Unrest comes to Chiang Mai, Thailand

Until now I haven’t been personally touched by the unrest in Thailand – Chiang Mai has been peaceful and life has carried on as normal. The only real evidence has been the constant sound of radio and TV broadcasts to followers of the ‘red shirts’ which can be heard all over the city.

However, that all changed today – and with surprising speed, normality seemed a thing of the past and yet so precious. After visiting the supplier of the skeleton leaves on my motorbike about 9km out of town, I encountered a roadblock and a diversion on my way back just as I was coming up to the river. It turned out that the main bridge over the river was closed and I was diverted instead through chaotic side streets.

On reaching the river and having seen many Thais hanging around and looking, I decided to walk along in the direction of the bridge. The road was blocked by two red fire engines (see photo) and beyond I could see flames and a plume of thick black smoke. There was a distinctive smell of paraffin and burning rubber in the air. I heard some bangs that could have been gunfire, but may have only been fireworks. I felt a sudden wave of sadness tinged with fear – I’ve never ever felt fear before in Thailand – The Land of Smiles generally feels safer than most towns and cities in the UK.

The supplier of the skeleton leaves called me and urged me to go home quickly. He had heard that about 500 car loads of ‘red shirt’ supporters were about to descend on the area. I did so and noticed as I passed the Governer’s House that tyres had already been burned at it’s gates. I returned home safely without incident.

Later after eating I saw a thick black pall of smoke much closer to home – I walked 5 minutes to have a look. Some tyres were on fire at Thapae Gate in the heart of town, but there was no crowd of protestors. I decided to return home and stay in: there was to be a curfew during the night from 8pm. However, the evening and night seemed to pass by without any real incident as far as I know at this time.