Emergency VIP Treatment

If you read the international news, you may know that the Red Shirts have been trying to get the former exiled Prime Minister of Thailand, expelled from the Government on charges of corruption, back since 2008. Every week-end, demonstrations are organised, and this week-end, some 60,000 people invaded the commercial and tourist centre of the city, stopping all traffic. The police have blocked the area to avoid accidents, and the demonstrators have been singing and talking since early this Saturday morning. All major shopping centres have been closed. Tourists are advised not to leave their hotels.


We were working in the Conference Centre within a huge shopping mall for 14 days, crossing the road every day from our hotel opposite the Conference Centre to get to work. At noon, today, the organisers of the conference evacuated us from our hotel by bus, getting out through the backside door and driving us around the area for 20 minutes to be transferred to the 5 star hotel above the Conference Centre, just opposite from where we stayed. Our rooms are paid by the organisers. I am located on the 36th floor with a superb view on the tennis court and the swimming pool on the 12th floor terrace, the surrounding buildings and a temple. The mass of demonstrators is impressive, they look like ants from my window, and the square is dark with thousands of people dressed in red. After dinner at the very chic restaurant, we went for a drink to the 55th floor, which is the top of the tower with a breathtaking 360 degrees view of Bangkok. The wind was blowing, it was cool, and I am convinced the building was “moving”. I could not help but feel dizzy. I am from a small European city with no high-rise buildings, the highest tower must have maximum 12 floors. This was a treat, my pictures are unfortunately blurred because I did not have a tripod for long exposures. I still have butterflies in my stomach and my hair looks like I had some electric shocks from putting my fingers in the plug! It is late, we will be driven early tomorrow morning to the airport. I hope we will manage to get there in time. Most of my colleagues are flying back home, some of us are going on holidays in Cambodia or Vietnam.