A well placed thai friend of mine with military contacts believes there will be a determined effort soon, and that the army expects up to 250 red fatalities.

It's likely therefore to get worse before it gets better and I for one will be staying put in Pattaya !

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-- Tee rak & I left the appt. at approx. 14193O.hrs. primarily to see what places might be OPEN for a meal?
- Along soi Than Tawan a couple of JP. girlie bars, TAWAN CLUB & INDRA MASSAGE;
- Along S'wong. rd. TARNTAWAN MASSAGE, 66PROUD MASSAGE & the PERSIAN REST'T., SARIKA CAFE., SIP REST'T. & BAVANA 24/7. CAFE./REST'T.;
- Looking at Soi T'light. many of the bars' neon signs were lit; but at that earlyish hr. not many people seen;
- Along Rama IV. rd. all were quiet;
- Approaching the former ROBINSON'S we were directed to go through the car-parking area rather than around the outside;
- Along Si Lom rd. - where there were the orange-colored & plastic barriers across the rd., some of wch. were reinforced by coils of razor-wire - all were CLOSED, except for the smaller 7/11s. & FAMILY MARTS;
- In Silom soi 6 there were MARSALA ZONE, the Ch. rest't. & LA TANA.
-- For most of the way - in fact until the soi Convent tee-junc. - we were just about the only & civilian pedestrians.

-- We supped - not too cheaply - in MARSALA ZONE.

-- Afterwards we retraced our footsteps but were stopped by the mil'y. at Silom 4 and asked not to proceed any farther;
- We walked through P. Pong 2. where possibly about half of the girlie bars were OPEN, as were FOODLAND and the next door 24/7. cafe./rest't.. I noticed that none of the TVs. was shewing any football or other sporting event, instead all were shewing a serious faced police colonel making a longish announcement & occasionally consulting his written notes;
- Looking along P. Pong 1 only some of the bars in the bldgs. either side were OPEN.
- Back in si Than Tawan TAWAN BAR had CLOSED for the night.

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Lets hope this is not right.

This morning (here in Asia) BBC report 10 dead and 100 hundred injured...

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-- Today, (15th.), forenoon tee rak & I walked along Rama IV. rd. from the Henri Dunant i'sect. towards the DUSIT THANI HTL. i'sect. & beyond.
- Roughly mid-way between the HD. i'sect. & the pedestrian o'bridge. there were the usual orange colored & plastic barriers across both carriageways.
- At the DT. 'isect. some broken bottles, bricks and suchlike in the roadway; the usual & background rhetoric from the dir'n. of the red shirts' encampment.
- Father along Rama IV. a tyre still afire & some debris scattered across the rd..
- Roughly opposite to the gateway ent'ce. to LUMPINI PK. police called to us not to progress any farther and to turn-back.

- Along Si Lom rd. roughly only the smaller 7/11s. & Family Marts were OPEN; ANKOR MASSAGE had its street door OPEN , but whether that was for business or just an airing I don't know; one small food shop was OPEN; in CP. TWR. only WATSON'S was OPEN; in UNITED CENTRE only DELIFRANCE was OPEN; a few OPEN stalls & hand-carts were seen along Si Lom rd..
- In P. Pong 2 FOODLAND & the nearby 24/7. cafe./rest't., LE BOUCHON, and only a few girlie-bars were OPEN at that time.
- We enjoyed our morning's coffees in SARIKA CAFE, along with an handful of others.
- Along Si Lom red. we noticed a couple of privately owned & orange colored #77. 'buses. running; just a few m/c. taxis, taxis. & tuk-tuks seen.
- As we left, (approx. 12nn.), we saw plenty of riot-police in the gen'l. area of the KASIKORN BANK; some were de-bussing. while others were relaxing and taking it easy - to the manner born!

-- Possibly the only one's profiting from the present sit'n. are the bottlers & suppliers of bottled & drinking water?

-- Along Rama IV. & Si Lom one could not help but notice the piles of swept-up but uncollected garbage & trash.

-- We met a farang visiting from Pattaya; his Thai companion told us that there's life along Si Lom rd. from the other side of Naras Thiwat rd. & going towards Charoen Krung.

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-- Today, (15th.), a'noon. tee rak & I walked-along soi Naras Thiwat 1.: no barker o'side. SUPER A encouraging us to enter, no boyz o'side. GOLDEN COCK, just a couple of boyz o'side. TWINKS' MASSAGE who were MORE interested in their food tha in us - mortifying, indeed!
-- Crossing-over Naras Thiwat rd. was like crossing the frontier into another land: on the one hand a part of the city in its own state of self-induced funk, and on the other where 'buses. were running, businesses & shops were OPEN and life was carrying-on quite normally.
-- We walked-along Charoen Krung.
-- Walking-back along Si Lom rd. we encountered the 1st. barriers at the i'sect. with NT. rd..
- We were stopped by some mil'y. in the area of O'REILLY'S IRISH PUB. but were allowed to proceed.
- O'side. the former ROBINSON'S a mere dozen or so on-lookers.
- K WHY MASSAGE was OPEN.
- Soi Twilight was busy setting-up for a sat. night.
- P. Pong 1. looked to be all too quiet.
- Along S'wong. rd. most of the massage parlors were OPEN .
- In soi Than Tawan TAWAN BAR was CLOSED, but INDRA MASSAGE and RAMENTAI JP. REST'T. were OPEN.

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Many thanks for these continuing reports.

Planning to be in Bangkok by Tuesday night, though considering a change from Pan Pacific to some hotel nearer Sathorn or the river. Hate to abandon Pan Pacific, though.

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will be leaving Bangkok tomorrow... hope everything goes fine... hope the road from Sukhumvit to Suvarnabhumi will be clear really dont want to be stuck in this so called civil war...

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You might like to review the Pan Pacific. This is in todays Australian Age Newspaper...

"Australian travellers trapped amid Thai fighting BEN DOHERTY, BANGKOK
May 16, 2010

A DOZEN Australians are holed up in a central Bangkok hotel as Thailand's bloody conflict rages around them.

As anti-government red-shirt protesters and army troops clash on the streets of the Thai capital, Brisbane teacher Shane Hancock and 11 friends are virtual prisoners in the Pan Pacific Hotel, near the southern end of the red-shirt protest camp. ETC ETC ..."

THE LINK IS HERE
Australian travellers trapped amid Thai fighting

Of course things may have changed...

Hope u have a nice break anyway. I am sure away from the clash much fun is still to be had!!

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-- My heart bleeds for those virtual prisoners languishing in one of BKK's. premier hotels.
- Possibly the 'Digger.' generation has died-out by now?

-- Tee rak & I walk-by the PP. HTL. regularly; but then we're not burdened with tonnes of baggage & impedimenta.
- I'm sure that an hotel of the PP's. standing could arrange the necessary tpt. if req'd. and with the police's permission.
- Has their Embassy, wch. is not too far away, been contacted or tried to assist?

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