Mother Nature Wreaking Havoc On Travel Plans

 

Across the globe Mother Nature has been wreaking havoc with disastrous consequences for thousands of would be travellers. Perhaps worse hit was Bangkok, with the heaviest monsoon rains in 50 years flooding large areas of the city, especially the northern provinces. Claiming 442 lives, and damaging the lives and homes of millions the flood waters have so far mainly avoided the central tourist areas of the city however the FCO still advises against all but essential travel to Bangkok. The main Bangkok airport (Suvarnabhumi) has remained open and unaffected however many holidaymakers from the UK have simply flown into Suvarnabhumi and instead of staying in Bangkok as planned have headed to resorts like Hua Hin, Cha Am, Pattaya, Koh Samui & Phuket away from the affected areas.

In the same week as Thailand saw its heaviest rainfall in 50 years an unseasonably late hurricane (hurricane rina) threatened areas of the Caribbean including Cancun and the Yucatan Peninsula. Although Cancun airport remained open over 90% of flights in & out of the airport scheduled for the days when Rina was due to strike were cancelled and hundreds of holidaymakers were evacuated from their hotels. Thankfully by the time Rina reached Cancun it had significantly weakened and damage to the area was minimal.

Even Europe couldn’t escape mother nature’s wrath as flash floods hit areas of Tuscany in Italy and La Cala Finestrat near Benidorm where two British tourists were killed when a flash flood hit a market.