The untold truth about the other side of Haj pilgrimage
The first group of Haj pilgrims from the three southernmost border provinces were given a big sendoff at Narathiwat airport in August.
The sendoff ceremony was covered extensively by local and Bangkok-based media and General Udomdej Seetabutr, secretary-general of the National Council for Peace and Order was there too to join the ceremony.
Since then, the other Haj pilgrimages to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, went on unreported as if everything was smooth and fine. It was not. The pilgrimages were plagued with a host of problems that, it seemed, only those directly involved were aware of and suffered siliently.
As for this year, Thailand was granted a quota from Saudi Arabia to send 10,400 pilgrims to Mecca. Most of pilgrims are from Malay Muslims in the three southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.
The first problem encountered by many pilgrims was that they were unable to get the visas in time for their departures. The result was that the pilgrims who were already in Bangkok to connect flights to Saudi had to be stranded at Suvarnabhumi airport for days. Some were accommodated at hotels while waiting for the visas by the companies which arranged for the pilgrimages but at an extra expense. It was reported that each pilgrim was charged an addition of 20,000-40,000 baht for the accommodation and other expenses and most pilgrims asked their families to get loans to cover the additional expenses.
Each pilgrim is normally charged between 180,000-200,000 baht for the pilgrimage package which includes return air fares and all expenses in Saudi Arabia as well as visas.
However, one pilgrim told Isra news agency that he and his wife were made to pay an addition of 40,000 baht for accommodation in Bangkok while waiting for their visas by the pilgrimage agency.
"I felt very upset then. The agency claimed it was not their mistake for the visa delay. The agency’s man claimed it was due to the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Thailand over the case of a missing Saudi businessman over a decade ago," said the pilgrim who declined to be named.
In the end, he said he had to ask his relatives to send him the money. He said he didn’t want to change his travel plan because he didn’t know whether he could get the quota for pilgrimage or not.
As of September 15, a report from the Haj Pilgrimage Office of Thailand showed that there were about 800 pilgrims who were still waiting for their visas.
Visa delay was not the only problem. There were more problems for the pilgrims from Thailand during their one-month stay in Saudi Arabia while they waited to attend the main ceremony in Mecca which usually takes place on the 100th day from the end of Ramadan fasting month.
The problems included insufficient food for the pilgrims as the agencies tried to cut costs; crammed accommodation as, in some cases, about ten pilgrims were put together in one small hotel or apartment room and the hotels or apartments were far away from the site of the ceremony for instance about five kilometers making it difficult for the pilgrims, mostly in their old age, to walk back and forth.
In some cases, it was reported that the agencies refused to pay the rental fees for the apartment rooms forcing the owners to cut electricity and water supplies. There was also a case of a 60-year old pilgrim who was abandoned at the Suvarnabhumi airport for three days after his return from the pilgrimage.
One 80-year old pilgrim told Isra News agency that the problems stemmed partly from the fact that the pilgrims didn’t speak Saudi, knew nothing about the country and had to rely completely on the agency’s representatives some of whom took advantage on the pilgrims.
She recalled the case of one agency’s representative who warned the pilgrims not to tell their relatives about the problems or hardships they encountered.
One agent who has been involved in pilgrimage business in Pattani for decades urged the supervisor of the pilgrimage to keep a close check and examination of the performances of the pilgrimage agencies so that the pilgrimage will be made more comfortable and fair to the pilgrims so that they will not be taken advantage of.
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Caption : Haj pilgrims from Thailand