Curfew In Chiang Mai & Situation Updates

[Theyreallrubbish]

Traffic on Chiang Mai Lamphun road seems normal. Plaza 89 at 7 p.m. was a mix with the Tesco shut and covered in cardboard, and the 7/11 open normally. Miguels shut and other restaurants open.

Can people actually in the town give reports of what they see as open or closed. How traffic is etc.?

[gotlost]

Curfew extended across 23 Thai provinces

BANGKOK (AFP) -- A curfew was extended to cover 23 Thai provinces as well as Bangkok on Wednesday night after a deadly army crackdown on an anti-government rally sparked rioting and arson in the capital.

Thailand's Centre for the Resolution of Emergency Situation (CRES) said in a statement it had "imposed the curfew in 23 more provinces from 8:00 pm to 6:00 am".

Anyone violating the curfew would be jailed for two years maximum or fined 40,000 baht (1,200 dollars) or both, but a government spokesman earlier said those who needed to travel should carry passports or ID and tickets.

Earlier, General Prawit Wongsuwon told AFP that the curfew would be imposed in Bangkok and checkpoints would be set up across the city.

"We are waiting until the people go back home, then we will deal with rogue protesters," he said.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Seems Police are now asking bars to close, turn off music, etc.

[MrBrad]

Here in Santitam the bars sound as active as always. Tuk-tuks and cycles are cruising the streets. I was hoping for a quiet evening.

[sarahsbloke]

My mate just came back from the bus station.

Says police just closed it and told everyone to go back home, no busses moving tonight.

He also said there seemed to be a mob on the superhighway.

Police are going round all the bars and shops telling them to close now.

I was in Gad Suan Gow this afternoon and saw nothing at all, got back to Doi Saket at 4pm, also saw nothing.

Edited May 19, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[wolf5370]

Twitter is dieing:

Twitter is over capacity.

Too many tweets! Please wait a moment and try again.

Getting harder to get info - guess it will look like things have quitened down as people obey the curfew and can't report on what's happening - doesn't mean a drop in incidents though.

Lets hope we don't wake up to ashes (like the day after Loi Kratong or Mid March paddy burning season)

[silverhawk_usa]

Thai TV is back on the air .

[rishi]

The Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) has announced curfew in Bangkok and nearby cities and provinces in the North and Northeast earlier placed under emergency law.

People in areas under curfew are not allowed to leave their homes from 8pm to 6am, with immediate effect.

State authorities are allowed to perform their duties in the restricted areas to restore peace and order.

The curfew order was signed by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva late this afternoon.

source: Agencies

- 2010-05-19

I'm in Lampang - a city that has often been named "red stronghold". In case that curfew order has been both ordered and submitted to local authorities, they apparently couldn't care less. Passed by the usual sleepy police both, strategically placed in the center of a circle that with a radius of 150 meter would include the major goldshops, the main municipal offices and the central police station - the single officer, manning the booth, was as bored as he always has been. I was on my way back from the largest "mall" in this province (with BIG C as the main shop) and went past such potential terrorist targets as the main compound for the provincial police and the governors residence. Not a trace of anyone having taken the slightest notice of things happening in Bangkok.

This all refers to the situation in Lampang today between 20.30 - 21.30... Knock on woods.

[Paagai]

Just spent the last couple of hours at a restaurant on Superhighway near Santitham. On a busy intersection yet never saw a single Police vehicle or motosai. Among Thais, no one sure what ws going on so they were shutting up early to play safe.

Also had a message from a Thai friend saying there was Red Shirt trouble in Santitham, but no more info than that. Seems like a normal night on Super Highway around Jet Yod.

[Maejo Man]

Maybe this is being paranoid, but can the fact that the only TV working is government TV, which reports every incident to create panic be a prelude and justification to a mass assault that will result in many deaths?

The only TV that is not on air is channel 3 for obvious reasons. All others are fine.

[ChiangMaiIB]

All quiet at the train station (wanted to buy some more redshirts - they are selling like hotcakes on ebay)

On a positive note --- 4 day weekend!

[hanuman1]

apparently there are loads of reds at the warorot hotel now

[StevieH]

apparently there are loads of reds at the warorot hotel now

best place for them i'd have thought. that's their chiang mai headquarters.

[Tywais]

Topic re-opened now after cleaning up some of the fluff. As for slow connections, many members across the board are having the same difficulty based on posts and my deleting many duplicate posts across the board. Let's keep this important topic to information that is or can effect us that live here. This topic is not for idle chit chat. Also, a post giving misleading and potentially dangerous information has been removed.

Thanks for your understanding.

//Re-opened//

[mrclough]

So ...... Can we go into town or not? Answers on a postcard to ..... lol

[Mestizo]

Spent a couple hours driving around town this evening. Getting dinner, etc. Here is what I saw:

7:00-7:30:

Army troops blocking Rd at Naowarat Bridge seemed tense and onlookers gathered. But then a food delivery relaxed them. Most sitting down in road eating.

Some trash and burned tire residue corner near west end of Naowarat Bridge. Smashed telephone booth laying on edge of Thapae Rd. A couple broken street lights. Most Thai onlookers seemed sad about the damages.

Fires were still burning on east side of bridge. tons of onlookers, but no redshirts to be seen. It also smelled like a small fire was started at Thapae Gate, but didn't see anything.

Handful of police there, but were sitting around on the corner. Seemed content to let the Army handle everything. Did notice one police carrying an M-16. Walked into the temple grounds on the corner (with the m16 still in hand).

7:30-9:15:

I see *NO* enforcement of curfew in Chiang Mai at the moment. Bars open. people walking around, etc Approximately 99% of the bars I drove past were all open. Only really notable exception as the boxing area on Loi Kroh

Saw a convoy of police trucks loaded with police in riot gear. Appear very tired, but relaxed. Seemed like they were done for the day and heading home. I would estimate probably 100+ cops total.

Lot of non-entertainment places around Thapae Gate area were closed.

9:15-9:30:

Police going around asking bars to turn music down and dim the lights. Some bars partially closed their doors.

9:30-10:00:

Starts getting VERY quiet on the streets. A few tourists still walking around and a few Thai's still out and about. Notably, I don't see any farangs around, outside of the normal tourist bar areas.

Most bars losing customers and getting very quiet. Many owners throwing in the towel and closing up for the night.

Saw checkpoints being setup on Sridonchai Rd (between corner of the moat and Pantip), down Chang Klan Rd and potentially in front of ThaPae Gate.

My local 7-11 is almost completely wiped out of mixers (soda water and bottles of Coke Classic) and most beer (especially Large Chang Classic) !

10:30-10:54 :

-Mestizo

[dave2]

mestizo.

great ... thanks for that well written / up to date post

chiang mai i hope ? ... will all be back to normal tomorrow

dave2

[mrclough]

Ah, nice for someone to be purely factual without throwing the chip on their shoulder! Thankyou to a very open minded person for a change! If I meet you, I'll buy you a beer on merit of this info alone lol! I'm now 99% convinced you must be a pretty a normal fellow lol

[seahorse]

Just came back from town about 15 mins ago across Nawarat Bridge...no problems at all....but did see black tyre smoke (presumably) from Muang Bridge. Earlier about 4.30 tried to get into town but Charoen Muang road was closed and could see a pile of tyres on fire on the bridge.....traffic was a nightmare! Seems as though a very very small minority of people managed to cause havoc in CM today.

All around the moat was fine at 5.30pm (drove completely around it), apart from being extremely busy.

Welcome to the world of terrorism.

[Mestizo]

An additional note in the 7:30-9:15 time block.

It was reported that the CRES announced ATM's would NOT be dispensing cash during the curfew. I did find this to be the case with the KTB Bank on Thapae Rd. Both ATM's on the front of the building were showing a screen saying out of order. However the new ATM next door to Spiceys worked fine for me. While I was there a Thai couple on a motorbike saw me using the ATM and made a U-turn to come back to it. Perhaps they had ran into similar problems elsewhere? I obviously didn't have time to check all the other ATM's in town, but curious if other people have noticed anything as well.

-Mestizo

[BigWheelMan]

Just been watching Thai channel 9 with Mrs BWM..

At the bottom of the screen it has rolling text news.

Official Government statement:

Bangkok - Curfew 8.00pm to 6.00am.

Chiang Mai - Emergency laws imposed meaning, clearing and closing of large buildings, no gathering of large groups or meetings.

[Mestizo]

While I was eating a cheeseburger in a small shop, in the tourist part of town, a police officer came up and spoke with the Farang shop owner (in English). I distinctly heard him say the word "curfew". The owner then approached his Thai wife and told her that the police man told him that there is a curfew in Chiang Mai tonight.

-Mestizo

[wehugheog]

[

chiang mai i hope ? ... will all be back to normal tomorrow

dave2

Don't count on it. Just talked to a neighbour who is a hardcore red and just got home (he was in BKK till a few days ago). The reds are planning a lot more burnings/trouble tomorrow according to him.

Take this information the way you want He advised me to be careful tomorrow. So I'll be heading to the Tesco and am going to stock up a bit for a couple of days.

Just my 2 cents...

[realthaideal]

Here are some pictures of what happened today down at the bridge from Thais on the scene :http://www.lannathai-news.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1572

[heybruce]

Spent a couple hours driving around town this evening. Getting dinner, etc. Here is what I saw:

7:00-7:30:

Army troops blocking Rd at Naowarat Bridge seemed tense and onlookers gathered. But then a food delivery relaxed them. Most sitting down in road eating.

Some trash and burned tire residue corner near west end of Naowarat Bridge. Smashed telephone booth laying on edge of Thapae Rd. A couple broken street lights. Most Thai onlookers seemed sad about the damages.

Fires were still burning on east side of bridge. tons of onlookers, but no redshirts to be seen. It also smelled like a small fire was started at Thapae Gate, but didn't see anything.

Handful of police there, but were sitting around on the corner. Seemed content to let the Army handle everything. Did notice one police carrying an M-16. Walked into the temple grounds on the corner (with the m16 still in hand).

7:30-9:15:

I see *NO* enforcement of curfew in Chiang Mai at the moment. Bars open. people walking around, etc Approximately 99% of the bars I drove past were all open. Only really notable exception as the boxing area on Loi Kroh

Saw a convoy of police trucks loaded with police in riot gear. Appear very tired, but relaxed. Seemed like they were done for the day and heading home. I would estimate probably 100+ cops total.

Lot of non-entertainment places around Thapae Gate area were closed.

9:15-9:30:

Police going around asking bars to turn music down and dim the lights. Some bars partially closed their doors.

9:30-10:00:

Starts getting VERY quiet on the streets. A few tourists still walking around and a few Thai's still out and about. Notably, I don't see any farangs around, outside of the normal tourist bar areas.

Most bars losing customers and getting very quiet. Many owners throwing in the towel and closing up for the night.

Saw checkpoints being setup on Sridonchai Rd (between corner of the moat and Pantip), down Chang Klan Rd and potentially in front of ThaPae Gate.

My local 7-11 is almost completely wiped out of mixers (soda water and bottles of Coke Classic) and most beer (especially Large Chang Classic) !

10:30-10:54 :

-Mestizo

Nice summary, thanks. I'll add a minor additional piece--I went by ThaPae Gate at about 7:30 this evening and saw the smoldering remains of two or three tires at the corner of the little triangular park or garden (I don't know what to call it) in front of Art Cafe, which was closed. So there was definitely a fire where ThaPae road dead-ends at ThaPae Gate, however I think if there had been a major demonstration or mob there would have been a bigger fire.

Regarding another post, I was able to withdraw money from a Bangkok Bank ATM on Nimmanhamin at about 8:30 this evening, so it isn't true that all ATM's were shut down for the curfew, at least not right away.

Let's hope tomorrow will be a better day.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

> Let's hope tomorrow will be a better day.

It's hard to imagine how it can be worse..

[wolf5370]

From twitter:

georgebkk New British Embassy Warning For Chiang Mai: http://bit.ly/95m9ov

georgebkk 'New British Embassy Warning For Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai on the NO GO list as well' http://bit.ly/c6BBFF

[wolf5370]

Anyone know if Airport Plaza will be open tomorrow (erm I mean later today - sheesh is it really quarter to 5!) - need to take my mai n PC in to IT City for a warranty fix (thanks to electric storm the other day that fried the PSU through a surge protector!). D4mn annoying using my laptop as it doesn't have the things on it I need.

[lebeau69]

According to British Embassy

· We advise against all but essential travel to the city of Chiang Mai where a number of violent incidents, some involving gunfire, have occurred following the clearing of the Red Shirt demonstration sites in Bangkok. Red Shirt demonstrators have set up a demonstration site at the Chiang Mai railway station. British nationals already in Chiang Mai should monitor this travel advice and local media before going out during the day, and otherwise comply with the curfew in force.

What is the situation this morning?

From the end of my soi, traffic looks to be normal on Thanon Suthep?

Petrol station are opened this morning?

any information please...

places to avoid....

[jackr]

Here's the Cineplex number: 053 283939... guess if they answer sometime after 10:00 it is.