The Shutdown, Part II


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February 28th 2014
Published: March 1st 2014
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The year of the horse!The year of the horse!The year of the horse!

Happy Chinese New Year!
Saturday, Feb 1

Hard to believe it's February already. The past few days have been nothing but Chinese New Festivities. I had no idea CNY was so big in Thailand, but once you get outside of the tourist areas, it's huge. While I was unable to make it to Chinatown (unfortunately) my local mall did have some lovely decorations. And I brought mini oranges in to work yesterday. I'm celebrating the CNY like I always do: outside of China.

Tomorrow are the elections. Protesters marched through Chinatown today, possibly confusing everyone by switching from yellow to red shirts for the CNY. Tomorrow they're expected to be everywhere else, most likely including the district office and parking lot conveniently located across the street from my apartment. Tables are set up and chairs are stacked, everything blocked off with yellow "caution" tape. And of course, I leave for work at 8-ish, right when things are slated to open.

I spent an hour chatting online with a Thai friend, trying to figure out if the district office building, the school, or the parking lot is a voting station. Or all three. There's thousands of them and little info in English. After spending considerable time searching, he finally asked a friend of his who's a reporter for help... and the friend couldn't find information either. So either it's disorganized or--we're guessing--the sites aren't published yet for security reasons. After the violence across town today, I'm feeling a bit more worried than usual. I don't think I've ever wanted to stay home from work so badly.

I wonder what time I'll be awakened tomorrow morning. I hope it's after 6am.



Sunday, Feb 2

Well, today I was awakened by my alarm clock at the normal time. Not the protesters. Joy!

When I stepped out of my apartment building today, there was little traffic and it was a typical quiet Sunday. I decided to walk by the parking lot to go to work since I knew it was certainly protest-free, but couldn't be certain about the school on my alternate route. As I passed, all I saw were a few people milling about, calmly voting.

I read tonight that 89%!o(MISSING)f polling stations stayed open. While this election isn't over, I'm happy today went as smoothly as it did. After yesterday, I was genuinely concerned.



Monday, Feb 3

After my Thai lessons I walked to the MRT to go meet a friend for dinner. After the elections yesterday, there was a huge march today and they've relocated to Lumpini Park for the afternoon/evening. My entire lesson I could hear people's voices blaring over the speakers (set up all along Silom Road). It's really crazy how a usually bumper to bumper road is now a shopping zone, and how a peaceful park is the source of so much noise.



Friday, Feb 14

It's been a quiet couple of weeks and the number of protesters has decreased significantly. They still get out on weekends for marches, but otherwise things have simmered down.

Today, perhaps because it's the beginning of a long weekend, police have started reclaiming some of the less populated protest sites. I what the reaction will be, if any.



Tuesday, Feb 18

Things are changing around here. It's not change that I can see (yet) but I read about it. The rice farmers arrived in Bangkok over the weekend, demanding pay they were promised for their rice crop. Most protests have been peaceful but today things got ugly for a little bit. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Also over the three day holiday weekend a few of the protest sites were reclaimed by the government. Some still remain; some are busy but many are more space than people. I snapped a few photos at Sala Daeng today. People were still speaking and music was still going, and one man was dancing like he was having the time of his life. But the crowd was gone.

I also read that the State of Emergency put in place less than a month ago has been voted on to be rescinded. Not sure when that will go into effect, though. It hasn't affected me, personally, and I hope it stays that way.



Monday, Feb 24

Over the weekend things got violent both in Bangkok and outside the city in a neighboring province. In all cases, people were injured in areas near to but not at rally sites. The part that has most people on both sides upset is that children were injured and died. Yet, no end seems to be in sight.

I still feel safe here, but I'm quite thankful that I can go about my daily routine in a quiet part of the city.



Friday, Feb 28

Well, here we are at the end of the month. Nothing crazy the past few days, thankfully. But I read that people are getting ready for the weekend. We'll see. We're still in a State of Emergency... that continues to not affect my life. Fingers crossed that it stays that way for the duration.

I can't believe it's March already and I've been here 8 months. Where does the time go?


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Mmm, a treat from the bossMmm, a treat from the boss
Mmm, a treat from the boss

I love homemade cheesecake.
Voting signsVoting signs
Voting signs

The election is tomorrow. Forces are ready to go!
Sala Daeng, Feb 18Sala Daeng, Feb 18
Sala Daeng, Feb 18

Looking pretty quiet
Sala Daeng, Feb 18Sala Daeng, Feb 18
Sala Daeng, Feb 18

More space than people


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