Bangkok Situation Escalates

(Dive Travel Business News - April 21, 2010) --  Do you have dive travelers in Thailand who are headed for or are in Bangkok? Today luxury hotels located in a hot zone of Bangkok, where Government protestors have been demonstrating for more than 5 weeks - have been closing their doors, relocating guests for their safety, and are not accepting reservations for the time being.

The situation in Bangkok has escalated since our DTBN Travel Alert on April 12, 2010, warning travelers to Thailand about civil unrest in the capital city:  The Royal Thai Government has declared a State of Emergency in Bangkok and surrounding areas following demonstrations by protestors from the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (aka UDD or ″red-shirts″).  A failed April 10 attempt by security forces to flush the UDD from an historic Bangkok neighborhood erupted into the worst political violence Thailand has seen in 18 years, leaving 25 dead and more than 800 wounded and prompted the "Red Shirts" demonstrations to move to the upscale shopping zone.

Today the Grand Hyatt and InterContinental hotels in the protest zone told guests they would have to leave, while The Four Seasons remained open but closed all four of its restaurants. The nearby Holiday Inn also found safer accommodation for their guests and said new reservations would not be accepted until Monday.

According to ABC News, the Red Shirts have created a strategic stronghold in the capital's luxury hotel and shopping district of Rajprasong for 18 days in their near six-week bid to overthrow the government. Upscale malls closed almost immediately, as protesters moved in and transformed the area into a noisy and litter-strewn tent camp with outdoor showers and portable toilets for the thousands of supporters sleeping on the sidewalk.

On Tuesday, the anti-government 'Red Shirt' demonstators had plans to march into the heart of the capital's central business district on nearby Silom Road.  Those plans were abandoned after soldiers in full combat gear were deployed to bar their way. The failure to march did nothing to ease tensions: Concerns have escalated as the protesters reinforced defenses at their urban encampment and prepared homemade weapons, including hundreds of sharpened bamboo poles. The army in response said it would be prepared to use greater force in any confrontations because of the danger posed by the weapons. 

Hotel occupancy normally at 60 percent or 70 percent this time of year has slipped to an average of 30 percent but hotels in the protest area are now minimal at best. All hotels in the affected area have put up metal barricades to block protesters from spilling in.

They protestors believe the current government is illegitimate because it came to power through a parliamentary vote after disputed court rulings ousted two elected administrations that supported the former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The protesters consist mainly of poor rural supporters Thaksin and pro-democracy activists who opposed the military coup that ousted him in 2006.

The demonstrators hung a giant banner between two shuttered shopping malls that apologizes in English to Bangkok's foreign visitors: "Welcome to Thailand. We Just Want Democracy."

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