How about Bangkok now?
 

I have planned to be there in Songkran but the security is awful.I don't know if I should come there or ccancel my trip?Any advice?

-- Y'day., (06th.), forenoon I walked to, (10.30hrs.) & from (12.45.hrs.), SILOM COMPLEX SHOPPING PLAZA - it's on Tnn. Si Lom right by BTS. Sala Daeng - and the only ones wearing red shirts whom I saw were a few of the poor but honest sidewalk vendors.
- But I u'stand. that the red-shirts processed up & down Tnn. Si Lom for a couple of hours in the a'noon.
- But by 16.30.hrs. Tnn. Si Lom was clear and traffic was flowing as it does on any tuesday a'noon..
- Of course, with the red shirts occupying R'PRASON. I'SECT. it's likely that there'll be no cruising in BIG C - R'DAMRI., but there are plenty of other places to wch. to go, aren't there?
- Y'day. both the BTS. & the MRT. were running, and most of the 'buses. seemed to be running, too.
-- But, of course, sit'ns. & times can change: 'Tempora mutantur ... .'.
-- But the bottom line is: 'Up to you.' as our Th. boyz are alleged to say.

-- E&OE.. -- Usual disclaimers, no liabilities etc. etc., (See small print at the bottom of p94.),. ;-)

I wouldn't cancel. I just can't see anything happening which would put the safety of anyone not involved in the protests at risk.

i am dithering back n forth also .. waiting until tomorrow to get or not get my tickets

Apart from traffic disruptions, a busyer BTS(skytrain) and some shopping malls closed due to demonstrations in front of them. Life goes on. As Sextile mentioned Big C cruising is out!
I am sure the protesters will head home comes friday as most of them come from the country side and they would not miss the chance of family reunions. Business wise Songkran is always quieter.
Your favorite masseur might not be in town but I am sure plenty of others will remain to pleasure you.

I wonder how many protestors will actually stay in Bangkok rather than go home for Songkran. The rumour is they are all being paid a considerable daily sum to stay on, a lot more than they could make back home.

I am working at Gaysorn Place (Chit Lom) opposit of Central World and beside the noise that the Red Shirts do the whole day, nothing happen. I come to work, go for lunch and in the evening go back home, only more security is around, I have to sign into a log book when entering the building (because the shops were closed).
I would suggest to come to Bangkok enjoying Songkran and all the "wet" boys.
Don't bother too much about the Red Shirts, I still would say Bangkok is a safe place.

I would agree that it is quite safe so long as you stay out of the way but with the declaration of the state of emergency people's travel insurances may no longer be valid. So if you are going to go check the small print. That's why I'm stayin' put for the time being!

Fingers crossed it will all sort itself out soon!!

-- I u'stand. that CENTRAL - Chit Lom RE-OPENED for business today, (08th.),.
- I changed trains twice at SIAM and from the safety of the SkyTrain I did not consider that times and events looked threatening as we crossed-over Tnn. R'damri..
-- I darewrite that mkts. etc. away from R'PRASONG. I'SECT. will be profiting mightily from these events.

My Thai contacts in BKK are confident that the demos are running out of steam (and probably money.) The governments "no force" policy may seem to be allowing the demos to drag on, but they are handling the situation subtley and by ignoring the red shirts (except when they aggressively invade parliament etc) they they are making the demos look irrelevant and ineffective. Boredom, heat, Songkran and dwindling money should see the current campaign fade away. Anyway in Pattaya , no one wears shirts on the beach :)

Wise words here Biggles. If they manage to pull it off it will be a great achievement for Ab V.

Definitely the best strategy IMHO. I suppose we will know by next week sometime.

-- Today, (09th.), the red shirts have set-up a small encampment outside LUMPINI PK., by the King's Statue; where I noticed that most of the people are tending towards the maturer side of life.
- My Thai companion & I walked-around inside the Pk. and observed the numbers of police-vehicles: both 'Black Marias.', (Paddy Wagons I believe they're called elsewhere?), and white vans. The PK. itself was comparatively empty.
- The gen'l. atmosphere there seemed to me to be peaceful, despite the numbers of loud-speakers blaring-out their messages. Eating and/or sleeping seemed to be the chief occupations of many.
- The MRT. had CLOSED the ent'ce./exit by the PK. as a safety precaution.

A friend in Pattaya is annoyed that one of his young staff has gone off to BKK to join the red shirts. The guy knows little about politics. His only reason is that he is getting paid Bt. 1,000 per day plus food. In a few days he'll make as much as he makes in a month!

Current political scenario
 

If you want some continuous, more comprehensive, and more detailed information can I suggest you go to thaivisa.com/forum/thailandnewsclippings.

You'll easily find a thread which is updated numerous times each day, the thread name is: Bangkok red-shirt rally - live ........ (day/date).

However the reporting is not fully balanced (as with all newspapers/ webboards etc., globally) and you need to make your own final assessment of the realities of the situation.

I was at Siam Paragon yesterday about 2 pm. Apart from a rousing megaphone speech (which was beyong my Thai comprehension) all was quiet. Then they announced the closure of the BTS and I jumped on the last train to Sala Daeng. We passed overhead the red barracades near Rachadamri station.. I had a very bad feeling...... so sad ....

Negative energy
 

I arrived in Bangkok yesterday after three glorious days in Phuket and I noticed immediately the negative energy here. Very different to past visits. There are not many people smiling and although the place seems quiet and calm, people don't look happy. Not surprising I suppose given recent events. But it is like there has been a disturbance in "the force" in the land of smiles. While you may be able to avoid the demonstrations you can't avoid the atmosphere. I am sorry I came. This is not the place I remember and love. I should have stayed in Phuket.

That certainly looks to be the case, definitely running out of steam.

It looks like the Iceland volcano (European flight cancellations) is the next shoe to drop on Thai tourism. I just saw an article about the European shutdown with a picture of people stranded in Suvarnabumi airport. There are so many flights between Europe and BKK every day. I sure feel sorry for TG and the European airlines (losing a lot of money).

[/color]

-- A recent BBC's. news' summary, (BBC.Radio 3.), reported that most Spanish airports are OPEN.
- The concerned European auth'ys. are meeting to determine how those airports can be best utilised and the tpt. arrangements by land and/or sea away from them?

Although some flights are in the air over parts of Europe today, I hope no-one gets their hopes for a normal resumption of flight schedules up too high. The BBC is now reporting the emergence of a new ash cloud from the volcano.

Twitter pictures updates)
 

(Twitter pictures updates)

Seven days in Thailand - The Globe and Mail

(QUOTE) The army is made up of young boys......
 

(QUOTE) The army is made up of young boys, many there only for regular meals and a roof over their head, who are lost and scared.

I have noticed handsome Isaan red shirts too.

VIDEO:
YouTube - Bangkok War Zone: Video of violent clashes as Thai police fire at Red Shirts

-- Not 100%. true; as in many armies where there is conscription one will see young looking conscripts alongside grizzled & long-service regulars.
- Possibly LESS reliance on YouTube etc. etc. and actually being here & on-the-ground, opening one's eyes and seeing for oneself.

We may be seeing the end game. The protests will only end when the radical leaders are captured, and that is the army's real objective.

I am (I think reliably) informed by thai contacts that the reason Veera resigned as leader was that, despite achieving the main political objective (a dissolution date), Thaksin ordered the occupation to be maintained, and negotiations to be terminated. He has apparently told his rotweilers that if the government wants to end the occupation, the negotiations must be directly with him. You can imagine the demands that would be made (starting with 49 billion baht.)

The reds may have geniune greivances, but they have been skillfully expolited by Thaksin, and the government is left with no option but to crush Taksin's last stand, and then proceed down the road-map with rational leaders, not Thaksin's rotweillers.

I doubt anyone except the top leaders knows what is going on in negotiations. Anyone can say anything: Thanksin unreasonably demands this, someone quits for this reason, etc. . . . I wouldn't believe anything. All I know is there have been some lawfully elected governments, and they were unlawfully dissolved, and it appears there should be a free election called. For all we know, this could all be cloak-and-dagger maneuvering by anyone (with nothing what one thinks).

I understand your coments. However an article in today's Bangkok Post (P 13, "Put an end to this rebellion") sets it out very clearly. It's not about democracy, it's about one spoilt little boy throwing his toys out of the cot screaming "What about me me me ? What do I get out of the Nov elections agreed to by the govt and UDD ?" Nothing - so now we have chaos. It's a tragedy.

-- Naras Thiwat. rd. is the dividing line between Cent'l. BKK. wch. has appears to have thrown-in the towel and that part of BKK. wch. is trying to carry-on living more or less normally with 'buses. & other public tpt. running, shops etc. OPEN for business and so on and so forth.

-- Y'day.,(15th.), evening tee rak & I walked through soi Naras Thiwat 1., (aka. Soi Anuman.), in wch. only SOLID BAR was CLOSED,as were COCA & MANGO-TREE REST'TS..

--Later on we supped in a small Thai-It. rest't. not far from the HOLIDAY INN - SILOM.
- Walking along Si Lom rd. we were stopped by the mil'y. by Si Lom 4., wch. was as silent as the grave, and told not to proceed any farther.
-- We concluded by walking through Soi Twilight - off Suriwong rd. - just after 22.oo.hrs.: BALLS' BAR & DICK'S. CAFE. and MAXI'S BAR OPEN, as were FRESH BEACH BOYS and HOTMALE, also BANANA BAR.
- Looking-at the few patrons in both DICK'S. & MAXI'S left me with the impression of some pale-faced farangs about to confront their last few hours on Earth - staring gloomily into their drinks' glasses.
- I might have thought that the unemployed bar-boyz might have been clustering in the gen'l. area of the nearby K'KORN. BANK and seeking clients - but not so.

-- Today, (16th.), forenoon the mil'y. & police had set-up a small road-block on Suriwong rd., by tnn. Thaniya, and were turning-back taxis. and other seemingly non-essential vehs..
- No rd. tfc. seen along Rama IV rd..
- From the red shirts' encampment just the usual background oratory heard.
- Walking along Rama IV. rd. we were stopped - as we were y'day. - by a police piquet; yet three men, wearing black vests with 'TV.' written on them in white, were allowed to proceed towards MRT. Lumpini.

-- Looking-in at the DUSIT THANI HTL. - rated *****., I believe - I saw uncollected & discarded 'papers., styrofoam cups & containers and other debris.
- Along Si Lom rd. piles of uncollected garbage accumulating; surely possible for the BMA. to organise cleaning & collections during the hrs. of daylight?
- Just the small 7/11s. & FAMILY MARTs OPEN , as was DELIFRANCE in UNITED CNTR.. A v. few poor but honest street traders & their hand-carts seen.
- As I type this - 161215hrs., (BKK. time.), it's started to rain - possibly good news, if only for some?

While the reports are interesting, sextile, let me be the first to say that you are ill-advised to be taking evening strolls through a war zone. Violence can break out at any second, and if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, you could get caught up.

Please use your head.

-- Khun Icon,
- Thank you for yr. concern - appreciated!
-- When it'll be time to go then it'll be time to go; three separate fortune-tellers, (different people, different methods & different places.], have all assured me that I'll live to enjoy good health until well past my 85th. year - so I've a good few yrs. to go yet. :)
- But you're correct, of course, not to thrust myself, without any due regard, into some potentially dangerous pos'n.; strangely, I do value my life, (possibly the only one that does - ha! ;) ],.

-- Today, (16th.), afternoon tee-rak & I walked along Rama IV. rd. to HUA LAMPONG rly. stn. - just to make a change from looking-in at the so-called 'war zone.'.
- Police barriers in the gen'l. area of the i'sect. by WAT HUALAMPONG/C'CHURI. SQ.; no tfc. was being allowed along Phya Thai rd., (it leads to SIAM SQ. & to the red shirts controlled area.),.
- From the MANDARIN BKK. HTL. and for the next couple or so hundred yds. taxis, tuk-tuks & other civilian cars were parked three & four deep across the OUTGOING carriageway; on the side-walk, amongst a few Thai nat'l. flags & some blue ones, was a motley array of civilians standing, looking & chatting, amongst them I noticed at least a couple of BKK's. Finest looking quite at ease. The objects of att'n. were men rolling tyres along the carriageway in the dir'n. of Cent'l. BKK. - presumably to make a barrier of some sorts?

-- At the rly. stn. - where we saw that the MRT. stn. was CLOSED - I was given to u'stand. that quite a few trains to & from the N. & the NE. had been cancelled by the SRT..

-- Walking-back, on the INBOUND side of the rd. we were stopped by Chula 11. by some man or other. I asked tee-rak who this man is, what is his auth'y. and what was he saying? Tee rak is not at his best in such sit'ns. and I was left guessing something or other about unidentified men in black farther along the rd. However, after a minute or two some little olde lady nipped spryly across the central divide and info'd. us that it would be quite alright to go on.
- By WAT H'LAMPONG. we saw both the mil'y. & the police looking-at the scene through their binoculars; quite why, seeing as they were looking in the dir'n. whence we'd come, no-one had the wit to ask us about what was going-on I don't know; possibly a farang & his boi weren't deemed to be sufficiently reliable enough sources of info.?
- We passed-by the DUSIT THANI HTL. I'sect. at about 17oo.hrs. - surprisingly enough there was no background rhetoric from the red shirts' encampment. We did see smoke arising from some burning tyres at the U-turn under the Thai-JP. flyover.
- Walking along Si Lom rd. we saw stacks of bottled & drinking water and the police & mil'y. enjoying their evening meal from styro. containers. Patriotic music was being played from the mil'y. veh. parked near to BTS. Sala Daeng stn., (S2.),.

- An interesting evening:.
- In Soi Than Tawan, at approx. 20.oo.hrs. both COCA & MANGO TREE REST'Ts. were OPEN; but PRIME MASSAGE and DEE's EATING HSE. were CLOSED;
-- In Si Lom 6 only the Ch. eating hse. & MARSALA ZONE were OPEN for food; so tee rak & I chose the cheaper Ch. eating hse., where such an attentive young man looked-after us!
-- Walking along a nigh on and eerily deserted Si Lom rd. about the only signs of life - apart from the mil'y. - were provided by the Thai TV3. & MCOT. vehs ..
-- In P. Pong 2. ELECTRIC BLUE girlie bar was OPEN, as were FOODLAND and the adjacent 24./7.cafe./rest't.; also OPEN were a few girlie bars and SCREWBOYS!
-- In Soi Twilight, at say 21.3O.hrs., only DICK'S. CAFE., The POOL BAR and BANANA BAR were OPEN; possibly one or two massage parlors might have been OPEN, but no masseurs seen out on the soi;
-- Apart from a couple of merry young men no-one else seen seated on the Suriwong rd's. K'KORN. BANK's steps.
- Strangely the small 7/11. shop opposite to the TAWANA HTL. was CLOSED. *
-- Finally back in Soi Than Tawan, at around 22.hrs., TAWAN BAR, INDRA MASSAGE and MANGO TREE REST'T. were CLOSED .

--* today, (17th.], it's Re-OPENED for business.

-- Today, (17th.), and after my morning's cup of coffee,(only 20.oo.Bh.!), in the DERBY KING eating hse. on P. Pong 1. I walked-around:
-- On Si Lom rd. all FAMILY MARTS were CLOSED, but some 7/11s. were OPEN;
- In Si Lom 4 a barman was seen working in SOUVLAKI Greek rest't.;
- Along Si Lom rd. NOODI, BUG & BEE and SILOM MASSAGE had their street-doors OPEN , but MORE to air the places than for business, I supposed.
-- All quiet from the red shirts' encampment by KRVI. statue.
-- Along Rama IV. rd. TAKE-A-NAP HOSTEL was CLOSED but BBB INN was OPEN.
- In Soi T'light. the small eatery that's tucked behind CLASSIC BOYS BAR was OPEN, as were DICK'S. CAFE. and BKK. MASSAGE.
-- Along Suriwong rd. both FAMILY MARTS were CLOSED, as was the small POST OFFICE opp. to Le Meridien Htl., (it might RE-OPEN on the 19th.); PROUD 66 MASSAGE was OPEN.
- A few poor but honest side-walk vendors doing business.
- Both 7/11s. were OPEN, as were the three massage parlors in the gen'l. area of the TARNTAWAN HTL..
-- Along soi Than Tawan the small pharmacy on the corner was OPEN, as were the Ch. eating-hse., INDRA MASSAGE and RAMENTAI, COCA & MANGO TREE REST'TS..

-- Cent'l. BKK. is starting to smell from the piles of uncollected garbage - but possibly the rats & other vermin aren't complaining? Not even the mil'y. seem to be too concerned in keeping their immediate areas clean & trash-free.

-- Today, (17th.), a'noon. I walked along Rama IV. rd. to HUA LAMPHONG rly. stn., ('buses. & other rd. tfc. running normally; people walking on the pavements; shops OPEN and so on and so forth.), to see if the BOOKAZINE there had any copies of the WE. Fin. Times? 'All sold-out.', I was told.
- Passing-by the spot where y'day. there had been a gathering of people I saw a smaller gathering there today - no-one appeared to be doing anything extra-ordinary, people just standing-around and just doing nothing in particular.
- However, on the way back - I left HLP. at approx. 17.15.hrs. - the IN-bound carriageway was blocked at the tee-junc. with Banthat Tong rd., (HLP. is 700m. away and WAT HLP. is 950m. away.), by a makeshift barricade manned by maybe a score or so of men who were not dressed in any particular uniform - mainly working clothes. A motley crowd of local & mainly working people of all sexes was gathered around listening and nodding in apparent approval to some male speaker, dressed in a purple tee-shirt, who was shouting himself hoarse with emotions. On one side of the truck were the flg. messages, (in English!),:
PLEASE STOP KILLING.
ARMY! STOP MASSACRE; BACK TO YOUR REGIMENT NOW..
- Some half-a-dozen police were observing the scene discreetly in soi Chula 5.; enquiries in my basic Thai, and pointing towards the men at the barrier: "Kohn, seu-uh chuht daeng?' elicited a POSITIVE nod from one of the policeman.

-- I walked-back, passed-by the DUSIT THANI I'sect., (all quiet from the red shirts' encampment.),. Apart from the mil'y. & the police, who were looking as comfortable as one can in such circumstances, about the only others on Si Lom rd. were members of the Fourth Estate. Passing-by the front line at P. Pong 1. stopped to watch some young, pleasant & Ch.-looking media-person, dressed in helmet & black flak.-jkt., giving a report, (a pix. of himself on a small monitor.), wch. he interupted to ask me if I wasn't scarey? "No.". 'Why not?'. "Well, you're a young man with yr. life ahead of you, but I'm an olde man and thus have fewer worries.". After wch., and shaking his head, he ret'd. to giving his report.

-- Back in Soi Than Tawan PRIME MASSAGE did not appear to be OPEN. MANGO TREE was OPEN, RAMENTAI and COCA were CLOSED, several JP.-style girlie bars were OPEN, as was INDRA MASSAGE, wch. had one customer. On the corner both the pharmacy and the 7/11. were CLOSED.

-- Today, (18th.), after my morning's cup of 20.Bh. coffee in P. Pong 1. it was time for my 'constitutional.'.
-- On Si Lom rd. A&F. TOURS and the large 7/11. on the corner with Convent rd. were OPEN - no baked goods on the 7/11's. shelves.
-- FAN CLUB MASSAGE PARLOR's front door was not locked - I looked-in: gloomy & with possibly a couple or so boyz asleep therein. I chatted with the F. owner of LA BOUCHERIE who admitted that business was bad, so I asked him why he stayed open? An expressive shrug of the gallic shoulders.
- Farther along Convent rd. a masseuse of a certain age outside CASSANOVA MASSAGE called across the rd. to me to join her for a massage. BECCAFINO REST'T. was CLOSED.
-- I walked along N. Sathorn rd. all the way to the i'sect. with Rama IV. rd.; a few rather ineffective baricades of razor-wire and/or orange barriers on both carriageways. Both Sois Suan Phlu & JUSMAG. looked to be OPEN to me?
- About 40 policemen o/side. the F. Embassy;
- Opposite to S. Sathorn soi 1 another gp. of about 40 or so riot-policemen was being briefed by an officer.
-- Around the cnr., Rama IV. rd., some 50 soldiers eating & sleeping.
- At MRT. Silom I chatted with an american lady who lives along Convent rd.; she told me of some other American lady-friend who lives in a small soi nr. to Victory M'ment. who's been kept awake & terrified out of her life these last few days by the incessant sounds of detonations & of shots, the smell of burning tyres, the shouts etc. of the red shirts and so on and so forth - I replied that it all sounded rather OTT. to me. Also there I saw some elderly & Thai lady,pushing her 'cycle. and being i'viewed. by two members of the Fourth Estate toting TV.-type cameras and some young lady assiduously taking notes.
- The red shirts' encampment was quiet.
-- In Soi T'light. DICK'S. CAFE was OPEN, as was YELLOW MASSAGE, where I was invited to enter for a massage; seeing the three masseurs I enquired about a six hands' massage and for how much? In reply much good natured laughter! The other three massage parlors were CLOSED.

I saw on youtube clip that Sukhumvit Rd (at least at On Nut) is closed.

Yellow Massage?
 

Sextile - I've never heard of Yellow Massage. Where exactly is it in Soi Twilight? I walked through the soi a week ago and didn't see such a sign.

I don't suppose you know how the gogo bars are doing? I'd imagine they might not even open for business. I feel sorry for the boys and the general lack of business.

I'm reading that armoured personal carriers moved in this morning (Wed 19th) and have successfully reoccupied the Saladaeng and Silom intersections.

Silom Complex
 

Oh another thing: Why is Silom Complex boarded up? It's one thing to be closed for business, it's quite another to erect wood hoardings as if the building has been condemned.

[QUOTE = sloot; 677292].
[COLOR = "RoyalBlue"] [i] I've never heard of Yellow Massage. Where exactly is it in Soi Twilight? I walked through the soi a week ago and didn't see such a sign.
... .
I'm reading that armoured personal carriers moved in this morning (Wed 19th) and have successfully reoccupied the Saladaeng and Silom intersections. [/ QUOTE]. [/ I]. [/ COLOR].

-- YELLOW MASSAGE is operating out of the same premises as the pool bar, roughly opposite to DICK'S. CAFE.; Khun Yannawa mentioned it in a previous posting of his.
- One presumes that SCSP. is boarded-up to protect it against any forced entry, windows being smashed by missiles or whatever else - probably a CMA. for the benefits of its insurers.

- Passing-by the DUSIT. THANI I'sect. at approx. 190930.hrs. I saw two APCs. under the Thai-JP. flyover; a water-cannon truck was directing its jet at and flattening a section of the red shirts' bamboos' & tyres' barricade nr. to the MRT. ent'ce./exit. So an APC. or two may well have gone-in afterwards.

- At approx. 1130.hrs. I walked-along R'damri. rd. as far as the i'sect. with Sarsin rd., (where I was stopped by some armed mil'y. - maybe, were I wearing a press helmet. &. flak.-jkt., or even a green & media brassard, I might have been allowed to proceed?).; I saw the fire-brigade dealing with burning tyres & piles. of garbage - while the men were doing their best their eqpt. wasn't performing so well.
- I might suggest that most of the smoke that one sees comes from other such piles.
- Several. small detonations heard, maybe small arms' fire? A couple of persons were being wheel.ed-away on gurneys, eagerly, pursued by some members of the media.

To protect it from being burned and looted!

-- Today, (1917oo.hrs.), I took one of the privately-owned & orange #1. 'buses. from ChinaTown and de-bussed at the NEILSON- HAYES LIBRARY on Suriwong rd.,(flat fare just 6.50.Bh.),.
-- Thence I walked along S'wong. & Rama IV rds. to the DUSIT THANI I'sect. where squads of laborers & mcy. were starting the clean-up ops..
-- I walked all the way along R'damri. rd. to just short of the PRATUNAM I'sect.; occasionally I encountered small heaps of smouldrring tyres in the centre of the rd..
-- I saw some of the staff of the ARNOMA HTL. standing in the hotel's ent'ce, and looking-out on the scene of desolation.
- On the way I turned LEFT and walked along Rama I rd. to the beginning of SIAM P'GON., wch. - having heard what sounded like gun-shots from the dir'n. of SIAM DISCOVERY CNTR. - I though to be far enough.
- The ZEN, or windward, end of CENTRALWORLD was afire - standing on the opp. side of the rd. I could feel the heat. Clouds of black & acrid smoke billowed sullenly heavenwards and drifted towards the AMARI W'GATE. HTL. & beyond. As the fires burnt so there were continuous noises from the bldg. as of small fireworks or gunshots; from time-to-time fragments of burning bldg. fell earthwards - unpleasant. I saw no signs of any fire-bde. pers..
_- As it was starting to become dark, and I didn't fancy being a lone farang in that area, I retraced my foorsteps to the DT. I'sect..
- On the way I saw that all of the lights in BTS. R'damri. stn., (S1.), were ON.
-- Walking along Si Lom rd. I noticed that all of the orange & plastic barricades, and their razor wire, had been pulled clear of the carriageways.

-- It was a strange feeling walking along R'damri. rd. and seeing the deserted habitations: sacks of rice, cartons of bottled water, cooking pots still atop burners, clothes hung-out to dry and so on; it was as if there had been some sudden & mass decision to just get-up and go, leaving behind pers. possessions - goods & chattels; even some cars, pick-ups & m/cycles. were left behind. Honest UncleBob. could have set-up in business selling the equivalent of gov't. surplus: food & water, tentage, portaloos, diesel-driven generator sets, bamboo poles for gardeners, tyres - new & used, sun-netting, loud-speaker units, enough second-hand clothing, bedding, bed-mats and so on, plenty of m/cycle. crash-helmets, even a Buddhist monk's consultation space.

-- I sha'n't go sofar as to write that 'It's ended not with a bang but with a whimper.' because I u'stand. that the struggle may be renewed in the Provinces that are pro-red shirts.