Well,

I have until wednesday to be back at work, I was supposed to fly out of Thailand from Bangkok today saturday 29th and go on a 3 day holiday in Abu Dhabi and meet up with some guys i work with, before we went to work as we are all going to be away from home for christmas and new year... Kind of christmas party type thing... well thats not going to happen....

I didnt think it was that much of a big deal, stay home in hua hin for an extra couple of days and go to work on schedule.. as per normal when everything died down.

Now im begining to think I am going to have to embark on some kind of weird and wonderful route to get to work now, when is my journey going to start and where is it going to take me.? I normally fly from Bangkok to Dubai then on to Muscat, from Muscat we fly to our worksite - we have our own airstrip - its a lenghty journey but its not to bad....

Now im starting to look at other escape routs and journey plans to try and get to work on time, I can not be late to work. I have a few idea but if any of you guys know of any easy ways please do get in touch with me so I can make this as painless as possible, Maybe it will be a drive from Hua Hin to phuket, Phuket to Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur to Dubai etc etc... its a possibility

let me know if you have any ideas guys, it would be much appreciatted.

Darren

I hope my friend can go back to work on time ka

Thanks very much Jira.... if we have to fly out of Utapoa maybe me and Ryan can stay with you for a night before we fly )

I dont go to work for few days already so i cant check for you. Though I think its already good that plan you have. KL or maybe Sin would be the best idea. Airport might open soon though so you may check again with your airlines. Hope it sorts out soon. ^^

jomama.... so easy when you put it like that.!

Absolutpurple - Hope you used the surprise days off to go to the beach, thanks - ill keep Singapore in mind as well, my flights booked with emirates - but im sure my company will just try to get me back to work and change the airline if necessary... thanks Darren

Seems like you will need that escape route. From news reports it looks they'll need 48 hours, at least, to open the airport, whenever they get it secured (and it doesn't look like the police are in a hurry). Although it looks like some flights are going out of Utapao (google 'utapao' under the news section).

I think your Phuket to KL idea is probably the winner. Or you could go Phuket to Singapore (Hong Kong, Taipei, etc).

Or if the flights are all booked up out of Phuket, there's the train to Penang.

Another alternative is Chiang Mai to Singapore on Silk Air (and I think AirAsia too). It just adds a few extra hours drive over the Phuket option. Just dont wear yellow if you're up this way.

zdownlow..... excellent advise just what i was looking for ) Cheers, much appreciatted = Emirates fly out of KL and Singapore so they are both good options for me... however i get their.!

Hope you had a good one Mark ... on that note have you got a bike i could borrow????

Have some more beers

If you had until 3:30am or 5am to arrive into DXB on Wednesday, you might be tempted to do a railway adventure that would give you the opportunity to visit Hat Yai, Butterworth and Kuala Lumpur:

Leave Hua Hin around 2am Sunday morning (late-late Saturdday night). Arrive in Hat Yai for lunch on Sunday. Hang out and have a great time there (the folks in Hat Yai are quite, quite nice), but wake up super early and catch the Monday 6am-ish train to Butterworth, arriving Monday at lunchtime. This would be another long stopover so make the most of it, and depart at 11pm for Sentral Kuala Lumpur station, arrivng Tuesday morning 6am. Spend the day in KUL and take the midnight or 2am flight to DXB. I've done something similar on the train in the reverse direction from Singapore to Bangkok. Check the schedules with someone there in Hua Hin. The timetables are, um, not exact, so take along a few good books!

i just sent 4 pax to Sadao border yesterday to KL as Siem Reap and Phuket they had to wait until 3-5 Dec to get a flight out.