New York Times has their own problems with just staying afloat!

I was in Thailand during both of the protests, the one in November and the most recent one during Songkran. Unless you were right in the area where the protests were you would not know anything was going on. The TV networks made a big deal of overturned buses and other destruction but I have seen the same thing after a big football win in some towns in the US! Where I live in the US two people dying by gunfire in fights barely gets a mention in the newspapers.
http://michiganzone.blogspot.com/200...-when-osu.html

I was "inconvenienced" in November when the airport was closed. If I didn't have to return to my own homeland for business/legal reasons it wouldn't have been a big deal to me. I asked NWA to swap my departure from Bangkok to Singapore (no charge) and got back to the US 3 days late. I used the train to get to Singapore via Hat Yai, Butterworth, KL and on into Singapore. So there is always a way out if the airport is ever closed again. Some passengers flew out of KL.

The last demonstration in Pattaya and Bangkok didn't last that long. I don't think that the Thai government will ever allow the airports to be shut down again even if they have to use force. They simply lost too many tourist dollars! I was slightly amused at the attention that the "big riot" in Pattaya was portrayed on on TV. There was an increased police presence in Pattaya for one day. The hotel that was in the news is in a remote area of Pattaya more close to Jomtien than the tourist areas. More people were recently killed at a Walmart stampede during a sale in the US than at Pattaya!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/1..._n_147069.html

So, it is a good time to get some deals on hotels in Thailand and avoid lots of tourists mucking about. The next obstacle that always pops up at this time of year is rain and heat. The heat is no worse than Miami or summer in San Diego. Yes it does rain but the rain does not fall all over Thailand at the same time everywhere and often it stops in in an hour or two and sunshine returns. In the US there are towns destroyed by heavy rainfall and flooding right now but no one ever says to tourists to stay away from the US because of the rain. Yeah, I know that the US is larger than Thailand, avoid the flooded areas and avoid the annual forest fires too!

See Thailand now and get a good deal. If any protests come up keep in mind that they are not directed against any tourists. Yes, inconveniences may come up. I have been inconvenienced by NineEleven when my flights were canceled. I have been inconvenienced by broken down planes, snow, hurricanes and typhoons - so crap can happen anywhere at anytime!