Seeing red in the city of angels

Bangkok 14th April: My cunning plan to avoid the red shirts by staying in the middle of the business district backfired somewhat when they all relocated there on mass, so I ended up pretty much hemmed in on all sides... Fortunately civil unrest was on the back burner for thai new year and class struggle was replaced with getting drunk and throwing buckets of ice cold water at anything that moves.

Writing this a few days later on its clear that new year spirits have waned and everyones back on the offensive. The red shirts are very well prepared (and funded...) here. During a surrepticious wander around one of the camps under Ratchadamri BTS station I spotted a toilet and shower block, a collection of market stalls selling a variety of styles of clothing (all red), and a fully fledged nursery for looking after the younger protesters whilst Mum and Dad are out sharpening bamboo sticks to jab at soldiers.

Overall this whole affair seems to have given a voice to the polictically voiceless masses and started a dialogue on equality that would have otherwise taken 20 years, though you have to wonder about the motivations of those funding and encouraging the movement, and whather all this won't just end up degrading into further sensless violence that ultimately ends up preventing the dialogue turning in to any actual change for those that deservce it.

Do I really need all this stuff???

OK so the girl in Blacks must have seen me coming... This is everything on the list that the good people at Macmillan gave me plus a couple of personal essentials (photography stuff and haribos) and it seems like WAY too much stuff. Seriously. This is 7 days trekking not a mission to discover the mysterious cities of gold (which I'm saving for my next charity walk). Due to some logistics (Wedding, beach holiday, etc) I will be lugging this lot half way round Asia.

First stop (and hopefully not the last): Bangkok. Please note the conspicuous lack of red clothing (apart from the fleece that would be ridiculous to even contemplate wearing in Thailand). As per Foregin Office guidelines I am leaving these at home for fear of being mistaken for one of Taksin's red shirt rent-a-mob (actually the FCO are advising against all travel to Bangkok... http://tiny.cc/hyu4b which is annoying...)