Reds vs Yellows

The whole situation in Thailand is infuriating! I can't believe that the royalist PAD (anti-government - yellow t-shirts) blockaded all access routes and stormed the airports. Insolence! and pure stupidity! Of course, people should be allowed to protest and voice their opinions (though in this case most of the active supporters are urban poor and being paid by the rich elite and businessmen - without really knowing why, except to say that the 'government is corrupt'). Hello!! The PPP government (red t-shirts) was elected democratically and has only been in power for less than a year! Besides, corruption will always be present in Thai culture.. well, it will take time to eradicate this. The only concern that is genuine is its ties to Thaksin (the PM is Thaksin's brother-in-law), who though a very smart businessman and certainly has done a lot of good for the poor in rural areas with his populist policies (shaking the power of the Thai elite - hence, their hatred of him), is unfortunately blemished with his human rights violations, abuse of power and nepotism corruption as well as his arrogance (not a positive trait among the more demure Thais). My frustration lies in the fact that the government has tolerated this to happen... That in my mind shows cowardness and uncertainty. Not once has the PM confidently spoken to the local and international community, putting people at ease with what they plan to do to bring the situation under control. They should have reacted immediately by removing the protesters by force if necessary, and getting the police involved from the beginning. They have finally woken up and ordered the air force and navy to clear the protestors and return things to normal. We'll see.Why not the army? Well, that is complicated.. the army answers to the King, not the government - one of the underlying reasons why it is difficult to establish a democracy here I think. They have too much power. Somchai PM has done well not to submit to the army's demands for him to step down in order to restore peace. I have no idea and it is too early to tell whether or not he makes a good leader, but dismantling governments because of the protests of a group of financially well backed (paid thugs and poor urban families) who unlawfully try to economically detroy the country, will and should never result in a democracy. There are always people on different sides with different opinions - bloody hell, that is the definition of democracy. The irony being that this group calls themselves the PAD (People's Alliance for Democracy).. what they have shown so far is that their definition of democracy is only if they are in power. However, it is very difficult to judge the situation and both sides are clearly at fault. The lack of assertion from the PM is certainly instigating a lot of this unrest in my opinion. There is also so much more behind this than meets the eye (grey areas - both historically and culturally, possibly the ease of swaying the uneducated poor (on both sides) - and even conflict within the Royal family). Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure.. what the PAD did was irresponsible and will negatively effect the tourism industry and this of course has obvious implications on the economy. In a way, I am almost glad for Thailand that it only made the top headlines for two days, with the terrible events in Mumbai taking precedence. Being a bit out of the exaggerated claws of the western media may calm things down in terms of tarnishing Thailand's image abroad. Naturally, life is the same as ever, we are not effected by these events as all violence and disruptions are very localised in areas near the Government House and unfortunately, now the airports. Despite the Coup rumours yesterday and workers being sent home early, nothing happened. So no need to worry :-)



This is a great article which voices a lot of my views on this: http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=132344 Inept under Siege

To have some clear answers check:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7584005.stm

The Move etc

Gosh it really has been a while this time. Things have been hectic this past month. We moved house (30-10-08).. from an apartment to a townhouse in a compound with security and pool. A professional moving company packed everything for us and I was under strict orders not to lift anything (at that stage I was still under 3 months). You know me .. though I did sit back a lot, I couldn't not be involved - and spent the week prior to the move organising things, giving old clothes/things to our maid, sorting out dvds, paperwork etc. Then, when we arrived at the house.. my maid and I unpacked everything (well, except for books, dvds, paperwork, teaching material.. as we don't have a desk or bookcases yet). That took quite a few days. then dealing with the hassles of discovering that there was no hot water in the kitchen and bathtub, leakages in the bathroom, no plugs in the right places, getting handymen in, trying to communicate with a non-forthcoming landlady who has never dealt with expat tenants before.. lead to a little pregnancy scare. I lost some blood and had severe bloating and cramping. Being alone (Amandio was in Vietname and I didn't wan't to scare him needlessly) I went to the hospital (which was another fight with the nurse who wanted me to wait til the next morning- my doctor had gone home for the day) and saw another fertility specialist who, after a full examination and ultrasound, told me that the baby was fine. I had just stopped my progesterone inserts a few days earlier and he thought that this may have caused a blood vessel to burst in my cervix and also upset my digestive tract. A big sigh of relief (called Amandio then) but the whole experience was actually very empowering really. I felt responsible for someone (that I had to fight for without any support) for the first time in ages - I started understanding that what it will be like to be a parent.. in times of trouble, you can't think, just have to go for it, act.. follow your instincts and fight all the obstacles .I know, many of you warned to make sure I really do nothing.. it is a hard exercise but also good for me and overall I have had to let go my control over many things and allow myself to be looked after (I love all the pampering too though). My resistance always being, 'there are so many women who are pregnant and do all the normal things (imagining them walking up and down Amsterdamer stairs with shopping), continue working etc'. Of course, IVF is different though and certainly more risky, expensive and the probability of it being successful is low. I do feel blessed and I am thanking my lucky stars in many ways; amazed that it worked the first time and that there was no miscarriage with all the things I have done - My rationale behind this is that this baby really wants and is fighting to be a part of this family. I haven't really suffered from any nausea (only slightly - causing my maid to believe that it is going to be a boy, according to Thai superstition) and on the whole this is quite an easy pregancy - now 14.5 weeks and not having another ultrasound (this will be our 6th) until the 19th December. Tiredness is the only thing that plagues me butI have restarted working, teaching one private student at home three afternoons a week and 10 hours at the school on average per week. This is quite doable but in the event I feel exhausted, it is fortunately no problem to cancel and reschedule classes.

Luckily, Tracie and her four year old, Pierce stayed with us as she looked for a primary teaching job in Thailand, eventually finding one in Phuket. It was great having an old friend around to chat to and laugh with, who also made sure that I didn't overexert myself. Having a child in the house was also a delight and brought much needed life (along with the hundreds of plants I have been buying to this unlived in house. We still have a long way to go but I am very relaxed about it and of course am trying to make it homely without spending all too much.. hence all the plants :-)