Bad, bad week in Bangkok

As most of you know, it has been a terrible week in the history of Thailand. At long last, things have settled down and I am back in my condo, ready to get back to a more normal life again.

In a nutshell, a group of rural poor supporters of the former prime minister camped out in a major retail area, protesting against the current government. Several thousand protesters forced the closing of two major shopping malls and many other hotels and businesses for eight weeks. When negotiations for a peaceful settlement of their grievances collapsed last week, the government decided they had to act to clear the protest site. Last Friday, the army began sealing off the protesters, setting up a blockade around a fairly large area of central Bangkok.

Because my condo is inside that blockaded area, my emplyer requested that I leave and stay in a hotel near the office. I packed a small bag and finally found a tuk tuk driver willing to take me, since by the the Sky Train was not operating and the streets were closed, so no taxis were available.

A stand-off took place betwen the "redshirts" and the army for several days. Finally, Wednesday morning, the army acted, and began taking action to displace the redshirts from the protest site and to arrest their leaders. There was a lot of gunfire and loss of life, but by 2:00 p.m., the leaders had surrendered to police, or had fled. Sadly, the followers were incensed by their leaders capitulation and they went on an arson spree burning many buildings in town. Arson targets were primarily banks and the stock exchange building, but also included Central World, the second largest shopping mall in Asia.

Thursday's headline from the The Nation, following a night of burning.

The crackdown begins, as soldiers near a red shirt barricade at Visctory Monument.

The view from my hotel window.

What I would have seen from my condo had I stayed. This is almost an exact view from the roof of my condo.

Elevated view from an area not far from my work place.

One Center shopping mall near Victory Monument. Destroyed.

Central World Mall before this week.

Central World today.

A notice in the elevator of my condo. Don't go on the balcony or rooftop because you might be mistaken for a sniper and shot!

My condo is the tall building on the far left. Normally, the street, Petchaburi is a bumper to bumper parking lot. It has never, ever looked like this.

Things are almost back to normal now. Plans are announced to rebuild Central World in six months. My Thai friends are saddened beyond words by what has happened. They all love their country deeply and know that scenes of violence have been broadcast around the world. They want everyone to understand that what happened this week is NOT the real Thailand. I am sure that the people here will go forward now with real resolve that NEVER AGAIN will anything like this happen in this amazing country. Some of the best friends I have ever had are here, and these people I love so much are NOTHING like you have seen displayed on TV the past few weeks. Thailand is so much better than this, and will work so hard to erase the memories of this awful week.