# A prisoner in paradise ... with no Internet



## gino (Jul 20, 2009)

My evening job has been cancelled, but only this evening. I'm still on the hook for tomorrow and now regret agreeing to the job which isn't paying enough for the headaches it generates. 

I managed to get to the U.S. Embassy's temporary offices this morning, but got dumped twice by drivers who demanded premium fares, but then gave up before getting me all the way home. But a friendly soldier who was much more impressed than I am personally with my Thai language skills, escorted me past the razor wire and pointed me toward my building. A little Thai really makes a big difference in how you're treated. 

Later I went out to hunt and forage and came across an emergency scene where fire fighters were dousing an apartment. As I crossed to another soi, I realized several buildings were involved. Reaching a main road, I found that the fire seems to have begun at a shopping center by one of the former red shirt encampments. 

Thailand doesn't seem to have many hook and ladder trucks. Instead they had about a dozen small trucks surrounding the buildings and a couple of smallish ladder trucks on the main road. 

I might try to post images later, but my Internet connection is a bit spotty. I couldn't get online from my room and am having not much more success from the e-machine in the lobby. 

One of the other guests in my building stopped to chat. He's been cooped up here for five days and is going stir crazy. But the streets are dead and there arent' many options. Even the street vendors have largely disappeared. But they're probably more fortunate than some of the vendors who occupied retail space in the burned-out shopping center.


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## Guest (May 21, 2010)

Things slowly getting back to 'normal'? You sure picked a good time not only to arrive in the capital, but to have to travel around the city for work reasons. Perhaps taxi drivers will start to charge sensible fees now. Let's hope the reds don't start a guerilla war, there's a huge amount of bad feeling on both/all sides.

But that requires compromise, and there's little sign of that just yet.

Look forward to seeing those photos...


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## gino (Jul 20, 2009)

*A return to normalcy*



frogblogger said:


> Look forward to seeing those photos...


Fortunately, things are slowly getting back to normal. Like dandelions in the spring, the 7-11 convenience shops are coming into bloom. I haven’t yet broken training to indulge in a six-pack obliterating six-pack, but I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve begin sucking down Coke-flavored Slurpees at an alarming rate. 

I found an open supermarket today and stocked some of the items I wish I had had over the past few days, but probably no longer need, such as granola bars and Ritz crackers. My apartment has quite a nice refrigerator, but no microwave in the room and no communal kitchen. I don’t even have an electric kettle for tea or instant noodles. 

I’ve attached three images of the same fire, which seems to have engaged a shopping center and what may be an adjacent building or the back side of the same building. The news reports mention that one of Bangkok’s largest shopping centers was set ablaze, but I can’t imagine this is the one as it’s fairly miniscule in comparison to others I’ve seen. At first I thought the t-shirts I had dropped off for custom embroidery had been destroyed, but I was disoriented, having approached the fire from an unfamiliar alleyway. The fire trucks on one side of the building(s) don’t seem to be engaged in fighting the blaze which was only smoldering when I arrived. 

I saw quite a bit of vandalism to banks of telephones and ATM machines, which has nothing to do with achieving political objectives. The demonstrators may have lost a measure of popular support due to the disruptions and vandalism. 

I’m also enclosing a picture of one of the streets that is filthy with residue from incinerated tires. There are piles of garbage bags everywhere and the air is pungent with the stench of decay and occasionally smoke. However, I haven’t seen any rats. Perhaps the feral cats and dogs are feasting as if there is no tomorrow.


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## gino (Jul 20, 2009)

*A return to normalcy*



frogblogger said:


> Look forward to seeing those photos...


Fortunately, things are slowly getting back to normal. Like dandelions in the spring, the 7-11 convenience shops are coming into bloom. I haven’t yet broken training to indulge in a six-pack obliterating six-pack, but I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve begun sucking down Coke-flavored Slurpees at an alarming rate. 

I found an open supermarket today and stocked some of the items I wish I had had over the past few days, but probably no longer need, such as granola bars and Ritz crackers. My apartment has quite a nice refrigerator, but no microwave in the room and no communal kitchen. I don’t even have an electric kettle for tea or instant noodles. 

I’ve attached three images of the same fire, which seems to have engaged a shopping center and what may be an adjacent building or the back side of the same building. The news reports mention that one of Bangkok’s largest shopping centers was set ablaze, but I can’t imagine this is the one as it’s fairly miniscule in comparison to others I’ve seen. At first I thought the t-shirts I had dropped off for custom embroidery had been destroyed, but I was disoriented, having approached the fire from an unfamiliar alleyway. The fire trucks on one side of the building(s) don’t seem to be engaged in fighting the blaze which was only smoldering when I arrived. 

I saw quite a bit of vandalism to banks of telephones and ATM machines, which has nothing to do with achieving political objectives. The demonstrators may have lost a measure of popular support due to the disruptions and vandalism. 

I’m also enclosing a picture of one of the streets that is filthy with residue from incinerated tires. There are piles of garbage bags everywhere and the air is pungent with the stench of decay and occasionally smoke. However, I haven’t seen any rats. Perhaps the feral cats and dogs are feasting as if there is no tomorrow.

I apologize for the image quality. These were shot with a pocket digital camera and downsized by the forum. 

At least my Internet is back to normal.


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