Grubbs n Critters

May 4, 2010

Red Camp: Beyond the Barricades

Category: Thaism

Curiosity had gotten the better of us.

Feeling a little adventurous, we decided to take a slow, apprehensive stroll yesterday afternoon to kaypo on what is really behind the Red’s barricades. For us, it seemed like a waste that we had this whole thing going on right outside our soi, but we don’t really know what really goes on in there. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to kaypo around before the crowds disperse, or if and when the authorities decide to annihilate the entire protest area. For Silver Bullet, it was more of an excuse for him to play with his little DSLR toy.

The entire blockade essentially starts right in front of the intersection towards Central Chidlom and stretches all the way at the intersection right before MBK. It really is actually quite a stretch! Despite the blockade, technically anyone and everyone can access through the area via the BTS stations. They were pretty cool with tourists in general and smiles were easily given. However, we did notice that any Thais who does not have any form of identification and wanted to access their area, were inspected pretty thoroughly. Some were wearing the kind of tags you get at conferences; you know, those that identify an individual as a delegate. In this case, it just seems…wrong…!

The mood there anyhow, was anything but intimidating. While we saw a lot of people snoozing away, there was also a lot of entertainment going on with rural music and what seemed like shows on stage! The entire community itself seemed quite self-sufficient. They had their own food, beverage and snack stalls, massage areas, cooking and sleeping quarters, hi-tech sound system and even their own newspapers! The atmosphere within the barricade was anything but tense and threatening. Everyone seems to be enjoying an extended carnival holiday!

Below are some pictures from my point and shoot to give you an idea of the surrounding area.

The barricades as seen from Chidlom BTS station:

As we walked through the crowd – centrestage @ CTW:

“Self-sufficiency” theory around CTW area. One wonders where they get their fresh food supplies to sell as well as endless supply of water for their make-shift bathroom. It makes me wonder too why in the world would they write “bath” in English as most of them there are pre-dominantly Thai! I wonder how many tourists or foreigners would actually use this “bath”.

Right outside Zen CTW, one can find people sprawling and snoozing away on a make-shift bed while this man here managed his laundry; a vendor manages the Reds newspaper stand bearing only “Red” news.

Inspection site. All locals were thorougly checked before they can enter this zone

I just had to laugh, shake my head and roll my eyeballs when I saw their “Call for World Action” poster which I thought was a rather ludicrous call on their end. Now, let’s see..whose bright ideas were these again? The cheek to ask for world action! Seriously.

After seeing what I have seen, I am convinced that most of them are just innocent civilians who probably are ignorant as to what they have gotten themselves into. I don’t think they know exactly what they are up against should shit hit the fan. As an outsider, I could only hope that they wise up, leave the premises and head on home.

For those wondering if Bangkok is still a safe place to travel to, I have no doubt in my mind that while there are a lot of inconveniences to grapple with, at this juncture, it still is rather safe. So long as you have your wits about you.

A Weekend Detour

Category: Random

The last weekend just happened to be one of those days where a detour seemed unavoidable. A detour that just had to be done, or suffer a much dire consequences sorta thing. A much needed, albeit impromptu detour in the midst of a busy, busy weekend where there were tons of errands to do and really, was the last thing I’d need to eat up into my weekend meant for other things.

Yet, if I hadn’t done the detour, I could not focus on anything else. Because it happened right there and then. It happened while I was happily chomping away on bits and pieces of dried beef slices after I finished my lunch. And without a warning, I bit on something hard which unfortunately was a part of the beef slices and it broke my tooth. Believe it or not, those darn beef slices actually managed to break a part of my molar!

When it happened, I thought it was the hard thing got stuck in between my molar, but it did not feel normal as I tried to take it out. I then suspected that I might have, unwittingly cracked my tooth. I cursed myself for snacking on those beef slices after I had finished my main dish. I really should not have done that and I was convinced that if I hadn’t, I sure as hell would not have landed myself in such a situation. I was really pissed off at ME.

Trying to play it cool like it’s okay did not work out after that. It felt funny when you can feel a little something jutting out of one of your molars, and then it started to feel rather sensitive in less than half an hour. It was a mood killer and Silver Bullet could sense that I was in a really foul mood. I immediately called my dentist to schedule for an emergency consultation. I ended up spending a long one and half-hours in the dentist chair right after that.

Not only was my molar broken, he also discovered that I actually had a cavity underneath the broken molar which was apparently rather deep into the gum. I had to have an injection before he can work on it and it must be some tedious work as he took a darn long time before he was done with me – filling and all! In the end, it seemed like it was just a time-bomb waiting for a trigger; and it had to happen sooner or later.

He showed me the bit where it had broken off and he allowed me to keep it. He must be thinking what a nut I am to want to keep a piece of my tooth. I know, I know. I know it does look kinda disgusting, but you have to understand that I am quite attached to my half a centimeter piece of molar that has helped me chew my food for several decades now. That’s quite a piece of me that was broken off, you know!

As inconvenient as it may be, I must say, I’m only glad that Bangkok is a place where I don’t need to wait at all to get an appointment to see a dentist to get my teeth fix almost immediately. And all for a cool price tag of less than 3000 baht, too! For things like this,I would absolutely hate to wait around or delay the treatment, for I do not want another root canal done on me again. Ever!

"Red Camp": Sticks and Tyres

Category: Thaism

It really is hard to take a sharp picture from a moving vehicle, but I just had to try. I can’t really help it that the picture came out slightly blurry, but at least you have an idea of the almost permanent view of the intersection right outside our Soi in the past few weeks since it was besieged by the “Reds”:

They have effectively re-routed all traffic that was able to go straight towards Central Chidlom before. The only good thing that came out of this is that the flow of traffic has gotten better and that now, vehicles that come from the left side of the road could actually turn right instead of having to turn left and make a u-turn before you can go straight ahead.

Beyond those barricades, a make-shift rural village is probably being erected. We were told by Silver Bullet’s brother who came by recently, that the the atmosphere beyond those sticks and tyres seems peaceful, friendly and by no means threatening when he and his friends decided to kaypo around.