Click the
photo above
to see an album of photos. To return to our webpage, close the window.
Return to
Bangkok Revisited Dec
2009
Wednesday 16 March 2010
The traffic on the road ahead of us was stopped dead. We were in a
taxi coming from the airport in Bangkok, Thailand after our flight from
Bali Tuesday afternoon, 15 March. Next to us were two pickup trucks with
red T-shirted people riding in the back. They were heading for the
street protests in downtown Bangkok. The street ahead of us was closed
to traffic. Police were on the street corners looking rather bored. We
had to take a detour to reach our hotel, right in the heart of the main
protest area, but that was our only inconvenience. There was no
violence.
More shops than usual for a weekday were closed but the
demonstrations so far seemed to maintain a festive air. We crossed the
main boulevard, Jalan Ratchadamneon Klang on our way to a restaurant for
dinner our first day. It was easier than usual to cross the street
because it was blocked off to traffic. Booths with food and T-shirts for
sale were set up along both sides of the boulevard. Several women were
giving foot massages to the weary participants while loudspeakers
broadcast a speech by one of the leaders. Police were in evidence but
were merely standing guard. A tuk tuk with three backpacker passengers
were stopped in front of a group of police security guards. The driver
was snapping a photo of the young women passengers posing with the
guards, who didn’t object.
The next morning we returned to the JLRatchadamneon Klang, this time
with our cameras. People were eating breakfast from the street vendors
and napping in the shade of the booths beside the street. Police were
still in place at the street corners. One of the leaders was trying to
encourage his followers over the loudspeakers. The leader turned the
loudspeakers over to a monk who began to intone morning prayers. Many of
the faithful on the street stopped to say their prayers along with the
monk. Other than that it was a quiet beginning to the day. We were not
around to see the infamous blooding of the doorway of the unloved
current leader. The rest of the day we were in areas of the city
untouched by the protests. We went for a ferry ride down the Chao Phraya
River and lunched on good noodle soup in Chinatown.
We left by taxi for the airport after dinner that evening to catch
our flight to Paris. Once again barricades on several streets caused us
to make detours. At two intersections small groups were parading in the
street to the cheers of onlookers. It took a little longer to get to the
airport but we never felt threatened.
Return to
Bangkok Revisited
Dec 2009
Return to
Myanmar Intro
Return to
Indonesia
Intro
Return to Travels
Return to Introduction