hey all,
i don't know if you all are aware, but there will be another red protest this weekend in bangkok. i recommend to not go anywhere near it, and maybe even get out of the city if you can.
Yeah i know... unfortunately my home is near two spots where they're doing it... Me and my mum are gonna go stock up tomorrow so we can pretty much stay in for the entire week.
I have coffee, some noodles, and rice, plan to buy noodles, bread, and eggs tomorrow.
I think the area where I am is not on the targets list, and hopefully the vendors here will continue as they have, but still who knows? They are threatening to paralyze the city again, hopefully things will not be as bad as a lot of people seem to think.
^ According to some of the Thai news media yesterday (always a reliable source. Not. ) the red shirts are expected to gather at 10 hot-spots:
Khlong 4 in Thanyaburi district, Pathum Thani
Khlong 4 in Rangsit
Thung Song Hong police station near Vibhavadi Rangsit Road not far from Don Mueang
Laksi democracy monument in Bang Khen
City Hall Nonthaburi
Lumphini Park
Thai-Jap sports complex in Din Daeng
Wong Wian Yai
Bang Na intersection
City Hall Samut Prakan
Tha Prachan Pier near Sanum Luang (this is where many of the protesters will be coming into Bangkok using the river network from Ayutthaya and trying to avoid police check points - difficult to put those orange and white cones on the river )
There's also a mass rally planned for Sanum Luang on Sunday but wjether that'll be allowed is anyones guess.
Suggest you do Granuaile said, buy in food and beer supplies and hide at home. You can while away the time watching porno DVDs.
Ohhhh, ouch,... no tv, no net... Don't plan to watch any porn movies but I still haven't caught up on Criminal Minds, Real Time with Bill Maher, NCIS, etc etc....
According to one of the newspapers today, the demonstrators only have sufficient funds to continue for 3-5 days. So lets just hope it stays peaceful during that time. And next weekend lets hope we can be back to normal.
I don't think that would be a good outcome. I believe Abhisit should hold firm and not cave to mob action, otherwise just repeats over an over. I hope he doesn't. But I may be holed up in my room the next few days..
I agree with you, no problem with the PM but I just want all these chaos to end, it's not helpful at all. Either he step down or wash-out those protesters in the streets to contain peace again, so be it.
@agent_lou I think you will be fine. The government has taken steps to secure the airports, and even in the riots last year I don't think the airports were affected but Cee or some of those who were here then might be able to provide some insight.
I think tomorrow will set the tone of things. A friend of mine called me today and suggested things might get bad tomorrow, but I don't know. I think getting into the airport should not be a problem. It has been quite today where I live. I went to Chatuchak Market to buy a rabbit and saw nothing out of the ordinary.
Yes I think today will set the tone. I did not see the airport on any of the maps of official protest sites, and if you are going to Saphhan Kwai I think the sites the redshirts have listed are all North and South of there. Lat Phrao, where I live, has been very quite. I haven't even seen any of them.
I'm watching on the news now as the demonstrators move their way to the 11th Regiment.
If it were me, I'd go forward with plans to leave Wednesday. Besides we are having a party Saturday, I hope.
So far it has been very nonconfrontational. Mainly just traffic headaches, hard for me to imagine worse traffic headaches than normal here though.
@agent_lou, the UDD announced earlier they will not try to seize the airport, which would probably be an exercise in futility.
I am hoping it stays relatively peaceful, but really depends on the redshirts. They threatened to storm the 11th regiment earlier and began cutting barbed wire around it, but the last I heard they were heading back to their main location.
More worrisome and the first real violence reported, if connected to the redshirts was the use of M79 grenade launchers on another military compound, near Victory Monument wounding two soldiers. They confiscated some launcher parts in another province when the redshirts started to BKK. Then yesterday or the day before they found a large number in Samut Prakarn. Speculation was that they were connected to the redshirts, this might be the first evidence of that.
I think you should get here with no problems. The important thing is to steer clear of the demonstrations when you get here. A friend of mine who called me yesterday to advise me to exercise caution and stay inside if things get rough.
I am still hoping to go out later this week with a couple or more friends from this group to socialize over drinks. Hopefully will fizzle quickly....
@HRB, ohhhh that has to be disruptive for folks living there.... I have heard that P.M. Abhisit is somewhere else now, so perhaps they will stay away from there tomorrow... I hope so...
I am hoping that things do not get bad overall. I read today that many of the demonstrators did not return to their base today after the situation at the 11th.
I'm worried about you guys now, I've been following this tread cause I'm coming to Bangkok in a while. It's not easy getting information in the midst of tourist hell of Ko PhiPhi. Please keep posting, info needed!!
Thanks cee... thankfully they're gone from the 11th regiment today so i could go out again. Unfortunately though my grandmother's house is near Abhisit's house and i heard there are still some red shirts there.
I heard that they have pretty much left Sukhumvit 31, glad it didn't escalate. I was afraid it would. I think the more sensible of their leaders realize that if they are the ones to provoke violence it will not be good for their standing.
I feel sorry for the ones I heard have fallen sick and been injured. I hope that they all get better. I am glad that both sides have shown a lot of restraint. I have heard the numbers are down to 15,000-30,000. Maybe it is time for everyone to unite under what is good for the country, and for the government to recognize the legitimate issues in the North and Northeast - and for the people of that region to put their faith in new, sincere leadership rather from amongst their own ranks rather the political establishment.
Chan rak meungtai, I hope it prospers and has peace in the future.
And I hope agent_lou has a comfortable trip back here.
) the red shirts are expected to gather at 10 hot-spots: 
) 
Don't plan to watch any porn movies but I still haven't caught up on Criminal Minds, Real Time with Bill Maher, NCIS, etc etc.... 
