Anywhere but Thailand
2008-12-01 14:26
Paul Dailing
Bangkok - "I'll be happier when I see the runway," muttered Australian tourist Jason Payne, reflecting a general sense of cautious relief at the makeshift check-in desks in a posh Bangkok hotel.
About half a dozen hotels, plus a conference centre, have opened check-in facilities in the past two days to help the 100 000-plus travellers stranded by an anti-government occupation of the Thai capital's airports.
Seven days after the blockade started, initial despair among many travellers has faded to resignation and hopes that the home straight is ahead.
Yet the desks like those at the Centara Grand in Bangkok's main shopping district are only the first step on a gruelling journey that will take most through the cramped U-Tapao naval base about three hours' drive away.
When asked what they expect at the Vietnam-era airstrip, the 33-year-old Payne and fellow Australian Juliet Gleeson simultaneously exclaimed: "Chaos!"
The airfield, originally built for US B-52 bombing raids in the 1960s, can handle about 40 flights a day compared with the 700-flight capacity of Bangkok's two-year-old Suvarnabhumi international.
Gleeson, 40, said she faced a convoluted trip even after the flight she is due to take gets back to Sydney, as she must find transport for the 860km to her Gold Coast home.
"And who's paying for that? That's what I would like to know," she said.
Swiss tourist Andi Moor however said he is fine that his flight will take him to Frankfurt, Germany, rather than to Zurich, Switzerland - as long as it's not Thailand.
'When we are here, we can do nothing'
"When we are in Europe, we can do something," the 50-year-old said. "When we are here, we can do nothing."
Travellers at the Centara passed on tales of further woe, from mothers unable to buy formula, people unable to retrieve luggage or passports and cab drivers charging for trips to U-Tapao knowing the base will not admit them.
"There's a lot of horror stories," said James Blakeney, 31, of Sydney.
For many, an unexpected stay in Thailand's bustling capital city took the shine off holidays spent relaxing in one of the kingdom's many beachfront villages.
"There's relief to be leaving. Bangkok's nice for a few days, but the tuk-tuk drivers and the taxi drivers... I'm not violent normally, but I felt like punching them," Blakeney said, laughing.
Another Australian, Nathalie Thomy, 24, had been in Suvarnabhumi when the protesters took over. She was preparing to fly out after a three-day marketing conference when the yellow-shirted activists stormed the departure terminal.
"Over the loudspeaker, they just kept saying 'For your own safety, get out of the airport,' but we were too scared to go outside," said Thomy, whose work had chartered a flight back to Sydney for their employees.
Not all of the travellers found their extra stay in Thailand a burden.
"We have no jobs, so we are not worried about missing work," said Maryvonne Prokop, 65, part of a tour group of French pensioners. "No problem. No stressing."
- AFP