Update on Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport and Travel Situation in Thailand (1 Dec 2008, 2.30pm Bangkok time)

Dear Partners,

Bangkok – Monday 1 December 2008: 14:30pm

Over the weekend, Exotissimo office staff and guides have been working together with tour leaders to assist stranded clients as much as possible. Several groups and individuals have left Thailand via overland routes (e.g. to Kuala Lumpur), by buying new tickets out of the country or by having the luck that their own airline confirmed a flight back on their existing ticket with a diverted routing (from UTP = Pattaya airport or HKT = Phuket airport) – either because the guide and clients went to visit the airline office or because the airline called the clients directly and informed them about the new flight.

Thai Airways as well as other airlines have announced yesterday that all passengers should go to their own airline office in person and check if it is possible to re-book the ticket. Yesterday, people were queuing more then 10 hours before they could speak to somebody from Thai Airways. Some of our agents have managed to re-route booked tickets in the airline reservation system.

For all flight leaving from UTP airport, the check-in is done at several hotels in the city. Starting from Monday afternoon, the check-in will be done at Bitec Exhibition Centre. We strongly advise clients NOT to go to UTP airport unless they have a confirmed reservation – the capacity of UTP is 10 times smaller then the Bangkok airports so although overseas media are reporting some flights leaving – they are just a small proportion of the total number of flights needed.

How you can help?

The best way to help is to check the existing reservation in your airline reservation system and try to re-book your clients to another routing (this would probably mean that you also need to call your airline). Although overseas airlines sometimes refer to a telephone number in Thailand, it is not always possible to reach them in Bangkok since airlines are now overwhelmed by the number of rebooks and they do not always know yet if they will have an airplane and landing slots at UTP airport for the coming days. Once you have got a new seat confirmed, please inform Exotissimo and the client so we can arrange the transfers accordingly.

Advise your clients (if you speak to them) as well as visit their airline office in person so as to try to get a seat confirmed (our guides are assisting with this already).

Try to book new flight tickets (if your clients agree to pay for it)

All Exotissimo departments are assisting clients with all the above possible solutions but we have also encountered some difficulties. Sometimes we do not know where the clients are if the clients booked only a part of their total trip in Thailand with Exotissimo and other parts with another ground handler, overseas tour operator, online or travel partly on their own. Another problem we sometimes face is that some clients do not want to pay for new tickets or new ways to get out of the country, which means that they will have to wait till their airlines offer them a flight based on their existing ticket.

Exotissimo can arrange overland trips by private car from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur (about 13 hours drive) so in case you find a way to rebook your clients from KUL, please inform us and the clients so we can arrange the overland transfer.

Some good news….

Finally, some good news today. The demonstrators have allowed the airline companies which have their airplanes stuck at Suvarnabhumi airport to take their airplane out of Don Muang and Suvarnabhumi airports today. Thai Airways have many airplanes stuck at these airports so we hope they will start operating some additional routes soon.

The Thai government has also paid for the rooms at certain hotels to give stranded tourists free accommodation – however, most of these rooms are already occupied.

We still hope the protestors will leave the airports this week. There are rumours that they will leave before the King’s birthday holiday on 5th December but nothing is confirmed. However we understand that it will take at least another week to reopen the airport as all systems will need to be checked and tested before flights can resume.

The whole Exotissimo Team continues to give as much assistance as possible to our clients and hopes that both airports in Bangkok will re-open soon.

Best regards,
Exotissimo Travel Team