I am not really sure how to begin to describe today. But here goes- I got to work around 7:30 AM and almost immediately found out the office was being closed due to the military crackdown on the red shirts. So, I headed back for my apartment and saw a huge plume of black smoke coming from the Rama IV road area about one and a half kilometers to the south of my hotel (pictures in previous post).
The Thai military had made a big push earlier in the morning to get the protesters out of parts of central Bangkok, but the redshirts began setting fire to the tire barricades they built. You can see pictures of the fire in this blog. Apparently, the fighting was pretty heavy at Lumpini Park and we don’t really have a good idea yet of the number of casualties.
Ms. V again graciously invited the ex-pats to her home and as I arrived we noticed numerous large fires burning around the city. Soon we found out that the Sheraton Hotel near Asok BTS station was on fire. That got my attention because that hotel is two blocks or so from my apartment. I decided to head back and get my passport and a change of clothes in case my apartment building became an arsonist’s target.
As I left the hotel to go back to the ex-pat gathering I saw Micah and he pointed to the Asok intersection where we saw a tire barricade that had been set on fire – it was probably 150 yards away. Micah said some redshirts drove a pickup truck full of tires dumped them on the intersection and then set them on fire. We decided to return to Ms. V’s immediately. She lives on the same street as the current Prime Minister and there were a large number of riot police putting on their armor and weapons as we approached her house. We quickly hurried past them.
The rest of the afternoon I spent holed up with the ex-pats, eating barbecue and playing poker. Ms V. beat us handily but I did manage to come in at second place. We had to leave early because the Thai government has issued a curfew and we had to be inside by 8:00 PM. Fortunately, my hotel was still standing and I made it safely back.
It is stunning to see the Bangkok streets empty. Most all shops are closed and even the lights at Soi Cowboy are turned off. I am afraid that the situation is far from over and we will not be at work tomorrow. Let’s hope for less turbulent times very soon.
See a map of the fires (and me).
The Thai military had made a big push earlier in the morning to get the protesters out of parts of central Bangkok, but the redshirts began setting fire to the tire barricades they built. You can see pictures of the fire in this blog. Apparently, the fighting was pretty heavy at Lumpini Park and we don’t really have a good idea yet of the number of casualties.
Ms. V again graciously invited the ex-pats to her home and as I arrived we noticed numerous large fires burning around the city. Soon we found out that the Sheraton Hotel near Asok BTS station was on fire. That got my attention because that hotel is two blocks or so from my apartment. I decided to head back and get my passport and a change of clothes in case my apartment building became an arsonist’s target.
As I left the hotel to go back to the ex-pat gathering I saw Micah and he pointed to the Asok intersection where we saw a tire barricade that had been set on fire – it was probably 150 yards away. Micah said some redshirts drove a pickup truck full of tires dumped them on the intersection and then set them on fire. We decided to return to Ms. V’s immediately. She lives on the same street as the current Prime Minister and there were a large number of riot police putting on their armor and weapons as we approached her house. We quickly hurried past them.
The rest of the afternoon I spent holed up with the ex-pats, eating barbecue and playing poker. Ms V. beat us handily but I did manage to come in at second place. We had to leave early because the Thai government has issued a curfew and we had to be inside by 8:00 PM. Fortunately, my hotel was still standing and I made it safely back.
It is stunning to see the Bangkok streets empty. Most all shops are closed and even the lights at Soi Cowboy are turned off. I am afraid that the situation is far from over and we will not be at work tomorrow. Let’s hope for less turbulent times very soon.
See a map of the fires (and me).
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