British tourists attracted to 'carnival-like' Bangkok protests

[Dumu Ali]

is this British Tourists at protests on YT?

No.

sorry I dunno the accents n jus askin - u know where dey from?

[baboon]

is this British Tourists at protests on YT?

No.

sorry I dunno the accents n jus askin - u know where dey from?

Australia and America I believe.

[3NUMBAS]

they want to brag to their mates back home that they trod in a dangerous place and it was so dangerous .but there is always a possible stray bullet fired off at some stage

[Cricketnut]

Looking at the statistics, there are more injured in traffic than by violent actions related to protests.

Tis not a stat when it could happen to a persons loved ones nor the person.

Sent from my i-mobile i-STYLE 8.2 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

everything is a stat / a risk / a probability

go join the party then. And heaven forbid anything untoward happen to you, I assure you now, your loved ones will not view you as a stat or risk. They would be mourning their loss. Is reading in context a part of ones English capabilities and intellect? The point being is those that love you don't see you as a stat if you or anyone else for that manner, except the bag snatchers. Wake up were in Thailand...

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[Prbkk]

First is Aussie, group Americans...but check the Angkor What? Tee...this is gen stupid rather than nationality based....dangerous? Sure...Neil Davis survived the whole of the Vietnam war as a frontline news camera man ( he shot the footage of the tanks entering the presidential palace after everyone else had pissed off to safety...Frontline is the doco about him, One Crowded Hour the bio), only to be killed by shrapnel in a (failed) Bangkok coup. These are just silly young kids.

[smileydude]

It seems the level of cynicism/skepticism/negativism might be directly proportional to one's age here at TV.

Wandering around Siam, Lumpini, MBK or even Ratchaprasong is not as hazardous to one's safety as portrayed otherwise all those local hi-so protestors, young professionals and businessmen would not be out there participating. They are not that brave.

Chaeng-Watana, Laksi and Lardprao are a totally different story as it is well known the hard core elements congregate there but then again there's nothing for tourists to see there.

[fish fingers]

I'd be cautious to say that Siam Square and Asoke are safe because it never happened anything, things can change sharply. And I remember to everyone reading the forum that Embassies suggest to avoid ALL protest sites. Then, it's all up to you guys.

I have to go to work everyday at Silom too, not really happy but I MUST do that. But who's a tourist and could avoid danger, they'd better do.

As Fish Fingers pointed out all you're doing is scaremongering. Following your 'logic' there would be no areas in Bangkok safe if a group of protestors walked by earlier.

Don't you think that tourists face dangers from crossing the road, driving a motorbike - as I mentioned earlier? To repeat - the danger faced by the tourists in the Op is highly exaggerated.

Khunken, so you are implying that Embassies are scaremongering? Oh well, I give up.

After all it's your idea, but I just can't see how you can tell it's all just about anti-protest.

Of course you and tourist are well free to do what you prefer to do, I have no problem with that. Happy walk at protest site you all then

you obviously have an agenda to spread on social media

BTW, the US Embassies told their citizens to stock up on 2 weeks worth of food and to stay indoors.

Instead, they shd have down to Asoke and eat some delicious street food. Its alot safer than staying at home and ordering pizza and a hooker!

[newcomer71]

I'd be cautious to say that Siam Square and Asoke are safe because it never happened anything, things can change sharply. And I remember to everyone reading the forum that Embassies suggest to avoid ALL protest sites. Then, it's all up to you guys.

I have to go to work everyday at Silom too, not really happy but I MUST do that. But who's a tourist and could avoid danger, they'd better do.

As Fish Fingers pointed out all you're doing is scaremongering. Following your 'logic' there would be no areas in Bangkok safe if a group of protestors walked by earlier.

Don't you think that tourists face dangers from crossing the road, driving a motorbike - as I mentioned earlier? To repeat - the danger faced by the tourists in the Op is highly exaggerated.

Khunken, so you are implying that Embassies are scaremongering? Oh well, I give up.

After all it's your idea, but I just can't see how you can tell it's all just about anti-protest.

Of course you and tourist are well free to do what you prefer to do, I have no problem with that. Happy walk at protest site you all then

you obviously have an agenda to spread on social media

BTW, the US Embassies told their citizens to stock up on 2 weeks worth of food and to stay indoors.

Instead, they shd have down to Asoke and eat some delicious street food. Its alot safer than staying at home and ordering pizza and a hooker!

Oh that's nice. Now I have an agenda to spread on social media... Congratulations.

This is not a forum anymore, only someone that think to be the Sacred Owner of Forum and other opinions are just agendas.

[evercurious]

Impression by some Western tourists that it is "carnival like" at protest is not making a sham out of serious politics; well not necessarily anyway. It is an impression which

in Europe and USA harks back to 1960/70s images. Woodstock and other festivals and the music of singers like Bob Dylan merged politics with hippyism and was expressed via such mass gatherings. Only they were meant to stress non-violence and here too, that has been an intention. Such events are not seen by history as non- events politically. On the contrary, they formed a part of major political shifts in thinking and can do so here too. For Thailand there is an important shift going on - away from the recurring risk of military coups taking over government.

There can be acceptance of new ideas via cultural media rather than simply political party voting. These perspectives are being expressed in Thailand, with a different backdrop, different

history - and without a lot of the baggage of the the past European urban bourgeois history. Good luck if people want to do it this way, and it can evolve in its own uniquely Thai way.

Nothing about democracy here has to necessary ape what has happened in the West, where 'supposedly' people have democratic rights. Do they really have any more than here? To begin

with, many are completely limited in their perspective to the idea of a ballot box, which really is sham in UK for example. once every 5 years, people get to put a cross on a ballot paper, usually to

choose between 2 or 3 parties they know not too much about, who all work roughly around the 'centre' between right and left wing politics. As the joke says 'whoever you vote for, the governement still gets in'. Let Thailand try for something a bit more creative if it can.......

[oldsailor35]

I would'nt trust Suthep frther than i can throw him ! He will use anybody and anything if he thought it would further his cause. He just might see an advantage if one of these stupid tourists got shot. Irrespective of who did it, he would tell the world it was Pue Thai supporters, fully expecting international sympathy.

[Yunla]

Having lived on the sink-estates of Northern England for decades, with their insane random violence, TWOCs, muggings, burglaries etc. I could say I feel safer in Thailand even in a protest where shooting may occur. On my estate back home they used to 'mad max' people, which meant they stole a car and went out hunting for pedestrians and cyclists to kill by running them down with the car. I saw twenty naked men fighting with axes outside the estate's main pub one night. Prehistoric doesn't even cover it. So I can see why people from some places in the UK would just shrug at the 'probable danger' aspect of volatile protests.

However, we should respect the laws here and if we are ordered to, we should avoid all protest areas. Also in my humble opinion, it is ok to discuss the situation here in a quiet and reflective manner, but it is not ok to take sides in the street, wear the colours of one side, engage in any volatile political activity. Unless you are an expat with citizenship here, you should stay well clear of it all. And even then, use caution.

[hawker9000]

I would'nt trust Suthep frther than i can throw him ! He will use anybody and anything if he thought it would further his cause. He just might see an advantage if one of these stupid tourists got shot. Irrespective of who did it, he would tell the world it was Pue Thai supporters, fully expecting international sympathy.

LOL - but you would trust Thaksin?! Just remember who it was that set the stage and made it POSSIBLE for a man like Suthep to accomplish what he has. Everyone screaming about Suthep as a threat to "democracy" completely ignores the infinitely worse threat Thaksin and his sycophants pose. The effects you rail against DID have a cause! I shouldn't use the word "threat" in referring to Thaksin's depredations. That's more a matter of damage actually done (not to mention jail time unserved...). Moreover, while Suthep has had top billing in the protest arena to date, I seriously doubt he could ever actually end up PM.