We're just starting to learn a little now, but here's what I can tell you. The military has taken over the government here, and Bangkok has a lot of tanks and soldiers. It's "bloodless", so that's good. That's about all I know.
We did also hear that people in Bangkok were taking their photos next to the tanks, so that sounds like Thailand can't have changed too much overnight!
We first heard of it at about 11:30pm last night, when text message arrived simultaneously on both our cell phones. Peace Corps Thailand is currently under a "standfast", meaning that volunteers are not allowed to leave their sites or travel. We don't know how long this will be the case.
Perhaps the more pressing concern for us today is the level of the river. We had another night of torrential rain... Wish us luck.
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2 comments:
crazy. I saw it on the news today. Glad to hear it's mild so far. keep us updated, I'll be thinking of you guys and hoping nothing goes awry.
The SE Asian politics specialist in my department described it as a 'royalist coup' - basically, the king wanted it to happen. There's some ancient guy (87?) who was at the forefront of the last coup who is holding a lot of power in this one as well. The prof seemed to think y'all have nothing to worry about - Thailand is known for its peaceful coups.
Random Thai politics adage from the same prof: "Thai politics is won in the countryside and overthrown in the cities."
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