This is my fifth day in Thailand, 2 days over what I was supposed to stay for.

Being the sticking issue at this point of time (and definitely something to remember for time to come), I thought I should blog about this. I know Thanksgiving was just yesterday, but there's quite alot of juicy details to record down now.

The airports in Bangkok have been closed for 2-3 days now. Political strife has caused this situation to escalate to such an extent. It is quite worrying, so to speak, especially when you are there in a foreign land. When news agencies worldwide give it attention, you know it isn't just another everyday event. Only the Mumbai terrorists attacks overshadowed this piece of news; otherwise I suspect it would have gotten more coverage than what it is already getting now, which is alot.

For our situation, it was quite a dilemnia. You don't know whether if it'll clear up tomorrow, or if the Singapore embassy would come by to get you out. We heard the news on Tuesday night, and our initial reaction was abit of a worry. In fact, I suspect that we were the one who notified Princess Pathuwman about it. An hour later, we received a note from the hotel that this was indeed the situation.

The next day, our plans were kind of dashed, when we were trying to get confirmation about the flight. They were only going to provide another update at 4pm, and everything was hanging in the air. Tiger Airways only posted the note in noon, and sent out an sms about 2 hours later. Stranded, stunned and caught offguards, we decided to extend our stay (which is by no means cheap) while crossing our fingers that it'll get resolved soon.

Come evening, it seems that they expect the situation to persist for another day. At this point, we were getting worried. I applied for leave for 4 days, leaving the fourth day to be a break for me when I get back from Bangkok. Now it seems that I would not be able to go back on time for work.

That Wed night, we discussed alternatives. Flights from Phuket to Singapore were fully booked, and actually, given that we were unable to contact Tigers via phone for 3 hours on end (about 5 - 6 of us calling at the same time), we did not have high hopes of changing our flight. Booking a last minute ticket was relatively expensive. We explored options of taking a bus or a train to various locations: Phnom Penh, Phuket, Krabi, Chiang Mai, Butterworth and even Ho Chin Minh City.

Ultimately, we figured out that many of the locations already had fully booked flights, or had the earliest flights at a late enough time that it wouldn't matter. We managed to snag a train ticket to Hat Yai, which I personally felt was the best option for us. Getting as close to Malaysia at this point of time would be a good thing; being in Malaysia means that we have alot more options instead of merely relying on airlines. We have the train and various coaches.

Original plan was to get to Butterworth which was the northern hub for coaches due to its proximity to Penang. Couldn't get a ticket there though, so we settled for as close to the border as possible. Right now at this point of time we are at Hat Yai, having secured a ticket for a coach straight to Singapore tomorrow. I always thought that a train would be faster than a coach; I was wrong though. We are sincerely hoping that we will not be cheated in anyway; so close and yet so far. It's getting increasingly stressful to deal with taxi drivers and tour agencies looking to exploit the desperation of travellers to leave the country.

It felt like two things; positively it was like Amazing Race, negatively it was like we were refugees running away. We heard that there was an airport open in Pattaya and possibilities Singapore sending millitary craft to extract Singaporeans. But I guessed that getting away from Bangkok would still be the safest option given the increasing tension in that area, something which is not evident unless you were there. The train was quite rundown; but definitely an experience. We were given just iced water and snacks on the train, but it felt fun yet dirty at the same time.

About the situation, it is really alot more tricky than it seems. There are multiple factors in play and it is really difficult for any clearcut solution to materialize. There are so many pressures that I don't even know what the best compromise should be. Primarily, the PAD who are the ones camping out the airports are determined to push Songchai out of power. I think, from what they see, they did it with Thaksin, they think that they could do it again. The PAD are made up of largely middle-class, royalists and the rich people.

The fact that, in the face of the worldwide global crisis, and the start of the tourism peak period now, they are able to expend the time and effort required to conduct such a large scale operation indicates the means and resources that are at their disposal. Their determination is evident; instead of clearing out the international airport, they go right ahead and take the domestic one as well.

On the otherhand, the pro-government supporters are made up largely of the rural poor. Many of these are reliant on the influx of tourists to help sustain their livelihood; they don't have the time to stake out airports. But if driven up against the wall, they'll hit back at the cause of the problem; the PAD. Already the economic situation is worsening; another cause of damage to the tourism industry will exacerbate matters further. Only this time, there is a visible target for them to direct their anger towards; leading to potentially civil unrest on the streets of Bangkok, the very outcome I really want to avoid.

The authorities are in a fix. They are trying to refrain from using force, yet there is no easy compromise to be achieved. Experts have already mentioned that the ruling party will win again if elections are to be held, and this is in no part due to any corruption. In fact, the current government is the popular choice. This gives the PM support to resists calls for him to step down; after all, he is the result of a democratic government.

Anyhow, there are so many factors involved that it hurts just to think about it.

This holiday is kind of screwed up in that sense. Like you go on holidays to avoid the stress of everyday life, but you come here and you have to face the stress of getting out of the country. Not to mention the immense expense you have to incur. *sigh*. But I guess it was an experience, although not the one I was looking for. It's real out there, when these issues happen people do get affected. At least I'm not in Mumbai!

I guess in the end it really didn't feel like much of a holiday. It started off so well though.

Day One saw us making our way to the airport (amicably too, none of the pre-departure argument that we always had. Perhaps we should have had one to get the negativity out of the way), then boarding the plane to arrive at Bangkok, where we headed straight for our beloved Pathuwman Princess hotel. After settling down, we made our way to our chosen lunch place, which was a last minute plan inserted called Somboon Seafood. Along the way we picked up a couple of purchases and snacks (Dunkin Donuts amongst them), and arrived there after a short train ride. The food there was fantastic: I tasted the best crab ever in my life in the form of their famous curry crab. It's made of some curry with eggs and corn starch; the combination was just absolutely delectable.

After that we went back to the hotel and dozed off for the bulk of the afternoon. Had originally planned to go to Platinum Mall but we were tired out from lack of sleep in the previous night. Woke up and headed for Hard Rock Cafe for dinner, again another backup choice. There, I discovered the world's best ice-cream with brownie (no joke again). Still dream about that dessert even now.

We went for the Thai Girl show. Suffice it to say that it is alot more lewd and crude than a strip club. Talk about indecency in the Western countries, I think countries like Japan and Thailand don't exactly lose out much in this area.

A dip in the pool at night rounded off our first day.

Day Two

We woke up to delectable coffee and cuisine at Princess Pathuwman Hotel, where I always believed that the best coffee in the world (so far to my limited experience) can be had. I really wonder how I developed that coffee addiction. Imagine a substance that keeps you awake and energetic while tasting good too!

Then we went off looking for our massage spa of choice, Healthland. Lets just say my sense of direction and mapreading didn't serve me well enough, but a cab fixed the problem an hour after it occured. The massage was quite good, and the price was really reasonable for such a reputable looking establishment. Along the way we crashed Naraya for some gifts and had Auntie Anne's too.

Lunch was skipped as the girlfriend can't wait to raid Platinum. We went there and picked up gifts for some of the people I know (t-shirts and what not). Had mango with sticky rice there too, all in all a good afternoon. The girlfriend picked up her usual shoes and shorts; didn't get much in the way of tops or dresses. Once we were all done and tired, we headed off to Emporium to grab some snacks before going to the Seafood Market where I heartily expanded my stomach on finishing off a lobster (YUMMY!), oyster omelette, tom yum kung, vegs and hums. I would have finished the tom yum kung to wash down my two bowls of rice if not for the girlfriend stopping me. She claimed that the staff were very amazed at my ability to stuff myself. Jungle survival skills for ya.

At night, we heard about the bad news when we reached the hotel. From there on, the trip unofficially ended, as we tried to brainstorm for a way out of it. So that's our Bangkok experience for ya! No more, I swear.