Chinatown, Bangkok, Thailand

A chaotic place that wavers little in its intensity from dusk till dawn. The senses are tortured from all angles leaving you in someone of a spin. Enter Bangkok's Chinatown well rested and ready for action.

Due to my inability to take a decent photograph, I don't feel that the madness of this place was fully captured in my pictures, but never mind. Here are a couple of tasters anyway:

Sky Buffet, Bangkok, Thailand

If you have a head, and more importantly, a stomach for heights, then get yourself to the Sky Buffet in the Baiyoke Tower 2 in Bangkok's Ratchathewi district. Dinner on the 83 floor is a visual treat and the food is dam fine, too. when you have eaten your fill of the all-you-can-eat buffet, there is only one short flight of stairs separating you from the 360 degree revolving roof deck. Here you can observe a panoramic view of Thailand's capital.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baiyoke_Tower_II

Here's a minute selection of some of the food on offer:

Bangkok Cityscape, Thailand

Shot from the hotel room balcony.

And again.

Shot from the top of the Baiyoke Tower II:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baiyoke_Tower_II

BANGKOK - THURDAY 18TH MARCH

The United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship’s offensive on Thailand’s capital Bangkok looks to be entering it’s twilight hours as thousands of supporters make their way home, weather beaten and hungry.

Paradoxically, security levels have been beefed up in response to alleged CIA intelligence concerning a ‘hardcore’ element within the movement bend on stirring violent unrest. Security authorities in Bangkok claim to have cause for concern as possible acts of ‘sabotage’ are planned around the city. The U.S government vehemently denies these claims. Deputy Prime Minister Southep Thughuban commented yesterday stating, ‘If these attacks take place it would have a devastating impact.’

Numbers at the protest have fallen from a peak of around 100,000 on Sunday, to about 15,000 yesterday morning according to Bangkok Post estimates. The UDD leadership acknowledged the dwindling numbers but remain defiant saying fresh reinforcements will soon arrive from other provinces. Ousted Prime Minister Thaskin Sinnawatra called for all within the movement to keep up the pressure on the government: ‘We have to maintain our strength” he said via video link yesterday. Reports say he is presently in Montenegro. Despite this hard talk, investigators on the ground said that the majority of red shirts would be on their home by Friday.

Yesterday Prime Minister Abhisit reiterated his wish to hold talks with the UDD leadership to discuss the situation, although he refuses outright to dissolve Thailand’s lower parliament.

Mike

Bangkok

Enjoy a serene and tranquil drive in one of Bangkok's picturesque little streets. Breath in that fresh air and thank the good Lord that you are alive to experience such beauty. Deep breath now..............taste the bliss! When there is not martial law and the eminent threat of revolution, take in the sights and sounds of this wonderful place full of positivity and humanist virtue. Why not hire a prostitute, or hire a prostitute; or if your feeling really adventurous, get drunk and then hire a prostitute. Wow! Can you imagine that! The options really are endless in this city of endless joy, morality and unadulterated happiness

So come and relax in the jewel of south east Asia.

Bangkok.

You have to love it.

Mike

Relative Calm Returns to City of Angels

The Army have taken control of Bangkok once again after the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) leaders called off their rally at 11am yesterday.

Many in the capital have hailed the army as their new saviours after enduring 48 hours of anarchy on the streets.

A state of emergency was called 24 hours ago and after pitched battles the 'Red Shirts' leaders called off the protests vowing to re-organise and re-group at the later date.

Nearly 10,000 soldiers were sent from Bangkok, Prachin Buri, Kanchanaburi and Lop Buri to quell the riots and end the UDD protests with tanks on the streets of the capital for the secone time in as many years.

Mike

'Mobocracy' and the Land of Smiles

"I believe the darkest days in Thailand's history are yet to come, as we see no swift solution to ongoing divisiveness," said Prinn Panitchpakdi, an Asia-Pacific analyst.

Today is the Thai New Year, Songkran. For the uninitiated, it is a wonderful celebration that marks the end of the dry season and heralds the start of the wet season with much frivolity. Whole communities take to the streets and propel water by whatever means possible at anything that comes within their visual range. Overloaded pick up trucks stacked with barrels of water drive the streets soaking anyone and everyone with indiscriminate, non-confrontational splashes of new year cheer.

These are the scenes that I have witnessed today in Phuket but the same can not be said of Bangkok. News bulletins are beaming in to my computer screen showing a violence and escalating anarchy on the street of the kingdom's capital. The 'Red Shirts' as they are colloquially know, have been part of highly organised and intricate anti-government campaign calling for the current government to step down. Their campaign has been thrusted forward in recent months and one can't help feeling that an attempted revolution is not far away. If this were to occur, it would be Thailand's nineteenth revolution in sixty years, and the fifth change in prime minister in four years. Political unrest and instability are becoming the norm for this country which is bad news for the fragile economy and wafer thin infrastructure.

Thailand's immediate future will depend on the ability of the Thai army to hold their nerve in the face of petrol bombs and extreme violence. The army have been firing off rounds from M16 assault weapons over the heads of riotous protesters today pushing tensions to a dangerous cliff edge.

The red shirts vitriol is being massaged by the ousted former prime minster Thaksin Shinawatra who is in exile as a result of a corruption conviction he recieved in 2008. Mr Shinawatra has been giving tele-conferences to crowds of thousands on the street via video links from Dubai, stoking the flames with incendiary language and imagery.

The next few days are critical and its impossible to predict what will happen with a very real possibility of more bloodshed or worse.

Mike