photojourn

wasabi well the numbers weren't down - in fact quite impressive considering a small stage and hastily organised. So what does that say?

If this had been someone stopped with a few grams of marijuana in his pocket or a couple of ecstasy pills this thread would be full of the let him/her rot in jail comments from the pious TV oxygen-bottle set.

If it had been a couple of bottles of whisky instead of cigarettes - which are becoming less socially acceptable - I imagine their would be more shouts about the "thieving Thai customs".

Amazing the standards that apply on this forum.

One Country's misfortune is another countries lifeline....

This swine flu in Mexico, which has everyone worried and keeps people from Travelling to Central (and possibly) South America, will have a positive effect on Thai and other Asian tourism.

People want to go somewhere for their holidays and if they are afraid for their health, going to Mexico, they will come to other places, like Thailand, instead.

You think so? You think people have forgotten that quickly of hundreds of thousands of tourists being stranded when the PAD invaded the airports not just in Bangkok but at other places too? Ummmmm, I doubt it actually?

Horrible for the Mexican Economy and Touism, which was already suffering big time, from the Global Economic downturn :-(

People who book tours, or own timeshare blocks, will go other places now, which will benefit Thailand.

Other places without the risk of ongoing political unrest

If the Red Shirt Protests stay small (5000 or less) and remain peaceful, they won't hurt tourism much, because they are not going to get the continued international media attention, because the West won't find it newsworthy. They rather report about possible pandemics or events in Sri Lanka or Afghanistan and Iraq. They want to bring out news that the Westerners will eat up.

There was well over 5,000 at Sanam Luang last night so I guess that theory goes out the window

Not too many people in the West care about what happens in Thailand, aside from the sincere concern and empathy, after the Tsunami.

So whatever happens here from now on, I think, will be mostly internal...

Western Government like the US, will continue to prop up any Thai government that supports their Western ideals.

Not much will change in the LOS... the rich will continue to control everything...the poor will continue the worship the rich... Whoever is in power will continue to use corrupt practices to line their own pockets...and money is still #1. Same S**t different day. :-(

Don't know if the word "worship" is correct or accurately reflects the views of the poor. Perhaps it would have been more accurate to say the poor will continue to be oppressed by the rich, who will continue to try and remove their basic rights - such as one person, one vote.

The last part pretty well sums it up though.

Here are some photos of the 'blueshirt" and his gun (same as already posted) at the red shirt rally at Sanam Luang last night. The red shirt supporters filled about 1/3 of Sanam Luang and despite what the English language Thai press have said, the majority were wearing their red shirts. Estimates on the attendance were around 8-9,000 people.

The blueshirt was removed by red shirt guards and handed to the police unharmed. There was no mention of former prime minister Thaksin at the Sanam Luang rally and the "next generation" of red shirt leaders were younger, enthusiastic and kept the dialogue focused on the democracy claims of the group.

Media management by the red shirts is appalling and they need to urgently address their lack of professionalism in this area if they are to get their message across.

To answer a previous post the "long guns" were plastic toys but it was being demonstrated how a safety blocking device is supposed to be inserted in the end of the barrel when training rounds are being used.

Anyone in Pattaya who has already had cancellations?

The US Navy has canceled a port visit for this week. 4,000 horny, hungry, thirsty and cashed up sailors would have errr pumped a fair bit of cash into the local market I would imagine. Anyone have any idea what a US Naval visit is worth in revenue to Pattaya?

PMs welcome on the fallout from those affected.

If this forum was populated by rice farmers and small store owners from Northern Thailand, I think the posting would sound a lot different to a bunch of falangs living in their air-conditioned condos in Bankok. Have any of you people actually met anyone from rural Thailand?? This is a classic class struggle. According to the postings on here, everyone from both sides is a thug, so I guess it now depends on which thugs you wish to win in the end......the thugs representing the wealthy minority elites, or the thugs representing the tens of millions of disenfranchised Thai's who have been kept down by the feudal barons for generations. You call Thaksin a thug, but whatever he was, he did a hel_l of a lot more for the underprivliged in this country than anyone before or since.......thats why they are out there demanding change. I personally like the present PM.....he is educated, articulate and likely a genuinely decent guy.......I'm not so impressed by those around him. My wife has a few friends who are at the "Red" rally.....they are very decent, sincere, hardworking people.......and nobody is paying them anything to be there. Many of the reds there now, were not even Thaksin supporters when he was in power.....this has now become a coalition of groups who are just pissed off at the "old politics" and the elites who control them. They may collectively use Thaksin as a figurehead, and he may in turn use them to further his cause, but so what?

Oh and by the way.....it is their country and they will (and should) solve this their own way without advise from falangland. If its all so shit- hot back home......go there.

I agree with your sentiments. The same people who insisted I was wrong with my estimate of the number of people at the rally on Wednesday are the same people who continually label the whole red shirt movement as uneducated thugs. Having covered the rallies for the last couple of days I have met many very educated people wearing red.

The people posting the most on here have never been near the rallies, never talked to a red shirt supporter but post their opinions and views as if they have. Probably the reason being that it's to hard for them to move their walking frames and oxygen bottles through the crowd. I wonder how these same people would react should groups such as the PAD suggest their governments should be formed on a 70 per cent appointed basis?

This is not just about Thaksin and I suspect an attempt by Thaksin to come back and rule will not be met favorably by many who are wearing red today. It's about a fair deal for all and not just for the hi-so's in Bangkok.

Thailand needs to return to democracy, in case some of you guys have forgotten what that means its; Majority rules!

If it takes a revolution to restore democracy then so be it.

"Revolution is born from the barrel of a gun"

It was all's "fair in love and war" when the yellow shirts waged a terrorist campaign.

But now the pro democracy movement is gaining momentum you are all shouting "foul"

Freedom will win in the end.

Long live democracy

Here, here. I'm totally amazed by the number of posts on here from expatriates who seem to have forgotten the definition of the word democracy.

Then again, lets not for a minute suggest that Thaksin Shinawatra was democratic leader who abided by all the principles of an open and fair democracy because that would be stretching the point to far.

To me Thaksin and the UDD gained the upper hand momentarily by managing to get so many people to attend the rally.

The Government took the advantage away by (1) declaring a public holiday and lessening the chance of any confrontation between ordinary Bangkokians trying to go about their business, (2) by maintaining police discipline (all the police at Prem's house were checked by senior police with metal detectors to ensure they had no weapons of any kind), and (3) by the army not coming out of their barracks to interfere.

Abhisit seems to have ice water running through his veins at the moment and by refusing to allow a violent confrontation to occur took the steam out of the situation.

I'm still trying to understand why the reds would try and take a major stand on the eve of Songkran though when they know that most Thais will want to go back home for the holidays.

Winding the situation up only to have the Thai social calendar bring things to a halt would appear to be bad timing and waste of money to me.

Sounds to me like the use of the word "friend" is totally inappropriate in this instance and that neither are your friends. Also sounds like a case of jealousy from the "Thai male I know".

If that happened to me I wouldn't be associating with either of them again.

Let him find another lackey to pass on his messages in future. Very typical show of gratitude for you going out of your way.

For those interested in a first hand report on yesterday's rally it is now posted on my blog.

If anyone wishes to dispute the attendance figure then I suggest they get off their bums and go to the protest site rather than relying on reports from people who stood at one spot.

A photo compilation will be posted this afternoon.

JLF

Just popped back for a moment to drop man image from 7.52am this morning. The mass of people you can see extends well past the large projection screen circled in green. In addition all of the space under the canopies on the left side were full, as was the road running across the back and left side of Government House. The road at the back of Government House is at least six lanes. In front of Government House are two roads with a canal in between. The road closest to Government House was full, while the road ont he other side of the canal and extending back behind were the shot was taken were both heavily conjested also.

Admittedly it's hard to judge the size of a crowd while on the ground but it take take me more than an hour to get through the crowd at that time of the morning and walk around the Government House complex - a walk I have completed in less than 20 minutes in the past.

There were no helicopters overhead all the morning I was there. I doubt Thai television stations run to the luxury of helicopters.

To those people who doubt the information my translator obtained from people she spoke to please take note. I and she are professional at what we do and she is well able to get people to talk. More importantly, the conversations were carried out without me being in the vicinity. I repeat, of the 200 or so people she spoke to none said they had received any financial incentive. My first hand observation was of large quantities of notes with Bt1,000 bills attached being passed up to the stage.

Those TV members who want to label the red shirts as poor or uneducated, much the way the ABC (Australia) has done, should disconnect themselves from their oxygen bottles and push their walking frames down to the rally or pull their heads out of the sand. There are a large number of quite well educated and literate people at this rally. these are not (all) hicks from the boonies.

Perhaps those with more experience at estimating crowd numbers can venture an opinion based on this one photo?

Thanks to those who have read the Op-ed and left comments. More later.

Cheers

John

I'm just back from the Government House protest *now*. My best estimates are somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000 people. Residence of Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda totally surrounded and still a very large crowd at Government House. 4,000 people from Udon Thani alone. Every province is represented. I lost count of the number of buses arriving from 4am onwards.

I'll post more later as I need to file story and photos.

Suffice to say this is not a trickle of yellow but a flood of red. Oh, for the cynics, not one person I spoke to said they had been paid or coerced into attending today's rally and my translator and I spoke to more than 200 people.

There's an Op-ed piece written last night here: Thailand on the edge ahead of mass pro-democracy protest

The whole thing is a bloody disgrace. Typical mai pen rai Thai bs. Nothing has changed. The greedy BKK club owners and police have just continued on with the way they have in the past.

Host: I ♥ Khaosan Rd. Bkk

Type: Party - Club Party

Start Time:

Friday, April 10, 2009 at 8:00pm

End Time:

Wednesday, April 15, 2009 at 3:00am

Location: SukSabai bar, Rambutri rd. Bangkok, Thailand

WARM UP EXCLUSIVE PARTY

10-12 April 09 9.00 pm - 2am on the rooftop 5th floor at Suksabai Bar

dj serge (french) tech house

dj lemon (norway) trance

dj varun (india) prog trance

dj knot (kho phangan) psy- trance

dj fubsy*b (thailand) tek-trance

13-15 april 09 full songkran music festival @ Suksabai Bar

- 11am - 7pm on the street (1st floor)

- 7pm - 3am on the rooftop (5th floor)

base on all kind of electronic music- house, techno, trance ,drum&bass, psy-trance, electro, hardstyle

10,000 WATT sound system on the street!

AFTERNOON DJs LINE UP

Monday:

11-12=Anyone

12-01= Mickael

01-02= Dear

02-03= Serge

03-04= Varun

04-05= Lemon

05-06= Fubsy*B

06-07= Knot

Tuesday

11-12= Anyone

12-01= Sweed

01-02= Steven

02-03= Mickael

03-04h30= Oatawa & Kolor One

04h30-06h00= Fubsy*B & Alias

06-07= Lemon

Wednesday:

11-12= Knot

12-01= Steven

01-02= Golf

02-03= Varun

03-04= Serge

04-05= Sunzone

05-06= King Kong

06-07= Jeremy

FB reference: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.p...4506&ref=mf

A pretty funny, semi-relevant rant about clubbing

What a sad sounding individual Charlie Brooker is. Then again, sounds like he's been on the BKK clubbing circuit rather than the London circuit. Somebody needs to hand him a Sang Som bucket with a gound up e or two in it. Then again, perhaps not. Sounds like it would be a total waste of good vitamins.

The response comments are well worth reading too.

Who else is going to the Khao San music festival next week??

What's the best choice on saturdays?

IMHO it used to be DDM for a great night without the ho's but now...??

Someone with some good suggestions?

I've got a feeling t.s. and Alexlah might know but I think it's all pretty grim these days. Even GirlX said she was gving up clubbing in BKK so I think it's a choice between ho's and Hi-so places. The Khao San road music festival next week should be good though.

http://www.opworldwide.com/editionbangkok/

club culture deadma5 gig was great, crowd got into it with only a small delay, and it was rammed.

t.s. goes to stadium, who would have guessed it.

Hey, t.s. is hip. Read his review on Oakey - pretty good report.

Thought I head earlier this year that Stadium had closed down - either that or Embassy. PRetty sure it was Stadium though. Both good clubs in Jakarta and with better play lists than you'll find in BKK. I've played both and and they're both great venues. The hi-so Thais wouldn't like either of them because people go to these places to dance.

ts. Read your review and you are obviously someone who doesn't hand around hip hop clubs so I withdraw that assertion.

Interesting what you had to say.

Pretty good writing and captures the feel of the night. To bad Oakey was off his form. Guess we can all have a bad night - especially with the wrong chemicals The play list sucks by the look of it.

A 1.40 gig?? <deleted>?? Sounds like a rip-off to me. I always play at least two hours.

If I played those tunes or for that short period of time I'd be expecting to dodge bottles. Maybe just as well for him there was so much stimulating material around.

>>i couldn't keep up the pace that 2 gigs a week and work required<< Yeah, it gets hard. Totally understand what you mean.

I'll PM you.

Peace bro.

Oxfordwill that first track is painful. The second better but not particularly inspiring.

>> Oakenfold is a trainwreck, why bother?<<

You must be joking. Better stay in the hip hop clubs t.s.

Honestly if you live in Bangkok then misplacing your passport is a minor inconvenience at worst. And, why would you even lose it; how often do you lose other stuff that you have with you like your wallet, ATM cards etc. ??

Besides, it's the law, you need ID on you. Applies to you just as much as to Thais.

Are you advocating breaking the law on a public forum?

To answer the Ops question. No. They can kiss my hairy arse.

Loosing a passport is more than a minor inconvenience. Sounds like you have never lost one. Some countries penalize people who report lost passports and after only a one or two such cases over a period of several years will refuse to re-issue a replacement.

A western passport is indeed worth $10,000 ore more on the black market, depending on the country and age of the passport.

The OP hasn't been back since posting the question and I notice took great care not to name the club concerned. The OP should name the club where he/she experienced this to see if other people have had the same problem there.

this is what happens when people stop taking e..

not that its healthy...i havent took it for a while but...seriously...everything was much better then..or maybe it just felt better haha

Whose stopped? Seriously though, nothing worse than taking vitamin e and then being in a club where the mixing or music is sub-standard – or not to your liking – and where everyone is just standing or sitting around trying to be noticed, trying to pick-up or get picked up.

At most of the BKK clubs I've been in so far it would need more than some vit. e to make it a good night. The exception was DDM and they've closed down unfortunately. Hip hop, commercial house and a room full of people who think they are hi-so or special because of their looks but who are really just looking for their nightly meal ticket are not condusive to taking your vitamins.

As far as the health aspects go, the dangers are greatly overstated. In fact it's safer to offer someone e than it is to offer them peanuts. I've never seen anyone die from taking e and I know there is always plenty at the gigs I play at. The deaths that have been attributed to e later usually turn out to be PMA or something else.

Read: Killer PMA back in Aussie clubs

If e was marked up the same way most BKK clubs mark up their drink prices then it would end up being a really expensive night. Proportionately BKK clubs are a lot more expensive than those in China, Vietnam, Indonesia or even Australia and in my opinion offer nothing better than clubs in these places.

In fact, music wise, what is on offer in BKK is considerably less than in these other places - fine if you want to guzzle copious amounts of whisky and finish the night vomiting in the streets, but far from the good times people have in these other places.

Supposed to be right next to the mini showroom according to their FB flyer.

Agree with considered opinion. Bunch of elephant trackers. The Dr Mohamed Haneef farce is a perfect example.

what's the travelling time from Bkk to the Cambodian border?