Stuck inside a hostel with the Bangkok blues again.
14 hours by train, and I find myself back in the south. These ain't no euro-rail luxury trains, lemme tell ya. I think I saw a couple chicken on this particular overnighter. Ghe-tto. I paid next to nothing for the ticket though, and as the saying goes: you get what you pay for. The floors reminded me of a school bus -- blue linoleum-ish and sticky looking. The seats were deceitfully upholstered like an airport terminal, and harder than the ground. They came designed without the middle arm rest, too, meaning the person you end up sitting next to becomes your snuggle buddy for the night. The windows and doors all stay open the whole trip, and while seemingly unsafe it was better than smelling whatever it was that reeked. From the waist up or more is open air window, which made me wonder if Thailand ever has problems with banditos or thieves boarding the train in the night, since we're going so slowly that it wouldn't take an acrobat to hop on in through the window. But oh wait, the doors stay open too, so how silly of me- they can just walk on in. I'm pretty sure they do... Luckily, I met a couple of psychotic Canadian fellows who were more than entertaining for the night's trip, and they had a sleeper car with a table, couple bottles of thai whiskey, and a deck of cards. They were loud and kept pretending they were American when people would give us weird looks, but I was so bored and grossed out with my cattle car none of that mattered. I can't say I slept at all, but I also can't say I would have anyway. I can say it was WAY better than snuggling with the guy that stank like garbage and had never heard of "personal space" before. Plus, new people are always fun.
Alas, you'll have to pardon my cynicism. I was stuck in Bangkok for much much longer than I wanted to be, and man oh man AM I GLAD TO BE OUT. I assure you though that it was completely safe (probably safer than the train), and that all the tumultuousness was only occurring in the areas of protest, and while it's extremely inconvenient for travelers all over s.e.a., it should only be measured as such. So rest assured.
One perk of being stuck in Bangkok was that I could talk to some locals and get more information on what is going on with the protests. Here, in a nutshell, is what I've learned:
(1) Thailand is no stranger to coups, protests of government, or 'sit-ins'. This is how the people deal with government they do not agree with. The first Prime Minister was instated as a result of a coup, in 1932. I think there have been some 20 or so coups since, but only one has been, as they say, bloody.
(2) This is indeed the first occupation of an airport, but with protests going on more or less ignored for 6 months, who can blame them for wanting to take drastic measures? It seems to me this is an excellent way to get one's government to pay attention to you.
(2.a) IE: Ok fine, you don't want to listen to us? We occupy, and effectively close down the airport. Now, tourists + apathetic citizens + foreigners who depend on that airport to stay functional = angry, now are all calling upon the Prime Minister to do something about it. Whether or not the aforementioned give a shit about the PAD's cause, it's forcing the government to stop turning their backs and acknowledge those unhappy with the way things are going. Very smart strategy for the protesters, because they're insisting that they aren't leaving until the entire government (all of whom the protesters claim to be puppets/corrupt/affiliated with the old Prime Minister) step down and place their positions up for re-election. This process takes up to 60 days, but all they're asking for is new elections for all posts.
(3) This led me to wonder, what is so bad about the new Prime Minister, and why are they asking him to step down NOW, A.S.A.P., and the subject for the PAD is not up for negotiation. WELL I'll tell you. While Thais are no stranger to coups or protests against their government, they are IN LOVE with and utterly devoted to (perhaps to a fault) their King. There are pictures of him EVERYWHERE. You cannot go into a mall, walk down the block, come to an intersection, pretty much leave your hostel/hotel/house/apartment without seeing a picture of this guy. He is pretty sweet looking, he usually has a camera around his neck and wears spectacles. But he's getting very old. His birthday, in fact, is the first week in December* and it's a huge national celebration. Now, the old PM Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted a couple of years ago for corruption, and "replaced himself" first with a literal 'stand-in,' who resigned due to corruption charges in September, followed by this new guy, Somchai Wongsawat (in September), who also happens to be Thaksin's brother-in-law. (Well not technically "replaced himself," but the Parliament that elected Somchai is overwhelmingly made up of Thaksin appointees.) Well becasue the King is in his twilight years, there have been speculations of Somchai and Thaksin luring the young prince to their sympathies, and I'm exhausted just talking about it so I will stop there, allowing your imaginations to fill in why the protestors who don't like anything about these PMs would be upset with the notion that their beloved monarchy could be tampered with.
(4) Turns out the PAD chose yellow to show support for the Monarchy, and that their group consists mostly of the educated, the city-folk, the business men and women of Thailand, whereas the supporters for the current PM (s) are rural country folk.
(5) Most the people I spoke with were not at the Bangkok airport, so that means they aren't politically weighted necessarily one way or the other, because they weren't protesting, but they do live in the city and speak English, ergo are considered educated. These people also responded for the most part indifferently, more annoyed with the disturbance than worried or interested,
and I'm not sure if it's typical Thai-don't-tend-to-speak-out-against-authority (ha you wouldn't believe it, would you?), or that they indeed didn't care one way or the other.
So that is the information I have gathered regarding the protests. If I learn anything more of any interest, you can be sure I will pass it along. For now, I am enjoying this small little town and the relief from stinky & busy Bangkok. I am meeting some of Mac's friends tonight, we're making tortillas and having a little house party, so it'll be interesting to see some of their insights, although Mac seems just as indifferent as the Thai. I will stay here until I figure out where I can go next, without being on the accommodation clock (as he has graciously opened up his place for me until I get things sorted out or until the main airport opens, although now I'm near Phuket so I might head back over there for a bit).
Smooches, and keep the updates coming, I like hearing about what you all are up to. xx
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FN*A lot of people are certain this protest will come to an end by the time the King's birthday comes around for the sake of preventing any embarrassment. It's spoken as fact, because it's beyond any Thai person's comprehension that any citizen would possibly risk embarrassing the King. As I mentioned in another post when I first got here, you can't put money (with the Kings image on it) in your back pocket or shoe, lest you insult Him or the Thais.
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