The Thai Government declared a curfew from 8pm til 6am yesterday. 8 o'clock came, and it only took a short time for one of the busiest cities in Asia to change into a deserted ghost town. An eerie silence, one I have never heard in Bangkok before, took the city into the night.
I stayed awake until about 11pm. Monitoring Twitter mainly, but also taking in a DVD. The television had nothing, and I mean nothing to take my mind of what was going on. The tweets slowly dried up. I suppose the tweeters took a well earned rest. Some of them had been going since 5am. The more adventurous of them had been out and about at ground zero when the Army's offensive commenced. A brave bunch to be sure!
I must say, that for a while during the afternoon, I became anxious. I had 2 of my children with me and several of their friends. My eldest son was in his apartment alone. A few phone calls and text messages told me he was safe. The power in our apartment, and apparently the whole neighborhood, dropped off approx 4pm for about an hour. The sound of gunfire and pungent smoke came ever closer. It was an experience I will not forget in a while.
A friend of my daughter's mother invited us to stay with them. The apartment was further down Sukhumvit Rd, away from the troubles at Asoke. The gesture was unexpected but extremely welcomed. I have only meet these people the day before, and here they are, opening up their home to almost complete strangers. What people do during difficult times! After discussion with my son, I decided to send Mika with them. My son and I would stay on at home.
We went for a short walk just up and down our soi trying to purchase some supplies. All the shops were closed. Not to worry, we have enough food and water for a few days.
So darkness fell, the curfew came, and we went to bed feeling safe, well almost.
This morning, just like another day. The sun rose. The sounds of traffic slowly building. It's going to be another hot day. Twitter is tweeting, though very slow. Just some recaps from yesterday. Let's see what today will bring us. Hopefully, one with less bloodshed and fear.
Photo credit
Posted on May 20, 2010
by yoware
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