Monday, September 1, 2008

Unrest in Bangkok

After several days of impasse, police fired on demonstrators around government offices in Bangkok, killing at least one. The Prime Minister, whom the protesters want out of office, has declared a state of emergency. Rumor has it that the military has taken control of the situation.

Kat's school closed today, as did about 400 other schools in the city. Ours is still open (9:29 AM Bangkok time). We are in no immediate danger, as we are many miles away from the situation. Bangkok is a huge city, covering over 2,000 square miles, larger than Rhode Island, and we are far out near the city limits. None of this is affecting us.

We are fine, and expect to stay that way. This happens every so often in Thailand, with generally little harm to anyone. It is unfortunate that there was violence--this is unusual here. Let's hope that's the end of it.

4 comments:

CoConnell said...

Thanks for the update John. After reading news this morning, I was worried. I haven't heard a thing about Thailand on CNN, since Gustav and the RNC are the big news. Comcast had one page story about it, so it was tough to know what was happening. Glad to hear you are well. Take care.

kaposia said...

John, Pete L. in Iowa is our nephew and he gave us your blog to try to get in touch with with you. Pete and his family are frequent guests at our house here in Msp / St. Paul and we always thoroughtly enjoy their company. The reason Pete gave us your blog is because my husband and I have confirmed plans to be in China, Thailand, and Cambodia starting September 17th. We will arrive in Thailand on October 2 and go to Cambodia for until the 4th, when we then got to Chiang Mai for 3 nights, then to Bangkok for 2 nites -- flying back to Hong Kong on October 9th. We are very aware of the conflict in Thailand and are wondering if you have any sense as when the crisis may abate (notice I didn't say be over). We are wondering if we should change our Thailand plans or just get there and then decide? Any thoughts? And we won't hold you to your prediction! Thank you and we wish you an exciting (already!) and wonderful future in Bangkok.

John Stiles said...

I would say come to Thailand anyway! Very little affects us outside of the government buildings. We are not seeing any effects whatsoever. The main worry is the disruption of air service in country, such as to Phuket or Chiang Mai, and the train stoppage. Those may slow you down, but I would expect all to be running smoothly by the time you get here. But then again, it is Thailand, and anything could happen. Safety-wise, I wouldn't worry. Please give my regards to Pete.
John

SaPpHiRa said...

Is the unrest in Bangkok still going on? Sigh... to think i just booked tickets there from 27oct to 1nov, now I am worried with the recent spate of events.

oh and interesting blog you have :)