The question is: what now?
Wall of Tires (Photo: Bangkok Post)
by Hans Bosch
Trains and buses are ready to take the protesting Redshirts back home, but it doesn't look like they are going to give up Rajprasong and the surrounding area at the moment. maj. Khattiya is discharged from the army and stripped of his rank for insubordination, but he still happily inspects the barricades in Bangkok's business district. Minister Suthep has complied with the Red Shirts' demand to turn himself in to the police, but according to the red leaders he has done so to the wrong authority. And so they stay where they have been for weeks: the heart of the business district.
The question is: what now? Thailand has ended up in a strange game of poker, the rules of which are not clear. Do the Red Shirts want Suthep to report to the 'crime police'? He could then release him on bail. And that is what the red leaders would like if they report to the police on May 15, as promised. Who knows, may say so, but it is clear that the Red Shirts have their own rules, which they do not all adhere to, nor every day. The 'hawks' among them want to stay put and wait for the confrontation, while the 'doves' consider the negotiated result sufficient and want to go home. Moreover, some pigeons have not shown themselves since yesterday. This could point to intervention by the ousted Prime Minister Thaksin, who has little to gain from the 'road map' as it is now on the table. The 'second generation' of the Red leaders would then take a harder line.
Then we have Prime Minister Abhisit, admittedly parliamentary immunity, but still tipsy game from the first rank. Action against the Red Shirts is hardly possible due to a lack of support from the army and police, despite all promises on his part. The Red Shirts are now taking advantage of that. All Abhisit can do now is threaten to postpone the elections announced on November 14. That makes little impression.
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It just doesn't work like that….
We would like to leave on June 5 for our honeymoon to Thailand, but what do you personally say?
Do and go to the beautiful south??
Yes, just do it. And go south. You won't regret that. Have fun!
we are going to hotel Montien in bangkok for a week in July at 54 Surawongse Road is this near where the protestants are?
If so, do you have any nice suggestions to deviate from?
I can only hope that the Red Shirts will be gone from Bangkok by then. There are more than enough hotels in and around Bangkok.
We also want to leave on July 21 for an individual tour through Thailand. We start in Bangkok for three days. Who can reassure me…?
@m.Heimens…. until July 21 is still a very long time. You can still decide not to walk around in Bangkok.
I have yet to book and will probably be there again for the whole month of July. I will also just not stay in Bangkok and drive around it.
As long as there is a status quo I wouldn't worry. The intention is to get elections and it looks like this will be achieved. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you that this is done before your holiday.
@p. of mountains …… They are really Buddhists and not Protestants. Just kidding !!!
But July is still long and no one can see where Seh Daeng is then.
I would ask your question again by then because now it's really looking like coffee grounds. And the expats in Bangkok really know what's going on by then. It is now really predicting something that can be completely different tomorrow.
The government troops of the legg are indeed quite divided and many are, as said, water melons green on the outside but red underneath, but they remain government troops and they will intervene if asked of them.
Abusit the PM and the government want to prevent bloodshed and in my opinion they are doing that very well, turning off water and electricity in the center occupied by the red shirts is the next step and an enormous pressure tool that the government can use is the step-by-step plan to to revoke new elections.
The case involving Minister Suthep is completely outside the case for which the red shirts hang around in Bangkok. it is a dead end for the red shirts and, in my opinion, they will probably return home soon.
Travel advice: Bangkok is big and beautiful, there is much more than just Siam Paragon and Central World, so don't be put off by a handful of red shirts, planning a few days in Bangkok into your travel schedule is no problem at all.