I had a wonderful few days in Bangkok and was, as always, impressed with their resilience and their commitment to getting back to life!
While they have not apprehended a suspect in the recent bombing they have announced a crackdown on crime and I believe that it is safe to travel to and around Bangkok. We are advising all our trips continue as planned and we will continue to monitor the situation.
Until then please take a look at this great article from Yahoo Travel on how to plan ahead in today’s ever changing world, featuring yours truly.
The Erawan Shrine in Bangkok has survived the recent bombing.
“Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth,” says my taxi driver as he describes his typical day from the airport to town. “But today, you my only one. Not enough.”
I don’t take it personally. This is business, and since the bomb on Monday the driver tells me there are a lot fewer travelers arriving in Bangkok. The hotels have been telling me the same story – a lot of cancelled bookings, and those guests that are here are leaving early.
I’m here to gauge the situation and try to determine what advice I want to give our Journeys Within guests – and travelers in general – who have Thailand on their itinerary in the coming months. This is not the first time I’ve headed to Bangkok due to a bad situation. I was in Thailand after the tsunami, here during the first coup, here for the flooding and here for the protests. The truth is that when issues happen in any of the countries we work in, I like to be there on the ground so when I talk to my guests I can genuinely speak from experience. I think it’s my obligation as an expert of this region to have this first-hand knowledge.
So I’m here and I’m already hearing from the taxi driver that life is getting back to normal today. The schools that closed are back open, and so are the streets that had been closed after the blast.
After checking in, I did the one thing that always helps gauge the city, I went shopping. The malls in Bangkok are always a lively scene and are the best way to see just how locals and tourists alike are feeling. I took a taxi to Siam Square and visited the various malls and shopping centers. The truth is that if I hadn’t known about the bombs there was no indication of the aftermath in downtown Bangkok. All the various stores are open and being visited by large numbers of tourists – it felt very much like a typical Bangkok day.
Shopping malls in Bangkok seemed normal.
I met with friends for coffee and they said that people are scared, but life has to go on. They said they felt bad because they really didn’t have any answers for me and didn’t know if there was a reason to be scared and avoid Thailand or not. The general mood was one of sadness and resignation.
In the evening there was a news conference at the Erawan Shrine, the site of the bombing. A police spokesman showed the recently released sketch and explained their reasoning behind this man being the main suspect. After the conference I bought flowers and candles and made an offering at a shrine I’ve made many offerings to in the past, but this time it was with great sadness.
Police briefing at the Erawan Shrine.
So down to the nitty gritty: The reason I wanted to come here was to be able to offer tangible advise to our travelers. After being here I do think traveling to Bangkok is possible and life goes on as usual, but at the same time, it was the first time that I’ve visited Bangkok during a crisis and felt nervous. The attack on the Erawan Shrine was aimed at tourists and was unpredictable. Unlike the protests, this type of attack can’t be avoided, and no matter how careful and aware our guides are, we could put our guests in a dangerous situation. With that said, the Thai police are clearly searching for the suspect and I do believe they are actively working to solve the situation. Therefore, my advice for our guests is to not visit Bangkok in the next two weeks.
On September 1 we will reassess the situation. Right now we will absolutely support any guests that want to come to Bangkok, and for all the trips we have booked past September we advise waiting for the next two weeks before making any changes.
Tomorrow I’ll explore some more and chat with more friends and my team here. In the meantime if you have any questions on Bangkok and the situation please just let us know.
“People scared,” my taxi driver said wistfully, “but we Bangkok, we be okay.”
Here at Journeys Within, we were shocked and saddened to hear the news of the bombing near the Erawan Shrine in downtown Bangkok on Monday, Aug. 17, 2015. Our prayers will be with all of the victims, as well as with the Thai people as they attempt to recover from this terrible event.
Of course, the safety of our travelers in the region is our first priority, and our ground operations teams from our Bangkok and other Southeast Asia offices have been ensuring that all of our guests are safe and informed about the current situation in the Thai capital.
In addition, Journeys Within’s founder and CEO, Andrea Ross, will be diverting her Vietnam inspection tour to come to Bangkok to help assess the security situation and work with our ground operations teams in assisting any of our guests with plans to travel in the region.
Our teams are monitoring the news and advisories, and will be personally contacting all of our guests that may be impacted by this event to adjust itineraries if needed.
And we will provide updated information here on this blog post as it becomes available.
Advice for Journeys Within travelers visiting Thailand in the future
At Journeys Within, guest safety is always our number one priority, and our Bangkok office will be monitoring the situation on the ground in Bangkok and throughout the country in the coming days, weeks and months to ensure that our guests are aware of any risks that might still exist after this incident.
While it appears that Thai authorities now have a suspect in the Monday bombing, information is still extremely limited at the moment; however, we will be in contact with all Journeys Within guests traveling to or near Bangkok to fill them in on our first-hand assessment from the ground vs. the current media hype.
