We're all celebrating in the Bangkok office, the Australian Government have dropped their level 5 travel warning on Bangkok which means that we can recommence our trips departing Bangkok.  We will be doing so from June 7th, for more details visit http://www.intrepidtravel.com/quicklink/ourtrips/safety/#Thailand.

The last few weeks have been an emotional roller coaster ride for us all here in Bangkok.  We're all very happy that things have returned to normal.  It was a surreal situation throughout the time that I have been blogging as our life went on as usual for us all.  Turning up to work, going out for drinks with friends, spending time with our families etc...the exception being that we were dealing with re-routing trips, cancellations etc which we are not used to dealing with.  The staff in the office, our local leaders and our suppliers have been amazing, turning up to work every day and working hard to ensure that our travellers get the best "real life experience" they can under the circumstances as well as keeping everyone updated so that they had a safe experience.  With so many people here assisting us we had our ears to the ground and were able to stay one step ahead of the situation.  We were even ahead of the Australian Government, pulling all departures in Bangkok and diverting trips in country away from Bangkok a few days before the DFAT travel warning was raised to a Level 5 - "Don't travel to Bangkok".  At the forefront of our mind always, is the health and safety of our travellers and our staff and this was the reasoning behind our decision, we felt we needed to take the precautionary measure of avoiding Bangkok.  For staff that lived near or had to travel past the troubled areas in Bangkok to get to our office we provided them with rooms in one of our start hotels (our office is located in the same hotel) to ensure they were safe and were not risking their lives by travelling to the office.

Now we, our staff and suppliers are hoping that travellers return to Thailand ensuring they still have jobs and they can extend the hospitality and smiles that Thailand is so well known for and put behind the events of the last few weeks.  The government is working hard at healing the wounds both physical and emotional, the average Thai in the street are happy that peace has returned to Bangkok and want to get on with their lives and put the events behind them...this was evident when 4000 people turned up to the Rajaprasong area last weekend (main protest site) to volunteer and help clean it up - that community spirit that resonates throughout Thai society was evident as everyone chipped in to help.

Images that appeared in the news and on television over the last few weeks would have alarmed people around the world.  I can say from personal experience that although it was bad in the areas that were affected, it was very much centralised to one area and only spread in the last week of the protests to some other suburbs of Bangkok.  At no stage did I feel unsafe and I have a young family here in Bangkok.  When the crisis first flared I happened to be staying literally just around the corner from the main protest site and could hear the gunfire and explosions throughout the night.  For reasons I will not go into here I was unable to relocate for a few nights, these reasons were not due to the protests.  Even then I did not feel overly concerned, clearly we had to be smart about where we went etc.  I did feel sorrow though...the images that you probably saw on the television and in your newspapers is not the Bangkok and Thailand that I know and love.  I have called Thailand home for nearly 11 years, I have a family here and love and respect the people, their culture and their history.  I love the community spirit and sense of fun, I love how family orientated the people are.....and I looovvvveee the food.

From my family and the Intrepid family here in Bangkok, we look forward to seeing you back in the Land of the Smiles soon experiencing what we have the privilege of experiencing every day.

Intrepid Blog Bangkok.....signing off....Sawaat Dii Khrup.