Well, the media had hyped the violence over the poll on Feb 2 which Yingluk introduced in an attempt to mollify people and stop the protests. These were at my On Nut skytrain headed downtown.

So Bangkok hotels are pretty empty…including my VXTheFifty guesthouse. But I was welcomed back by the proprietors and the maids as an old friend.

There have been some shootings in isolated areas with, I think, about 6 people killed but of course the media hypes it up and travellers are avoiding Bangkok. Well, good for me but bad for business and the people who live and work here. Thailand is really taking big losses again as they did in 2010 when I was here when the upcountry pro-government “Reds” were demonstrating. Over 90 people were killed in that mess so guess Thailand isn’t doing so bad this go-around. So far anyway.

The protesters led by Suthep, an old politico with an agenda of his own, tried to interrupt the voters from voting so of course the opposition was accused of being against democracy. Only 45% of the people showed up at the polls with many giving a “No Vote.” But the poll stations were disorganized and many didn’t have poll takers so they weren’t even open. Now the anti-government Democrats will take it to the courts to have the poll annulled claiming that it was unlawful in the first place.

Sutep promises he will keep leading the protests until Yingluck steps down. On top of all that twitter was abuzz with the fact that when Yingluck voted in a high profile photo shoot she stuck the ballots in the wrong box. Nobody typically said anything at the time. Only in Thailand.

Meanwhile I try to track Thai politics so I know which intersection and skytrain exit to avoid. My Yellow Shirt friend feeds me information. My Thai friend who is a professor of fisheries at Kasetsart University issues warnings. I scour Twitter and read the ThaiVisa alerts on my local phone.

The middle class has finally risen. People from Bangkok and the rubber workers in the south continue with hundreds of thousands of whistling anti-government demonstrators scattered throughout the city. The whistles are deafening and remind me of the unceasing cicadas in the spring in Oaxaca. The Reds, supporting the ruling party with Thaksin’s sister as the puppet Prime Minister, have been instructed (I assume by the exiled Thaksin who is holed up in Dubai) to remain cooped up in the stadium to avoid clashes.

Politics in Thailand is inscrutable to the outsider but also to most Thais themselves. Speculation abounds in the alternative press and on twitter. Mainstream press of course is all government controlled. But by the end of December it certainly looks like Thailand is headed for more violence or at the least a silent coup to get the ruling regime out. The poor countryside Reds from the rural north who are the majority argue…but the ruling party was elected! Well, an election with votes and a leadership bought off by the wealthy Thaksin does not a democracy make. I’m convinced by looking at both Mexico and Thailand…and the lack of effort by governments to upgrade the education systems…that the oligarchies do not want people to be educated or informed. They may revolt…as many people have around the world where consciousnesses have been raised and information made accessible by social media.

Wondered around in the Silom district at the Saladaeng skytrain exit. I forgot how much I liked the area. Stopped to buy a whistle on a side soi from an anti-government seller for my friend. An article had just been written in the NYT comparing the situation of Thailand to the Ukraine. As if that wasn’t insulting enough, the US Ambassador to Thailand had just issued a statement…that sounded like a warning…to the people of Thailand to please avoid violence and settle their issues through democratic means. Patronizing for sure! The seller, sitting on the street in the middle of mounds of whistles on red white and blue ribbons, head bands, wrist bands all around her on the sidewalk… looked up at me and admonished this American angrily. “We liked Obama! What he doing?! Why he do this to us?! He make problems all the world!” These anti-government demonstrators are no dummies. What could I say? Except “I know, I know.”

Later, back at the guesthouse I have an interesting conversation at the hip cafe next door with a 40ish German businessman who has an up-close view of things. Says the King should appoint a care government made up of neutral parties like a rep from the UN and people completely outside the system and give them time to write a new constitution to allow election, instead of appointment of ministers, and initiate reforms. Then hold an election in a year or two. The election scheduled for Feb 2 will just restore the ruling party and the country will have all the same corrupt politicians and judges and just have the same problem all over again. I said I felt sorry for Thailand. He retorted “I don’t!” The meaning, I assume, is that they do this to themselves and don’t learn. Only in Thailand. Even Mexico, with all it’s corruption, isn’t this convoluted.