Most Boring Coup EVER!

Yesterday, I eventually realised that everyone else in the world knew more about what was going on in the streets of Bangkok than me. Instead of obsessively watching a blank screen where BBC used to be and refreshing websites, I grabbed my camera and set off to find me some TANKS, damn it! Let me tell you of my adventures:

I went to the US army base, set up during the Vietnam war as an intellgence center. I went to Rajdamnoen Avenue, the site of the famous 1973 student uprising againt the military government. I went to Sanam Luang, a huge park outside the government house where all protests and rallies take place. I went to Channels 3 and 11 heaquarters, which have been taken over by the military. I went to all these places and found not one.single.tank. I just wanted one picture of me pretending to be crushed by a tank, just one. But no. This just had to be history's most peaceful coup. BORING!

Guess where all the soldiers were? Khao Saan road. Densely populated with tourists. The soldiers are a bigger attraction than the Grand Palace, and there were hordes of people taking photos. The soldiers were all very lovely and polite and not much older than my baby brother. They also looked confused with all the attention they were recieving. At one point, a small girl-child was handing a soldier a flower and 15 people in her proximity pulled out their cameras and started snapping away and as I reached for mine I was suddenly hit by the hilarity of the situation. EVERYTHING is exoticised!

This coup is every Khao Saan traveller's wet dream. I will rename it "Coup d'Etat Lite, 2006". They get the tanks, soldiers and headlines minus the bullets, conflict and fear. So in the morning they pose with a soldier, in the afternoon they do a boat trip down the river and at night they get pissed on piss-tasting Thai beer. Brilliant packaged deal. Thailand should really consider making these peaceful military takeovers a seasonal thing.

Word on the street is an overwhelming acceptance for General Sonthi and his actions. 2 out of 3 of my taxi drivers yesterday approved of the coup and said Thaksin had to be taken out any means necessary, the third driver did not care what happened to the government as each administration is as corrupt as the other. He felt disenfranchised and believed voting was a waste of time. He worked in real estate before the 1997 economic crash. As I type this, I am reminded of that scene in Taxi Driver when De Niro is asked by a politician what he thinks of New York and De Niro reponds something along the lines of "fuckshitpiss, skanks n' hos, pushers n' addicts". If you want to know the realities of a country - ask a taxi driver. Do not ask a 15 year old soldier who is acting on orders given by his superiors, as a BBC corresspondant did this morning. The kid was like "yes, coup is good."

Generally speaking, there is an 83% approval rate (Bangkok Post, today) for this coup but people view it as "the wrong move for the right reasons." Thai people are just relieved Thaksin got his come-uppance. The implication of this coup on Thailand's political processes is yet to be seen. In 2 weeks we will have a new PM and in a year democracy will be restored. Shameful, in my humble opinion, to wait a year before Thai voters can participate in nation-building.

P.S. I got my BBC back! FREEDOM!!