We’ll “get you” for junta criticism; IP address leads to arrest.
Ah yes, the “Catch Me if You Can” guy. Well, they could. That guy’s an asshole too. It’s a pity he could not have been shot for resisting arrest.
Hey, it’s Thailand! Anything could happen!
Here’s you problem, letting elephants vote.
Or, perhaps not letting elephants vote often enough.
So I was out and about during curfew last night. The curfew is midnight-4am, and I arrived back home at 3:40am. Still haven’t personally seen a soldier during this coup. I had no problem finding a taxi during the curfew hours, they were driving around everywhere, and the three I took during that time readily used the meter and didn’t quote me some silly flat rate. But while quite a few bars stayed open secretly and even a few of the illegal sidewalk bars stuck it out, lots of places did close including most of the illegal sidewalk bars. Those sidewalk bars are an eyesore anyway, and I can’t say I’d miss those if they disappeared completely.
The wife and I may not have personally seen any soldiers so far in this coup, but it’s all a matter of timing. We’re home today, but army and police have been deployed at 11 sites this afternoon, some of which we regularly visit. Sunday seems to have become Protest Day on the red-shirt calendar.
I’ve seen a few soldiers around, a couple times on a roadblock, together with police, close to where I work. It’s the same place the police like to place a roadblock now and again so no big difference.
It’s quite obvious that the Army is keeping the police under close supervision, if nothing else comes out of this, the (apparent) shake-up of the police as a whole would be a tremendous improvement over what was going on before. What was going on before being (besides the “normal” corruption) a police force heavily under the control of Thaksin’s clan, which allowed them to literally get away with murder.
The other day I was piecing together the events of the last months and I have a suspicion about what things are going on that not just haven’t been discussed about. I suspect a decision on who is to continue running the family business has been made… and it’s not one that the Thaksin side of the equation is happy about.
That, in my opinion would give some context on the current situation, a jokeying for power at a time very important decisions were being made; now the junta wants to put the house in order because the country is going to go, sooner or later, through a social trauma and that happening while big players toy with ideas of civil wars, separatism and the like just won’t do.
All that ended up happening today was six protesters giving the new three-finger salute in front of Siam Paragon shopping center before quickly disappearing.
The curfew is slowly being lifted at more tourist destinations. On Friday, it was lifted in several areas of the South. Today saw three more places, over by Cambodia and in the South including Hat Yai district of Songkhla province, which borders Malaysia. Hat Yai is a big destination for Malaysian males, and I have heard that the bar owners and girls down there had been complaining of the loss of income these past couple of weeks. I do believe I can hear the rejoicing all the way up here in Bangkok.
Just to clarify, Hat Yai district itself does not touch Malaysia, but Songkhla province does. Still a short hop to Hat Yai from the border.
The curfew has been lifted in all of 17 more provinces and parts of three others. (Thailand has 77 provinces including Bangkok.) We’re slowly returning to normal. There’s still a curfew in Bangkok though, but as I’ve demonstrated, it’s not taken all that seriously.
I hope I’m not jumping the gun by being too optimistic, but the red shirts and Thaksin may actually be down for the count this time. We can only hope.
And the curfew has been lifted everywhere throughout the country now. Word of this was timely, as I learned of it while I was in a taxi headed for the Patpong red-light district last night to meet up with my buddy from upcountry. Not that the curfew would probably have mattered much.
The lifting of the curfew comes just in time for the World Cup too, so that will make people here happy, believe me. Red-shirt protests have about petered out from what I can tell. We’ll see how things go now.
So, will there be a Part IV? 
This shows my ignorance of the world of soccer(football) but why would the lifting of the curfew be an issue?
Time difference between Thailand and Brazil, it’s 10 hours or so; if people want to get together to see a match it would be during the (ex) curfew hours.
:smack: I should have thought of that.
Plus Thais are football-mad.
EDIT: Football = soccer.
Just a follow-up. The red shirts seem to be off licking their wounds, while the military really has been taking out a lot of the trash. Most recently, they’re booting out the mafia that plagues the main airport, something that’s been needed ever since the first day it opened eight years ago. A lot of corruption investigations have been started too. If this keeps up, I couldn’t care less if Thailand ever gets an elected government again.
Viva la Junta!
And will the junta make the trains run on time…?
We can only hope!
Hoping for the best along with you, Sam.
Checking in to see how the happiness campaign is going!