Red Shirt Protest in Bangkok, Thailand
There are a few fundamental reasons I’ve not blogged in a while, which will be discussed later on this blog, but this particular issue has galvanized me to express my thoughts into words.
Living in Bangkok, Thailand for the last three years and while I knew that there’s be political unrest in the last few years, I’d never imagined it would escalate to the point that it has recently. What’s even more discouraging is the fact that there seems to be no end in sight. Are we preparing for fresh eruptions of violence or is there actually a peaceful resolution in the works.
Regardless of your color affiliation, it saddens the soul to see the pointless deaths and destructions surrounding what was once known as the beautiful land of smiles. Thais are killing Thais. The clashes between Thai forces and anti-government protesters in Bangkok continue and there are growing fears about the impact the protests are having on the Thai economy. The latest round of violence in the last few days has resulted in 36 dead and 250 injured.
The clashes have left many luxury shopping centers deserted and the initial figures showed that the rate of tourism dropped considerably according to the Tourism and Sports Minister Chumpol Silpa-archa in the Bangkok Post. Recent figures have increased according to the Bangkok Post, since May 17th, arrivals into Bangkok’s international airport are down to two-thirds of normal levels as images of bombs, gunfire and grenade blasts in the capital continue to engulf television screens across the world. Embassies have issued travel advisories to their nationals to avoid unessential travels to Bangkok.
The Abhisit administration has placed numerous deadlines to protesters to disperse and all to no avail. The red shirts are vowing to fight to the death.
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