Welcome to the land of smi... err, political unrest

Sawadee kaa! I've arrived in Bangkok to a balmy 30+ degrees at 11pm at night. A far cry from the icy chill we had in Japan. Checked into the Sleep With Inn on Rambuttri (parallel to Khao San). 2 bbq meat sticks, 1 mango and a bottle of freshly squeezed orange juice later, I am now sitting my my private room in my underwear enjoying the air-con and complimentary wifi. Ahhhh :)

Over the past few days I've been (re)struggling with the concept of travelling alone; it was hard to say goodbye at the airport when I left NZ but I knew I was meeting Laura which took the edge off. The morning she was packing her bags in Tokyo, then dropping her off at the train station, was very hard. I'm not afraid of travelling alone, but I have realised that solitude, while sometimes a welcome break from the madness/annoyances of society, can get weary and ultimately I do enjoy people's company. But I've met so many people already, just in the hostels in Japan, and I'm bound to meet more along the way.

While Japan was nice, it was a very alien country and all the travellers we met had the same sentiment; you visit Japan but you never really get underneath the skin. They're very much an 'in group', you have to be in the club (i.e. Japanese, born & raised in Japan).

It's a nice familiarity to be in Bangkok again. I've been to this airport 3 times now, I know where the official taxi stand is, I know how much it costs to get from A to B, which is one of the scariest parts of arriving somewhere. It's hugely comforting to see familiar landmarks out the taxi window, the chaos of Bangkok roads and street stalls is familiar too. Even the heat is nice. It brings back memories of my trip to Cambodia in 2008, and I smile when I think of the fun I had with Bill, Yvonne and Trevor.

I only arrived a couple of hours ago and haven't ventured much further than around the block, but the military and police presence is tangible everywhere. There were no taxi hawkers at the airport, military guards everywhere, and we passed through a few road blocks on the way from the airport. Khao San seems a lot less crowded than I remember, although that could be because it was almost midnight on a Monday and it's not really tourist season.

For those of you not up to date with current affairs, there is a huge political protest happening in Bangkok between the 'Red Shirts' (mostly poor, rural countryside folk) who oppose the government that put themselves in power a few years ago sans election, and the 'Yellow Shirts' who are supporters of the government. The Red Shirts have been protesting for 7weeks now, calling for an immediate disbanding of the government followed by an election, but the government has so far refused to meet their demands. The protests are concentrated around the Rajprasong area (ages away from Khao San where I am) and have been predominantly non-violent. They are not targeting tourists or foreigners - who are definitely seen as a valuable source of income - and are mostly camped out making announcements on loudhalers. In the last 2 weeks it's gotten a bit restless and I think the situation is escalating; still montly non-violent though. There have been some casualties and injuries but I suspect its mostly collateral damage, people being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Both sides recognise that they won't achieve anything with violence, but all the same, the protesters have caused serious disruptions to the way the city functions and some citizens (mostly government supporters) are calling for martial law to get the Red Shirts out of town. The Herald fears that if this happens, it may turn into a sort of civil war... let's hope it doesn't get that bad.

I only plan to be in Bangkok for 2 or 3 nights then head South to Phuket and Ko Phi Phi, and will take extra care to avoid the protest areas. Will be interesting to see what it's like around the country.

But anyway, tomorrow is my birthday and I have booked 3 1/2 hours worth of facial, massage, pedicure and foot spa for less than NZD$60... awesome! I'm thinking of heading to the Vertigo rooftop bar for a drink around sunset, will see what the weather's like.

Oh, and my phone works again! I can receive txts, so feel free to txt me :) +64 21 061 9444
(but please don't call unless it's life or death because I'm a victim of global roaming rates)

Bye for now!
ML