursday, but since it is reserved in Business class maybe there won't be any problems. Of course the airlines doesn't want to turn down money, but I wonder if business class will take presidence over coach? Any ideas?

 

 

I was booked in on NWA for the 4th, and had to rebook. I now am hoping that Jan 20th is not screwed up.. I don't care if another plan ever leaves, once I get there... LOL....

 

Checked with the internet site.. supposedly NW made it in today.. I sure bet that any foreigner walking down the street will be grabbed by almost every gal he passes.. Massages will be half price. and Happy endings will be free.. Yehaaa

 

Well maybe I do.. I sure miss American Hot Dogs.

[Muadib]

Just in the nick of time as I fly in next week... As long as the PAD doesn't get their panties in a twist before the of January when I fly out, I'm good...

 

I don't pretend to completely understand Thai politics, but let's just say that things are not always as they seem... Much like soap operas on the tele...

[Scumbag]

Just in the nick of time as I fly in next week... As long as the PAD doesn't get their panties in a twist before the of January when I fly out, I'm good...

 

I don't pretend to completely understand Thai politics, but let's just say that things are not always as they seem... Much like soap operas on the tele...

The make up of the new government should be known next week. If it is to PAD's liking then there should be no problem.

[budhah]

Any time you talk about taking the vote from poor people, I wonder what is about to happen?? While on the other hand, American election was bought with promises of tax rebates for 95% of the people.. Tax the super rich. Full give aways ahead. LOL

[rainmon]

Any time you talk about taking the vote from poor people, I wonder what is about to happen?? While on the other hand, American election was bought with promises of tax rebates for 95% of the people.. Tax the super rich. Full give aways ahead. LOL

 

I have lived in Thailand 3 years, never paid much attention to the politics until moving to Bangkok a few months ago. Most of the Thai people I know here and work with (who are big property owners, wealthy and professional Thai people) hate Thaskin and back the PAD, they believe he is greedy and corrupt. The PM was married to his sister and he will not give up his fight to try and control the country even by proxy, the PAD was smart to shut the airports, especially during high season, if it was not for the India terrorists story the Thai PAD would have gotten more attention, but anyway they achieved their result. Now finally they may be able to get someone in power with no connection to Thaskin. I believe this was their only way of getting the attention they needed to let the world know how badly they wanted this jerk out of power. So, now, the Thai economy will suffer even more, as many tourist have already canceled their Christmas and New Years plans, the Pattaya sex tourist will still come, but this is only a small part of Thailand’s tourist industry and the country’s economy will be very shaken for a long while given the world wide economic downturn. Property prices will begin to fall and the holiday tourists next year will have 2nd thoughts about coming. If you want to buy a condo, wait, you will be getting at least a 20% discount this time next year (if you still have a job in your home country). Cheers!

[Black Orchid]

The anti-government protesters cleans the ground as they prepare to leave Suvarnabhumi and carry their belongings as they leave the airport

 

 

 

 

 

[.Q.]

Has anyopne on here arrived or departed since they left the airport??

[Scumbag]

The make up of the new government should be known next week. If it is to PAD's liking then there should be no problem.

At the moment things are looking promising. It looks like the opposition has formed a coalition with some of the smaller parties that were part of the coalition with PPP and factions from the PPP to gain a majority in Parliment. With a bit of luck this should end the political crisis.

 

Democrats take over

[bogey]

Any time you talk about taking the vote from poor people, I wonder what is about to happen?? While on the other hand, American election was bought with promises of tax rebates for 95% of the people.. Tax the super rich. Full give aways ahead. LOL

 

Maybe seems like a long time now but dont you remember how the US election was stolen in Florida? LOL too

[Shuggy]

I was speaking to a friend today who works for Thai Air in Melbourne.

 

Things are definately not back to normal yet. She told me that Thai are still cancelling a few flights in and out of Australia (mainly effceting Sydney) due to aircraft issues. She wouldnt elaborate on what those issues were.

 

She also told me that one of the 777's that comes into Melbourne was the 777/300 which is the low spec aircraft with out the decent in flight entertainment.

 

They are also looking at contingency plans for (direct quote) "when this happens again"

Edited December 8, 2008 by Shuggy

[Scumbag]

I was speaking to a friend today who works for Thai Air in Melbourne.

 

Things are definately not back to normal yet. She told me that Thai are still cancelling a few flights in and out of Australia (mainly effceting Sydney) due to aircraft issues. She wouldnt elaborate on what those issues were.

 

She also told me that one of the 777's that comes into Melbourne was the 777/300 which is the low spec aircraft with out the decent in flight entertainment.

 

They are also looking at contingency plans for (direct quote) "when this happens again"

According to the Bangkok Post the airport is now back to operating at full capacity: Suvarnabhumi operates at full capacity

 

Maybe the airlines are having a few problems with their game of catch-up...

 

I don't know that it will happen again. It looks like the opposition will form a coalition with some of the parties that formed a coalition with the now defunct PPP. You would assume that PAD would be happy about that. That only leaves UDD unhappy. I think you would find that the military’s response to the UDD trying to close the airport would be completely different.

[Cennn3]

Has anyopne on here arrived or departed since they left the airport??

 

I flew from there on the 6th Dec and the queues were pretty big and people who were told they had flights booked were being put on stand by. Also had an old shitty plane to fly back on.