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Bangkok no Mumbai

2008-12-02 08:28

Dear Editor,

Who would have thought I would find myself living in the only major city in the world without an international airport?

What has happened in Bangkok over the last six months spans from the sublime to the ridiculous and the latest power play by the Peoples Alliance for Democracy has not only inconvenienced a large number of the very tourists the Thai economy relies on, but is also ensuring that 2009 is a very dark year for those of us who live and work here.

All that aside, I do feel that the article published today on News24 detailing the experiences of a Ms Diamond is, to say the least, unfair. To equate what has happened at the airport to the tragedy that befell Mumbai is, as far as I am concerned, far from the truth and nothing more than irresponsible, sensationalist rhetoric.

No tourists have been harmed nor will they be and although they deserve no credit what so ever, the PAD did go to the trouble of feeding and reassuring those trapped at the airport of their safety.

Further to that, no one has been detained, held hostage or abused by the protesters and have been free to move out of the airport compound. In regard to Ms Diamond's complaints regarding the South African Embassy here in Bangkok, it is not a large embassy and like the rest of the embassies in Bangkok, most notable the Australian one, and it is stretched far beyond capacity.

The Thai government has done what it can to mitigate this disaster and the Ministry of Tourism is seeking approval for $28m compensation package to aid in repatriation efforts. The government have opened a military airport for repatriation and all that can, both public and private sector, have assisted where possible to the best of their ability.

It is indeed embarrassing what has happened here and it is hard to look on the bright side in Ms Diamond's position but I ask everyone watching these event unfold to consider a similar hypothetical situation in South Africa before passing judgement and dishing out criticism.

Imagine if a local political party decided to take over Oliver Tambo? Can you imagine the carnage, the looting, the violence and the lack of assistance and action from out own government? With that chilling thought in mind, Bangkok ain't so dangerous after all, is it?

Jim Stent

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I don't think she knows the difference between Protest and Terrorist. Just another one of those screaming fools looking for attention. We have an incentive group stuck in Thailand and they are loving the "extended vacation" at the companies cost. Shut Up Diamond and have a drink !!!!!!!

You sounded rational and sober until "..can you imagine the carnage, the looting, the violence and the lack of assistance from out own government.With that chilling thought in mind, bangkok ain't so bad after all.." Yeah.Right.Sounds like you're trying hard to convince yourself, buddy.

The Mumbai attack reallybrought home to me just how insane religeo can get. My 10 year old kid commented that morning that "oh its just the mad muslims again". The damage that is being done to the Muslim faith is very sad. I know a lot of really brilliant Muslim folks and the fact that their religeon is getting nailed every 5 minutes is awfull. Guess atheism wasnt such a bad choice huh?

I could think of worse places to be stuck than Thailand. I really think Ms.Diamond is platzing over nothing. Maybe she lost her high heels and hair dryer to those nasty protest people and they absolutely ruined her holiday, nasty natives...

thanks for giviving the public a proper view of the situation in Bankok,you mistake is to assume that S.A would not handle chaos very dissapointing and a bit idiotic of you. Stay safe and believe in you Country

Now, hold on. As much as you accuse Ms Diamond of sensationalist, you are also making sensational rhetoric. You cannot under no circumstances assume that should anything happen here our government and the people of this country will fold their arms and do nothing. Please spare us your holier than thou attitude.

i was recently in thailand arrived back on sunday as a matter of fact and while i was there i didnt see any trouble to be honest and appart from the stories on the news things are very chilled in thailand and the people there are really friendly much more friendly than our local south africans....i think ms diamond is perhaps a little over paranoid. i can assure you ms diamond that on your return to SA you will be in much more danger so best you stay where you are you are safer there

I enjoyed your article until you brought it closer to home. But then I quickly remembered that it will never happen here.For a reference, ask Janus Walusz and old Clive Derby-Lewis. Even better, ask those lunies who used to call themselves the "Boeremag." We lock up and throw away the keys here in Mzantsi.

..I disagree completely. You dont understand what the guy meant. There has already been a bomb blast at the airport that has killed 1 person and 22 wounded. What he meant is that more lives could be lost...hence another Mumbai get it??

My son & 10 mates have a trip booked to Thailand from 14/12; assuming that they can get there in the first place, do you think they should wait & see or continue with their plans? They're a bunch of 25yr olds who taking a positive view that the situation will be resolved by then but I'm not so sure.

Can you imagine a bunch of guys who fought years to free their country of oppression, and then meet not far from OR Tambo to chart a way to peaceful transition and then forgive those who not only killed their victims but ended up havinga braai while their victims burned nearby.

if your leftist anc does not change its attitude then i am afraid there is something more sinister and more deadly that awaits your leaders and no jail can protect them. The ticking time bomb is ticking buddy...tick tock tick tock tick tock

It was even NAMED after the founder of that party (OR Tambo) And YES there is looting and carnage already.. how many times are bags stolen? how many tourists have been robbed on arrvival? SAD but TRUE!!

They are stuck there and have run out of money. Maybe it is an extended vacation for the guy who gets his company to pay, but it is a disaster for these people. They are in a foreign country with angry protestors, with no indication of when they can get home. Stop tryin to Rubbish South Africa to take the focus off the issue at hand. She has every right to complain. She is being kept there against her will. Some could call that being a hostage.

People are losing money and their plans are shattered because of the hold up. Trauma is not only caused by being hurt. All the travellers who are stranded have lives, children and families to get back to. It is traumatic because they do not have control of the situation. You are an idiot to even think that SA will not be able to manage the situation. SA would have created chaos a long time ago but we value lives apart from criminals and racist killers)and we will not stoop that low. Some of our white brothers are pushing us around thinking that they are superior and SA is nothing without them but still we are not creating havoc.

Please dont ever come back to SA. It's exactly the kind of negative people like you that we dont need in SA right now. You compare something that HAS already happened in Thailand to something that has NEVER happened in SA (and honestly I cant see that happening here anyway), and still somehow manage to think that Thailand is better?? I can see the logic there mate.

send me back to Thailand!! will gladly be a international mediator on these protests!!All mediation will be done in Krabi over a Mai Thai. I would emigrate to Thailand if could find a proper job there!

"Can you imagine the carnage, the looting, the violence and the lack of assistance and action from out own government?" So true Jim, agree 101%! Our airport would have been burnt to the ground, trashed, people attacked, looters defecating all over the place, shops plundered, women raped, cars hijacked....in typical South African style.

I think what is happening in Thailand is that people are expressing their views on a corrupt government who they want out. Pity we cannot take a stand like that here, so that we too can get rid of corrupt government employees. They have brought the country to a standstill as tourism brings in vast amounts of foreign currency. I support the Thai protesters 100%, they are not there to hurt foreigners, they are fighting for their country.

Maybe you need to see a DRC situation here before you will appreciate South Africa. Fools like you are unthankful and do not appreciate what they have until its gone. Imigine if you were in Iraq, Bhurundi, Afghanistan, Georgia. You must not give stupid examples.

He said "IMAGINE". Imagine = To form in the mind a notion or idea of; to form a mental image of; to conceive; to produce by the imagination. Lucky. Uhm. Why then, is someone like McBride in such a high position? He planted bombs, that killed people! So maybe something like that, IMAGINE, could happen. We do NOT "throw away" keys. We let murderers take high posts! Lucky, why not mention other lunies?

Perhaps it is - but how could anyone know given that such a situation has never arisen here (which speaks volumes). As far as the Xenophobia attacks- the govt did allt hat could be expected. The tourists in Bangkok are presumably not there illegally - one cannot say the same in our situaion.In any case, food and shelter were provided and those who wanted to go home were repatriated - with taxpayers money.

Jim,I agree with your article and you can see that some responses to your article have not agreed with the last comment.Unfortunately these are people avoiding to believe what is the truth and i have no doubt that if there was a situation in this country like that,there would be absolute chaos.If these people just look at the past events in this country when it comes to protest etc the police and gov have no structural plans in place to combat this.

I've had to cancel my trip as the airline has cancelled all flights to Bangkok till the 12th December. Really dissapointed after looking forward to this holiday for over 3 months. What makes it worse is that I have lost over R6000 in non-refundable accomodation and internal flight bookings.

A very realistic view of what would happen in SA should a the political party take a stance like those in Bangkok, look at what happened in Zimbabwe, looting and violence, this is the order of the day in ANY AFRICAN country, including SA. So to all of you criticizing Jim, look at all your uneducated brother and think again?..maybe he right.

You must really be an idiot. Unfortunaltely you are your own creation and nobody can fix you. chaos means chaos and you cannot expect things to be smooth because you are a tax payer. Your tax did not pay foer your trip remember?

I lived in Thailand for 3 years and can't think of a better place in the world to be stuck. The Thais are generally a placid bunch and must have a real gripe with their government. Just imagine it was COSATU that was demonstrating at OR Tambo airport. There would have been nothing left of the place.

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