Thoughts on Thailand protests

Smoke

Going on holiday Feb 11th to Bangkok and Phuket for 8 days . Should I cancell it do to all the protests going on ? or do you think it be over after the elections in early Feb ?

spicyayam

I heard there was a 10pm curfew in Bangkok, but I have no idea how long this will last. On the plus side hotels are supposed to be cheap now. Maybe just skip Bangkok and fly to Phuket.

Smoke

I need to visit Bangkok .Probably wait till after election and make my decision . Hopefully things settle down after it .

SHoggard

IF there IS an election... everyone except the government seems to be doing everything they can to stop it

ferdie

Thaksin and the gang's side seems to won every latest election, I can't see why it won't happen again The main problem was the royalty and the army are not happy with the arrival of this new powerful group that might overshadowed all of them. Military coup is going to happen more until one of them kick the other to the curve:black_eyed:

SHoggard

True, Ferdie, it is worrying when the urban middle class take to the streets to demand that parliamentary democracy be suspended & replaced by an unelected Council (& guess who gets to 'appoint' them!)... comments like "These rural people are just too dumb & uneducated to vote" don't help. The army has, surprisingly, been keeping out of it despite the obvious provocation - grenades tossed into the protesters, opposition leader shot - one has to speculate (hope?) that they suspect/believe that those were self-inflicted wounds to prompt the tanks to return to the streets & are having none of it The BIG worry is that the king won't last too much longer & the succession is by no means clear and what happens then?

samsiam

How did we go ? Comparison to Bali ?

samsiam

Welll.......troops on the streets this morning, all armed, armoured machine gun mounted trucks also and TV stations have been ordered on standby and some surrounded by military.........has the fun begun.. And I have to drive to Bangkok on Sunday....bugger

davita

Martial Law has been declared in Thailand so I suspect all holidays to there are in jeopardy; and with Vietnam and China beating-up on each other all I can see is Bali getting more tourism. This will surely help the hotel/villa vacancy rate which is reportedly down by 20% this year on year, due to extra rooms coming on stream. It will however put more strain on the resources in Bali like water, electricity, garbage, and road usage....maybe move to Lombok...? Naahhh!

Joe Writeson

...no doubt samsiam will sort it all out ... dunno how they dared to declare Martial Law without his permission though???

balibule

you two need to kiss and make up. it's getting ridiculous.

Joe Writeson

balibule wroteyou two need to kiss and make up. it's getting ridiculous.

... he is having a go at my reputation as an author, my work and only income, you know, the money that puts food on my table, sends my children to school and keeps a roof over our heads ... HE needs to pull his head and fast, personal insults I can take all day long ... but demeaning my sole means of supporting my family is a completely different ballgame and out of order ... ,

samsiam

balibule wroteyou two need to kiss and make up. it's getting ridiculous.

I agree...he needs to stop his cry baby bullshit and chasing me about the forum...after all...he started it !!! Next thing he'll write a book about me.

Joe Writeson

samsiam wroteI agree...he needs to stop his cry baby bullshit and chasing me about the forum...after all...he started it !!!

Have you any idea how pathetically juvenile that sounds? But I've decided to come down to your level [I]and[/I] take your advice and write book about you...sadly I doubt that anyone will be remotely interested...however Blind dogs and Dead Monkeys (one man's journey up his own rectum) ... will be on the shelves soon.

balibule

Joe Writeson wroteBlind dogs and Dead Monkeys (one man's journey up his own rectum) ... will be on the shelves soon.

So which one of you will be the blind dog and who will be the dead monkey?

samsiam

^ I bags the blind dog.

samsiam

here we go here we go here we go...again.. 2nd one I've been through now....curfew and all..10pm, bugger.

davita

samsiam wrotehere we go here we go here we go...again.. 2nd one I've been through now....curfew and all..10pm, bugger.

Just read samsiam....curfew in Bangkok 10PM till 5AM. Is there any trouble on the streets yet? My wife's galpal is coming to visit us from her home in Bangkok so I'm trying to advise...she may wish to arrive earlier. Same with you Sam...cut out now...Bali weather is great...we just had a few beers watching the sunset from Legian beach then came home to watch the finale of American Idol....wish I'd stayed at the beach!!! Worst show ever...:icon_eek:

samsiam

Few reports of some skirmishes in bangkok...but ALL TV stations are shut down now....rumours of internet being shut down, but cannot imagine that happening, perhaps block a lot of sites. These things tend to be a little laid back in Thailand in recent times.....at least they seem to be laying off the violance that accommodated earlier coups. Not quite as laid back as the pacific coups...I was in Vanuatu circa 1997 when a coup transpired...or attempted coup...or actually they thought about having one...I was in a bar in central down town Vanuatu and talk started of the coup happening, marching down the streets to take over guv house etc...but then it was getting late so they decided to put it off till later. Wish I could be in Bali tomorrow, but too much to do and only 5 weeks left of school for kids to finish the year...although heard schools all shut tomorrow....and, its kinda interesting to say you've been through a coup or 2....something for the kids to look back on and reminisce. Funny thing in Vanuatu that whenever there is a coup, all the prisoners get released and they start over again fresh. On a more serious note....there is rumours of all this extra shutdown of all media and instant curfew because of a more serious event taken place today.....shall have to wait to see if any weight in that rumour and if so...well the shite has definitely hit the fan and this country would be screwed for some time.