Posted on 04/24/2010 12:33:53 PM PDT by Mount Athos
Hundreds of angry and frightened Britons left stranded in Thailand by the volcanic dust cloud today were battling for plane seats out of the country's capital.
Many were left to sleep on cardboard mats in Bangkok airport after their money ran out.
Some were also without a meal or roof over their heads because non-European airlines - including Thailand's main air carrier - declined to offer customers hotel accommodation which must be offered by air carriers under EU regulations.
The problems in Thailand have been exacerbated by a violent attempted coup being mounted on the streets of the capital.
One British official described the scene as like 'the last days of Saigon'.
Peter Holley, 49, from Ashford, Middlesex, said: 'I am here with my wife who has a heart condition.
'We have been stuck here since Saturday last week. Thai Airways tell us nothing. They don't tell their staff anything.
'We queue for stand-by and they give us pieces of paper, promissory notes, saying we will be on the next flight, and then it does not happen. People are going crazy.'
Ricky Payne added: 'I've been here since Saturday with my wife and son and three other couples. They are telling us not to go into town. It's hell. We have to sleep on the floor.
'Two male showers and two female showers for everyone. Nobody from Thai airways will tell us what is happening.'
Rebecca Sidwell and Shai Rappaport, travelling on Jet airways, said that they had been told they could not leave until May 7, but they could not leave the airport as they no longer had any cash for a hotel and the airline was not paying.
Miss Sidwell said: 'It took us five days just to get anyone at Jet Airways to answer their phones.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
>> 350 British tourists cause near-riot at Bangkok airport
>> ‘Two male showers and two female showers for everyone. Nobody from Thai airways will tell us what is happening.’
864 5-min showers per day.
You can check out but you can never leave.
Bangkok Airport
They are still better off than most citizens of Thailand who see this as a bunch of spoiled boobs I bet.
Yeah, I once spent a weekend in Bangkok. Longest month of my life.
One night in Bangkok and the world’s your oyster
Maybe it’s just me but, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN THAT PEST HOLE IN THE FIRST PLACE?????
That’s a good question....and who would travel so far from home without the necessary funds or credit for an emergency? i.e. The guy whose wife has a heart condition surely understands that in Thailand - she would not have access to the British National System!!!!
So naive and typical of spoiled socialists. They would never have been capable of Churchill’s admonition to *never surrender* and a stiff upper lip!!!!!
If there is still a British Embassy - there ought to be enough room to rotate, hold & feed 300+ people for a few days.
I don't get this "people running out of money" thing. Aren't their ATMs?? Don't they have bank accounts? I mean, they went on VACATION. What if they were home, and "ran out of money". What would they do then?
I mean, aren’t THERE ATMs? I can’t believe I did that.
http://www.e-architect.co.uk/thailand/british_embassy_bangkok.htm
22 May 2009
British Embassy, Staff Housing & Amenities, Bangkok
MJP Architects
We have re-planned the British Embassy Compound in Bangkok, to provide 7,000sqm of new residential accommodation, recreational facilities and staff amenities for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. The compound is a green oasis, which is unique to Bangkok’s busy city centre. Creating a new main entrance, the site plan provides a new lateral approach to the Ambassador’s Residence in the tradition of the English Country House, where the landscape and Residence are revealed gradually through a sequence of views and spaces.
________________________________________________________
Help out these tax paying Brits!!!!!
What, didn’t they have the common courtesy to provide some hookers while they waited ?
Confucius say, Man who walk through airport door sideways going to Bangkok.
IMHO, any “tourist” in Thailand deserves what they get.
Dumbasses.
This is one of the reasons, I get Travel Insurance.
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