I generally try and stay away from writing about Thailand’s constantly shifting, often ridiculous and usually baffling politics. This is due to the fact that I’m admittedly kind of dense when it comes to politics; I see them as I see art – I know what I like and don’t like, but as for the theories on origin or dissection of ideology, I really have no idea. I find that, generally speaking, politicians can’t be trusted and money talks, and that’s all you need to know. The ongoing protests in Bangkok are definitely double-plus un-good and have been covered quite well, but I’ve seen some things in the news that kind of shocked me which I wanted to extrapolate on.
First of all, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: unless you’re actually involved in the protests, it’s very unlikely that you’ll even know anything is going on (tourists trapped at the airport notwithstanding). Aside from the fact that the PAD’s recent move to take over the airport is having a devastating effect on Thailand’s economy and image around the world, this is largely a problem by Thais and about Thais.
One of my visiting friends today said if all you saw was what was on the news, you’d think the entire city was on fire – however, he was taken aback at just how normal things were at street level. This makes sense of course – peace and regular goings on don’t get ratings. The news reports largely just replay the same juicy/violent clips over and over again. Yes, the protests are bad and yes, they threaten to turn violent, but unless you’re at the scene, there’s little to worry about. The bottom line: Bangkok, as a whole, is safe right now.
Tonight, I had dinner on the street, hung out at a shopping mall and saw a movie with my girlfriend, all the time surrounded by throngs of people who didnt’ seem too upset by what was going on. That’s not to say they don’t care; it’s just a demonstration of the Thais’ amazing ability to take things in stride.
A great example of this discrepancy was a report in The Telegraph, which lists Thailand as the seventh most dangerous place in the world. From the story:
Major political demonstrations and a temporary state of emergency have affected both of Bangkok’s airports. The area around Government House and nearby Ratchadamnoen “Nok” Road, including the area around Metropolitan Police headquarters and Parliament should be avoided. Fighting also broke out last month on the Cambodian border at Preah Vihear and tensions remain high. Civil unrest and frequent attacks continue in the southern provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla – the Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to these areas.
This strikes me as particularly poor journalism. As mentioned, the protests at the airport pose no immediate danger to visitors (the police have said they’ll make sure all foreigners are evacuated if anything is going to happen); the demonstrations around Government House aren’t exactly tourist attractions; the Thai-Cambodian fighting ended weeks ago (although they’re still ‘talking’), and the attacks in the deep south… well, that is kind of a dangerous place, but the amount of foreigners who visit there is tiny. I can see where embassies might want to err on the side of caution, but saying Thailand is more dangerous than Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya, South Africa, Somalia and Sudan? Come on.
Another post on Yahoo! today displayed a picture of Philippine troops practicing drills. The caption said in part:
The Philippines assembled hundreds of soldiers and dozens of armoured vehicles in five key military bases in the capital on Monday, assessing preparedness of troops against attacks and protests similar to Mumbai and Bangkok.
Grammatically, this is a correct sentence, but placing the trouble in Bangkok alongside the terrifying and tragic events in Mumbai is taking it a bit far. It does nothing but put the wrong image in peoples’ heads.
At any rate, Bangkok is tense right now, and things could go from bad to worse any minute. However, if anyone has relatives or friends who don’t spend their vacation time taking part in local protests, you have very little to be worried about.
Actually things are worse than they say, but not for foreigners.
I am recieving, as are a few friends I have spoken too, calls from Thai friends who relying on tourism for thier income – they are feeling the crunch already, some unable to pay the rent this month already as high season failed to arrive and now they realise that there will not be a high season at all this year.
Thousands upon thousands of self employed and small businesses will hit the wall really soon
Good point, Biggest Dude. In terms of how dangerous things are for visitors, it’s not such a big deal.
My Mom, (who’s trapped here), just heard from her friend in Toronto. She said that media there is saying that it’ll be three to four WEEKS until visitors get out, which is just more unsubstantiated wood on the fire.
However, economically, things are very, very bad. Thailand is no longer the ‘Land of Smiles’ but rather, Land of Limp-Dick Politicians and Insane, Stubborn Rich Pricks’.
The Telegraph article is not a ranking of the 20 most dangerous places on the planet. It says quite clearly, “20 places which are among the most dangerous places to visit on Earth.” Furthermore, the blurb on Thailand specifies which areas should be avoided and why.
A number of other “news” outlets then decided the article said Thailand is the seventh most dangerous place on the planet and everybody got into a tizzy.
I heard about a Russian businessman who cancelled his family holiday to Thailand because of the danger and instead went to Mexico. Go figure.
Since I’ve lived in Thailand (2004), it’s been the same. When they have a kerfluffle, it’s strangely peaceful compared to other countries in turmoil.
I lived on Soi Ari when the bombs went off several stops down on both sides (Sax bar and Big C). Yet all was quiet where I was. No one rushing around. No noise beyond what regular holidaymakers produced.
Same with the recent protests. I haven’t seen anyone officially massing anywhere and I now live several streets down from the large army base and across from a serious police house (or whatever it’s called as it’s not a police station).
Maybe I’ll finally get to see action when I go to leave BKK for the UK? Not sure. But I hope not…