It's time for an update on the current political situation;
The big news/rumour right now is that PM Samak Sundaravej is going to resign tomorrow morning, according to the Nation;
Rumours had it throughout the day that Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej was granted an audience with His Majesty the King to inform His Majesty of his intention to resign.The rumours said Samak had booked time slot of Radio Thailand at 7:30 am to announce his resignation.
More interesting news today was that the Foreign Minister, Tej Bunnag resigned, as mentioned in the Nation;
FM Tej quits
Foreign Minister Tej Bunnag has tendered his resignation from Samak government, just 40 days after taking the office.
His reported resignation came a few days after his secretary, Poksak Nilubon, former ambassador to Sweden, resigned, saying he could not serve Samak Government.
The sources said Tej, former permanent secretary for foreign affairs, reasoned his resignation that his wife, Pensri, is sick.
Tej has been appointed to the position on July 27 particularly to handle the Thai-Cambodia dispute on Preah Vihear Temple.It is still unclear why he wished to resign.Tej is scheduled to visit Vietnam on September 10 and Indonesia from September 16 - 18.
Tej, 65, was the second foreign minister, under Samak Government
I'm also receiving a lot of emails from readers of my blog asking about the current situation and if it affects Samui.
In my opinion Samui won't be affected that much, since Samui's airport is privately owned and therefor not a direct 'target' for the PAD (People's Alliance for Democracy).
If the above mentioned rumour is true, it looks like the current situation may ease up quickly. It will be very interesting to see who will follow up Samak.
Camille
4 comments:
Hi Camille,
I stumbled on your blog through a Google search and thought I’d ask you – the resident expert – about the safety of visiting Koh Samui. My husband and I are living in Singapore for six months on a temp assignment from the U.S., and we really want to visit Koh Samui. With all the news and Thailand currently being in a state of emergency, we’re hesitant to visit. What’s your feeling on this? We’re scheduled to leave this Friday night on a direct flight from Singapore on Bangkok Airways. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thank you!
Millie
Hi Millie,
Thanks for your message and for visiting my blog!
To answer your question, whatever is happening in Thailand right now is most likely not affecting Koh Samui. Especially the airport is not going to be affected on Koh Samui since it’s a privately owned airport and not a Government owned airport. All airports that were closed down were government airports.
Unfortunately I’m not in a position to look into the future but in my opinion it’ll be fine to visit Samui as planned.
Just for the record, it’s only Bangkok that’s in a state of emergency and it didn’t affect anybody yet, which really shows how powerless the current PM is, unfortunately he’s as stubborn as he is powerless right now.
Camille,
Thanks for your response back! I think we’re just going to go for it – take the risk and go have fun! My husband explained in full detail the situation that is unfolding in Thailand and while on the outside it does seem frightening, I don’t think their purpose is to attack tourists or take us hostage or do anything that is intentionally life threatening to big groups of people. That’s my train of thought anyway. So it looks like we will visit the place you’ve called home for the past few years.
Thanks for the quick info about the current state. We’re not divers, but I did have fun looking through your sites. Thanks again!
Hi Millie,
Good on you! Hope you enjoy your stay and I share your train of thoughts that the current political unrest is not aimed at tourists but solely at the internal political situation.
Although there have been actions that affected tourists, like closing some airports, it's very unlikely that tourists will be at personal risk.
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