TRANSPORT and tourism-related businesses in Thailand are still operating as usual with no obstructions despite a coup d’état and curfew declared by Thai army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha yesterday.
The Royal Thai Army has imposed a nationwide curfew between 22.00 and 05.00 as well as a ban on public gatherings of more than five people, with the ruling applying to both locals and tourists alike.
However, exceptions will be granted for those travelling to and from the airport during the curfew hours, and tourists are advised to have passports and airline tickets with them.
It is “business as usual” for Asian Trails, which is “operating all tours and transfers as scheduled”, according to CEO, Laurent Kuenzle.
He said: “We have informed all our clients in Thailand personally of the current situation…We operated all transfers to all airports in the entire country without any problems including during curfew hours as the military allowed our transfer operations to go on as normal even during curfew hours.”
Added Exotissimo Travel Group COO, Hamish Keith, who is currently in the UK: “The view from the UK is quite calm and measured. The news has not been overly sensationalising events and presented this as a political development rather than a military event and people here seem to understand there is no threat of risk for foreign travellers. All the tour operators and members of the public that I have spoken with today are quite pragmatic and are not overly concerned at this point.”
Airports of Thailand (AOT) chairman, Sita Divari, has affirmed that all six airports under AOT management – including Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai – remain open and are operating as normal.
Thai Airways International, Bangkok Airways and Thai AirAsia have also confirmed operations of all scheduled incoming and outgoing flights, but strongly recommend passengers allocate at least three hours of travel time to the airport and stay updated with traffic news to avoid missing their flights.
Meanwhile, at least one hotel has responded to the situation with promotions. Swissôtel Le Concorde Bangkok sent an email out this morning with details of a Curfew Rate valid until May 31, offering its classic room at 2,200 baht nett (US$68) for a night, with discounts for in-house services thrown in.
As of Friday morning, a blackout has been imposed over TV and radio stations, but print media, the Internet and both land and mobile phone communication services are not affected.
All attractions remain open, but businesses and public services have adjusted their operation hours to comply with the curfew. BTS Skytrain, MRT Subway and Airport Rail Link systems will operate their train services until 21.00, while major shopping malls in Bangkok are closing earlier at 20.00 on Friday.
International SOS has advised travellers to defer non-essential travel to Bangkok and urged registration with their respective embassies to ensure regular updates prior to and during their visits to the country.
Several countries have also issued travel advisories for Thailand, including Malaysia, India, Singapore and Ireland.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand has provided a list of numbers for tourists seeking more information or assistance.
For the latest updates on this developing situation, follow TTG Asia’s Twitter feed at twitter.com/ttg_asia and Xinyi Liang-Pholsena’s tweets from the ground attwitter.com/xinyi_pholsena.
