by Christian Schwarz

Christian Schwarz lives in Bangkok and is Group Master of the Xing Group “Thailand Business Forum”.
He sent out a letter on the present situation in Bangkok/Thailand this weekend:

Time for an update. Hot season in Thailand. Red season in Thailand. Today, the pro-Thaksin red shirts pushed Thailand back to the times of 1973/76. They highjacked the meeting venue for the ASEAN+3+6 summit in Pattaya. They destroyed the entrance hall of the Royal Cliff hotel and sent the delegation of 15 countries fleeing. Some Ministers of other Asian Countries had to escape with helicopters!
PM Abhisit declared emergency law for Pattaya and Chon Buri. No ’songklan’ happenings in the city that never sleeps. The economy will be hurt and the revolution (economic crisis) will eat its children (red shirts).

But did anybody expect anything else. The current game between the colors (blue was added after yellow and red) is only ‘revenge’ and rage. Poor Thailand.

The good news is that the south of Thailand (between Hua Hin and Phuket/Krabi/Kho Samui) is still very safe for tourists and locals.
Anyhow, Thailand is still safe for foreigners. You might avoid going to the north and the north-east, but you will not get involved in any turmoil if you stay away from government sites.

Will it change? I don’t think so. Because there are no alternatives for the current government and the Thaksin clan will not give up in its try for revenge.

So we will need to live with occurrences like today’s. Happy Easter.

Christian Schwarz
Group Master

PS: PM Abhisit lifted the security decree 5 minutes ago. Back to normal? Back to business, yes, but not to normal.

– Update Directly from the Crisis in Bangkok –
Report by Christian Schwarz

XING Group Newsletter: Sunday, April 12, 2009, 4.00 p.m. Bangkok time – state of emergency declared for Bangkok by Abhisit

PM Abhisit declared state of emergency for Bangkok and 5 surrounding provinces. The army started to deploy troops throughout the city. There is no curfew yet.

The Reds are rioting in the street. They stormed the Interior Ministry and destroyed some government cars (they thought one of the cars might be the one of PM Abhisit). Red Taxi drivers started to obstruct the streets of Bangkok again. In front of Siam Paragon the Red seized two armoured trucks.

Have a look at http://www.nationmultimedia.com/index.php.

Yesterday evening, former PM Thaksin had a phone-in via video link and urged his supporters (the Red) to go for the final battle. He put the seeds for a civil war. How could this man ever say he loves Thailand. Let’s hope the army gets the situation under control fast. The police stands idle without taking any action. Shame on them. But everybody who knows the Thai Police won’t wonder.

I will keep you informed.

Editor’s note: Joachim Fischer, editor-in-chief of Tourism-Insider, is flying to Shanghai for the trade show IT&CM China this Easter weekend. He will meet the Minister of Tourism of Thailand and will have an exclusive interview. So stay tuned to www.tourism-insider.com for more news and first-hand information.