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Bangkok, Wednesday at noon - A personal point of view:
Looking out my windows, down onto Sukhumvit road, seems like any ordinary Sunday.
A few people walking on the street - but no school kids because schools are closed.
Cars, taxis and buses coming and going - but not the heavy traffic of a normal weekday.
Small shops & restaurants open - but large stores and malls are closed.
The skytrain is running normally - but construction cranes are idle.
For a country in the midst of a coup d'etat, that's not very exciting, is it?
Amazing to me, the cool detachment of the Thai people.
The staff in my building, the maid on my floor, the owner of a small
shop next door - all just quietly going about their business with no fuss.
What I get from them is an attitude of, "It's not my problem. What's for lunch?"
Bangkok is not a war zone.
I've lived under a military dictatorship before: Brazil in 1970.
Life went on in a very neat and ordered way.
Yes, there were soldiers on the street corners, but they were politely bored with their duty and never bothered anybody.
Here and now, I haven't seen tanks on Sukhumvit road, let alone even one soldier.
They must be busy around the Parliament buildings, posing for the TV cameras.
Internet and phones have been working just fine.
Internet to some of the popular sites has been slow, that's all.
But, those sites -- although highly popular -- have offered the least useful information.
What I've learned confirms, yet again, the paucity of value in conventional newspapers and TV.
They just don't have much to say, but they pontificate loudly and endlessly.
And they focus primarily on the government spokesmen or on the photogenic army tanks parked quietly near some government office.
On the other hand, all of the succinct and valuable information comes from a few Internet blogs and forums.
Not all, of course.
Last night, perhaps 98% of the blogs and forums about Thailand quickly became hysterical.
Only forum has been consistently calm and clear in providing valuable facts.
The real damage, of course, is below the surface and will take months or years to detect.
Tourism will dry up.
A shame because the local currency is weakening and traveling here will be more of a bargain than before.
Business investment will contract.
Most long-term business investment here is Japanese.
Now they will not build new factories, not buy new machines and trucks, and not hire more Thai workers.
Lack of tourists and lack of investment will cause severe pain -- but not this week.
Now, I have an important decision to make: What to eat for lunch?
- Peter
Bangkok
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