Malaysians stuck in Thailand

Thursday November 27, 2008

BANGKOK: At around 10am yesterday, as she was getting ready to return home to Malaysia, Dr Mary Makanjang received an SMS from AirAsia.

The SMS read: “Urgent. AK681 flight to Johor Baru has been cancelled because Suvarnabhumi Airport has been closed due to riot.”

“I was shocked as the situation in Bangkok was ‘cool’, nothing (untoward) was happening,” said the gynaecologist who is based in Kota Kinabalu.

Not knowing whether to believe the SMS, she called AirAsia and the Malaysian Embassy but could not get through.

She then called her Thai tour guide who confirmed that the People’s Alliance for Democracy protesters had seized the airport on Tuesday night.

“I panicked as I didn’t know when we could go back to Malaysia,” said the 38-year-old Malaysian, who was in Bangkok on holiday with her husband and two children aged eight and 11.

Dr Makanjang was also worried about the extra cost that she and her husband would incur.

“I don’t know what will happen next. I’m so afraid that something will happen that I dare not wander out of the Pratunam area where my family and I are staying.”

When she finally managed to speak to an AirAsia official she was told that the airline had rescheduled her flight to Friday.

“But AirAsia cannot guarantee that we will be able to board that flight as they don’t know when the airport will reopen,” she added.

The Star’s marketing services manager Fong Ten Chee and his family were more fortunate as they managed to get on a flight back home in the nick of time.

Had his taxi been 10 minutes late he would have been trapped at the airport that was shut down by demonstrators, some of whom were carrying weapons.

“I was a little concerned,” said Fong, 58, who was travelling with his wife and child.
Fong was on the way to the airport when his taxi driver told him protesters were converging on the old Don Muang International Airport.

“A friend then called him to say the protesters were making their way to the new airport,” he said.

Fong, who had been on holiday from Friday, said when his taxi got near the airport, there was tension and chaos.

“Traffic was at a standstill for at least 5km from the airport. The four-lane highway was reduced to a single lane as the rest was taken up by protesters.

Despite the chaos, the Fongs got through immigration and on the flight home.

Source: The Star