Thailand's Troubles

Some of you have inquired about Thailand and the political situation and I thought I would fill you in from our perspective. Yesterday the Prime Minister agreed to free elections in November based on 5 initiatives and the Red Shirts, (the political party of Thailand that seems to be predominantly made up of farmers and supporters of former PM Thaskin who was exiled from Thailand after a coup about three years ago) Hopefully that will foster a peaceful resolution without any more violence. For the most part we have not been too affected by the demonstrators but over the last couple of weeks our lives have been altered some because of the political skirmishes here.

We live 1 1/2 hours south of Bangkok but have to travel into Bangkok on occasion, over the past few months we have just avoided the areas that demonstrators have been camped out in and at all costs we never wear a red or yellow shirt! The airport has been under increasing military protection with tanks and troops posted at all the highway entrances to the airport, it's a bit of an inconvenience when flying in and out because only a couple of doors are available to enter the actual terminals. Airlines have been advising 3 hours check-in time because of the added security.

While we were on vacation in China, a State-of-Emergency was declared and that required Mark being on the phone frequently, working while away. At one point all trucks carrying diesel fuel were prohibited from driving into Bangkok, for fear that the tankers would be used as moving bombs, so that took some unusual planning in the refinery. That was soon lifted when the fuel ran out at the BKK stations. It's been a tough time for the refinery because of that and the decreased jet-fuel demands with the volcano over Iceland. There are far reaching affects of natural disasters that most people don't even consider.

Dustin who plays in a weekend basketball league in Bangkok has had several practices and a game cancelled because of safety concerns. Last week I received a call asking me to please donate blood as there was an emergency need for RH negative blood. (Asians do not have Rh negative blood and it is a concern for ex-pats. There is a Rh negative blood club here in Thailand)I am a universal donor (O Negative) and my blood type can be in demand here in Thailand. I requested to donate in Pattaya but they had a specific facility they wanted me to donate at in Bangkok, our driver refused to drive into that area because of reported skirmishes. That made me sad to think some man had an emergency need for blood and I was unable to help. Our school was to host a sporting event for several countries in a couple of weeks, teams started dropping out because of safety concerns for their students and thus the event was cancelled. Our school headmaster reported today that prospective teachers for the coming year have backed out of contracts because of the political unrest.

EM will not allow their employees from outside of Thailand to travel here at the moment. Because of that Mark has to travel outside of Thailand for important meetings, he will leave for Hong Kong on Monday because of this mandate. Traffic was horrendous in Pattaya last week because of people trying to escape from Bangkok over the long holiday. Our missionary friends that live in BKK (the quilt lady) has relocated to a nearby town because of the disruption to their lives. They live right in the middle of the worst areas. They have had to listen to loudspeakers all night and rarely have been able leave their townhouse because of fear.

When we start assessing life here, yes, we have been affected in some subtle ways but it is the Thai people I feel the most compassion for. Tourism is so low at the moment, countries are prohibiting travel and people are choosing safer destinations. Thailand depends heavily on the tourist industry and that is being hit hard at the moment. We are hoping this 'olive branch' that the Prime Minister has handed to the Red Shirts will help peace be restored here in Thailand.