Mel Smith was going to fly to Thailand this week for a long vacation. We’ve been following the situation there on the news. Over the weekend, the violence in Bangkok continued to escalate. Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said, “The government proposed a reconciliation plan, but it was rejected. This benefits no one. It only benefits a small group which wants to harm the country and lead it to civil war.”
After seeing that report, Mel and I talked about the danger he might be facing. The question for Mel was, “How do I know if it’s safe to travel there?”
In Greece there’s news about thousands rioting on the streets of Athens. In Mexico, earlier this year on one Saturday alone, 26 were murdered in Ciudad Juarez, 10 in Chihuahua, and 13 in and near Mexico City.
The Greek islands are a long way from Athens. Cancun is far from the northern border of Mexico and its capital city. Whether it’s Greece, Mexico, Thailand or anywhere else, how do you find reliable and specific information about your safety when traveling?
I turn to the US Department of State website for their International Travel Information section. On the page you will find three important sources of travel safety information; Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts, Country Specific Information. Also on the page is a link to Country Background Notes, which provides up-to-date, highly useful information, but little in the way of safety information.
• Travel Warnings are issued when the State Department decides to recommend that Americans avoid travel to a certain country.
• Travel Alerts are a means to disseminate information about terrorist threats and other relatively short-term and/or trans-national conditions posing significant risks to the security of American travelers.
• Country Specific Information is available for every country of the world. It includes such information as the location of the U.S. embassy or consulates in a country, unusual immigration practices, health conditions, minor political disturbances, unusual currency and entry regulations, crime and security information, and drug penalties.
Mel checked the Thailand Travel Warning, and immediately saw, “U.S. citizens should defer all travel to Bangkok and defer all non-essential travel to the rest of Thailand,” plus “The Department of State has authorized the departure of all non-emergency U.S. government personnel and eligible family members from Bangkok.”
If that wasn’t enough, scrolling down is the announcement that the embassy in Bangkok was closed on Friday, and at least through today, followed by, “If security issues persist, the U.S. Embassy may continue to close.”
Closing an embassy is usually a “last resort” for the State Department. Mel postponed his trip. Fortunately, Delta, aware of the situation in Thailand, waved their change fee, for Mel’s new reservation.
There is no Travel Warning or Alert for Greece, but I directed a friend to plenty of safety information about Greece in their Country Specific Information page. While there’s far more information there, the relevant safety information is in the Safety and Security, Crime, Information for Victims of Crime, Medical Facilities and Health Information, Medical Insurance, and Traffic Safety and Road Conditions sections.
The information about Greece, as for all countries on the State Department website, is carefully written, and as specific as possible. Reviewing the Safety and Security information you learn the violent strike and riot incidents occurring in Greece, are primarily in Athens and Thessaloniki.
In the Crime section you learn that pick-pocketing is especially common on the Athens metro and in some shopping areas in and around Thessaloniki. The serious organized crime presence at Glyfada Square clubs is discussed.
So, while travel to Athens, and Thessaloniki can be “iffy,” other than a possible lack of top medical facilities, vacationing among the Greek Islands should be relatively trouble free.
I highly recommend every traveler visit the US Department of State website to review the safety and security issues which might be encountered as part of initial and continued travel planning.
There’s another important website to visit to help you remain safe while you travel; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). They have an excellent Travelers’ Health area.
The CDC discusses vaccinations and medications for diseases you might be at risk for at your destination. It suggests items you should bring with you, such as, medications, first aid supplies, and other items which you might want to use to prevent problems. It discusses diseases in the general region you might run into if you’re taking any “side trips.” It talks about prevention you might avail yourself of while traveling.
For example, if traveling to Mexico, the CDC recommends, in addition to the usual immunizations Americans generally get, travelers should get the vaccination for hepatitis A, typhoid (especially if visiting smaller cities and towns) and rabies, (for travelers in rural areas who are bicycling, camping, or hiking).
As a frequent traveler I can tell you I always take these recommendations seriously. I take them to my personal physician, who takes into account my health and immunization history, and we decide on additional immunizations, and what medications I should take with me while traveling, both prescription and over-the-counter.
Another great source of safety information for your journeys is a quality travel agent. Quality travel agents keep up-to-date about what’s going on in the countries to which they’re sending their clients, and have access to excellent information for travelers.
(A word of caution, the websites above give reliable safety information, but don’t necessarily communicate all requirements for US travelers, especially when traveling to multiple countries before returning to the US. For example, if you’re traveling from many South American countries to Ecuador, you’ll need a proof of a yellow fever vaccination to enter Ecuador.)
Editor’s note: The Consumer Travel Alliance provides a page with direct links to the most important State Department and CDC pages.
After many years working in corporate America as a chemical engineer, executive and eventually CFO of a multinational manufacturer, Ned founded a tech consulting company and later restarted NSL Photography, his photography business. Before entering the corporate world, Ned worked as a Public Health Engineer for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. As a well known corporate, travel and wildlife photographer, Ned travels the world writing about travel and photography, as well as running photography workshops, seminars and photowalks. Visit Ned’s Photography Blog and Galleries.
