United Kingdom lifts advisory against travel to Bangkok

As waters recede, Britons no longer warned to avoid Thailand's flood-hit provinces

15 November, 2011

Bangkok workers clean up a convenience store that was flooded for weeks. Though water is now starting to recede in some areas, many Bangkok communities are still battling floods.

Here's some long-awaited good news for Thailand's embattled tourism industry. The United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has downgraded its warnings for visitors to Thailand.
On Monday, the FCO changed its advisory and is now telling travelers to exercise caution when visiting the country's 22 flood-stricken provinces, including Bangkok. Previously, it advised against all but essential travel.
More on CNNGo: Updated Thailand flood info for tourists
A statement on the FCO website said: "We now assess that the risk of floods affecting central Bangkok is reducing, though a small risk remains that some of the floodwater affecting the suburbs to the north, east and west of Bangkok could spread slowly towards the centre of the city. This risk will diminish as more floodwater drains into the sea."
As of Tuesday afternoon, the Australian and United States governments had yet to downgrade their advice to citizens and are still advising them to reconsider travel to Thailand's flood-hit provinces, including Bangkok.
The U.S. advisory does, however, note that most tourist destinations, such as Phuket and Chiang Mai, are unaffected by the current flooding and Bangkok’s main international airport, Suvarnabhumi, is operating normally.