Despite it all, I'm satisfied that though the first impression may have been dubious, that the rest of her stay was pleasant. We made the most of the situation, obviously taking security precautions for ourselves. Staying away from the danger zones, we got to see some of the city at least-if only capturing what could be seen from the window of a taxi. She got some shopping in and we had some authentic Bangkokian food. Getting out of Bangkok was a little tricky, as I suspected it would be given that everyone and their mother were on an exodus out of the city.
Thailand Peace Corps Volunteer "Peace Corps: The Thai Experience " writes: A couple days before I headed to Bangkok to meet her, the situation in Bangkok turned even more critical and travel to Bangkok became essentially off limits
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Happy Son Kran
Caption: Red Shirts at Ratchaprasong; April 16, 2010. This photo shows the situation at Ratchaprasong area in Bangkok, Thailand during the protests of the "Red Shirts". Photo: Ratchaprasong. Flickr Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 Generic
Son Kran is the Thai New Year. It's also celebrated to a certain degree in other SE Asian nations. The official holiday was actually April 13-15 so I am a little late on posting about Son Kran. Better late than never. Compared to last year, my Son Kran experience this year was vastly different. I declined the opportunity to meet up in Chiang Mai (aka the epicenter of Son Kran) with a big group of fellow Volunteers and opted for a more low-key local celebration.
Timing was everything. One of my good friends from Iowa State who is currently studying in Hong Kong had a window of time to come visit me in Thailand, which just happen to fall during the Son Kran holiday...in addition to culminating red shirt tensions in Bangkok. Weeks before, we had planned for me to meet her at the airport in Bangkok and stay for sight seeing for two days then, head to my village out into the big unknown of Issan for the remainder of the time-leaving enough time for her to get back to Bangkok and fly back to Hong Kong. A couple days before I headed to Bangkok to meet her, the situation in Bangkok turned even more critical and travel to Bangkok became essentially off limits.
Since we had everything arranged already and it was such late notice, I sought permission to pick up my friend and proceed with caution through our plans. Our time in Bangkok before heading out to my site was trepidatious and surreal yet, engrossing. I met my friend at the airport on Saturday morning and we went straight into the city. Once she came, we got to catching up and having taken president of talking about what we'd been up to the last few years, the current situation of our immediate surroundings almost all but slipped our minds, only to come falling at light-speed back to the forefront of our attention later on that afternoon. That was April 10, 2010.
Follow the link: Bangkok April 10 to read more about these events. Suffice to say, the city was in chaos with the main commerce centers closed and the two opposing sides mounting higher stakes against their adversaries. Even the sky train transit system was ceased by the army. In awe, I explained to my friend this was more action (of such caliber) than I had seen in Bangkok, or Thailand at that, since I had been here. It must have been a lot to take in for her, seeing as how that was her first day here.
Despite it all, I'm satisfied that though the first impression may have been dubious, that the rest of her stay was pleasant. We made the most of the situation, obviously taking security precautions for ourselves. Staying away from the danger zones, we got to see some of the city at least-if only capturing what could be seen from the window of a taxi. She got some shopping in and we had some authentic Bangkokian food. Getting out of Bangkok was a little tricky, as I suspected it would be given that everyone and their mother were on an exodus out of the city.
The swift descent en mass from the city was not only in light of the chaos but, foremost, because it was Son Kran, which is the biggest holiday in Thailand and everyone tries their hardest to get home. (I'm thinking the likes of "I'll be home for Christmas" only insert "Son Kran" where Christmas goes and replace the Christian connotation associated with that song wherein one should assume a Buddhist connotation and now, we've got it right).
