I haven’t braved the streets of Bangkok to take some photos of the current red shirt protests in Thailand but plenty of other people have. Here are some links to the best photos I have seen so far:
Anyone who has spent much time in Thailand will have noticed that the Thais love their little dogs. The soi dogs are at one end of the spectrum but at the other are the pampered pooches whose feet never touch the floor thanks to their overprotective owners. These dogs come in all shapes and sizes but pugs and poodles seem to be the most popular and the longer the hair the better.
To celebrate this one of the malls in Bangkok, Central Rama 3, is holding a dog fashion show at the moment called Dog Street where you can see the best (or worst) examples of Bangkok dogs.
It is free to get in and far from the red shirt action so if you are bored pop down and see how the other half live.
As it looks like the red shirt protest in Bangkok is coming to end thanks to a strong military crack down this weekend I thought it would be interesting to hear from people how the protests have affected them.
Me personally I have not really been affected that much at all. I have had a few close encounters with armed police and military that I probably would not have done otherwise but apart from that it has been business as usual.
A few times taxis have been hard to find that are willing to go into certain areas but overall it has been ok.
How have you been affected during the past few months of protestation?
As the red shirt protests drew on and the military got involved it soon became clear the army were using live rounds to persuade the protesters to go home. But up until now it hadn’t really been reported that the army were firing live bullets with most reports claiming they were firing rubber bullets. Well, since the increased crack down this weekend the army have setup a few ‘live fire zones’ where I presume they will be firing live rounds at will. It’s a shame to see this happening but at least they are warning people what they are doing and therefore giving them a chance to avoid the area or get out now.
A lot of non-Thai people I have spoken to about the protests can’t understand why the army haven’t gone in like this sooner in a bid to flush the protesters out. With the sudden increase in casualties and fatalities I think we can all see now why the army were reluctant to storm in. Besides, apart from to the mall owners, what harm were the red shirts really doing?
Coming from a country like the UK were public protests are very much restricted if allowed at all it can be hard to understand why this one has been allowed to go on so long but I find it quite refreshing that in parts of the world people are still allowed the freedom to protest. Its just a shame this one had to turn so ugly after a long time of minimal violence. Lets just hope this hasn’t ruined it for future generations and the government doesn’t bring in draconian measures to prevent large gatherings of people.
It wasn’t soon after I first arrived in Thailand that I spotted red number plates on some of the cars driving around Bangkok. ”What could this mean?” I though. The cars I noticed the red license plates on all had one thing in common and that seemed to be that they were shiny and expensive looking. Perhaps the red number plates in Thailand were some kind of status symbol like a private number plate in the UK.
Later on I found at that the red coloured license plates you see on cars in Bangkok and the rest of Thailand are actually trade plates and come on new cars. Drivers have a grace period in which to get the regular white and yellow plates in. If they do not they can get a fine from the Boys in Brown.
I have also heard that cars with red number plates are not allowed to drive on the roads after dark. I’m not sure why this is. If it was new drivers I could understand but new cars? Perhaps it is to do with the contrast of the black text on the red plates not being visible at night; but if that is the case why not have a different colour.
Maybe once the current unrest is over we will start seeing yellow number plates in Thailand!
Look out for another exciting post on why some taxis are pink in Bangkok and what the different coloured vest the motorcy taxi guys wear means…
