Agencies in HK scrap all tours to Bangkok

Travel operators in Hong Kong yesterday cancelled all tours to Bangkok until next Wednesday after the government issued its first travel warning since the 1997 handover, affecting some 3,000 travellers.

The travel warning was issued on Monday in the wake of violent demonstrations in the Thai capital. A government spokesman said: 'We will continue to monitor developments there closely and issue updated information as and when required.'

The Travel Industry Council yesterday met travel operators and decided to cancel all package tours to Bangkok until April 22, executive director Joseph Tung Yao-chung said. 'Even though the protesters called off the siege this afternoon, the situation in Bangkok is still very unclear,' Mr Tung said.

All the travellers affected by the cancellations can get a full refund, but will have to pay a service charge ranging from HK$150 to HK$300.

It is estimated that 3,000 travellers in 150 package tours will be affected, including 500 people who booked with Hong Thai Travel Services, and 200 with EGL Tours.

One travel writer said the changing situation in Bangkok this time was too 'dramatic' for travel agencies not to act. 'I saw the red-shirted demonstrators singing, dancing and splashing water yesterday at the Government House protest area after several days of confrontations with the army with petrol bombs,' Thailand-based travel writer Roger Wu Wai-chung said.

Shopping malls, including Siam Paragon, resumed business yesterday after being forced to close.