LAXlocal

The protests around Asok were fun natured , the Sukhumvit was blocked but the taxis just took back streets to get around it , BTS and MRT were running but just packed !

But there is no way to tell in advance , the main part of the protest is miles away , and that is where the violence has been.

The elections "may" be early February , but that can change if the court allows it....

Like everything in the world the same video / photos are shown again and again so it looks like this is happening everywhere , but it is at a handful of spots.

again look at Travel blogger Richard Barrow's Thai news twitter feed: https://twitter.com/RichardBarrow
it gives the best up to date news of what is happening and what to avoid.....

I am headed out in a few minutes to take the local bus to Chinatown , 4-5 miles away and I do not think twice about doing that !

azepine00

Not any worse than living near sriracha factory in LA

merijn

If you don’t have any sensible to say to the OP shut up and move along.
Like you're government is so perfect. Declarations and so on.
The protests are in a small area on Bangkok, mainly close to the government buildings.
Most of the city is totally unaffected and you will not even notice the protesters.

merijn

The Sukhumvit area should normally be fine as most of the protest are located around government buildings.
But nobody knows what happens in the future.
I also normally stay at the Sukhumvit or Silom area and i'm booked again for the first and last week of January.

LAXlocal

yeah thats why I thought it might be some kind of hot pepper exstract ,

But really I started this in another forum an today , and for some reason it got moved here because of the Bangkok part.....

but it is really a worldwide problem that could happen anywhere, and some knowledge of what to do or not do would have helped everyone !

And yes I traveled all around town , no protesters , no tear gas , just a little too much traffic in front of Siam Paragon as the road was damaged with water pouring out from under it ......
Hopefully it is not the Sea worlds water !

Diplomatico

I'm here now and I suggest you follow the richard barrow twitter feed, the bangkokpost.com webpage, and the thaivisa.com main news page. The opposition leader has promised to "shut down" Bangkok for the month of January leading up to the scheduled elections on 2 February. While you may not be caught up in the protests themselves, I can tell you from personal experience that the last major rally on 22 December - across the city - affected traffic in the lower Sukhumvit area in a major way. I would not have wanted to try to get to the airport from Asoke that day via taxi. It was also the busiest day in BTS Skytrain history.

I wouldn't change things now...but if it's a 24 hour layover and the promised protests have spread across the city then I'd consider staying near the airport. (The advice from the government/press on 22 December was to leave for the airport four hours prior to your flight.)

percysmith

Was there last weekend.
Didn't go out much, except to Scarlett @ Pullman G. Place was packed and no hint of any riot or protest.

Left W at 4:25pm, got there by 5pm. Smooth as silk (excuse the pun).

Going again next month for CNY, just before election. Might be hairier...

Fizzer

As a former British soldier in the 70's we were deliberately exposed to tear gas annually as part of our recertifications, and to prove to you that your respirators really worked. At the end there was a mask removal and forced inhalation in a small gas chamber with concentrated CS.

It wasn't pleasant but it didn't last long and colleagues with asthma survived just fine.

However, my one word of warning, learned the very hard way, is to wash you hair before you shower. CS leaves a residue in your hair and if you don't wash it out first when you shower it will find its way into your urethra and you won't be a happy hector then ( at least for a short while ). Watching this happen to the Newbies was a regular form of entertainment.

Dr. HFH

+1.

joy16

I saw from TV that the protesters used normal saline to rinse the body of the effected protesters.

LAXlocal

I will be home before the "Shutdown" so will not be "gassed" this trip....

but I still think it is of interest to know what to do "if" you get caught out ,

lovtofly3

A very slick produced video produced by the PDRC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQVjU...ature=youtu.be

Take it with a grain of salt.

Hvr

I left Hilton Double Tree yesterday and the manager said they were very quiet with many cancellations.

There seems to be a mood of resigned pessimism around Sukhumvit.

I hope for their sake that their businesses and livelihoods aren't totally damaged but sadly I think the consequences will be severe.

My plane (QF24) out of BKK was totally full. May have been planned or may have been tourists getting ahead of the trouble.

I will watch with interest from afar and be thankful I live in a country where politicians whilst reviled change government peacefully.

hockeystl

I was in BKK this past Thr/Fri and am flying back again this morning and was planning on staying until 14JAN. I have decided to change my departure date to early on 13JAN with my hotel on the night of 12JAN near BKK airport.

If the protestors go through with the threat to block 20 intersections in Bangkok on 13JAN the city will be gridlocked. The lines to purchase a ticket for the train will be insane.

If you have the option you do NOT want to be in Bangkok on 13JAN. While you likely won't be in danger you simply won't be able to get anywhere other than on foot. Forget about schlepping luggage on the streets as the walkways will be jammed.

Delta changed my departure from 14JAN to 13JAN without penalty or fee. If this is an option for anyone else, then you'd be prudent to make the change unless there's an agreement between the two political sides between now and then.

lottaquestions

Hi all. Arriving on February 5 after nearly 10 years away. Everybody says nobody can tell the future (they're right) but should things have settled by then? (Please don't say nobody can tell the future lol, since Thailand has a long history of these things with the military eventually moving in with flags respecting the King, they usually end peacefully rather quickly)

Also, what major hotels are in the Sukhumvit area of Bangkok??

That seems to be the area everybody keeps talking about? Is it near the airport, or the river, or patpong?

Thanks