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Police Fear Violence

Sunday, November 24th, 2013

it has been raining and humid outside so am watching the Blue Sky Channel showing 4 different groups of protesters in Bangkok today. Comments on the ThaiVisa blog are interesting as usual. Of course I don’t have a clue what any the speakers are saying, singing, yelling and chanting.

A so-called million man march is being planned for tomorrow. This has a long complicated history but the bottom line is that exiled PM Thaksin has manipulated several groups to support his return to Thailand and others are dead set against not only his return, but his proxy government led by his sister that is currently in power.

At the Democracy Monument protest site, are a group of anti-Thaksin academics, representatives of labour unions from state enterprises, members of the Silom business community, political activists among others talking in front of thousands of cheering protesters with whistles and red, white and blue headbands.

The group on stage also includes leaders of the “People’s Army to Overthrow the Thaksin Regime” and the “Network of People and Students for Thailand’s Reform,” who have been holding separate rallies in Bangkok to voice their opposition to the government-backed controversial amnesty bill and the so-called Thaksin regime. The Student group is the most radical of course.

Meanwhile, pro-government red-shirt leaders have called on supporters to gather at Rajamangala Stadium today to discuss how to deal with what is expected to be a massive gathering of anti-government protesters tomorrow. The protesters are expected to split into 12 groups around Bangkok. The Chiang Mai 51 group has readied 150 buses to bring red-shirt protesters to Bangkok. So you can imagine what the traffic situation is going to be.

The police are worried that the red-shirt supporters will conflict with the anti-government anti-Thaksin supporters. 40 teams of rapid-response police officers have been set up to deal with the situation.

Toward the end of the day a grey-haired stately woman took the stage and voiced a plea to Thaksin to LEAVE US ALONE! LEAVE US ALONE! Then she said she was advised not to use rude language. So she swished her flag in the air with a “… OFF!”

I’m just going to sit in my guesthouse room with the TV and my computer for the day.

Oregon Thailand Hong Kong 2013-14

Saturday, November 23rd, 2013

Need new crowns on implants I got last spring while in Bangkok. Need to see my son Josh and his lovely Significant Other, Polly, in Hong Kong. And spend some time down south in Krabi Thailand with my son Doug and his little fishing boat.

On my yearly trip to Asia, I flew from Oaxaca to Oregon for a week where I picked up 6 months of mail and paid property taxes and ran a myriad of errands. Then Nov 9 spent 8 hours on a cramped Delta flight to Tokyo and another 5 hours to Bangkok. Every trip seems to get more and more uncomfortable. Hard seats make my butt bones hurt even with a pillow. Jet lag and culture shock makes me feel like my body and soul is rubber…stretching out over continents. Getting too old for this shit. But what better to do with myself than visit adult children scattered all over the world. 😉

In the metro on my way to the dentist I see this lovely ad.

Details here are not especially for my readers (if there are any) but a kind of diary to remind myself where I go when and what I do. Memory going fast! But while I am on it, dental work at the Bangkok International Dental Center is excellent and VERY affordable. Dr. Preeda completed dental school at the Univ of N. Carolina and spent a year teaching implant technology there. And for health care you can’t do better than Bumrungrad Hospital. Want a face lift? Ask for Dr. Poomee who spent 30 years practicing in Atlanta Georgia before retiring with a part time practice in Thailand. I asked for a partial but he wouldn’t do it for me. Said I wasn’t ready! Not ready? If I’m not ready at 69 when will I be? He said if you are not ready then results would be disappointing. Oh well. I don’t care anymore anyway. My life is in my face anyway. However I did get upper eyelids done to keep them from falling into my eyes a few years ago.

Have spent 3 days in a dental chair with 3 more to go this week. But the weather is wonderful. Dr. Preeda said winter got here 2 days before I arrived. It is 30F 27C!

I asked him if he had been out in the street protesting and blowing his whistle. He said no but that his 2 year old has been blowing his whistle constantly for days! My yellow-shirt friend will take me to the protest sites. With ear plugs. Hope it’s better than the hand-clappers in 2009-10! But I’d rather be here or in Oaxaca than the U.S. any day where the political drama makes me sick.

Read this morning that the Street Art is getting painted over in Oaxaca. Probably the most egregiously political stuff. Apparently Oaxaca will host the World Congress of World Heritage Cities, a major event bringing together mayors from five continents to discuss the problems of their cities and promoting comprehensive strategies, in order to protect the heritage and promote human development … So they paint over the Street Art??? Arghhhhh! Ruined my morning.