Trip to Europe

During the Songkran (= Thai New Year) holiday, we were in Europe. Tom had to be in Amsterdam for work right after Songkran and we both took a holiday the week after that. After having spent the free days with friends and a couple of vacation days at a French guest house near the Champagne region (where Tom learned how to "saber" a champagne bottle), we lodged with Tom's parents for a few days. Nirmala will spend time with her parents after this week. The situation in Bangkok has degraded since our last post, as there have been violent and lethal riots and bomb attacks. This remains limited to certain areas of the city but saying this is not a favorable development is stating the obvious. There is currently no easy end to the crisis in sight. We attach some pictures of little Wolf and our days together. The medieval city is Provins in case you were wondering.

State of Emergency

It's that time of year again: Songkran (Thai New Year) is approaching and the Thai government has declared a state of emergency in Bangkok and surrounding provinces (as from 7 April), a situation similar to last year (we were traveling abroad), when the so-called "red shirts" staged anti-government protests which turned into riots. This year, the red shirts are again staging massive anti-government protests. Readers of this blog will also remember the "yellow shirt" protests in 2008, when the airports in Bangkok were closed. The yellow shirts brought down the government at the time and now the red shirts are trying to do the same with the current government. It would take too long to explain in detail what the both parties want, you can read all about it on different news sites. It suffices to say that the red shirts have occupied a major intersection in the commercial heart of Bangkok (Ratchaprasong), where massive shopping malls such as CentralWorld are located, as well as several big hotels (Hyatt, Four Seasons, Intercontinental,...). Many of them have closed down now. Tom's office is right next to the protests, offering interesting views on troop movements and red shirts selling souvenirs in the street. Attached some pictures to give an idea, you can again find more pictures on news sites. We also attach some recent pictures of Wolfgang who has his own opinion of the political turmoil :-). We are all fine by the way.

Grandparents' visit

Tom's parents were in Bangkok for a few days on the way to a holiday in China. During their short stay, they managed to take in a few more tourist attractions they missed on the previous trip (see earlier post) and, of course, spend some time with their new grandchild. We also went for a long walk in Lumpini park, followed by a visit to the Suan Lum Night Bazaar nearby. Tom was also treated to a late birthday dinner on the rooftop restaurant "Red Sky" of the Centara Grand Hotel in Bangkok, offering spectacular views over the city. All of this against the backdrop of mounting anti-government protests by the so-called "red shirts". More about them later...