Bangkok - STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED
Discussion
Mods please don't move this as I would like the wider audience to read this.
Anyone travelling to Thailand in the next few days please check my thread in the holidays section as important info on the current protests.
Mike
eta
sorry for the spelling in the title, I'm using fat fingers on a Blackberry keyboard.
Anyone travelling to Thailand in the next few days please check my thread in the holidays section as important info on the current protests.
Mike
eta
sorry for the spelling in the title, I'm using fat fingers on a Blackberry keyboard.
Edited by MrSpike on Wednesday 7th April 14:55
soad said:
Sounds quite bad. What is it all about in short?
No doubt the usual rubbish about one group who feel their ability to run the country is better than the current governments, then when they get in power they cock it up just as badly, and a blue shirts group pops up and decides they have all the answers.It's basically the same politics we have, but instead of waiting for an election to get the next "just as bad" bunch into power, they protest and destroy stuff to get their point accross, it's a third world, or French, approach
Edited by Tokoloshe on Wednesday 7th April 15:12
Was up in Thailand over the weekend and also have several mates living in Bangers currently....
Definitely some concideration needed in Bangkok itself but if you are going off the beaten path there is no change.
Suspect that Pattaya may be a bit lively too, does not seem to be anything about Phuket currently.
However, would recomend anyone to take up Spike's offer of a heads up!
BKK airport is heavily patroled by armed forces at the moment so think what colour you wear
Definitely some concideration needed in Bangkok itself but if you are going off the beaten path there is no change.
Suspect that Pattaya may be a bit lively too, does not seem to be anything about Phuket currently.
However, would recomend anyone to take up Spike's offer of a heads up!
BKK airport is heavily patroled by armed forces at the moment so think what colour you wear
soad said:
Sounds quite bad. What is it all about in short?
My understanding is this. (And I do kinda keep up with Thai politics). I'll try for a short reply, but this is Thai politics after all.(ex)President Thaksin (billionaire) bought an election a few years ago by telling the pheasant farmers in the towns in rural Thailand that if he got power he would do all sorts of nice things for them - access to health care, affordable school fees, and guaranteed prices for the stuff they sold at market like rice. He also offered on his election that every town in Thailand to be given $15k equivalent for the local council to do whatever they wanted iirc.
So his new Love Party did rather well, Thailand made him President. He then followed through with his policies that continued his popularity.
Now, Thai politics being thoroughly corrupt at this point starts to come into play also.
The political elite in Bangkok hated Thaksin with a passion. Sore losers doesn't even come close. People in Bangkok also have a sense of superiority over the country folk. Quite simply, they think farmers and anyone in the countryside is thick. But they also feel that their vote (the farmers) to some extent should be less powerful than it is, because farmers and pheasants are stupid.
Thaksin won another election, his detractors tried to find something on him. They did eventually get him on something - but they moved heaven and earth to find it. Usually, they don't have to dig too hard to find politician corruption, but old Thaksin had largely avoided it.
So, the detractors got angry, managed to recruit the Army, and removed Thaksin from power forcibly.
The Thai Army Generals were so pleased with their efforts, that at the first cabinet meeting they all gave themselves a 100% payrise for being thoroughly good fellows, which kinda made the partying folk outside scratch their heads.
The Thai General put in charge of economy famously declared some new rules about currency movement - currency could come into Thailand, but currency could not come out, was his thinking, which nearly destroyed Thailand overnight as capital shipped out in huge amounts. He backed down within 48 hours.
Anyway, they had another election (eventually), a new Govt, Thaksin was prosecuted (as was his wife) and is exiled iirc at the moment, but the Thaksin supporters are somewhat aggrieved still.
And it's those guys who are more than a little pissed right now. (I think).
No messing about then!
A friend of mine owns what was the Dog b
ks bar (Can't remember the region, it's quite a infamous pub, the Chelsea Headhunters etc)
He was saying the protests are nearly entirely peaceful. With mainly sit down protests, as the Thai people rarely resort to violence.
This Thaksin guy is the Shinawatra guy who attempted to buy Liverpool FC right?
A friend of mine owns what was the Dog b
ks bar (Can't remember the region, it's quite a infamous pub, the Chelsea Headhunters etc) He was saying the protests are nearly entirely peaceful. With mainly sit down protests, as the Thai people rarely resort to violence.
This Thaksin guy is the Shinawatra guy who attempted to buy Liverpool FC right?
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