The Coup

The Coup

Saturday, Sept. 30, 2006--Bangkok

I haven't written about the coup since arriving here. Most of the outward signs of it were gone by the time I arrived. The tanks had been removed from major intersections. In fact, it is normal to see military police with machine guns at the airport in Bangkok, and this time I didn't see any! That's probably because they have been pulled from there to be at more strategic locations. Anyway, although life seems normal, there is the sense that it isn't. Although this is the 60th anniversary of the king's ascension to the throne, there have been no public appearances by him that I know about and no statements after the original one from the palace saying that he supported the coup. My guess is that he had little choice. He is very loved by the people though. If he had not supported the coup, the military would have had a mess on their hands--probably huge demonstrations leading to riots. One thing that has happened this week is that the military announced the forced retirement of high ranking members and the promotions of others; you can guess which side each took in terms of the coup. It's a little strange on TV. They talk ABOUT the coup and the steps that its leaders are taking on a daily, but there is never any question of whether it was good or bad. In other words, there is self-determined censorship from the media which probably means they have been given information about what will happen if they don't sensor themselves. There is plenty of discussion about how bad the administration was that was deposed by the coup, so I also wonder to what extent they have been "ordered" to discuss this. In other words, they are trying to put a face on the coup that says that everything is fine and that it had to happen. But looking at it honestly, it was unconstitutional, there were other means of dealing with the problems with the previous administration, and it proves that there is a problem here in Thailand with the military having too much power. Whatever negative consequences come from it in decreased tourism, withdrawn financial support, halted commercial projects, etc., the country deserves for letting this happen so easily. This is the 8th coup here in too short a period of time.

Last night, I went to a sidewalk restaurant again. This time, I had a dish over rice that consisted of small pieces of chicken cooked with vegetables and peppers. I added more peppers to spice it up. Ummm.

Today was a big walking day. I made a loop that took me 6 1/2 hours and took me to the Dusit area and by Victory Monument Circle (where I checked on the location for catching the 551 bus to the new airport tomorrow morning). Dusit is an area with broad boulevards, tall trees, and stately buildings. Many government agencies are housed in the area. I went there to tour Vimanmek Palace, a palace built in the early 1900s by King Rama V (who was the Prince Chulalongkorn in the story The King and I). It's a wonderful wooden building with 3 floors and a tile roof. It can be seen only via a guided tour, so I had to endure staying with a group and hearing everything the tour guide said. While there, I also toured two throne rooms--a European-style one that looks like St. Peters Church in the Vatican and an earlier wooden one that is much more appropriate for its setting in the Far East. The latter throne room housed examples of crafts throughout Thailand and the exhibit was excellent with the highest quality fabric weavings, basket weavings, carvings, metalwork, etc.

This is my last day in Bangkok. Tomorrow, I will catch a flight to Chennai in India. I have a route planned that will carry me through southern India allowing me to stop along the way to see how the kids have grown at the school where I was last year. Among my stops (which are in order and will show the itinerary I have planned if you look up a map of India) are Pondicherry, Thanjavur, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Kodaikkanal, Trivandrum, Varkala, Kollam, Alleppey, Cochin, Thrisur, Coimbatore, Canoor, Ooty, Mysore, Hospet (Hampi), Hyderabad, and Bangalore. I will leave Bangalore on Dec. 6 for Copenhagen, so each stop is from 2-8 days with most being 2-3 days. I'll be online from Chennai in a couple of days to update the blog.