Iraq is not a good comparison. More like Lebanon before the Israeli strike.

I agree that the chance of getting into trouble in Thailand is low, but the risks have just increased. It is important for people traveling to Thailand to understand their risks.

Being overly optimistic could be dangerous. Cambodia was also a friendly and safe country before the Khmer Rouge took over. Imagine if you encouraged someone to go there and enter the 'killing fields'. Bad things can happen when you least expect it. Don’t be careless.

Reports from locals "on the ground" in Bangkok and from travelers currently there indicate that travelers have not been "confined to their hotel rooms" and that the curfew announced earlier has not been enforced.

One should be always be alert and cautious while traveling. Anyone planning a trip to Thailand should continue to monitor the situation.

I think the comparison to Lebanon is not a good one, and the comparison to Cambodia also does not fit. Thailand is Thailand, and likely the best comparison is to previous coups in Thailand.

I'm going to Thailand as planned. I have spoken with friends there and they all say the same thing no worries. Its obvious that no matter where one visits precautions must be taken specially when visiting developing countries that are or could become potenially fragile. But I doubt very seriously that what we have on our hands in Thailand is a Khmer Rouge type insurgency.

As far as the censorship and banning of things that the American media loves ro acentuate and that Americans seem prone to latch onto. Its not very much diffrent than some of the extreme measures that we took here in the states and and in some instances continue to take after the 9/11 attacks.

During states of emergecies, extreme measures are always taken its the only way to keep order. We have the same policies written in our laws and statues in case of emergencies. It was not that long ago that we had tanks and armed troops roaming the streets of New Orleans. There was a curfew in affect there to.

Control and restrictions is not always a one way road to loss of liberty, sometimes its just a measure taken inorder to regroup and plan for the future. Lets just wait and see what happens in Thailand before we start comparing it to the Iraq, or Lebanon, or the Khmer Rouge

An interesting twist to all this is that a friend of mine who is in the Thai army was due to arrive here in Sydney today but his leave was cancelled at the last moment because of the situation.