Tanks, Reds, Mud and Waterguns

Interesting time to be in Bangkok.

Thanks for the warning note, George. While here, it's hard to say how big in world news the political situation is in Bangkok right now. There are protests going on, but it's pretty hard to understand what they're all about and what exactly their goal is. Unfortunately, some of the protests involving the Reds have become out of hand and violent. If you're wondering if I'm staying well away from these areas, the answer is no. I'm staying on a sort of side street extension of Si Ayuthaya, a government avenure where a lot of the protest is happening. Two military tanks were stationed about 2 blocks down from here, separating us from the protest action. I heard one little whiff of something about one group being against foreigners but the only real danger is for protesters who cross some line.

I loaded up the World page on Google News and didn't see any Bangkok in the top 10 or so stories. It makes you think how easy it is to brush off, say, 8 or 10 people getting killed in a protest in some far off region of the world. It probably happens just about everyday.

At the same time , we're right in the middle of Sangkran, the Thai New Years Festival. The event is characterized by at least three days of waterfight all around the city. You will see people with a white mud smeared on their faces. (Read Yom Kippur here) This is the "dirt" of the year which will now be washed off. In the right parts of town, the streets are packed with people of all ages, some with waterguns, some with buckets of this mud. You walk through the crowd, getting soaked by everyone, and having this mud smeared on your face by strangers. It is quite wild, and getting stuck here in Bangkok was a bit of a blessing in disguise to be able to experience it. I'm not sure how to explain this the right way, but when you see so many thousands of Thai people with such big smiles on their faces approaching strangers and gently exchanging smears of dirt on the cheek, all with no fights or vandalism or excessive drunkeness, you know this has to be Thailand and simply would not work in the states.

Unfortunately the nature of this event doesn't mix well with photography, at least with my gear, so you'll have to use your imagination or try google images.

The embassy of India chose to be closed today, Tuesday, but is scheduled to open tomorrow. I was able to change my flight again, for free again to tomorrow night. Tomorrow will be the big hustle of getting to the visa office, staying dry, getting to the embassy for an interview, getting the visa and getting to the airport for a 6:30 pm flight. I now have to miss a day of the wedding as it is, so I'd love if everything could go as smoothly as possible tomorrow.

Happy New Year.