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Travellers need to reconsider travel plans to northern areas of Thailand following an outbreak of violence in the country’s capital, Bangkok.
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) are advising all travellers to avoid Bangkok and surrounding provinces, prominent military or government buildings and to monitor local media regularly.
The current advice is that the island regions in the south are safe but to be cautious.
Flight Centre, one of Australia’s largest travel companies, is advising all those planning trips to Thailand to heed DFAT’s warnings to avoid Bangkok and surrounds and if travelling to southern islands to remain cautious.
Travel warnings and alerts have been made as Thai troops yesterday opened fire on protesters killing at least five people and wounding many more.
The Red Shirt protesters believe that the incumbent government is illegitimate and the election of 2008 was unfair.
Civil unrest was prompted by a court ruling in 2008 which ousted allies of the former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, meaning they could not stand for election.
Thaksin Shinawatra was premier of Thailand between 2001 and 2006 and was disposed by a military coup.
The political turmoil and global financial crisis resulted in a 16% decline in the number of inbound tourists to Thailand in the first half of 2009 with numbers recovering 10% in the second half of the year.
The Royal Thai Government in a statement on Tourism Authority of Thailand website has vowed to place the safety and security of international tourists above all else.
The statement also advises that free travel insurance for foreign tourists and a waiver of tourist visa fees has been extended to 31 March 2011.
DFAT advises all those planning travel to Thailand to consult their website at smartraveler.gov.au prior to departure.
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Sources:
ABC News Online, http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/15/2900252.htm
Flight Centre North Sydney, phone: 9454 3477
Smartraveller.gov.au, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/Thailand
TAT News, Tourism Authority of Thailand, http://www.tatnews.org/tat_news/4677.asp
