It seems like the Foreign Office has ruffled a few feathers in Thailand. Following the political unrest and the simmering threat that everything might seriously kick-off, advice only to travel to Bangkok if it was really essential has been extended to the entire country.

The Tourism of Thailand authority is concerned that the advice is an over-reaction as trouble is centered on Bangkok and other tourist areas are unaffacted. The Foreign Office, for its part, is “watching the situation closely”.

The Foreign Office regularly monitors situations in countries that could become dangerous for foreigners. It issues various levels of advice rangingbfrom “be careful” to “don’t go there at all”. The only country is that category for now is Somolia.

The concern in Thailand now is the prospect of numbers of tourists cancellling their holidays because travelling would invalidate their insurance. For now, there has been no downturn in searches for flights on the Internet and it seems that many are ignoring the advice and going anyway. Watch this space.

It seems that the situation in Thailand is getting increasingly tense and the Foreign Office has extended its advice against all but essential travel to the entire country. Not even to Phuket. Here’s the statement:

We advise against all but essential travel to the whole of Thailand due to the increasingly volatile and tense political situation. Violent incidents of an unpredictable nature are occurring in many parts of Thailand.

See the Foreign Office web site for more information on the situation.

But what actually is “essential travel”? You’ll find some guidance here. You can contact your travel insurance company for more information.

In recent months Thailand has been embroiled in political turmoil opposing the red-shirted supporters of former Prime Minister Taksin Shinawatra and government forces backed by the military. The six-party coalition is under pressure from its supporters in the upper classes and from royalists to crack down on the mainly poor red shirts.

Thailand has a constitutional monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej who has been on the throne since June 1946, making him the world’s longest reigning king. The government is freely-elected with a Prime Minister at its head. However, the military has had a tendency to intervene from time to time when it doesn’t like the government or it does something it doesn’t to upset it. The last time was in 2006 to remove the previously mentioned Taksin Shinawatra. Perhaps they didn’t like him buying Manchester City? (more…)

With the ongoing problems relating from the fallout from the volcanic ash (pun intended), World First has set out how it intends to respond to the claims its policyholders will be making in the next few weeks here.

To summarise, if you are returning to the UK with an EU registered airline, they have a legal obligation to look after you – even if they might try to wriggle out of it. If you are leaving or were intending to leave from the UK, either World First or your airline will cover you. Read the policy for details on how to claim. This is not the case for all travel insurance companies, see here for more details.

It goes without saying that if you purchased your policy after the no fly policy started, you won’t be covered. However, if you had the foresight to purchase an annual policy, you will be covered when the next unforeseen crisis occurs!

No Iceland, we said cash…

Unless you’ve just come back from a stay on Mars, it won’t have escaped your notice that air traffic in large parts of Western Europe has ground to a halt because of large quantities of ash being spewed out by a volcano called Eyjafjallajokull (yes, that’s it’s name) in Iceland. (more…)

Let’s face it, international hotels can be pretty bland. They’re just like a high street, you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. It’s Tuesday, it must be New York. But a long away from corporate blandness, there’s a whole range of different hotels across the world that offer something different for the, let’s say, more intrepid traveller. (more…)

Sounds great doesn’t it? I just renewed my home insurance with Direct Line (yes, I will name them, hello Google, I’m here!). The house insurance (more Google attracting) deal is quite good. It includes buildings and contents as you’d expect with a reasonable level of cover, I added accidental damage because I can never be sure what stupid things I’ll do at home. I haven’t yet put by foot through the ceiling as it says in the documents but I wouldn’t be surprised if I did. I did put it through a ceramic cooker top a few years ago.

Then there’s legal support like most policies these days, they cover personal possessions outside the home and they’ll pay my salary while I’m on jury service. But what really caught my eye was the travel insurance. All for 250 quid a year. I know a little about travel insurance, I thought, I’ll have a look at that. (more…)