Monthly Archives: May 2010

May 26: Bangkok on the mend- Lumpini Park Opens & 1,000 Monks

Bangkok is quickly getting back to normal. Street food is back (thank you!), traffic is back, construction noises and motorbikes zipping everywhere are back.  Public transit is running, I am struggle through nightly Thai classes once again. Massive numbers of … Continue reading

Posted in Bangkok, Buddhism, Culture, Landmark, Monk, Politics, Sightseeing, Thailand, Wat | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Thai Foreign Ministry writes open letter to CNN about accuracy of reporting

Sometimes the news is not the real news. The Thai Foreign Ministry has written a letter to CNN detailing the massive inaccuracies in one of their reports, to read the letter: http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/ThaiTalk/2010/05/23/entry-1 In other CNN reporting on the situation here…..I … Continue reading

Posted in Bangkok, Culture, Politics, Thailand | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bangkok Volunteers for Cleanup

Thousands are volunteering to assist with the clean up in Bangkok. Streets are re-opening, checkpoints are being reduced, the curfew shortened- things are getting back to normal. The cleanup progress is shocking, streets that were blackened with smoke from burning … Continue reading

Posted in Bangkok, Culture, Politics, Thailand | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bangkok May 21 and 22- Newspaper headlines “A Nation Mourns”

Bangkok continues to be on the mend- another night of quiet and another morning of more cleanup and normal activities. The subway and skytrain systems are still closed, but many of the roads are beginning to reopen. The military and … Continue reading

Posted in Bangkok, Culture, Politics, Sightseeing, Thailand | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Bangkok the day after- May 20

Calm and quiet. The curfew was necessary, the total silence and darkness was shocking. There is a two year jail sentence for breaking the curfew- I didn’t see anyone risking it. No cars, no pedestrians, very few lights and silence. … Continue reading

Posted in Bangkok, Politics, Thailand | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

May 19- The military ends the red shirt protest, choas, next?

The military stormed the protest site today, the formal protest is now over. I could see the military advance through Lumpini park, see the fires and hear the fighting. The military showed logical restraint, would surge forward, regroup and surge … Continue reading

Posted in Bangkok, Culture, Politics, Thailand | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Bangkok- This is not a battle by Thai people for the betterment of Thailand

Update on Tuesday, 18 May. The fighting was much less last night and this morning there is no smoke coming from the Lumpini area and no gunfire. Twitter is buzzing with details of a ceasefire, I think all hope it … Continue reading

Posted in Bangkok, Politics, Thailand | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bangkok May 16- Red Shirts, Military, Next Steps

A bit to help everyone understand the fighting that has taken place in BKK since 13 May (last Thursday)- this is not a government offensive to regain control of the protest site, this is to push the protesters back to … Continue reading

Posted in Bangkok, Culture, Politics, Sightseeing, Thailand | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Red Shirts vs Military in Bangkok- Saturday May 15

Notes from Saturday’s War Zone: Gunfire, grenade explosions and thick black smoke were the theme of the day as the heavy fighting was taking place just past Lumpini park toward the Sathorn area and on Wireless road. Wireless road is … Continue reading

Posted in Bangkok, Culture, Landmark, Politics, Thailand | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Battle in Bangkok May 13 & 14- Red Shirts get what they want

After all the twists and turns the red shirts got what the hard core members wanted: a fight. Over the past week the red shirts political party accepted the government “roadmap to reconciliation”. The red shirt leaders huffed and puffed, … Continue reading

Posted in Bangkok, Culture, Politics, Thailand | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment