There is a growing band of discontents here in Thailand know as PAD (Peoples Alliance for Democracy) they are not too happy with the Thai Parliament because of their ties with former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (pictured above).
Thaksin is one of the wealthiest men in Thailand and it's clear that he used his money to get into politics and in turn used his position to acquire more money. Currently, he is in exile, living in Dubai. He was convicted of corruption in some big land deal and his wife was convicted of tax evasion. He is facing a two-year prison term should he return to Thailand.
Even though he and his political party are banned from politics, his allies remain in power today under a new party name, the People Power Party (PPP). That is why the PAD is so furious. The PAD took over the Government House about 3 months ago with demands of dissolving the current administration. The current Prime Minister is exiled in, and trying to run the Government from, Chang Mai.
Last week the PAD took over both of Bangkok’s airports and they have stranded about 100,000 visitors. This is really starting to take a toll on the local economy. Mike and I will not make that trip to Koh Samui this weekend and Micah’s trip to Chang Dao is cancelled. In addition, the mail is not moving, which may affect the timing of any Christmas presents sent through the mail.
This group of protestors is relatively small. The Embassy keeps tabs on their whereabouts at all times and sends out SMS messages notifying us of the areas to avoid. We are never in harms way and our lives remain mostly unaffected by these demonstrations.
Later on that day...
The PM stepped down and the airports will open in the morning :-)
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