Thailand Political Unrest
Originally uploaded by migratorynature.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
TROUBLE IN BANGKOK
If you've been reading international news headlines lately, you may be wondering what the heck is going on in Bangkok right now. There are several thousand protestors who've locked themselves into the government house downtown. Their action is an attempt to get the current Prime Minister, Mr. Samak Sundaravej to resign on the accusation that he has connections to Thailand's former Prime Minister Mr. Thaksin who was ousted in a military coup in 2006.
I'm writing this blog to let all of our family and friends know that we are OK and staying far away from the protests. Both of us are reminded of WTO in Seattle a few years back, when the riots were restricted to downtown Seattle and everyone who wasn't walking around downtown on the streets was safe. We live and work 45 minutes outside of the city, quite a ways from the protests. We wouldn't have known about the protests, accept for the fact that it's been all over the news. The largest affect it has on the two of us is that we can't go into Bangkok until it all calms down.
Rest assured we are safe. Now that you've relaxed a little, here's the scoop with all the juicy details of what's really happening in Bangkok right now. 30,000 protestors have taken over TV stations, government buildings, and some bridges that lead into the city. The railway and public transportation employees have all gone on strike, causing delays with the country's buses and trains. Three airports were shut down in Hat Yai, Phuket and Krabi: all beach towns that typically attract many tourists. As Thailand gears up for its peak tourist season, possibilities of economic downturn could result from all the political hype scaring the tourists away.
So far there is very little violence or vandalism caused by the demonstrators. If this were happening in the states, we believe that people would have been violently aggressive and much more destructive to public property. We have been absolutely amazed at how peaceful the Thai protestors have remained despite being tear gassed and arrested by riot police.
Yesterday a Thai colleague at work commented on the future outlook for Bangkok saying, "We know that violence will not create any changes for a good government. Violence will only make everything worse". Wow. Is anybody listening out there? I think a few of our American political leaders could stand to learn from this.
I'm writing this blog to let all of our family and friends know that we are OK and staying far away from the protests. Both of us are reminded of WTO in Seattle a few years back, when the riots were restricted to downtown Seattle and everyone who wasn't walking around downtown on the streets was safe. We live and work 45 minutes outside of the city, quite a ways from the protests. We wouldn't have known about the protests, accept for the fact that it's been all over the news. The largest affect it has on the two of us is that we can't go into Bangkok until it all calms down.
Rest assured we are safe. Now that you've relaxed a little, here's the scoop with all the juicy details of what's really happening in Bangkok right now. 30,000 protestors have taken over TV stations, government buildings, and some bridges that lead into the city. The railway and public transportation employees have all gone on strike, causing delays with the country's buses and trains. Three airports were shut down in Hat Yai, Phuket and Krabi: all beach towns that typically attract many tourists. As Thailand gears up for its peak tourist season, possibilities of economic downturn could result from all the political hype scaring the tourists away.
So far there is very little violence or vandalism caused by the demonstrators. If this were happening in the states, we believe that people would have been violently aggressive and much more destructive to public property. We have been absolutely amazed at how peaceful the Thai protestors have remained despite being tear gassed and arrested by riot police.
Yesterday a Thai colleague at work commented on the future outlook for Bangkok saying, "We know that violence will not create any changes for a good government. Violence will only make everything worse". Wow. Is anybody listening out there? I think a few of our American political leaders could stand to learn from this.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
TWO YEARS OF MARRIAGE AND TRAVEL
On August 12th we celebrated our two-year wedding anniversary by dressing up for an elegant night on the town. We were long overdue to take our fancy clothes out for a walk; mostly because
Fortunately we were dry once again by the time we got to the Siam Paragon Cineplex,
The highlight of the night was in the simple realization that our anniversary also marks the two years that we've been traveling the world together. In just two years we've been to
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Friday, August 8, 2008
WEEKEND ROADTRIP TO THE ISLANDS
This morning the sun rises blood orange turning the black ocean waves silver and then a tranquil marine blue. This is the view from my yoga mat as I stand in "tree pose" on the beach of Koh Samet island. Koh Samet is located about four hours south of Bangkok in the Gulf of Thailand. An impromtu roadtrip adventure to the beach manifested itself and the results so far have been soft white sand dunes and salty air boundless.
After breakfast with friends at a beach side cafe, we plopped down under an umbrella for the rest of the day to take advantage of Thai "sabai sabai" (take it easy) lifestyle.
Hmmm, should we go for a tumble in the warm bathwaters or wait and watch while the tide slowly brings its waters to us? Perhaps we'll purchase some tropical papaya salad from one of the many vendors that sluff by in a constant meandering drove. Can't pass up the cheap Thai massage: it's given on a towel right next to our umbrella. Don't forget about that old Charles Dickens classic you've been wanting to dive into. Yeah that's the ticket. Some choice reading followed by a promonade down the beach to let our chameleon skin change colors. If the moment feels right, we might even expand our sea shells collection.
After breakfast with friends at a beach side cafe, we plopped down under an umbrella for the rest of the day to take advantage of Thai "sabai sabai" (take it easy) lifestyle.
Hmmm, should we go for a tumble in the warm bathwaters or wait and watch while the tide slowly brings its waters to us? Perhaps we'll purchase some tropical papaya salad from one of the many vendors that sluff by in a constant meandering drove. Can't pass up the cheap Thai massage: it's given on a towel right next to our umbrella. Don't forget about that old Charles Dickens classic you've been wanting to dive into. Yeah that's the ticket. Some choice reading followed by a promonade down the beach to let our chameleon skin change colors. If the moment feels right, we might even expand our sea shells collection.
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