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.