You experience everything in Thailand (12)

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There will not be many people who have had the same experience as a group of Dutch people who made a group tour through Thailand and Cambodia. Someone in the party took the trouble to report on a special meeting in Chanthaburi.

The report previously appeared on the Facebook page of Thailand Community, from which we copied it with permission. Read the report and take a look at the mentioned newspaper link.

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A momentous encounter in Chanthaburi

During our 2^e tour in February 2018 we do Chantaburi to cross the border to Cambodia the next day. In Chantaburi we were supposed to visit the church, but once there suddenly all access roads were unexpectedly closed. So we drive straight to our hotel. Once there we see soldiers at the entrance, who take our temperature, we go through a metal detector gate and we get a name tag pinned to our clothing.

Inside the hotel everyone is in turmoil and our tour group of less than 20 people turns out to be the only one in the entire resort, while there are still XNUMX rooms available, not a single other tourist present. Our Thai tour guide disappears in silence to his room and doesn't come off for the rest of the day….strange.

During the day we feel the tension rising with the hotel staff. None of our group understands what is happening, and we do not receive any further information when we inquire. In the meantime, more and more soldiers enter the hotel and around the hotel the soldiers (armed with machine guns) walk their circles, emergency generators are connected and we are checked for our name tag with every movement….

While we enjoy some relaxation at the pool, and watch everything in surprise, my girlfriend appears to have lost her name tag. Sensing that this is not good, she indicates this to the first soldier. Immediately everyone is in an uproar and she has to go to a hotel room furnished as a military office. Fortunately, they believe her and she gets a new name tag. (The original was later found to be just in her bag)

When we leave for our hotel room a bit restless, we are checked at every corridor by an armed soldier. Something big is going to happen here, that's a fact, but still no one tells us anything, and our guide is still nowhere to be seen.

Through our window we see more and more soldiers making their rounds around the hotel. Everyone, especially the hotel staff, acts friendly, pampers us (the strange local dishes are prepared for us in the traditional way) but looks tense.

Suddenly something happens, a soldier with several stars on his shoulder enters, all other soldiers jump in line, not because of this general (?) no; it's the man behind him. This appears to be the Minister of Health (?) or something. He shakes some hands, and the “tense calm” returns. More soldiers arrive behind him, who also have to go through a scan gate themselves, and receive a body check. And still everyone is tense.

And yes 2 hours later…. everyone is flying in all directions again, military and hotel staff; all heads go down. And we, Dutch tourists in our shorts or airy summer dress and flip flops, see it happen….

Here he comes…. Prayut….. He appears to be having some kind of consultation in Cambodia about some kind of cooperation, and on the way he wants to shake hands with tourists from a distant country. Very friendly he gives us Dutch tourists a hand and has a chat. A Thai cook who also wants to have a chat and shake hands is pushed aside by a senior soldier with a compelling face.

Thai photographers take many pictures of Prayut with “the Dutch tourists”, see www.posttoday.com/politic/news/539214

The dinner, in which the many senior military personnel also participate, is military-timed and even the menu indicates the duration of the courses exactly to the minute, staying longer than necessary is not appreciated.

All night long we listen to the emergency generators blaring next to our room window. It gives a safe feeling, because the room safe (a screwed money box in the wardrobe) did not work properly and our window could not be locked. But with all those soldiers around the hotel we didn't worry.

The next morning after our breakfast among the military, we see Prayut driving away in his SUV; the staff relaxes, and we suddenly see our tour guide emerge from his room. Not very talkative, he tells about the day that is coming… on to Phnom Penh.

Later that day we see the pictures on the Internet; We're on the front page of the biggest Thai newspapers; in the photo we are kindly posing in line next to Prayut…. meanwhile already fully informed by our (politically different colored) Thai tour guide.

Since that day we have of course started to follow Thai politics a lot more.