Bangkok Security

Our U Freight colleagues have provided us the following update:

Once again we find ourselves facing unsettling times politically with the planned mass rally by the UDD in Bangkok this weekend. As you are probably aware the Government has implemented the Internal Security Act to be effective in Bangkok and several surrounding areas, including Samut Prakarn province where Suvarnabhumi Airport is located, between March 11th and 23rd. This allows for all security to be controlled by the Military through the Internal Security Organising Committee (ISOC), under the leadership of the Deputy Prime Minister Mr.Suthep, instead of the Police.

The UDD’s stated intent is to cause a dissolution of the present Government through the means of mass, peaceful rally in strategic locations of Bangkok. Whilst it is not clear exactly how they plan to achieve this there are indications that they will attempt to disrupt traffic and generally inconvenience the normal daily routine of Bangkok and other provinces in close vicinity. They have indicated that they may blockade routes into and out of the City and it does not appear as though seizure of any of the airports is their primary intent at this time.

We are closely monitoring the situation as it develops. At this time there is very little confirmed information but we are preparing for possible disruption to traffic in and out of the City. We are meeting regularly to discuss contingency plans to deal with the situation as it develops. Initially the biggest challenge appears to be whether the traffic disruptions will cause problems for staff and cargo to access the airport/seaport and if so how severe the traffic disruptions could be.

Estimates of how many people will join the rally vary from 50,000 to 300,000 so it is very difficult to predict the extent of any disruption including if any roads will be partially or fully blocked. Whatever the degree of disruption it will affect equally staff and cargo trucks. Please expect some delay of the shipment due to the delay problem of transportation during this period which we will informed to you in case by case if any.

We have identified where our staff live and assessed the possible disruption based on the location of their homes and will use this information to plan for contingencies depending on the degree of disruption. Our prime concerns are to ensure the safety of our staff and their families whilst being able to continue to provide our usual level of service to our valued customers.

Should the situation deteriorate or a seizure of the airport appears more likely we will fallback on our alternate plans for UTP however, the situation of airport closure is not viewed as likely at this time.

We will keep you posted as our plans develop and hope that the situation remains calm and controllable as we approach the weekend.

*UDD = National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship

*UTP = Utapao Airport

Best regards,
Waraporn Ninwat
U-Freight (Thailand) Co.,Ltd