Oh sh*t!

There are 365.25 days in a year. And of all the days in 2010, we have chosen to go to Bangkok, Thailand on 11-14 March. On 9 March 2010, DFA advised:

In view of the protest rallies being planned in key areas of Bangkok starting Friday, 12 March 2010, and for the duration of the rallies, Filipinos are advised to postpone all non-essential travel to Thailand, specifically Bangkok.

Filipinos who are already in Thailand are advised to avoid areas that have been identified as meeting areas and staging areas for the rallyists.

Despite this, and because life is about taking risks, we proceeded with the planned travel.

Empty streets
The streets of Bangkok are usually bustling with life at night with its offerings of delicious street food and unique merchandise sold in its night markets. But on the 11th of March 2010, the streets of Bangkok were virtually empty.


We were eager to sample authentic Thai cuisine, but we were amazed to find the streets of Bangkok devoid of life. As Filipinos, I would like to believe that we have gotten quite used to rallies and demonstrations, and except for the affected areas, it is business as usual in other areas in Metro Manila. But here, they are taking this planned rally seriously, perhaps owing to the fact that they were surprised last year by similar rallies that they had to close out their airports for weeks.
Tuktuk, Thailand's version of the pedicab

We boarded a cab to Pat Phong but the cab driver said that the bars and establishments there are closed and insisted on bringing us to a nearby restaurant. He also warned us not to go out the streets the following days because the Red Shirt rallyists, supporters of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, are staging their rallies in certain areas starting the next day. He even related that clients in bars are being forced by the Thai police to go to their homes in anticipation of the morrow’s rallies. He said the armies are planning to throw shit bombs - which became the theme of our jokes for the duration of the trip - to people or to establishments. So we ended up eating hotdog from trusty 7-11. I did not know whether I would be grateful because at least we were spared of the traffic in the streets, but it also seemed to us that we were the only ones brave enough to walk the streets that night.
Mirrored
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