Sorry to hear that.

hanuman
Is the violence in the gov't building area only? I've not seen anything unusual at all... life goes on as normal... just wondering what areas to avoid as I go out and about today, my last day in BKK.
Carol

Carol,

Most of the area under strict control will be the government building area. Avoid the area around the Grand Palace as well since the pro government mob is based around Sanam Luang.

Under the "State of Emergency" decree you're not suppose to gather with more than 5 people but I've not seen this enforce for social gathering in the past. If you're having a Bon Voyage dinner with friend I don't think there will be any trouble. No curfew is in place at the moment either.

Sorry that I could not meet with you this time but I look forward to your next visit in December and hopefully all this will be behind us.

I rode the skytrain routes from end to end today and saw no signs of any strife. I took the Marriott boat at Saphan Taksin, but did not head in the other direction at all, towards the GP area. No reason to go there.

Yes, hanuman, I hope all of this is behind us by December. CNN is saying something about fraud in the election of the current gov't??? I'm hoping to get more details.

No big plans for this evening. I'll stop by to see a couple of friends one last time, and then maybe have Maeng cook for me ONCE MORE before heading home.

Carol

Carol,

Yes the current ruling political party has been found guilty by the election commission of vote buying. This is something the current demonstrators have been saying all along and that they don't recognize the current PM or his party as being legitimate. The election commision still have to petition the constitutional court to dissolve the PPP party, like what they did with the TRT(Thaksin 1st party) which could take a while. The only graceful way out is to resign but these guys will want to hang on for as long as possible so that they can collect their kickbacks from all the government projects in place. The current PM tried to see the King a few days ago but he was not granted an audience so that says a lot.

Please say hi to Maeng. Every time I talk to her she calls me Khun Hanuman! Please tell her that's not my real name!!

Bon Voyage and say hi to Brad for me.

Hanuman
I just got back from saying my farewells to Maeng and another friend, Jack. I'm going to try to get a few hours of sleep before heading to the airport very early in the morning.

I understand the political situation better than I did a week ago, when it first came to my attention. I hope it gets resolved soon, for the sake of my friends here in Bangkok!! Those friends represent both sides of the issue, I think.

I'll be back in December, when I hope we can meet up again. I will say hello to Brad, and I'll let Maeng know your real name... smile.

See you on the internet.

Carol

I just had an email from the Evason at Hua Hin who advised me that the problems in BKK were having absolutely no effect upon them. ( not that I expected them to say anything different LOL )

TTT

Any further onsite info ?

I would call the situation right now as stalemate. The government declared a state of emergency buy no body, police and army, are willing to enforce the law with regard to the emergency. The thing to watch now is the student movement.

time for mrs hanuman to take charge!!

Do we vote now

Looks like something happened with the PM & his cooking show giving cause to have him resign??? Any feedback from those of you in BKK?
J

Jules, I just read that also! It looks like the constitution prohibited him from private employment.

Yes after the court passed judgement at around 4.00 pm local time Samak was no longer the PM of Thailand. However, he was not stripped of his member of parliament status and thus he could be voted back into the PM position. His party and the other parties aligned with the current government have expressed their intention of voting him back so it's now up to Samak if he wants to come back.

that's thailand!!

Lets see should it be the host of a cooking show or the PM of the country- a hard choice indeed!

Imagine! The wars of the past century that could have been averted if all national leaders had to host cooking shows and settle their differences in culinary exploits, Iron Chef style.

Its not getting much serious press at the moment...is that a good thing ??

Marko,

The court deposed PM will be reinstated soon(was suppose to be today but now delayed until next Wednesday) according to the aligned political parties of the current government. Not a popular choice so I expect more protest.

Last night about 6,000 troops were deployed around the government house where the demonstrators are fearing further clashes with pro government "elements" or supporters.

Life in most part of Thailand goes on normally unless especially for tourists. I don't think you'll have any trouble when you come at the end of the month but do keep checking the news periodically.