Yes, as Roland said. We looked at other locations in Thailand in full consultation with the local hosts, as they have spent considerable efforts to plan this event, and also mindful of those who have booked tickets and accommodation (and visa!) as Skeeve
said. But people's safety is paramount, so given the latest travel advices from various sources, with a heavy heart a decision was made to move to KL, which is the default backup location for APRICOT.
Time is short and we need all the help to make this a successful event. Technical workshops will still be held, key speakers have been duly informed and they remain committed to participate. I've never been to the new vanue location but was told the area
is nice, so I'm looking forward to seeing you all there!
Cheers,
Sanjaya
Deputy DG, APNIC
-------- Original message --------
From: "Dobbins, Roland" <rdobbins at arbor dot net>
Date: 25/01/2014 1:16 AM (GMT+10:00)
To: apnic-talk at apnic dot net
Subject: Re: [apnic-talk] Travelling to Bangkok for APNIC meeting
On Jan 24, 2014, at 10:09 PM, Randy Whitney <randy.whitney at verizon dot com> wrote:
> I was actually surprised more effort wasn't taken to find an alternate location _within_ Thailand, such as Phuket, for example.
Effort *was* put into it - however, given the fact that a) there have been disruptive protests in Phuket, b) the whole State of Emergency situation (including a total travel ban instituted by Hong Kong) calls into question exemption clauses for travel insurance
(many/most folks would fly into Bangkok before flying to Phuket, for example), c) venue availability on such short notice, and d) uncertainty about future events probably led the Management Committee to decide that moving to another country was the least worst
choice.
I'm not on the Management Committee, and I can't speak for them, but that's by guess. It was a tough decision to make, but I agree that it was the most prudent choice, and I support it fully.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Roland Dobbins <rdobbins at arbor dot net> // <http://www.arbornetworks.com>