Mon 5 Jan 2009
Posted by Travelman under Other Reviews
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Wellington’s Natalia Steele and Nicola Burroughs and four friends were on their way to the airport when they first received notice of the violent protests through a text message from a friend.
Ms Steele said they were told by their airline they would be stuck in the unsettled region until the next available flight on 24 December.
Despondent and out of ideas, they then received a call from Qantas who offered them a flight home the next day.
Ms Steele, 23, said they still didn’t know how it happened, despite enquiring with the New Zealand embassy and British Airways – their original airline: “We put it down to a miracle to be honest,” she said.
Ms Steele said they were so relieved to be on their way home, everyone cheered when the plane took off.
Ms Burroughs, 29, said they originally thought they would be stuck for a couple of days, but ended up being stranded for six.
“By about the third or fourth day we were like, ‘oh okay, this isn’t going to be resolved quickly’, the protestors aren’t moving…and the police can’t even handle them,” she said.
Ms Burroughs said it was hard to relax and enjoy their extended stay, especially as reports of violence flared up towards the end.
“We’d all run out of annual leave and were all just really keen to get home.”
However, the group tried to make the most of it and spent their time at the markets and out for dinner.
Ms Burroughs said the Thai Government had paid for their accommodation which had been a welcome relief.
“Apart from that we’ve been collecting all our receipts for insurance and are hoping it won’t cost us too much extra.”
Ms Burroughs said she had received confirmation her insurance policy covered cases of civil unrest and she would be compensated for her extra costs.
The rest of the group had been told they would probably be covered but ultimately it came down to a case-by-case basis.
The women had been in Thailand on a church mission, working to help women out of prostitution and with sick children near the Thai-Burmese border – an experience Ms Burroughs described as humbling.
Having seen the darker side of Thailand, Ms Burroughs said there appeared a genuine desire for change.
However, Ms Steele felt they had seen the real Thailand and despite the hardships, the people seemed happy.
“If you just looked at the people you’d probably think their lives are hard and they are sad about their lives but I don’t actually think people are,” she said.
“But obviously the protests tell a different story.”
Ms Burroughs said their families were understandably relieved to have them home.
“They were all more worried than we were,” she said.