Our man in Bangkok
I've spent the last few days on a short holiday, visiting Buddhist temples in and around Bangkok with a Thai lady, Benjamas, who I'm very pleased to say is now something more than just a friend. She has a Diploma in aircraft maintenance, a Bachelor's Degree in electrical engineering and next year will be doing a Masters in engineering management. Meanwhile, she fixes 747s. Just so ya know.
So driving to work at Bangkok Airport yesterday morning the traffic was much heavier than normal, particularly around the Air Force base. Benji gets a call on her mobile from her mother in the South, "What's all this about soldiers on the streets of Bangkok?" Yes, it seems there's a military coup going on, and maybe the Emerald Palace, my own destination for the day, will be closed. No problem, I say, I'll just photograph the soldiers and tanks instead, except that there was very little coup to actually see.
Taking the train from Bangkok Airport into the city I noticed a few bored, armed and inappropriately camouflaged soldiers standing around on street corners. The odd tank, surrounded by fast-moving cars. Very little going on anywhere, actually, and everything was happening with a noticeable absence of fuss or panic. The Emerald Palace was open as normal, and was as full of tourists as it is on every other day of the year. Yesterday's coup was something of a non-event on the streets, and was actually met with a city-wide sigh of relief that the billionaire Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, currently jobless in London, had at last gone.
The majority of Thais, particularly in the cities, are welcoming the coup not only because they are uncomfortable about the extent of Thaksin's power and influence, but also because they are uncomfortable about his increasingly overt friendliness towards George W. Bush, who Thais are united in despising. The US government, predictably, has therefore expressed disappointment. Well, they would, wouldn't they. Thaksin is also the Berlusconi of Asian politics: he also owns an airline, a telephone company, a cable TV station, a hospital, even the frigging Bangkok fairground. The King of Thailand, who all Thais revere as an all-round excellent person, also gave his blessing to this coup. Meanwhile, the military have suspended all political activity while promising to stand down in two weeks, and the governor of the Bank of Thailand is tipped to be an interim Prime Minister.
It was a slightly unreal end to an excellent few days. Many photos to follow.
So driving to work at Bangkok Airport yesterday morning the traffic was much heavier than normal, particularly around the Air Force base. Benji gets a call on her mobile from her mother in the South, "What's all this about soldiers on the streets of Bangkok?" Yes, it seems there's a military coup going on, and maybe the Emerald Palace, my own destination for the day, will be closed. No problem, I say, I'll just photograph the soldiers and tanks instead, except that there was very little coup to actually see.
Taking the train from Bangkok Airport into the city I noticed a few bored, armed and inappropriately camouflaged soldiers standing around on street corners. The odd tank, surrounded by fast-moving cars. Very little going on anywhere, actually, and everything was happening with a noticeable absence of fuss or panic. The Emerald Palace was open as normal, and was as full of tourists as it is on every other day of the year. Yesterday's coup was something of a non-event on the streets, and was actually met with a city-wide sigh of relief that the billionaire Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, currently jobless in London, had at last gone.
The majority of Thais, particularly in the cities, are welcoming the coup not only because they are uncomfortable about the extent of Thaksin's power and influence, but also because they are uncomfortable about his increasingly overt friendliness towards George W. Bush, who Thais are united in despising. The US government, predictably, has therefore expressed disappointment. Well, they would, wouldn't they. Thaksin is also the Berlusconi of Asian politics: he also owns an airline, a telephone company, a cable TV station, a hospital, even the frigging Bangkok fairground. The King of Thailand, who all Thais revere as an all-round excellent person, also gave his blessing to this coup. Meanwhile, the military have suspended all political activity while promising to stand down in two weeks, and the governor of the Bank of Thailand is tipped to be an interim Prime Minister.
It was a slightly unreal end to an excellent few days. Many photos to follow.