Change of Plan…Phuket here we come!

Ok so with everything set for our trip to Cambodia; hotels reserved, transfers booked we were informed by Air China that they had cancelled the 2nd leg of our flight from Beijing to Siem Reap.  There were no alternatives either as Air China for whatever reason have pulled out of Cambodia.  After a lot of toing and froing we are now flying to Phuket and paying internal flights to get to Siem Reap….As we had planned to visit Phuket anyway this wasn’t too inconvenient and the flights from London Heathrow to Phuket were actually at £349 each.  Word of advice…if you need a refund from Air China go through your credit card company as their process can take months.

Internal flights from Phuket to Siem Reap go through Bangkok and there appear to be a few contenders for this route.  Air Asia appear to be the most straight forward as you can book with them including the plane change at Bangkok unlike other airlines such as Smile who will only allow you to book one flight at time even though they fly to Siem Reap via Bangkok.  After a lot of research we finally booked with Air Asia with what looked like a good deal.. until you get to check out and the added extras go on.  Be warned that Asian airlines do not include the added extras in their advertised price including taxes and booking fees – plus they add on card charges even though you pay by a debit card! So eventually we managed to book return flights from Phuket to Siem Reap for £150 each making the total for all our flights £500.   Back on track again….phew

Or so we thought…..

On 11th, 12th and 14th August 2016 there were several explosions in tourist areas of Thailand.  On 11th August two bombs exploded in Huan Hin and on  12th August there were three more explosions in Huan Hin which appeared to be the main target, there was also one explosion in Surat Tenai and two in Phuket, in the Patong beach area and Loma Park.  There was also a further explosion in Trang.  Altogether in the 11 explosions there were four people killed and thought to be approximately 36 injured.

The Thai government has ruled out any links to international terrorism but felt it was linked to the referendum which was held the previous Sunday. Government have stated they feel it is domestic sabotage carried out by perpetrators who lost out at the referedum.   At the moment the travel advice is to exercise caution in tourism areas and follow the advice of the local authorities.

We are monitoring the situation ……