Reply #28: Yes, I'm in Hua Hin [View All]

[SnohoDem]

I joked in a previous post 'a suburb of Bangkok' because my area is often packed with weekenders from Bangkok.

Hua Hin is at a guess more yellow than red, though many of the poorest people who live along the railroad tracks are quite red, as are many other working class people. I saw a small yellow shirt meeting in a park a couple of years ago, and a friend reported about seventy yellow shirts near the Sofitel about a month ago, but said they dispersed within about ten minutes. I've never seen a red shirt rally here. So far, the bitter divisions haven't really surfaced here.

It feels surreal here because everything in Hua Hin is absolutely normal, but familiar places up in Bangkok have become war zones for the second time in six weeks. Here's what I wrote to a friend this morning:

"It is a bit surreal at the moment, though. I'm drinking an iced coffee and Oui's outside on the porch talking to friend - she brought me the iced coffee. It's a lovely day, if a bit hot, but at least there's a slight breeze and an overhead fan on the porch. Lots of birds twittering. Pauly, the dog next door barks at the occasional person walking by. I'm at my computer in my shorts, wearing a T-shirt because we have company.

"But up in Bangkok last night - at least 16 dead and 157 injured. Tires and even vehicles burning in the streets. The protests won't stop. The TV is playing quietly behind me showing scenes of last night's and today's violence. A recent photo at the main stage shows very few people there. Maybe it will be over tonight. (The TV switches to footage of the panda cub in Chiang Mai - she's a cutie and a big girl now - I guess everybody needs a break and to see something that's not ugly.)

"I'm really glad I'm going back to the USA for the month of June. This is the first time I've felt a need to get out of Thailand."