By virtue of good timing, I was lucky to catch the most-recent anti-Thaksin protests in Bangkok. I chased the protests for two days.

On Saturday the evening protests were held at the regular venue outside Government House (though I still don’t know which building Government House actually is!)

Sunday’s protests took a turn of events, by passing right through the centre of Bangkok, from the National Stadium, past Siam BTS Station, onto the World Trade Center, then finally ending at The Emporium.

I’ll refrain from making political comments right now; Thailand is not my country, so while I have a stance on the situation and took photos, as a foreigner I don’t have any right to push my point of view. You might also notice some controversial photos, and I am plainly hesitant to include them in the albums. The issue is however integral to the demonstrations, and that’s where the story ends.

The elections are due to be held on Sunday April 2nd. It looks likely that there will won’t be a significant turnout. The proportion of legitimate votes is crucial for Thaksin to maintain his leadership.

I might have lost myself two bottles of beer; it doesn’t look like Thaksin will be giving up any power in the coming days. He has a point in not resigning: mob rule isn’t democracy, as much as the protestors state that it is so. It may be freedom of speech, but the disruption by a couple of hundred thousand people shouldn’t by itself overthrow the votes of millions. Of course I’m giving Thaksin the benefit of the doubt. He probably doesn’t want to lose face, or to be stripped of his assets under popular furore if he’s deposed.

These demonstrations are like an encore of those held in 1992. The stage is the same, and the determination the same. What differs is that those in 1992 ended in many killed at the hands of the military. That was the birth of true democracy in Thailand.

Thaksin has done well to become the complementary book-end of 1992, by undermining the institutions put in place after the 1992 demonstrations. (By Anand, the only Thai politician I’ve come across who seems to be an all-round good-guy). All involved are determined that the current situation remains peaceful. Paradoxically, the demonstrations in 1992 were to bring about democracy after a coup that the public would not accept, whilst current demonstrations are an undemocratic force trying to bring down the most democratic government that Thailand has seen.

The Devils and Angels of 1992 were brought to task by the revered King of Thailand, to whom they cowered. Thaksin recently stated (perhaps disrespectfully) that he would resign if the King so much as whispered to him. On Sunday night, on Royal command, the footage of that meeting was shown across all television networks. Did the King just whisper to Thaksin? Here ’s the Nation’s story about it. As far as I’m concerned the King did whisper, and Thaksin owes me two bottles of beer, Chang at that.

As before, the best up-to-date news on this ongoing 24-hour-a-day standoff can be found at The Nation

Following on from my photos from Sanam Luang, it seems like today is the final countdown for Mr Thaksin. All-night protests which have arrived at Government House, talk of a State of Emergency, the Prime Minister skulking to Ubon Ratchatani and talk of a way out of politics for Thaksin. My 64 Baht bet is that he won’t be the effective Prime Minister by the end of the week, and will be out before a new government convenes. I used to think that Thai politics was boring, but this is as good as it gets. Take a look at the links below to discover the colour and drama.

Read up-to-date reports at The Nation (© photo above) ( Yesterday’s reports here ) and catch up with wider reports at 2Bangkok.com.

I spent the last three days in Bangkok, partially on a work trip, and here are some photos.

Here’s how the photos pan out :-

• The first four are on the way from the airport to the hotel.
• The next seven are of the hotel, both views from the balcony and inside. Man what a huge ‘room’! (“This place is bigger than our whole apartment”) Why is it that I get a room like that a night before working? It was just begging for a party.
• The next umteen shots are taken from buses on the way to Sanam Luang, the central open space in Bangkok, and then around Sanam Luang. Thailand is currently in political crisis. The prime minister, Thaksin, is under fire for selling his multi-billion-dollar business interests to the government of Singapore [ say the allegations, while Singapore claims it’s a private transaction tihsllub ]. The Thais are angry about the deal on many levels, mainly that Thaksin hasn’t paid taxes on the transaction, and that Thailand has lost assets ‘of the people’ overseas.
• The last two shots are of Dave and Yok, then myself and Dave.

My weekend was great, until calamity struck on the way home; I lost my beloved iRiver DAP! It probably fell off my belt in the taxi.

I can’t remember whether everything was done in a week. The renovations got a little complicated, especially with the kitchen. All is good now though! Here’s an album of photos I took this weekend.. We’ve been enjoying our new place for three or so months now. It’s a nice place to invite friends to, and a nice place to wake up in, what with bright monring light and a fresh breeze.

Don’t die of shock, but I’ve even been doing some cooking, for the first time since I left Oz seven years ago. It’s so nice to have a decent kitchen!

On a side note, I just found out the meaning of ‘Kayu’ in Kampong Kayu tonight (yes, I could have found out much earlier if I’d ever asked anybody). Kayu is the Malay word for coal, and Kampong Kayu means coal village, since the river behind our place was once used for trading and transporting coal.

If you look at the photo taken out our back window, you’ll see they’re rebuilding the bridge over the river. That same bridge once featured severed heads stuck on stakes during the Japanese occupation, and some folks think the place is haunted because of that.