It's business as usual for Eastern & Oriental Express

"There'll be no change. Thailand is a fantastic destination and central to the experiences that the E&O is all about. The event is not a unique problem in Thailand. There are strikes in other parts of the world. I'm just sympathetic to the affected passengers. I hope that the problems will be resolved, and for the long term," general manager Leesa Lovelace said yesterday in a telephone interview.

The Eastern & Oriental Express two weeks ago suffered a 12-hour delay in starting its trip from Bangkok to Singapore. Eventually, the passengers, who were taken to a monkey training school in Surat Thani province as an alternative programme, arrived in Singapore nine hours late.

It was not the first time, though, as the State Railway of Thailand's labour union launched a massive strike last month that prevented the train from entering the Kingdom after starting from Singapore. At that time, passengers were taken on a tour of Penang, Malaysia.

E&O also operates service from Bangkok to Vientiane and Chiang Mai.

Lovelace said strikes were just another cause of delay, along with the weather and track conditions. Throughout its 17-year history, the company has devised alternatives for passengers, to ensure their satisfaction amid otherwise-unpleasant delays, and is prepared to spare no cost to keep its customers happy.

"We're pretty resourceful and experienced. Most of the passengers [in the latest delay] were happy with the alternative tour and thought why should they complain?" she said.

The delay was just another hiccup to the company, which operates strictly on a luxury basis. The global financial crisis has inevitably cut the number of passengers for airlines, hotels and henceforth the Eastern & Oriental Express.

But the train's reputation continues to attract people from around the world who want to experience the journey for themselves.

The service has become a popular choice for big celebrations like 50th birthdays. Most passengers are British, but the train also attracts travellers from other parts of the world, including the United States, Africa, Japan and Europe.

"They know this is the chance to meet people from all over the world and to enjoy the journey. The business is not as strong as in 2008, but we expect to see improvement in 2010, as we have seen a rebound in some services," Lovelace said.