The political situation in Thailand followed Taksin’s exile overseas. After his sister took office as prime minister, there was still opposition between the red shirts and the yellow shirts. However, 1/13 of the large-scale demonstrations were mainly composed of the middle class. Mainly, the protest has lasted for more than two months since the end of 2013. The main demand is to ask the current Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to step down.
After a whole day of demonstrations yesterday, whether Bangkok is suitable for travel is also the focus of attention of everyone. We will help update the information of all parties and provide travelers with a reference for evaluating where they are going.
※ 2014/1/15 report
[Excerpt from a Sina News report] Some merchants said that the demonstrations made tourists and people stay in indoor places such as shopping malls as much as possible, so the business volume did not decrease.A Swedish tourist shopping in a mall said that the demonstrators were friendly and did not feel threatened. There were similar demonstrations in her hometown. She was not too worried and traveled to Bangkok as usual. (Full text:Busy businesses in the deserted streets of Bangkok are busy demonstrating wealth)
[Excerpt from the BBC Chinese website] Yinglu dissolved the lower house of parliament last month and arranged for elections to be held on February 2 in an attempt to ease tensions.However, the protesters said that holding elections is not a solution to the problem because they worry that Yinglu may be re-elected.They want to reform Thailand's constitution. (Full text:Thailand's protest continues, Deputy Prime Minister says the government operates as usual)
[Excerpt from CNN report] At their peak on Monday evening, they numbered as many as 170,000, said Lt. Gen. Paradon Pattanathabut, the nation's security chief. But their numbers have since declined to around 20,000 by Tuesday morning, Paradon said, as demonstrators returned to their homes in the Bangkok area and went to back to their jobs. (Full text:Thailand anti-government protesters continue effort to'shut down' Bangkok)
[Excerpt from a report by Bangkok Post] With major roads blocked getting to work was a bit chaotic but the dreaded citywide gridlock didn't occur as many people simply stayed home or followed alternative routes Public transportation remained in service. (Full text:Bangkok shutdown could be prolonged)
※ 2014/1/13 Foreign Telegraph Report
[Reuters] The protests affected this city with a population of about 1,200 million. The protesters placed obstacles and stacked sandbags at 7 main intersections.However, the protest atmosphere was not tense. Many people sang and danced on the street.Although the streets where about 70 vehicles pass on weekdays are blocked, railways and ferries in the city continue to operate as usual. Many businesses have opened shops and motorcycles can pass through unimpeded.Many people go to work as usual.
[BBC] The authorities dispatched about 1.8 military police to maintain order. At the same time, they also added parking lots around the urban area, opened more subway trains, and light rails operated as usual to reduce the impact on the lives of ordinary people.
[CNN] About 5 people took to the streets, and more than 140 schools closed.
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◎ Why are there red shirts or yellow shirts in Thailand?
Mainly derived from Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister of Thailand. In 2006, the three major opposition parties in Thailand, the People’s Democratic Alliance, etc., demanded to step down due to corruption and abuse of power. With the military as a backing, he immediately stepped down and announced its dissolution. Congress. Later, when Tucker went into exile in 2008, Thailand began to have masses supporting him or against him every two years. Large-scale protests and confrontations took place, and the "yellow shirts" opposed to Tuksin were dissatisfied with the faction. The "red shirts" who controlled the regime and supported Taksin urged him to return to the country instead of exile.
Taksin has a large number of supporters among the farmers in northern and northeastern Thailand. Unexpectedly, his sister Yingla would still win the subsequent prime minister’s election. In 2010, the pro-Taksin’s "red shirts" launched a large-scale protest. Civil-military conflicts have caused Central World in the city to be consumed by fire.
The so-called Yellow Shirts are formed by the People's Democratic Alliance, and its members are mostly the middle class in Bangkok and southern Thailand, which contrasts with the peasant masses in northern and northeastern Thailand in Thaksin.The yellow shirts support the King of Thailand Rama IX Pomephong, and yellow is the symbolic color of the royal family, so supporters wear yellow clothes at the rally, and they are called the yellow shirts.After Taksin stepped down, the previous prime ministers were all relatives, leading the opposition to still believe that Yingla and his team are puppet governments, and Taksin and his factions are behind it, hoping to achieve the purpose of revolution overthrowing in protest.
▲ The Thai Red Shirts championed by former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin.
(Photo source:Xinhua Net)
▲ The people on the other side of Thailand support the King of Thailand.
(Photographer:Athit Perawongmetha)
◎ How much is the impact of the Bangkok demonstrations?Is it suitable to travel?
During the anti-government demonstration in Thailand, "Bangkok Shut Down, Restart Thailand", about 5 protesters set up roadblocks at seven major intersections in Bangkok, set up tents and erected cooking utensils to prepare for long-term stationing. Although the Thai military and police are standing by, basically People still rallied, and there was no conflict. In addition, the protesters hoped to achieve the goal of Prime Minister Yingluck’s resignation. They took peaceful demonstrations as a rational protest attitude. Seeing several fan groups recounting the current situation in Bangkok, they can still travel as usual.
I believe people who are going to travel in the past two weeks are most worried about whether it will affect the scheduled itinerary. News headlines are all worrying. However, after our assessment, we recommend that you refer to the following sources of information and adjust your existing plans flexibly. Travel in Thailand will be less affected.
※ Taiwanese set up a fan group for homestay owners in Bangkok
– AK House:https://www.facebook.com/akhousebkk
[AK House 1/14 PO article] Today's major department store business hours & matters needing attention
* Central World business hours 11:30~18:00
* Central World Chit lom business hours 10:00~18:00
* Paragon business hours 10:00~18:00
* SAIM business district business hours 10:00~18:00
* Terminal 21 business hours 10:00-20:00
Please take the BTS when you go to the above business districts, between the stations, and also please take the BTS, so as not to be too crowded.If there is a closed road near your hotel, please find a tuk-tuk to take you to the airport express. The price will be affordable, because it will be a difficult situation to say at this time.If you are stuck on the road and want to get out of trouble, please pay more attention to find a tuk-tuk, or a motorcycle TAXI with a monochrome vest, it will be more convenient! !To go to the airport, please leave XNUMX to XNUMX hours early to avoid unfamiliar road conditions and get stuck on the road.
– Taiwan’s sister (flower)’s Bangkok Homestay: https://www.facebook.com/VacioGuestHouseBKK
[Taiwan sister (flower)’s Bangkok B&B 1/13 PO article] This protest action is based on the appeal of peace, so the atmosphere of the demonstration so far has been quite peaceful, so department stores are open as usual, MRT public transportation is open as usual, and MRT Transport overtime until 2am, take a taxi to pay attention, please go to the airport 4 hours in advance, and use public transportation.
※ The foreign travel warning classification table of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:http://www.boca.gov.tw/
[Thailand, 2014/1/13, 06:15:00 PM] Released as a yellow warning, travelers pay special attention to travel safety and review whether they should go to the yellow warning
※ Sukjai from Thailand (for the fans of the Tourism Bureau of Thailand):https://www.facebook.com/amazethai
[Thailand Tourism Bureau 1/14 PO article] A tourist returning to Taiwan from Bangkok said: "The whole parade was quite peaceful, just like the red shirts of Taiwan at the time. It was not as serious as reported by the media." Thais love it. Peaceful, everyone really don’t worry too much~http://www.appledaily.com.tw/realtimenews/article/new/20140113/325755/
