The Big Bangkok Clean Up

A cycle ride through the centre of Bangkok on Sunday morning shortly after the red shirts' dramatic rally was dispersed. The city is quiet and devoid of life and it leaves an indelible haunting impression.
you can see some pictures on my web album
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tonymargetts/BangkokCleanup23May#

May 15 to 20 Protests in Bangkok

May 15 to 20:
Click on the link to see what happened in the last few days in Bangkok but the last photo shows that most of the city is OK, its only a small part that has been affected.

Current Situation in Bangkok

There is a lot of disinformation at the moment about the conflict in Bangkok, There have been pictures on the internet of bodies lying in the road surrounded by blood, but some of these have been doctored to make them look very bad. These two accounts are helpful plus the artice from todays Nation
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Photos-Yesterdays-Bangkok-Chaos-t365858.html
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Special-Al-Jazeera-Bangkok-Mome-t365995.html
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/2010/05/17/opinion/Seat-on-Human-Rights-Council-a-saving-grace-for-Th-30129529.html

The Area of central Bangkok Affected

Map
The lines in red show the area occupied by the red shirt protesters. Th government has put a cordon arround the site to stop reinforcements food and water going in

Confrontation in Bangkok

Mayhem in Bangkok click on the link, 10 people were killed and 100 injured yesterday as the government attempt to put a cordon arround the red shirt protesters in central bangkok

Silom Road Back to Normal

Things in Bangkok are starting to become more normal, in fact as I type this they have just announced that the Red shirts protest will be disbanded on May 10 (Monday) after a religious rite for those who were killed during the April 10 violence. May 10 marks one month anniversary of the clashes between the troops and red shirts protesters in which 25 were killed and 800 others were injured.

..Elephants left outside City Hall

..
A tour company in Thailand on Thursday dumped 12 elephants outside Chiang Mai's City Hall to protest against the steep decline in tourist arrivals in the northern province which has taken its toll on pachyderm rides.
"We are leaving our elephants at City Hall because there is no work for them anymore," said Anchalee Kalamaphicit, owner of the Mae Tha Man Elephant Camp, situated about 50 kilometres north of Chiang Mai.
The tourism industry has been hard hit by seven weeks of anti-government protests in Bangkok, which have led to bloody street clashes that claimed 27 lives, prompting more than 40 countries to issue travel warnings.
Bangkok is the major hub for air travel to the country's beach resorts and cultural destinations, such as Chiang Mai, 650 kilometres north of the capital, famed for its hill tribes, handicrafts and elephant rides.
Anchalee said the camp usually attracts 120,000 foreign tourists a year, but since the trouble began in Bangkok, arrivals have fallen to fewer than 50 tourists a day.

Red Shirt Update

 

The red shirt cavalcades came to town in early March and paraded around the city, it was clear that the numbers involved, the intensity of emotions, and the degree of organisation was different from anything seen before. The response from the sidewalk crowds in the capital was also unexpected and telling. The argument that this was a paid mob that would fade away when the funding ran out soon disappeared. As tensions in the capital rose, there were extra shows of support in the provinces, including unprecedented attempts to disrupt the movements of security forces.
On April 22 there were grenade attacks at Sala Daeng BTS station next to Silom Road, Bangkok's central business and financial district, which dealt another severe blow as one was killed and more than 70 injured. Earlier, on April 10, the clash between government security forces and protesters resulted in 25 deaths and more than 800 injuries.
Now the Prime Minister has offered to hold election on Nov 14 to avoid more bloodshed, and the red shirts have promised to respond today and decide on future of the occupation of the central shopping area called Ratchaprasong.
For some, the red-shirt movement is a true popular uprising, a long overdue outburst of anger against the inequalities and injustices in Thai society. For others, the current stand-off is just another round of conflict among elites - Thaksin challenging the old guard, they got rid of him, and he's fighting back by using his money to stir trouble. For yet others, the deep reason behind the tensions of the last few years is anxiety over the succession.
Despite the ongoing political problems Thai exports are doing well. According to an HSBC study, exports of hard disk and other automatic data-processing machines grew by 48.5 per cent year on year in March to boost the first-quarter export growth by 53.2 per cent year on year. Vehicles and parts, rubber, rubber products, electronic integrated circuits, electrical appliances and chemical products were among the high-growth products in the first quarter.
So far, the political conflict has hit tourism, shopping malls, many small businesses and investment sectors. Thousands of local people have been made redundant by the occupation and the number of foreign tourist arrivals projected to fall to 12 million from this year's 15-million target. Many countries now warn their citizens to avoid Bangkok and Thailand.