vrijdag 5 december 2008

Return or not...

Passengers visiting the temporary check-in counter at the Bitec Convention Centre said they'll come back again, despite the political ructions.
However, they were unhappy with the seizure of the city's airports by the People's Alliance for Democracy and called on the government to prevent such incidents happening again.
The Airports of Thailand (AoT) opened a 24-hour check-in centre at the convention hall on Monday to serve foreign passengers stranded by the closure of Suvarnabhumi airport.
The airport resumes full operations today after the PAD ended its week-long seizure on Tuesday. The temporary centre was to close at 3am today.
Passengers checking in at Bitec were told to get there at least seven hours before departure time since some flights take off from U-tapao airport in Rayong province.
Despite the lengthy process and flight delays, foreign travellers said they understood the situation and most said they would come back here.
"Yes, I will return to Thailand because the country and the people are nice," Tohiro Takahashi, 34, said.
Mr Takahashi, a production officer at Siam Aisin, a Prachin Buri-based auto parts factory, was waiting for a flight to Narita airport in Japan.
He arrived at the check-in counter in late afternoon, for a flight leaving at midnight.
He said the PAD's seizure of the airport had hurt Japanese firms with business interests in Thailand, not just the local economy.
Bastiaan Vette, 33, from the Netherlands, said the airport closure caused him difficulties but would not deter him from coming again.
"Politics is politics. Tourism is tourism," he said.
Mr Vette and his girlfriend arrived in Thailand three weeks ago for a holiday.
They were lucky and took a flight to Krabi last Tuesday only three hours before the PAD laid siege to the airport.
However, they still had an 11-hour bus ride back from Krabi to Bangkok to catch their flight to Amsterdam last night.
Mr Vette said authorities should provide better security at the airport to make sure it is not occupied again.
Toni Reynolds, 25, an accountant from London, was frustrated because the protest delayed her flight to Britain by 24 hours.
Rene Schmidt, 33, an engineer from Denmark, was also unhappy with the PAD.
"I've never experienced a situation like this before anywhere in the world. It affected my business," he said.
Aviation experts from agencies including the Aviation Department and the US Transportation Security Administration yesterday made safety inspections of Suvarnabhumi airport at the AoT's invitation.
AoT acting president and Suvarnabhumi airport director Serirat Prasutanont said Suvarnabhumi airport was ready to resume full commercial operations for domestic and international flights.
Thai Airways International (THAI) said passengers can check in at Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports from 6am today.
Don Mueang airport reopened for domestic flights yesterday, with the first flight, operated by THAI, leaving for Ubon Ratchathani province.
An initial inspection found a hole in the glass wall of the passenger terminal, caused by a grenade fired into the building from an M79 launcher early Tuesday morning that killed one protester and injured 24 others.
Bolts on some doors inside the terminal were also damaged.

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