ThaiEye

The next time there is a large protest of any kind in the US, i hope the Thai Embassy in Washington DC puts out a travel warning for Thai citizens.

Wow... a few roads are blocked for an hour each in Bangkok, and a warning goes out for the entire country!

On Koh Mak now, the local authorities have now put up warning signs on possible box jellyfish in the area and First Aid kits are also available at the signs. All the local staff are now being trained on treating a box jellyfish sting. Let's see if this happens on Lanta or Phuket.

It's funny the way a lot of foreign tourists complain about garbage on the beaches here in Thailand as it is them that actually encourages the problem. Take Samui here, go down to Chaweng or Lamai at sunset and you'll find heaps of garbage left on the beach by tourists.

So instead of blaming the Thais for a problem like this, point your finger at foreign tourists instead.

Still, Thailand's beaches are far cleaner than most back home.

Oh no, am flying to Chiang Mai from Bangkok today. Was hoping to escape the traffic-stopping zombies but it sounds like it's the same situation up there.

I don't think a hundred protestors in CM are gonna affect the traffic that bad!

Your taxi will not go via Phan Fa (Ratchadamnoern Ave.) he'll take a slightly longer route.

No problems...

The red-shirts certainly won't gain any friends in the capital if they attempt any disruption of the BTS or MRT, and this would be against their Bkk 'greetings'. I very doubt theyre gonna go anywhere near them.

Get out of the northern region and all you'll find are pefectly clear skies. The smog problem only seems to be hitting Chiang Mai and a couple of other neighbouring provinces and that's it.

I haven't been able to see any of Monty's photos, they are all marked with a red cross in the top left of each pic. And i am using usual TT&T connection, normally got no probs viewing pics on any other website.

By the way, Winniethekwai has just reposted pics from a website which specifically states no copyright infringement of any of their pics.

So that doesn't sound like much happening in Chiang Mai - wouldn't exactly use the word 'hit'.

Blocking off a single road for an hour won't bring Chiang Mai to a standstill!

You can wear any colour shirt that you want, especially if you are a foreigner. The only place the colour of a shirt means anything is at a rally site. Go watch a Man U or Liverpool match at a popular Thai hangout for football and you'll see lots of red-shirts!

I always wear any colour shirt i want and never had anyone blink an eye or say a thing.

Bkk protests have never been an issue of safety for foreigners.

Everything has returned to normal on Sukhumvit. No worries. The red-shirts were only at Sukhumvit 31 yesterday for a short-time then dispersed.

The reds are at Victory Monument at the moment but they are supposedly moving away very soon. Right at Victory Monument is the expressway, so as soon as you get on that then you are fine and clear. Otherwise, yes take the BTS to Ornut. Thai Airways are now advising passengers to get to the airport earlier than usual, so yes perhaps an hour or two extra for this trip.

It is extremely unlikely that the airport is gonna be affected. The army and police aren't going to let the red-shirts anywhere near the airport. And besides none of the protests planned are anywhere near there..

No worries whatsoever.

It is extremely unlikely that the airport is gonna be affected. The army and police aren't going to let the red-shirts anywhere near the airport. And besides none of the protests planned are anywhere near there..

No worries whatsoever.

It's probably very safe indeed to take the train or bus up. However, it is still better to avoid the 3 southern provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala. Take the train or bus route which goes via Hat Yai/Pedang Besar instead. This way you are totally avoiding any of the troubled areas of southern Thailand.

The amount of rumours being spread is endless. Probably nothing will emerge out of all of this talk.

Actually, the Aftonbladet never said it was a box jellyfish, only a stinger they said. It is unlikely it was a box jellyfish because the Swedish fireman who gave the young girl CPR removed the tentacles with his bare hands and had it been a box jellyfish he would have gotten bad burns himself, which he didn't.

It is more likely to have been a Portuguese Man of War.

Thank you for clearing that up.

An earlier poster's comparison with calculated risks and flying is clearly rubbish as has been pointed out - with every flight we are taken through a safety process preparing us for that incredibly rare instance of the plane falling out of the sky. In South East Asia it is thought that around 200 are killed by box jellyfish every year. Around the world 4 or 5 are killed by sharks. No need to compare anything - a life is a life.

Talk about making statistics up! 200 people die a year of jellyfish stings in SEA!!

You have far more chance of being attacked by a drunk Swede in a Koh Mak bar than you have of a jellyfish. So perhaps the bar owners there display warning signs about that!

No need for foreigners to get worked up at all.

Even after the coup, besides a few soldiers and a couple of tanks parked along the street, there was no difference whatsoever to anyone's daily life. Security law or no security law, no difference to us.

I haven't read any reports of the red-shirts planning a rally in Chiang Mai. I certainly won't be re-scheduling my weekend plans to CM. I was in CM last year when a red-shirt rally was on near the airport and didn't see a thing. Me reckons no need to worry a bit - be it CM or BKK.

The answer why you are getting hardly any replies is that us expats are rather tired of having to tell you newbie tourists hundreds and hundreds of times that any protest in Bangkok is perfectly safe for foreign tourists.

The only protest planned is for one on March 14 at a park in Bangkok. Nothing to do with any airport, Phuket, shopping centers etc... Not exactly much to worry about! Pack your bags and get to Bkk - you'll love it, nothing different

What's that in the OP about rioting in mid-March! All that is being planned is a protest for March 14. One of the leaders of the red-shirts has just said that it won't be as large as previously thought. I've been living in Bangkok all through all the protests and have only ever been effected by the odd road excursion. You'll be perfectly safe, no foreign tourists has ever been harmed by protests.

Looks like early next time is an awful time to go to Vientiane for a visa run.

Monday is a Thai public holiday and Tuesday is a Lao public holiday!Checked on Internet already for Lao holidays 2010. Can someone confirm that the Thai Embassy will be closed next Tuesday for Chinese New Year?

Met my soon to be wife via thailovelinks. She is a qualified accountant, had a few Thai boyfriends but after b ad experience decided to look outsied Thailand.

Where did she graduate in accounting? Ramkhamhaeng, Rajaphat, Ratchmankala or Sukothai universities etc..?

Forget the hairdresser excuse:

"I met my girl when she was cashier"

"I met my girl when she worked at Lotus"

"I met my girl on the bus"

"I met my girl selling jeans at a Bangkok market"

Forgive me if i am wrong, but anytime i been around Bangkok in my past 2 years in Bkk 99.9% in such jobs can't speak English to save their lives. Find me a Lotus girl, cashier, bus conducteress together who can all speak English enough to have a foreign boyfriend and i'll buy you a beer. Unless the majority of thaivisa members are fluent in Thai. Or the ex-Thai-girlfriend got a doctorate in medicine with a degree from Harvard!!

So much drivvle is being told in here makes me wanna laugh or puke, or both!

Beware of renting an apartment for 3 months or longer in Thailand, your neighbours can be friends of the person that owns your apartment or the condo the owner. Once you paid advance/deposit they may try to get you out within those 3 months by making a lot of noise in any way they can when you are at your room..

They even may pay someone to annoy you, to get you out...

If you move out within a few weeks they get away with your money and they'll find a new "victim"...

Which bar did you hear that in? Sounds like another one of those barstool myths that gets shared after the consumption of one too many alcoholic beverages.