Samui end of June: would you go?

[chiara]

A few months ago I booked two weeks on Koh Samui starting June 22.

The situation with SARS was not as bad at the time.

Now I have huge doubts.

I know Thailand is not considered to be at risk, but...

Family says don't go, some friends say don't go, others say don't miss the opportunity

This would be my third diving trip to Thailand, first on the east side.

I've looked at prices for the Caribbean, in some cases it's almost double, not forgetting the cancellation fees for Samui.

Any thoughts?

Perhaps I should add this holiday is very important to me as it will be just one week after my IE completion and I certainly hope to celebrate

 

[frogfish]

As you point out out Thailand is not considered at risk. Anyway I was in Samui last week-end and before being allowed to enter Thailand (I was flying from Singapore...) all passengers had their temperature checked and were screened by doctors ! If things don't get worse your June trip should be ok !

Also I did a few dives and was not very impressed ( in particular compared to Similans / Richelieu)

 

[chiara]

I'll be flying with Thai International coming from Frankfurt or Paris, so Singapore shouldn't be a worry.

We'll wait until the very last minute we're allowed to cancel without giving out a fortune in fees.

I've never been to the Similans, I hope I'm not too disappointed compared to the Western coast (Krabi and Phuket).

 

[TJO]

I just came back from Thailand and think it is fine to go from Europe without passing Singapore/HK. Check WHOs website for the latest information before you decide.

http://www.who.int/csr/sars/en/

 

[cmdasia]

Its not an "issue" at all in Thailand at the moment and indeed there are more "reported cases" in some european countries than Thailand.

Does SARS exist here - I don't know nobodies really saying anything - but rest assured there are still some 16,000 people a day passing through Bangkok airport without any apparant cares about it.

I can only speak personally but other than my avoidance of China, S/pore and HK I do not let it stop my travelling in the region - and I would not be too concerned as the risks seem to be so small as be almost zero.

 

[Peter Lim]

Is SARS that bad in Singapore? I doubt so.

I had been diving in Thailand; Koh Samui, Koh Tao, Koh Lipe, Similans for the last 4 years. Now I love to dive in Sabah and Indonesia. West Malaysia is out as I find it too expensive and diving not that good. In fact I am planning to dive in Manado again as I find it prettier than Thailand.

However, I will go back to Lipe as it is very peaceful; so as Layang Layang and Sipadan.

Dive as you can as one won’t know when you will be leaving or not able to dive for certain reason.;-0

Enjoy your dive.