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Deep File
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Probably the most realistic approach. Thailand is going to need a new definition of "normalcy"... given the entrenched positions of the various parties and their deep conflicts of interest, class-related resentment is going to boil much closer to the surface going forward then it ever has in the past.
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Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 5:36 am on May 17, 2010
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S M E G M A
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Quote: from quack quack on 4:00 pm on May 17, 2010
Have just cancelled my hotel reservations, which were for early June.
......
Temperatures in July, or, later, are also somewhat cooler in Bangkok.
July somewhat cooler than June? But of course!!
As per the Thai Meteorological Department (*), average high temperature for July drops a huge 0.4 C (same as 1 F) from June. That is from 33.1 C to 32.7 C.
And average low temperature comes down also by the same enormous amount, from 25.4 C to 25.0.
Certainly those 0.40 of a Celsius degree can make a big difference.
(*) http://www.tmd.go.th/EN/province_stat.php?StationNumber=48455
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 5:45 am on May 17, 2010
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retiredintahoe
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We flew into BKK on Sunday. The plane (EVA) seemed pretty full to me. Not a lot of people in the immigration line (about 5 in front of me) and the sour-faced officer just went through the motions and stamped my visa. I ran into a BTF lurker just ahead of me in line (send me a PM when you get a chance).
We did some shopping at Robinson's on Sukhumvit Soi 17 and saw nothing amiss. We then drove to Nothaburi and during that ride saw the smoke from tire fires on both sides of the toll way. That was about 3pm Sunday. Visited relatives in Nothaburi and then took the evening train to Ubon.
I wouldn't necessarily cancel any planned trip, but I also wouldn't be wandering around the Red Shirt area (like one of our BTF colleagues is doing right now taking pictures).
Will be back in BKK on the 24th. Let's see what is up then...
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 6:37 am on May 17, 2010
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PussyLover 69
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Report from Bangkok Post dated Monday 17 May 2010 :-
Reds defy deadline, rally continues
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Several thousand of protesters, including women and children, remained at the Ratchaprasong rally site on Monday evening, defying the Centre for the Resolution of Emergency Situation's order that they leave by 3pm or face two-years imprisonment.
There were still about 5,000 protesters at the Ratchaprasong rally site when the 3pm deadline passed, police spokesman Maj-Gen Prawut Thawornsiri said.
Shortly after 2pm, military helicopters dropped leaflets on the encampment, urging the protesters to leave immediately. This angered the protesters, who shot homemade rockets at them.
“Some protesters received distorted information,” government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said on the Thai PBS television network. “We need to communicate with them clearly. It will take time.” There was no word on when the ultimatum extension would end.
According to television reports, a telephone call from Korbsak Sabhavasu, the prime minister's secretary-general, to red-shirt leader Natthawut Saikua prompted the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) leaders to hold an urgent meeting, which began shortly after the 3pm deadline.
On receiving the call from Mr Korbsak, UDD leaders went inside a shipping container office for a meeting.
Acting government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said the Centre for the Resolution of Emergency Situation would hold a meeting at 5pm to discuss steps to be taken to retake the occupied area after the 3pm deadline.
He declined to go into detail, saying only that priority would be given to evacuating children and the elderly from the rally site.
Mr Panitan said Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was still in high spirits and determined to overcome all problems.
Earlier the day, UDD leader Jatuporn Prompan said red leaders were ready to call protesters back to the Ratchaprasong rally site and begin dialogue with the government if troops stop firing at protesters.
Protest leaders are willing to negotiate with the government without pre-conditions if Mr Abhisit orders the removal of troops stationed around the rally site in Bangkok. The offer was aimed at reducing the loss of lives, he said.
The government would not respond to the UDD's call for talks until the UDD ends the protest rally, government spokesman Panithan Wattanayakorn said.
Mr Panitan said UDD leaders should first show sincerity by ending their rally, ceasing attacks on government security forces and stopping all riotous acts.
If the UDD did this, the government would reactivate its reconciliation plan, he said.
In the morning, two red-shirt guards were arrested in Ratchathewi area with a large quantity of weapons, Metropolitan Police chief Pol Lt-Gen Santhan Chayanont said at a press conference.
Pol Lt-Gen Santhan identified the two as Prasong Manee-in, 55, of Bangkok's Lat Phrao district, and Kowit Yaemprasert, 55, from Pathum Thani province.
They were arrested when Mr Prason was driving a pick-up truck past a military checkpoint in Soi Phaya Nak near the Asia Hotel.
Soldiers found in the truck about 60 items including knives, axes, iron bars, bottle bombs, ping pong bombs, large firecrackers, communications radios, and ID cards of UDD guards.
Mr Prasong said he was formerly a soldier of the 3rd Cavalry Battalion and then a construction worker before joining the UDD rally, where he met Mr Kowit.
He said he was not aware the seized items were loaded onto his truck.
The number of casualties from the clashes between government forces and UDD protesters between May 14 and 17 was now 35 killed and 252 injured, the Emegency Medical Centre or Erawan Centre said in the morning.
The death toll went up because one of the injured, Maj-Gen Khattiya Sawasdipol, better known as Seh Daeng, died from his head wound on Monday morning.
Of the 242 injured, there are six foreigners - one each from Canada, Poland, Burma, Liberia, Italy and New Zealand.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 9:45 am on May 17, 2010
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PussyLover 69
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Report from Reuters dated Monday 17 May 2010 :-
Bangkok hoards as Thai political crisis deepens
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BANGKOK, May 17 — People are hoarding food. Schools and businesses have closed. Hotels are pleading for guests to leave. Across Bangkok, residents worry about escalating violence that has killed 37 people and wounded hundreds in four days.
As troops moved to complete a security cordon around the “red shirt” protest encampment that occupies an area the size of New York’s Central Park, people in the area were seen dragging suitcases and children down streets to safer places.
Across the city, fears about food and security have grown after weeks of demonstrations have exacerbated one of the costliest dislocations of workers and residents in Bangkok’s long history.
Protests that have decimated the tourism industry in one of the world’s premier urban destinations has cut deeply into Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy and tested the capital’s patience.
“My food here is running low,” said Boonyarat Lasana, a security guard at one of the office buildings located near Rama 4 Road, the scene of fierce battles between troops and anti-government protesters demanding elections.
“It’s OK for now, but if this protest keeps dragging on, I don’t know how I am going to get food,” Boonyarat, 43, said.
The clashes are largely the result of the army attempting to throw a security cordon around the protest encampment, where an estimated 5,000 people are hunkered down behind barricades made of tyres, bamboo poles and concrete, topped with razor wire.
Some women and children in the camp have moved to a nearby Buddhist temple, as the government’s strategy of starving protesters out showed signs of working. Supplies of food, water and fuel were running low because security forces were blocking red shirt delivery trucks.
“All our shops in the area are being closed,” said Bunyat Kamnoonwat, assistant vice-president of CP All, an operator of 7-Eleven stores in Thailand. “We have no choice. It’s just too risky to be selling anything in there right now and the suppliers won’t come anywhere near it.”
Bangkok can flip like changing TV channels from periods of calm and apparent normalcy, to terror and pandemonium, with gunfire and explosions ringing out in the usually gridlocked streets.
Residents have turned to social media to update each other about what’s going on, tweeting frenetically and exchanging Youtube videos to make a case, one way or another, about who is more responsible for the violence that has now killed 66 people and wounded 1,600 since the protests began in mid-March.
A number of tweets have expressed outrage about foreign media coverage of the protests.
Guests at the luxury Dusit Thani hotel, a Bangkok landmark on the edge of the protest site, were evacuated today after a rocket tore through a 14th-floor window and set a room afire.
“We don’t know how much longer this nightmare is going to last and how far it will spread,” said Panna Srisuwan, a resident in a long line of people waiting at a supermarket check out counter in the business district.
“I went to the store this morning and there’s not even bottled water. I’m stocking up for the week,” she said.
Embassies near the encampment have closed, and their countries have issued ever more dire warnings about travel to the “Land of Smiles”.
Schools have been closed at least for another week and while Monday and Tuesday were declared public holidays, markets and banks remained open. A number of small shops and businesses have been closed for days, if not weeks, throwing an estimated 65,000 people out of work.
“It’s terrible we have to close the shop. My daughter can’t go to school. It’s just awful and getting worse,” said Ratana Veerasawat, a 48-year-old grocery store owner.
Inside the encampment, thousands steadfastly ignored warnings in leaflets dropped from helicopters on Monday to leave immediately or face criminal charges.
“My only worry is my kids,” Jiem Sookjai, a 40-year-old farmer from the northeast, who sat with her two children in a Buddhist temple near the Ratchprasong stage. “I’m afraid that we might not be safe but we can’t go back now.” — Reuters
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Bangkok Women : Meet Beautiful Thai Girls
Posted on: 10:08 am on May 17, 2010
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NYMICK
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Just heard on BBC news here in the states that the red shirts have sent an emmisary to meet and discuss a truce with the Govt. Gotta have hope---14 days to go
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 12:33 pm on May 17, 2010
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NYMICK
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Agree 100% with this. It seems as if U.S. media (particularly 24-hour news ) can't report the story. They have to sensationalize it to attract viewers. I've learned so much more by searching for ANY other sites outside the U.S.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 2:57 pm on May 17, 2010
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