It's manifest that the subject is deemed sensitive, maybe too much so for this forum, but I'm wondering if recent events have manifested any effects in Silom, Suriwong, Patpong, or other popular districts. Are security forces, businesses, or customers acting any differently there?

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No.

I was out tonight and saw nothing unusual.

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-- Y'day., (13th.), midday I walked safely from SILOM COMPLEX SHOPPING PLAZA, (BTS.Sala Daeng, [S2.],), to the FOUR SEASONS' HOTEL, (BTS. R'damri., [S1.],), and was neither molested nor witnessed any untoward events; if anything the tfc. was the lightest that I had seen for a v. long time.
-- Then, in the evening, my tee rak & I went to BALCONY BAR in Si Lom 4., again nothing untoward was witnessed.
- Both BALCONY & the TELEPHONE BARS were v. busy - this would be around 21.30.hrs. & later. Maybe a case of: 'Eat, drink and be merry ... .'?
- But these may be early days yet in the ongoing progress of red-shirted events!

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-- Today, (19th.), early forenoon I walked from P. Pong to the Main PO. on Charoen Krung and back again.
- Many police sleeping, sitting-down, eating and generally relaxing were seen; also a score or so, black clad, in full riot gear with batons & shields seen outside one of the banks.
-- Later on I walked to SILOM COMPLEX SHOPPING PLAZA.
- In Tnn. Si Lom both men in riot-gear and armed troops, (tear-gas & bullet-firing weapons.),. Coils of barbed-wire either still coiled-up or pulled-out across some parts of the side-walks. Humvees, Black Marias, (aka. Paddy Wagons.), vehs. with water-cannons etc. etc., mostly parked along the sois.
- Many tps. resting in the sois leading OFF of Tnn. Si Lom.
- 'buses., (some of wch. have been re-routed.), BTS. & MRT. still running normally.

-- In the evening, (approx. 19.oo.hrs.), I walked back from SCSP..
- Quite a few tps. packing-up and returning to their barracks - or so it seemed.
- But many tps. still in pos'n. along the skywalk from BTS. Sala Daeng to MRT. Silom; a tall screen erected along the bridge across Tnn. Si Lom to stop people looking-at the red-shirts who'd CLOSED Tnn. R'damri., (sometimes it's an advantage to be tall!),.
- Quite a few tps. shopping in FOODLAND in PP2., (possibly the usual story af Army rations - ha!),.
-- In PP1. no Night Mkt.!
- In PP2. many girlie bars CLOSED!

-- I noticed that many of the tps. appeared to be quite young still, with not a few, (judging from their faces.), seeming to be apprehensive.

-- E&OE.. --

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Surprising that the night market was closed. Less surprising that the girlie bars were closed. What about the gay establishments in Silom Soi 4 and elsewhere in Patpong?

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I read in tiny Wall Street Journal article that Silom is now an area of concern for the army--especially Bangkok Bank (which is now protected with barbed-wire, etc.) because the protesters think that bank is in with the government.

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[quote=wantasian;676912]
I read in tiny Wall Street Journal article that Silom is now an area of concern for the army--especially Bangkok Bank, (which is now protected with barbed-wire, etc.), because the protesters think that bank is in with the government. [/QUOTE

-- Y'day., (19th.), forenoon I made a special trip to the HQ. of the BBL. - 333, Tnn. Si Lom, Khet Bang rak - to see for myself.
- True that there were a few mil'y. vehs. parked in Soi Phipat, (Silom 3.), but from the main rd. all I saw were some of the usual & portable steel barriers ready to be deployed along the side-walk, if needed; and a few armed & mil'y. gds. standing in the gen'l. area of the Bank's main ent'ce.. But possibly reserves were hidden-away, OUT of sight from the street?
- I was surprised at the gen'l. lack of obvious mil'y. strength.
-- Reportedly Gen. Prem - one of the thought-to-be upholders of the status quo ante bellum has his account with BBL.; and, or so I believe, was a member of its Board, (but please do not quote me on that as I've not verified it.),.

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-- Today, (20th.), forenoon I walked to BBL's. HQ. on Tnn. Si Lom:
- The yellow & portable barriers were strung-out along the side-walk in front of the outer wall, but a gap to allow tfc. In & OUT; a 2nd. row of similar barriers erected just in front of the Bank's plate-glass windows, with a gap by the revolving door.
- Several white & police pick-ups parked in the forecourt; a couple or so mil'y. Humvees parked alongside in Soi Phipat;
- No obvious signs of armed soldiers; just a few of the usual & civilian sec. gds. visible.

-- I'd say that there are MORE armed tps. along Tnn. Si Lom than y'day., just a few of whom were wearing red berets; noted several mil'y. vehs. prominently marked with red crosses, PLUS maybe 30 or so unarmed soldiers with red cross brasards.
- Razor wire either still coiled-up or pulled-out across the side-walk in several places.

-- Leaving SILOM COMPLEX SHOPPING PLAZA at around 12.oo. nn. I saw that the SkyWalk between BTS. S. Daeng & MRT. Silom was CLOSED to civilians.
- A few shops along Tnn. Si Lom CLOSED; not all that many happy eaters seen in SECRET RECIPE, BUG & BEE and COFFEE SOCIETY.
- At one time a mil'y. veh. crewed by red bereted soldiers was driven along Tnn. Si Lom - someone or other aboard was making a PA. announcement;
- A large crowd of spectators & voyeurs at the Rama IV.: R'damri. i'sect.; but, apart from that, rd. tfc.,('buses., taxis., tuk-tuks etc. etc.), flowing normally along Rama IV. & Si Lom rds..
- Quite strong police-presences outside BAILEY'S HOTEL on Tnn. Si Lom and the J. THOMPSON shop on Tnn. Suriwong.

-- I walked through Soi Twilight: just a few massage boyz sitting-out in the shade. The ME. rest't. and DICK'S CAFE were OPEN for business.

-- We'll see what later-on will bring?

-- E&OE.. --

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-- Today, (20th.) evening tee rak & I went for our usual evening's stroll in LUMPINI PARK.; we walked along Tnn. Si Lom on the DUSIT THANI HOTEL's side and crossed-over Tnn. Rama IV. under the watchful gaze of several red shirted traffic marshals.
- The red shirts have been busy erecting two palisades of sharpened bamboo stakes: the first is just back a few steps from the kerbside and the 2nd. is maybe a couple of yds. inside the first one; the ent'ce. that's between them can be CLOSED quite quickly with portable barriers and other objects. Many red shirts were seen to be walking-around & carrying sharpened bamboo stakes.
- We left the PARK at around 19.oo.hrs. as tee rak had to catch the BTS. to SURASAK, (S5.),.

-- Walking along Tnn. Suriwong I saw that the evening looked to be getting under way as usual in Soi Twilight; PP2. seemed to have many bars OPEN; PP1. is still without its Night Mkt., but bars & shops in the street-side bldgs. are OPEN , (at the S'wong. end the mil'y. had CLOSED it to veh. tfc. but pedestrians were being allowed IN for business and/or pleasure.) - life goes on!

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Many thanks for these continuing reports.

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- Today, (21st.), morning I thought fewer armed tps. Along Tnn. Si Lom than y'day.?
- Strung-out, beneath BTS. Sala Daeng, (S2.), were a [u]couple of banners[/ U] directed at Khun Taksin: one advising him that did he consider himself to be innocent then he should return to face a fair trial; the other saying that there would be full, fair & d'cratic. elections in TH. next time around. (NB. - these are not written verbatim et literatim but Words to the effect., giving the gen'l. sense of the messages),. They were removed later-on during the day. (Query: 'Being posted at SALA DAENG and written in Thai & in English to whom would they be addressed?' - Printer's Devil. ;-) ),.

*- In the evening SILOM COMPLEX SHOPPING PLAZA CLOSED suddenly & unexpectedly just after 18.05.hrs. - no reason given-out to the shoppers.
*- However, most of the poor but honest side-walk vendors along Tnn. Si Lom continued to erect their stalls, apparently quite unconcerned.

**- E & OE .. -.

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-- From info. passed-on to me by another farang:
1.- Y'day.,(21st.), evening in Silom 4. all bars voluntarily agreed to CLOSE at 23.oo.hrs.;
2.- Today, (22nd.), he walked along Tnn. Si Lom at 02.oo.hrs. and noted that -
2.1.- The mil'y had sealed-off Tnn. Si Lom to veh. tfc. from Soi Convent to Tnn. Rama IV., but were allowing pedestrians through;
2.2.- At the DUSIT THANI's corner there was a small crowd of yellow shirted individuals who were swapping verbal insults with their red shirt counterparts on the opposite side; a few & non-lethal missiles were being exchanged.
-- E&OE. as reported speech.

-- Today, (22nd.), I left SILOM COMPLEX SHOPPING PLAZA at around 12.30.hrs. and both heard & saw a multitude of people being harangued by some strident & screech owl type of oratrix, to tumultuous cheers from a crowd many of whom were carrying Thai flags, several others were waving yellow flags.
- No undue numbers of tps. seen in Tnn. Thaniya, (aka. Little JP.),. However, tps. quite obviously present in both PP1., (where the ent'ce had been partly sealed-off.), and in PP2., (soldiers sitting-down and apparently more at ease.),. A small knot of tps. standing by nr. the PP1. branch of the K'korn. Bank.

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-- Today, (22nd.), a'noon., fearing lest BTS. SALA DAENG, (S2.), might be CLOSED, (it was not.), I took the SkyTrain from BTS. CHONG NONSI, (S3.), to BTS. ON NUT, (E9.),.
- Passing over the R'PRASONG.'SECT. I observed that Tnn. R'damri. from the i'sect. to just beyond the 1st. pedestrian o'bridge., (opp. CENTRALWORLD.), was covered by black sun-netting: a useful. & dual role of protecting the red shirted demonstrators from the sun and of hindering the prying eyes of their opponents.

-- On returning I de-trained at BTS. PLOEN CHIT, (E2.), so as to see the scene for myself.
-- At the PC. I'SECT. a couple of HGVs., (Hy. Goods' Vehs.), are drawn-up across the rd. by the central divide and are backed-up by piles of large & industrial sized tyres - leaving just about a lane and an half for veh. tfc. on either side. On either side were another couple of HGVs. ready to block-off any openings if needed. Several bamboo barriers are positioned to be put into pos'n. quickly.
-- At the RUAM RUDEE I'SECT. both carriageways are CLOSED to veh. tfc. by MORE HGVs. wch. are protected by large & stuffed bags of whatever - there being enough space for m/cycles. From then onwards on both sides two lanes are taken-up by tents, stalls and suchlike - the stalls selling food, memorabilia, momentoes, souvenirs and so on and so forth.
-- At the R'PRASONG.'SECT. a large crowd listening to some orator, whose tones were LESS strident and MORE measured than those that I heard at noon. from the oratrix outside SILOM COMPLEX. I walked as far as SIAM P'GON. and observed that the POLICE GEN'L. HOSP. was OPEN for ped. tfc., (possibly for ambulances, too?), and saw several red shirts giving water etc. to those on duty there; however, the POLICE HQ. was CLOSED, the gates being backed-up by coils of razor-wire.
- I walked along Tnn. R'damri. to its i'sect. with Tnn. Rmam IV.; every so often were the std. & yellow painted metal barriers manned by red shirts' guards. A general air of quiet relaxation, I thought, with people apparently awaiting events with the in-born patience of country folk who, being attuned to Mother Nature's cycle, realize that some things cannot be hurried.

-- Crossing Tnn. Rama IV. to the DUSIT THANI HTL's. side was a different story: a large crowd waving both Thai and yellow flags, displaying placards & other posters and blocking the sidewalks and most of the carriageways.
- SILOM COMPLEX SHOPPING PLAZA had boarded-up its veh. ent'ce./exit on Tnn. Si Lom; farther along were notices announcing that it would CLOSE at 20.oo.hrs. today.

-- Most of the usual stalls set-out along Tnn. Si Lom.
- Silom 4. appeared to be mostly OPEN; I did not enter and check.
- PP2. was OPEN for business as usual; outide the S&M. BAR BAR several of the dominatrices were chatting with and amusing a small gp. of soldiers.
- PP1. Night Mkt. was MORE or LESS back in business, but with MORE soldiers than shoppers, I thought; at its S'wong. rd. end it was CLOSED by steel & portable barriers, but pedestrian tfc. was being allowed ent'ce./exit.

-- My tee rak has just visited, (20.30.hrs.), and told me that he heard three detonations and that the BTS. was CLOSED.

-- While the palisades built of sharpened & of bamboo stakes might be the country-persons' equivalent of barbed wire and suffice to restrain water-buffaloes, yet I do have my doubts as to their efficacity against a mechanized army. But they might serve to delay, and time is often a vital component in mil'y. planning: as the Corsican gen'l. Bounaparte allegedly said: 'Ask of me anything but time.'.

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This just come in on the wire...
"Four bombs exploded on Silom Road not far from the red-shirts' rally site on Thursday night, injuring at least 10 people including a male foreigner, police said.

The grenades were believed to be fired from M79 grenade launchers.

The first three explosions took place at around 8pm, injuring three men.

One of the grenades hit Sala Daeng skytrain station, injuring a skytrain passenger. Another bomb went off at Thaniya Road, injuring the male foreigner.

All of the injured were rushed to Bangkok Christian Hospital.

The explosions took place after 8pm"

Lets all cruisers are safely ensconced 'en hong nam'!

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Even after Thursday night's "red shirt" grenade attacks at Sala Daeng, one news report said Patpong girlie bars were still operating, though other reports said they had few customers.

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