Blood

How sad that there is bloodshed and loss of life in Bangkok as it appears that the government is trying to end the Red Shirt protest. What the protests have meant is that the economic life of Bangkok has come to a grinding halt. I don't understand the Reds' stated aim of democracy and the ensuing damage their action has caused to the economy. Is big business and retail opposed to democracy? Clearly not but they are paying a huge price. I hasten to add that much as I like shopping in Siam Paragon I am no fan of big business!

I feel sad for genuine Red shirts and I have no doubt that there are many present in Bangkok with the noblest of intentions. But say the Red shirts succeed and out goes the current Prime Minister and we have a snap election and in comes a Thaksin front which no doubt will immediately pardon their man......what will happen then? I don't think this will happen but if it does I have no doubt we will see more bloodshed than we have seen to date. Thaksin has a well documented track record of using extra-judicial killing to eliminate people who are perceived as  a danger. It's not just that Thaksin has sticky fingers, he's the real deal, a genuine recidivist and he has no problems about using terror.

So this is a very sad situation and I hope the government resolves it with a minimum of bloodshed. I have to say that where we live in Ratchaburi it is business as usual, life goes on, though people are paying close attention to events in Bangkok. I get a sense here that the locals have very little support for the Red Shirts: they don't regard the Red Shirts as real Thais as most of them have their roots in the North-East, in Isaan. Some feel the government should have acted much more decisively at an earlier stage.

Here is a picture of Mr Surin and his durian pitch in Ratchaburi. This guy works hard!