Military Coup?!

[Belfastboy]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4761942.stm

rumours of a military coup....

all sounds a bit worrying.....just wondering, what will u guys do?.....bird flu and a coup...oh the joy!

[Phil Conners]

Nothing, sit tight, hold low profile, wait for it to pass...

[britmaveric]

Nothing, sit tight, hold low profile, wait for it to pass...

Not alot one can do....apart from leave the country and lets face it, coup literally are a surprise situation, so you most likely wouldnt have time to leg it out of the country.

[bkkmadness]

What else is there to do but sit it out? I wouldn't be leaving the country unless forced out.

[edd]

Thailand is not like most other places.

This would not be the first and may not be the last.

It would be more cosmetic than anything

[Rinrada]

During the last wee bit of trouble in bangers (1992) most of us just behaved as normal but spent more time down in Soi Cowboy

Somebody had rigged up a giant screen outside one of the bars and all the "workers"would gather round and ...cheer???

Some young ladies however found it very distressing and we could -of course always offer a friendly shoulder to cry on......interesting way to meet people ....and all very friendly

A few days after the incident another guy started selling videos of the troubles and must have made a fortune.

Other places that I have been stuck in were not so smooth and on one occasion the Brit Ambass had to tell me to F-O and get out...

If it happens you will soon know what to do......

[The Dan Sai Kid]

If you aren't in Bangkok you probably won't notice anything.

[wamberal]

A western journalist was killed in the coup before last.......1985 I think?

I would stay inside for the duration of a coup.

[cobra]

I'd start moneying up, just in case I had to buy my way in or out of something.

Maybe a call to one's respective Embassy,

Basically I'd just lay low and keep to the bar, come to think of it, my daily routine would appear not to be impacted at all,

[Ricardo]

Keep my head down, and give-way to tanks, while out cycling.

[cdnvic]

I'd start moneying up, just in case I had to buy my way in or out of something.

Hopefully not in baht.

cv

[HarryHacker]

During the last wee bit of trouble in bangers (1992) most of us just behaved as normal but spent more time down in Soi Cowboy

Somebody had rigged up a giant screen outside one of the bars and all the "workers"would gather round and ...cheer???

Some young ladies however found it very distressing and we could -of course always offer a friendly shoulder to cry on......interesting way to meet people ....and all very friendly

A few days after the incident another guy started selling videos of the troubles and must have made a fortune.

Other places that I have been stuck in were not so smooth and on one occasion the Brit Ambass had to tell me to F-O and get out...

If it happens you will soon know what to do......

I can’t quite remember when it was, but there was a curfew at night and you might recall more than a few bars had a lock-in until daylight!

Interesting to see the no cars on Asoke, only a few tanks.

[PeaceBlondie]

You know, that possibility of a coup bothers me more than anything else. I can hardly obsess over anything else - sex, food, drink, physical health, family, mental health - it's all about the coup, the coups'de'etat, the new Cadillac Coupe de State.

I love to obsess paranoically about things over which I have no control. Will the Tibetan currency fall 1% tomorrow? Will that stinky Thai food that I never eat have food poisoning? Is Pongsakorn learning any more English since I stopped teaching him, two years ago?

When the embassy families leave, I'll buy my ticket. Until then, I'm a beach bum looking to teach Engrish.

[h90]

I would be pretty happy if the army kicks Toxins arse....

if they take over they will make new elections in a short time, I think and anyway, the regime will not have any problems with expates I think. We are not their enemy.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4761942.stm

rumours of a military coup....

all sounds a bit worrying.....just wondering, what will u guys do?.....bird flu and a coup...oh the joy!

[ilyushin]

Enjoy the holiday.

[Kerryd]

1st thing, notify my embassy. They wouldn't be much help, but at least they might notify my next of kin in the event I turn up (or down) floating in a klong somewhere.

2nd thing, convert most of my baht to US $ (keep enough baht to get by on, expect that prices for some things might skyrocket). The uncertainty associated with a coup would cause the baht to lose a lot of value. Wait for signs that it has bottomed out (or that the coup is over) and then buy up wheelbarrows worth of it and wait for the recovery.

3rd thing, stock up on certain items that might become scarce (booze, smokes, Kraft Dinner, ect).

4th thing, charge up the batteries in my cameras and ensure I have plenty of memory cards/disks available. Maybe make contact with some news organizations that might be interested in pics of how the ex-pat community is weathering the coup in their favourite watering-holes.

5th thing, buy lots of pictures/posters of the King, and set them up around the building I live in, and what ever bar I might be hanging out in. (A picture/poster of the King would provide better protection than a level 4 bulletproof vest in Thailand !)

Finally, if things got really bad, I'd probably follow the lead of most of the other ex-pats and put my head between my knees and kiss my @ss good-bye !

[Jai Dee]

If there is a coup, it'd probably be limited to certain areas in Bangkok.

Those of us living outside would probably be unaffected.

I'm not concerned.

[astral]

Keep my head down, and give-way to tanks, while out cycling.

Tanks for that advice.

[phibunmike]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4761942.stm

rumours of a military coup....

all sounds a bit worrying.....just wondering, what will u guys do?.....bird flu and a coup...oh the joy!

I have never been in Thailand durnig a coup, but I have in four other countries, and they were all a bit of an anti-climax. I can't even think of a way to make them sound exciting if/when I have grand-children to prattle on to.

[Ned]

I was in Patong , Phuket when the brutal coup took place in October 76. Business as usual down there. No difference at all. Went up to Bangkok a couple of weeks later and the only big difference there was the 10pm to 6am (maybe 5am?) curfew. I was staying down at the normally noisy and cheap Hualampong Hotel opposite the station and the area outside was blissfully quiet by 10. What a beauty. I was staying with a woman there and the restaurant downstairs stayed open late for cold beers (remember Amarit?) and food. Loved it. The main post office on Chareonkrung Rd was surrounded by bunkers and armed troops as well as the odd tank or troop carrier. People caught out on the street just before ten were taken to the nearest police station where they were fined (not much as I recall) and kept until morning. At least down at Wireless Rd station and lock- up there were food sellers on hand with plates of phat thai or kuaytiaw. Can't remember if you could get a cold beer there. Might have been only soft drink sold in those days at 1.50 baht a bottle. A lot of people were slaughtered that day, Oct 6 1976. I can remember that photo in Time magazine of a so called left wing student hanging by his neck from a tree at Thammasat Uni campus surrounded by a group of opposing students laughing their heads off. One of the group was pulverising the hanging body with a metal chair. The image has stayed with me all these years.

[billd766]

Well if there is a coup and it gets up as far as where I live in the Central region it won't actually get to me. Not unless they can get past all the construction equipment that is used for widening the road.

It will soon be wide enough (though probably not strong enough) to support tan........

They have been building it for 3 months now and in the last few days the RTAF have overflown my house twice a day.

What do they know about me that I don't?