The weather has been absolute delight since last Sunday as temperatures plummeted to the high teens and low twenties.
Below is an image taken off Bangkok’s on-ground most resourceful volunteer Twitterer on anything and everything about Thailand just a few days ago:
The cold spell has lasted a while and this has been one of the longest, yet rare occurrences for temperatures to remain below 30 degree celcius. When I woke up this morning, I thought it felt chiller than the last few days. I went on to check the weather app on my phone and it reflected a chilly 16 degrees Celsius. Excited with my find, and this being a rare weather spell in hot and humid Bangkok, I enthusiastically informed Silver Bullet. He dismissed me and thought that I was suffering from “exaggeratis” as the temperature on our tower fan had reflected an acceptable 23 degrees Celsius.
No, I wasn’t going crazy. This was how chilly it was today:
The kids and I are running out of sweaters and long-sleeves to wear in the day, and at night, we are decked out in sweat pants and the kids go to bed with their socks on. Quite weird, but kind of nice!
The weather has gone a little wonky on this side of the world, but, it is the kind of weather I don’t mind having. I just wish it could be like this every day of the year. We save a lot of electricity this way, too!
As at about 6pm yesterday, the government declared a state of emergency affecting 5 provinces in Thailand: Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Prathumthani, Samut Prakarn & Thonburi. It sounded all serious and would put most of us in a state of a panic but when I asked my boss what we should do, he simply laughed and replied, “Do Nothing. We join the mob,” said he, in a joking manner while he grinned cheekily.
Sources from Twitter stated that imposing an emergency decree simply means that the government now has immense power to censor media, make arrests and end gatherings. All practicality with little or without consequences. In essence, it does not surmount to anything much.
Am I worried? Not particularly, to be honest. Not at this point in time anyway given that the violence and grenade attacks had only happened in isolated areas. And, the way I see it, as long as we keep our wits about us and avoid the rally sites, it is business as usual; however, be prepared to be greatly inconvenienced.
One of the upside in the recent Bangkok Shutdown which started on 14th January was the fact that traffic problem in this city has been almost completely eliminated in downtown areas. The major roads and bridges were mostly blocked off by anti-government protestors and the streets have been turned into one massive street party where concerts are held, loud music were being played, anti-government souvenirs are being sold as well as food and drinks are being served while protestors blow their whistles. Given a rather massive blockade happening on the street level, traffic – at least around the vicinity of my residential area- has been nothing but a breeze and how I love it so!
This area has been relatively peaceful so far with a party atmosphere engulfed within it. Just last weekend, when we passed by Siam Paragon, we saw that the entire street underneath the BTS station had been turned into a full-pledge, bazaar-like atmosphere. It was quite crowded, and at a glance, it did look like any other night market. Interesting, but rather bizarre.
Underneath Siam BTS on a Sunday afternoon
We don’t know how much longer this would go on, but as a precaution, it would be wise to stay away from the main rally sites especially at night; (especially so if you are a foreigner and has no business to be there)
This was the sight I was confronted with when I walked out of my office on the day when they declared Bangkok to Shutdown – a pretty peaceful, yet amazing sight:
Main road being blocked at lunchWhat seemed like a street party as protestors enjoyed the open-air concert by a Thai band Opportunists making money from selling souvenirs A protestor shopping for another T-shirtOnly the best ice-cream
Once upon a dinner, on a rather rare occasion, Silver Bullet graced an otherwise boring occasion with a hearty meal consisting of…
Beef Carpaccio with Rockets and Parmesan Cheese…
…followed by Cheese-and-Spinach Raviolli with Turkey Marinara Sauce
I know Silver Bullet wasn’t too happy with the results of the Ravioli and the fact that Jamie Oliver made it seem so easy, but I thought they tatsed good enough for a home-made hearty meal. They were made with love and that is all I could care about. With a full stomach, I was a very happy camper.
