Advice On Moving And The Protest

[eleven47]

Hi, I hope that things will get better for all very soon. And I feel sad for those people and their families who have come to harm. Dark days.

Here is my question: My husband and I and our 7 year old boy are due to move to Bangkok mid-August. He is enrolled at the French Lycée.

I feel optimistic (at least in the short term) that things will quieten down. The only reason I think that I am more blasé about it than my husband is that I lived and worked in central London all through the years of bombing and strife with the IRA.

I am curious to know what anyone thinks.

Am I stupid? Too cavalier with the life of my kid?

Thanks,

Sarah

[sarahsbloke]

It's only going to get worse, IMHO heading for full blown civil war.

[Mario2008]

The nation is divided, but Aug. is a long time away and foreigners are not specifically targeted. let's hope the government and the opposition will start negotiations in earnst.

[StreetCowboy]

I really think that there is no comparison between the troubles of th last few weeks and the IRA bombing campaigns in London. The troubles of the last few weeks may have been a potential tipping point for serious anarchy, which seems, this time round, to be averted, but it is not clear to what extent there will be ongoing trouble.

A more relevant comparison would be the Southern unrest, which has been going on for many years, but does not seem to have spilled over to a campaign of bombing and terrorism in the rest of Thailand - I don't know why not. The violence in the South is far more prolonged and with far greater casualty levels than anything in Ireland since partition. But is far away from Bangkok, - much further than say Ulster is from London.

One of the reasons that the IRA campaign was different was that campaign was intended to make the British say "fuc_k Ireland, then. Let them go and blow themselves up and fight amongst themselves, its nothing to do with us" whereas the struggle here appeared to be an effort to engender anarchy so that one faction or another could assume control of the government.

SC

[NALAK]

just the start these people dont give up, re-election then yellows will start, no election then continous campaign by reds. they like the IRA learnt you only get attention in the capital city. as soon as IRA started bombing the fianacial areas of London they got some where. that coupled with the fact they ran out of money as there main sponsers suddenly realised terrorism was not a good thing to contribute to. how ever the Reds can still buy petrol.they will learn as the IRA did to make more sofisticated devices. dont forget the guys down south who are still bombing and killing, getting closer to tourist areas as in Surat.

i would not bring a kid of mine anywhere near here, many of my friends are trying to get their kids out of here. Bangkok is always going to be a target for reds,yellows and who knows the muslim seperatist.

[StreetCowboy]

just the start these people dont give up, re-election then yellows will start, no election then continous campaign by reds. they like the IRA learnt you only get attention in the capital city. as soon as IRA started bombing the fianacial areas of London they got some where. that coupled with the fact they ran out of money as there main sponsers suddenly realised terrorism was not a good thing to contribute to. how ever the Reds can still buy petrol.they will learn as the IRA did to make more sofisticated devices. dont forget the guys down south who are still bombing and killing, getting closer to tourist areas as in Surat.

i would not bring a kid of mine anywhere near here, many of my friends are trying to get their kids out of here. Bangkok is always going to be a target for reds,yellows and who knows the muslim seperatist.

I think that Nalak overplays the impact of the IRA on Great Britain. The IRA intermittently carried out bomb attacks on Great Britain for as long as I can remember - as I am sure you recall. THe only thing that I can remember changing significantly was the amount of coverage and the response in terms of disruption to life.

From here, things could get worse - and then that would be bad, and many of us may wish to leave; or they may get better, now that a lot of steam has been let off, and people can see better where they stand.

You're probably still at far greater risk of a traffic accident over the course of a year - just as was the case throughout the troubles in Northern Ireland, yet nobody declined to go there for fear of traffic accidents...

On that topic, if you do come, then please, wear a helmet on your motorcycle, and don't drink and drive. That will have a real benefit to your safety; fretting about bombs and riots is unlikely to...

SC

[MikeyIdea]

Welcome to the family forum sarah - eleven47

I was here during the coup 18 years ago and I am still here. And Thailand is still safer than the city centre of the city I was born in. Where I live (10 kilometres from the city centre) has been safer than the city centre where I was born also through this incident.

This is going to calm down, it may not entirely go away, but it will calm down.

Welcome to Thailand