Bangkok Damaged

On Saturday 29 May at 4 o'clock in the morning, the curfew in Bangkok and other provinces was finally lifted. The state of emergency remains in place until further notice, but this has no impact on daily life. With things back to normal, the damage can be assessed. Arson attacks were committed against some 30 buildings in Bangkok (more in the whole of Thailand), including some landmarks as indicated earlier. On the pictures above, you can see the serious damage to CentralWorld (Zen & Plaza) and some other buildings such as the torched Electricity Board. One interesting anecdote is about the statue of an Indian goddess (Kali if I am not mistaken), which is standing in front of CentralWorld (near Zen). The head-only statue is now blamed for brining bad luck as that part of the building has been most badly damaged: it burned for hours and partially collapsed. The other side of the building (with the Isetan department store) is relatively untouched and rumors go that it has been protected by the more auspicious religious statues on that end. Thais strongly believe in spirits and the supernatural so this explanation makes perfect sense. For the same reason, the statue is now covered with a white cloth (before and after pictured above). A final word on the temple pictured above (Wat Pathum Wanaran). It was a 'safe haven' during and especially near the end of the demonstrations and where the last red shirts were assembling before going home.