Protests? What Protests?
If you have friends or family in Thailand at the moment, it’s understandable that you may be concerned. I’d just like to put across my experience today which I am certain has been echoed by many others in Thailand.
I’m based in Chiang Mai and spent the morning catching up with local and international news coverage of the Bangkok situation. There was a surreal moment when Thai news had split screen coverage of two very different scenes in Bangkok. One part of the screen showed soldiers with guns poised and the other part of the screen showed Songkran revellers firing water pistols at each other. The Songkran holiday in Thailand is celebrated with water splashing and friendly water fights. The water throwing started yesterday in many regions, but in Bangkok the decision was taken to cancel the Songkran activities that had been planned for the Thai capital. Despite this, large numbers of Thais and foreign tourists were still seen yesterday celebrating in the Khao San Road area of Bangkok. The numbers celebrating in Bangkok were certainly way down compared to previous years, but it does go to show that not all parts of Bangkok are affected by the current problems. Just a few miles away, soldiers and protesters were facing off for a more serious battle.
In Chiang Mai, thousands have been celebrating Songkran as normal. I spent some time talking to an Australian couple who had no idea about the problems in Bangkok. They have been in Thailand for three days and go to Ko Samui next. They see no reason to change their plans and I totally agreed. I’ve also spoken to friends in Pattaya who are enjoying their holiday with no knock-on effects from the protests there last week.
When you are actually here in Thailand, you get an entirely different perspective compared to watching things from thousands of miles away. That’s especially true when, like the Australian couple I met today, you are enjoying your holiday and haven’t been watching television or reading newspapers. Understandably, international news coverage is concentrating on the clashes taking part in a small area of Bangkok, but the majority of Thailand is untroubled by violence. I don’t want to underplay recent incidents because the situation in Bangkok is disturbing and things could get worse before they get better. It’s not surprising that various governments have warned against visiting Bangkok, but I just wanted to put across a different picture to reassure those that may be about to visit other areas of Thailand.
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