Protest Update

My heart is heavy today as the protests have turned ugly in Bangkok. We received word on Thursday that the government advised those who work around the protest area should go home early. We let staff go home at 3:00 and told them not to come in on Friday. Unsure of what would happen we had received notices from the US embassy that something was about to happen.

Not wanting to be here when things got ugly I decided to head out of town with a friend to Nong Nooch, a botanical garden she had heard about located about 2 hours from Bangkok. Friday morning we took the drive and found ourselves in such a beautiful area! Not only were there beautiful gardens but tons of elephants, a petting zoo, a butterfly hill and lots to keep us busy.

We had a great time riding elephants, walking through the gardens, watching a cultural performance, an elephant show which included elephants bicycling, playing basketball, soccer, painting, dancing and a host of amazing tricks! It was easy to feel like Bangkok was just a bad dream but we got regular updates that the embassy sends out informing us of shootings in various areas, explosions, road closures and other bad news reminding us that the bad dream was worse than just a nightmare...it was reality.

We spent the night in a little cottage inside the gardens and spent Saturday hanging out with the elephants, feeding the fish and the animals in the petting zoo (we spent way more money on food for animals than food for ourselves!), laughing hysterically, watching the elephant show again and eating ice cream. I made my first purchase of original art. It's a piece painted by an elephant! :-) I couldn't resist! It was a beautiful (very hot!!) day.

All too soon it was time to make our way back to Bangkok. Unsure if we would be able to make it back into the city on our normal roads due to various road closures from the fighting we took our chances and found a smooth drive back. Thank goodness.

I went to church this morning but only a handful of people showed up. The service was very short and then many of us gathered at the home of a family in the congregation to have lunch. From their apartment we could see the area where the unrest is centered. Smoke was billowing into the sky, probably from the burning tires. The family said they were able to hear explosions and gunfire from their location.

After a simple meal of taco salad we discussed the political situation sharing what we'd heard and what had happened. The death toll is now at 24, the government is giving all women and children until 3 pm tomorrow to get out of the protest area and then...well, we're not sure what will happen then. Will the military go in? Things keep changing. It's got to be hard to follow through with plans when so much of the military are red shirts themselves or "watermelons" as they are now referred to (green military uniforms but red shirts underneath). I'm not sure what tomorrow will bring. I just saw on the news that the government has declared Monday and Tuesday as holidays so I've got another 2 days in the house. There isn't much work I can do from home except to cancel all of the refugee interviews both caseworkers and US government officials planned to conduct. So, I'll work on scheduling interviews in other areas in our region hoping they will actually happen.

My house is a couple of miles from the main action and I have no windows looking over the area of unrest so I think I'm safe where I am. But I am near a major street and just about an hour ago heard cars driving down the street shouting and honking horns, headed in the direction of the protests. The skytrains and metros are shut down and rumor has it several stations are under control of the Red Shirts.

I have enough food in the house to last me awhile in case I can't get out but I'll run to the grocery store tomorrow to pick up a few more things. I'm not sure what I'll do with my time the next few days but I have a few movies and books around. :-) Oh, and I learned today that what I though were the effects of a bad sunburn on my leg from last week's beach run is actually jellyfish stings! So, I'll head to the pharmacy to see what they can give me for the itch and to help it heal (how do these things happen to me?).

I'm sad it has come to this and hope peace will be restored. I love Thailand and its people. I pray peace will soon be restored and life will return to normal. Until then, I promise not to do anything stupid as my curiosity often gets me in trouble. I'll do all I can to stay safe.