Day 7: Stuck in Thailand
So... for the first time in my life, I can say that my flight was cancelled due to attempts to overthrow the government.
And rather than feel worried or frightened, I'm simply annoyed.
I was really counting on getting to Singapore today, as I'm a bit sick of Thailand, and Phuket in particular. For those of you (I'm guessing most of you, as this story isn't really being covered by western media) who don't know, there are some major riots and protests going on in Bangkok right now, and they are seriously attempting to overthrow the current government. Which isn't a particularly unusual thing in Thailand, though it's slightly unusual that so many people have joined together in this movement - the last coup was in 2006, and it was done swiftly by the government and was completely bloodless.
Anyway, here's the story about why the airport has been shut down, as I don't think that I could do a much better job at explaining the situation.
The thing is, I didn't think that I'd be affected by this, as I'm in Phuket, not Bangkok, and the airport here is still open. But as it turns out, the flight to Singapore uses a plane that's housed in Bangkok, and until that airport re-opens, my flight is cancelled.
So. I've been "re-booked" on the same flight for tomorrow, but I'm using quotation marks as I highly doubt that the Bangkok airport will re-open in the next 24 hours. Hopefully, I'll be able to pay a bit extra and get my ticket switch to a flight to KL, in Malaysia, and from there I'll take the 6 hour busride down to Singapore. If that's not an option, then I'll probably be taking a bus the whole way, which will be, uh, less than fun - it's about 9 or 10 hours just to the southern border of Thailand, and probably an equally long trip down to Johor Bahru (the border crossing to Singapore). I'd prefer not to spend my Thanksgiving on a bus, but I'd also prefer not to spend it in Phuket, so compromises must be made, I suppose.
For now, I've moved to a cheap hotel in Phuket Town, and it's markedly better than Patong. I've had some good food and mentally chided myself to chill out, so I'm feeling much better.
And rather than feel worried or frightened, I'm simply annoyed.
I was really counting on getting to Singapore today, as I'm a bit sick of Thailand, and Phuket in particular. For those of you (I'm guessing most of you, as this story isn't really being covered by western media) who don't know, there are some major riots and protests going on in Bangkok right now, and they are seriously attempting to overthrow the current government. Which isn't a particularly unusual thing in Thailand, though it's slightly unusual that so many people have joined together in this movement - the last coup was in 2006, and it was done swiftly by the government and was completely bloodless.
Anyway, here's the story about why the airport has been shut down, as I don't think that I could do a much better job at explaining the situation.
The thing is, I didn't think that I'd be affected by this, as I'm in Phuket, not Bangkok, and the airport here is still open. But as it turns out, the flight to Singapore uses a plane that's housed in Bangkok, and until that airport re-opens, my flight is cancelled.
So. I've been "re-booked" on the same flight for tomorrow, but I'm using quotation marks as I highly doubt that the Bangkok airport will re-open in the next 24 hours. Hopefully, I'll be able to pay a bit extra and get my ticket switch to a flight to KL, in Malaysia, and from there I'll take the 6 hour busride down to Singapore. If that's not an option, then I'll probably be taking a bus the whole way, which will be, uh, less than fun - it's about 9 or 10 hours just to the southern border of Thailand, and probably an equally long trip down to Johor Bahru (the border crossing to Singapore). I'd prefer not to spend my Thanksgiving on a bus, but I'd also prefer not to spend it in Phuket, so compromises must be made, I suppose.
For now, I've moved to a cheap hotel in Phuket Town, and it's markedly better than Patong. I've had some good food and mentally chided myself to chill out, so I'm feeling much better.