Lordy! I’d forgotten about that ASEAN summit. Crikey what a shit show if the PAD goons decide to head up to Chiang Mai, the main base of support for Thaksin and Somchai! There is talk the cops and segments of the military in the north are sympathetic. That could be a very nasty spark indeed.
HG
The Beeb reported last night that a pro-govt guy was beheaded in Chiang Mai, on a public street.
Edit: My bad. got that one back to front… a pro PAD guy killed by pro-govt protesters, and other injured. Thanks, HGC.
I think it was a por-PAD chap, or at least the father of one of the protest leaders.
HG
HGC what does your old lady make of all this?
Well, in that quiet, demure way of many Asiatics, and especially the more serene Thais, she wants to slaughter them all. She was pro PAD up to the point of getting Thaksin out, but has since come around to thinking there are awful, manipulative strings behind the scenes playing poor Thai against poor Thai.
Colleagues in the Bangkok office see this as the peak, with the risk being how heavy handed the military are forced to become. They’re certainly nowhere near as certain of Thailand’s eventual slide into chaos as I am.
HG
Reports from colleagues in Bangkok just now that the army are on the move, and a coup is expected tonight. I called Meesus Huang and mentioed she might want to grab the lil’ princess and head home.
Poor old Thailand. The above sort of reads like the weather, really. . . Usual pre-coup conditions in central Thailand today and in the south tonight we expect warm and humid weather with the odd beheading of monks or teachers, but with the possibilty of a late night bar bombing, so pad up!
HG
hope u guys come thru this ok. and that Thailand is brought to calm again.
Best of wishes to your Mrs HG, hope it all goes quietly if there is another coup. Are the Thais wanting to take the title away from the Flips as Kings and Queens of the coup? Sad thing is, the people who do this always get screwed, no matter who they put in charge.
So what if you had a coup and the military didn’t come? I guess my earlier post about the army heading to town - from an exceptional source, has to be said - was premature. In fact the army has refused to break up the demonstrations. In other words, they’ve refused to do what the civilian government, Somchai’s, has asked it to do. The military are refusing orders. They’re revolting!
HG
shame
My friends went to Thailand for a holiday and now they are stuck there. They spent almost all their money because they were heading back home. What a mess.
Hotel staff are advising guests not to leave the building.
HG
For anybody who is looking for the latest news on the situation in Thailand see
This unbelievable farce continues. The airport occupation is now in its sixth day with no sign of an immediate ending. The damage being done to Thai society and the economy is enormous. Even if the airport occupation ends peacefully it will only set up future conflicts and repercussions. There will be no happy ending to this crisis.
Thailand has become less safe, even before the current rioting it seems.
World news
Russian women tourists shot dead on beach in Thailand
Ian MacKinnon in Bangkok and Luke Harding in Moscow guardian.co.uk,
Tuesday February 27 2007 00.04 GMT The Guardian,
Tuesday February 27 2007
Detectives were yesterday investigating the murder of two young Russian women tourists whose bodies were found slumped in deckchairs at a beach resort in Thailand.
The bodies of Tatiana Tsimfar, 30, and Liubov Svirkova, 25, were discovered at a beach in Pattaya, a few feet from the sea. Both had been shot dead. They had apparently been waiting to watch the sunrise.
Next to them was a two-thirds empty bottle of whisky, a can of Coke, cigarettes, and a pair of transparent flip-flops. The women’s mobile phones lay untouched on a table - apparently ruling out the possibility their murder had been a robbery.
Yesterday’s Russian newspapers printed photographs of the dead women. Diplomats described their killing as senseless. They said there was no obvious explanation why two Russian holidaymakers on a package tour should have been gunned down. “This is a strange and senseless crime,” Vladimir Pronin, Russia’s consul in Thailand said, adding: “We have nothing concrete yet as to who killed them.”
Murder squad police yesterday said they suspected a gang of foreigners living in the area could be behind the slaying of the women, who were shot at close range with a 9mm pistol. Officers said they had examined photographs on the women’s cameras but gave little away about the leads discovered there.
A reward of 100,000 Baht (£1,500) was offered for any information that could lead to the killer of the tourists, who were found on the popular Jomtien Beach at 5am on Saturday a few hundred metres from their hotel.
The pair arrived in Thailand on February 16, and were due to leave for home in two days’ time.
Russians became the largest group visiting Pattaya last year, with 274,000 arriving there in the first six months, a jump of 38% on the previous year. The beach resort 90 miles south-east of Bangkok has a booming trade in sex tourism. But police Lieutenant General Assawin Kwanmuang who is heading the investigation dismissed earlier suggestions that the women were involved in the sex trade or that they were involved in any illegal business in Pattaya.
Geez, Tommy, that was ages ago. If you really want a little peek into how many westerners die in Thailand, try the Pattaya Mail. It runs to at least one a week in Pattaya alone. It’s amazing how many old codgers fall in the bath and manage to hit their heads numerous times in unfortunate fatal accidents. Or how many leap from their just purchased condos (in the wife’s name, of course).
HG
I just came upon that article while searching for news on current rioting. I was astonished that something like that would happen in Thailand . I never thought of Thailand as being dangerous in that regard. I was in fact hoping someone such as yourself had some insight into that particular incident?
I remember it happening, as I was either there in Pattaya at the time or soon after. They caught some Thai chap for that one. I think it was an attempted robbery, although there was suspicion it was a gang hit. I guess because they were Russian and there’s plenty of Russian mobsters in Pattaya.
Here it is:
This bit’s almost funny:
Anuchit, who at first appeared calm, broke into tears and hugged his parents upon hearing his sentence. “Don’t worry, everything is justly deserved,” he was heard telling them.
Ah, the morality tale. Death penalty deserved. I wonder who heard that?
HG
Thanks for the update. Sad story all around. For a few dollars.
if there is an upside i guess at least tourist numbers will be way down in the foreseeable future…be nice to have the beach to myself…but in all seriousness it sounds way fucked up there…150,000 people trying to get out and the 150,000 a day who were supposed to be arriving down to zero (is that figure right?)…with the peak xmas season coming up the damage to the economy is going to be massive…
Iv seen some youtube videos on the Thailand riots. People with legs blown off or almost blown off. Very violent. It seems quite a number of people are going to be killed when the police or troops finally move in on the airport protestors. I wonder how the US govt will handle such a situ on US soil? This is all out anarchy happening in Thailand and its hurting the countrys major money earner…tourism.
PAD’s leaders and incitors should be rounded up for treason.
Water cannon will be better then the teargas grenades they have used. I say use water cannons to disperse the crowds, keep it up until they give up. They are powerful, can hurt but usually wont kill, those jets of water.