Bangkok's bit of trouble
12.10.08 (3:18 am) [edit]
I've been doing research on blogs and there's such a phenomenon as "blog rot", when a blog falls out of use. It happens for a number of reasons. Apathy, forgetfulness, boredom. In my case, there was one sole culprit: real life. I'm not going to go into a laundry list of what's been plaguing me. Suffice to say, I've been more than swamped, both physically and mentally. There are days when I don't know if I'm coming or going. Sometimes I take the bus just so I can have the few minutes walking to the bus stop to clear my head. It doesn't help that my country (well, Bangkok) is in a bit of a ruckus. It was a full-on ruckus awhile back, but things have quieted down somewhat. To be honest, I don't really have a clear idea of what's going on. I doubt anyone does. It's just one of those crazy pseudopolitical things which culminated into a huge protest mob shutting down both of Bangkok's major airports and stranding hundreds of tourists. Not to mention kicking Thailand's economy in the face, spitting on it, and slamming it across the face with a chair. I happen to live close to one of these airports and the first day they took it over, my brother called me and told me to come home from work. It was a little after twelve in the afternoon. Everyone was sure there was going to be violence. Maybe there was. I don't know. It's hard to know what to believe. News here isn't exactly reliable. My parents taught me never to talk politics with anyone, so short of people just coming out and telling me, I don't really know what people think. I know what I think though. You live so long with what seem like tedious, unending protests and you start to think, "Get over it. I just want to get home without being stuck in traffic for three hours." Is Thailand safe? I'm living my life like I'm always living it. I understand why people are canceling their vacations to Thailand, though. I mean, come on - people hear "Third World country" and "protest", and on top of that, "airport shutdown" - they're running for the hills. I get it. Perfectly logical. I just want anyone reading this to know however - my life hasn't changed in anyway. I still get up and go to work. I still go shopping. I still ride the bus. I still buy food from street vendors. If that's a good enough endorsement for you, that's great.
Final thought: Bangkok is in the midst of a cold snap. Fantastic!
Final thought: Bangkok is in the midst of a cold snap. Fantastic!
posted by: OldSchool (reply)
post date: 12.10.08 (12:22 pm)
So glad to hear from you! Miss you around here.
Happy to hear you are at least safe.
Hope things calm down for you and start to get to read more from you on a regular basis again soon.
Take care of yourself. OS
posted by: Ladyg (reply)
post date: 12.11.08 (12:14 am)
Sounds like things are getting back to normal, I hope so.
I would love to visit Bangkok one day.