bangkok protests

My Secret to Dealing With Bangkok’s Constant Protests

As it does on a seemingly regular basis, Thailand’s protest season has started up again. As of today, the prime minister is in an unstable position and facing threats and calls for her to step down; boisterous, abusive mobs on both sides of the political divide are making threats to individuals and sometimes even attacking them for completely fabricated reasons; mobs have stormed several government ministries; and there’s a general air of uneasiness and behind-closed-door-edness in the air. This kind of thing has been going on for years now, and used to really upset me. I used to […]

Greg2016-11-17T15:47:53+00:00Bangkok, Current Events, Politics, Thailand|0 Comments

On Bangkok’s Curfew… and Snacks

As you likely know, Bangkok has, for the past several nights, been under curfew. This isn't something I've experienced since I was about 15 years old, so to say it was a bit odd is an understatement; knowing that you'll likely be arrested by the army if you're outside after 9pm is the adult version of a kid running home at sunset to avoid the monsters that come out after dark. Seeing the city asleep has been very strange. Normally buzzing with the sound of cars, motorbikes, music, food and general city sounds, the city is quiet and lifeless. Standing on your balcony looking out out across the blinking lights, I felt a bit like Will Smith in I Am Legend, but without all the abs.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:31+00:00Bangkok, Current Events, Politics, Thailand|0 Comments

The Role of Twitter in the Bangkok Protests

Well, despite my vow to avoid writing about politics, here's another post about the situation in Bangkok. As the redshirts tear up the city, again, and the army tries to beat them into submission, again, it's like some sick version of Batman vs The Joker - neither side wins, everyone loses, wash, rinse repeat. I don't mean to crack wise - the situation is tense, deadly and will have long-term repercussions for the entire country. Being stuck amid events like these is not something that us North Americans are used to, and I've written before about how it changes your perceptions of reality. It also really opens your eyes into the machinery behind situations like this, most notably the machinery of how information is distributed and consumed. In this regard, it's been a salient - although deadly - crash course in the power of Twitter.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:32+00:00Bangkok, Current Events, Politics, Technology, Thailand, Web Media|0 Comments

A Tragedy in Bangkok, and the Opportunities it Brings

As I mentioned in my previous post about the red shirts, I usually avoid writing about politics for two reasons: 1) the situations often evolve too quickly for my sporadic man-child comments to be of any use, and 2), I'll be the first to admit it - I'm not so smrt in the politics department. However, I am affected by what's going on, and it has serious implications for the future of Thailand. So, instead of adding to the flood of theories of what happened and opinions on what will happen next, I thought I'd just put out a few thoughts on how a regular dude feels all caught up in what's going on.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:33+00:00Bangkok, Current Events, History, Politics|0 Comments

Are the Bangkok Protests Really as Bad as They Say?

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.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:53+00:00Bangkok, Current Events, Politics|0 Comments

A Few Words on Thailand’s (latest) Protests

Thailand has a funny way of 're-educating' those of us who didn't grow up here. From opening our eyes to Asian history to shattering preconceptions about race, food and poverty, every day that you live here teaches you something new. Since the continually developing protests have started, I've gotten a few emails from friends asking if everything is okay, to which my reply probably sounds a bit lame. The bottom line - unless you're right down near government house where the protests are centered, you'd be hard pressed to know there was any disturbance at all. Thais have a remarkable resilience to factors that would make the rest of us quake in our boots.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:55+00:00Current Events, Politics, Thailand|0 Comments