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It's really weird seeing places you've been get blown up. I was pretty cavalier about wandering through protests while I was in Bangkok--dunno that I'd make that choice again.
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Aug 17, 2015 19:01
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caberham posted:Where's Reindeer? He's fine, been posting in the SEA politics topic about it.
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Aug 17, 2015 19:03
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Sheep-Goats posted:We don't know for sure who did it and probably never will, the Muslim insurgent thing is my opinion as a non-loony. There are other rational people who will feel it's agent provocateur actions or some kind of anti-government thing. Most of the crazies, some of whom live there, will think it's definitely the government blowing up is own people as a reason to blah blah blah blah blah Thanks for this. Chantilly Say posted:The Southern insurgency has avoided the city so far (using it, in some cases, as a low-visibility place to stash their people when the RTP are after them), so if they're behind this it signals a seriously new development. It's possible, of course. And this.
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Aug 17, 2015 19:04
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Whip Slagcheek posted:Does someone have a link to a good explanation on the red shirt/yellow shirt thing? I think I have somewhat of an understand but it'd be good to know more. Quick summary: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-13294268
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Aug 17, 2015 19:05
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So both groups hated Taksin and are backed by rich people. The only difference being rural vs urban. 
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Aug 17, 2015 19:29
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Whip Slagcheek posted:So both groups hated Taksin and are backed by rich people. The only difference being rural vs urban. A lot of red shirts genuinely and publicly love Thaksin. They see him as rich guy, yes, but as someone who became a genuine advocate for the people once in office, a telecom bodhisattva. Of course there is precedence for this -- previous kings of Thailand have not all been as apparently (though not wholly) selfless and devoted to the nation and I will suggest that history will look at the current king as a man that read the texts on the virtues of a king and seriously took them to heart and endeavored to actually embody them. The monarchy was virtually dead when he took the crown and its not just conniving that has elevated the monarchy to its current position of being an almost unassailable moral keel in a very tipsy nation on not-calm seas. There are genuine fans of Thaksin who think he was headed in this same direction. They are red shirts too.
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Aug 17, 2015 19:39
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Thailand is confusing as gently caress. I'm trying to "get it" before I travel there but uh...
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Aug 17, 2015 19:47
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I've literally been in the process of booking a flight out there for an 8 week trip thru Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Palawan for me and the old lady... Personally, I'm not deterred because I know this is extremely, extremely, microscopically small chance stuff, but now I have to deal with the mother in law and my own parents calling us early this morning begging us not to go. We're both still 100% onboard with the trip, but I feel like the bombers might have to add 4 external deaths to their death total due to heart attacks occurring as a response from US mainland.
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Aug 17, 2015 20:02
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Yeah I have no hang ups about traveling to Thailand. I feel like I'll be perfectly safe and if not, gently caress it I'll be dead anyway.
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Aug 17, 2015 20:05
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Whip Slagcheek posted:Yeah I have no hang ups about traveling to Thailand. I feel like I'll be perfectly safe and if not, gently caress it I'll be dead anyway. Bingo. We wouldn't be middling around in Bangkok anyways, basically taking a ferry to one of the Koh's ASAP.
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Aug 17, 2015 20:15
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Whip Slagcheek posted:Thailand is confusing as gently caress. I'm trying to "get it" before I travel there but uh... Don't worry about it. I've lived here for five years, half in the traditionally yellow-shirt south, and half in the red-shirt north, and the most difference I've noticed is that the southerners are a little more outwardly vocal about their beliefs (all my neighbours in Phuket loved Suthep and whenever we'd have beers in the evening the Blue Sky channel with him making his speeches would be on), but very few people are ardently political one way or another, and certainly not toward foreign tourists. Up here in the north (the red-shirt heartland along with Isaan) people will support whoever is willing to promise them more for their rice. The huge rural population is largely uneducated and almost entirely dependent on the rice harvest - if someone promises them more money for their rice, they will of course pledge allegiance to that person. Hence, the rice pledging scheme from Yingluck. To add to that, I've personally seen the bribes that people will get for voting. Usually it's a choice between cash in hand (around 500 baht per person) or a box of beer, and many people will choose the beer and make a day of it. They don't have any concept of this being unusual or corrupt, it's just one of those things that happens every few years and hey free money and beer lets have a party! In short, don't worry about getting bombed or getting caught up in the political situation here. Book your holiday and know that you'll have an awesome time, because you will. I've never spent time in a place that I've felt safer, especially at night.
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Aug 17, 2015 20:25
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TheKevman posted:I've literally been in the process of booking a flight out there for an 8 week trip thru Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Palawan for me and the old lady... Have them call me and I'll go over and over and over how small a chance of EXTREMELY DEADLY TERRORISM AND VIOLENT BUDDHIST RAPE is in a country like MUSLIM THAILAND and we'll see what message they come away with.
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Aug 17, 2015 20:25
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Sheep-Goats posted:Have them call me and I'll go over and over and over how small a chance of EXTREMELY DEADLY TERRORISM AND VIOLENT BUDDHIST RAPE is in a country like MUSLIM THAILAND and we'll see what message they come away with. Hahaha, no joke that was one of the first things that her mom said on the phone this morning (on speakerphone): "I DIDN'T KNOW THEY HAD SO MANY MUSLIMS OVER THERE! THIS MAKES SENSE HOW THIS HAPPENED TODAY!" 
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Aug 17, 2015 20:43
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It's a ridiculously safe area to travel in. Even if the country were everywhere and always in a state of perpetual protest, which it is not, I'd still wager that 95% of tourist mishaps would be directly related to a)/overconsumption of rocket fuel beer and b) driving a lovely Honda Wave when you've never driven a motorcycle, while intoxicated, on roads you don't know that are also covered with sand.
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Aug 17, 2015 21:49
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Exactly. Send your parents a photo of you both riding drunk without helmets on the back of a motodop to help calm their nerves. Also, stay safe Bangkok goons.
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Aug 18, 2015 02:22
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There's at least one oafish expat in a bar in PP somewhere right now breathing really heavily (always does that) going "Them Thois did me a favor they did toigtening the voesas ha ha ha the girls are cheaper here anyway CHEERS MATES"
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Aug 18, 2015 04:59
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The current suspect is part of a red shirt antigovernment group from the Northeast. Take a shot.
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Aug 18, 2015 05:55
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XyrlocShammypants posted:The current suspect is part of a red shirt antigovernment group from the Northeast. Take a shot. Got a source on this? Any good articles in general? I know it's still early days but wondering if anyone has come across anything that isn't just "hey check out this one CCTV clip everyone has seen surrounded by speculation and a cursory and inaccurate description of the conflict in the south"
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Aug 18, 2015 06:29
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It's widely reported now, you can google for it. Whether this guy was part of such a group or actually did it is another story, but he is the suspect right now and appears pretty young.
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Aug 18, 2015 07:04
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I just booked a flight for 3 weeks in Vietnam for November, and I am looking for advice/suggestions on a few things. I am in the super early stages of planning this trip so nothing has been ruled out aside from trying to avoid places where one cant openly drink alcohol.. not that I'm an alcoholic but I think i'd be super bummed if I felt like having a beer while on my vacation but local regulations forbid it. I'm also not spooked by recent events to rule any place out (Bangkok), if its not terries it could be a freak natural disaster. I am aware of the visa process for Vietnam (which I'll be submitting applications for once I figure this part out) the plan is to spend 2 weeks in Vietnam and 1 week in another country ideally with similar qualities but again, im down for whatever. I know its always better to spend more time in 1 place rather than break up your trip to try to see everything, but with flights so cheap and such a diversity of culture and food in such a close proximity I think i'd regret just sticking to 1 country for 3 weeks. Should specify that this will be my first time in Asia but I have backpacked around Europe and South America a fair bit in the past, so i'm not a travelling novice. To give an idea of what I would like to accomplish or avoid for this to be an ideal vacation I would say I want to eat tons of cheap delicious fresh food, and see some cool sights and check out museums or unique attractions. I'm not into the party lifestyle or into the beach life where you lounge around and do nothing, I also would desire no possibility of getting in legit trouble with authorities for doing seemingly normal poo poo. My travel partner is Vietnamese so this should hopefully rule out a lot of potential lost time getting around or dealing with locals. I'm still narrowing down my list of cities to check out for 1 week but my top choices are (based on cheapest flights currently available plugging in different dates in my 3 week window): Hong Kong, Taipei, Bangkok. Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated, i'm not looking to plan this trip down to the hour, but I want to get the major decisions locked in early even though i'm sure last minute flights are perhaps just as available/cheap as getting them months ahead.
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Aug 18, 2015 07:24
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My guess is political, but who knows which faction. A lot of pro-Royalists were also shut out of the military government and have been increasingly vocal about it, then there's the false flag Alex Jones angle. Regardless of who did it, probably don't mill around any of these areas at street level for a while, just in case: Ratchaprasong Victory Monument Democracy Monument Lumpini Military Areas Political Party Headquarters
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Aug 18, 2015 07:29
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I don't mean to be an rear end in a top hat (which people always say right before saying something assholish) but for Thai goons during the coup/last bombing in 2012, was there any sort of noticeable drop in pricing/flights? I don't know prices very well, but I'm staring down $1275 round trip out of SFO to Bangkok and I don't know/think I'll be able to do much better than that... TheKevman fucked around with this message at 07:43 on Aug 18, 2015 |
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Aug 18, 2015 07:41
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TheKevman posted:I don't mean to be an rear end in a top hat (which people always say right before saying something assholish) but for Thai goons during the coup/last bombing in 2012, was there any sort of noticeable drop in pricing/flights? This past Sunday night around Midnight PST, I booked a flight to BKK in December. As of noon Monday PST it hadn't dropped a dollar.
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Aug 18, 2015 07:49
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Hotels tend to drop first, especially mid-range. You can see some flight sales, but mostly they drop last because of the amount of revenue management investment that goes into operating a route. Right now I wouldn't expect much change unless events continue. After the last decade, the world has a built-in tolerance for low level entropy in Thailand and you won't see much dropoff from a single incident (there is a large hiccup in bookings in the week after this kind of thing, though) and not many cancellations. If there's another bomb or violent event, or another major event - especially something ongoing like a live-in protest - then you might see more major dropoff. I'm seeing a little tension from people we deal with, but no cancellations as of yet.
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Aug 18, 2015 08:06
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Well, add Thaksin (Central) Pier to the list of places to avoid. Yeesh. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/security/659988/bomb-tossed-at-sathorn-pier-no-injuries Could be one of the neverending stash of M79 grenades or could just be some prankster with a ping pong bomb, who knows.
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Aug 18, 2015 08:47
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ja_raul posted:I am in the super early stages of planning this trip so nothing has been ruled out aside from trying to avoid places where one cant openly drink alcohol.. not that I'm an alcoholic but I think i'd be super bummed if I felt like having a beer while on my vacation but local regulations forbid it. I'm also not spooked by recent events to rule any place out (Bangkok), if its not terries it could be a freak natural disaster. What makes you think there might be places where one can't drink, in Vietnam? 
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Aug 18, 2015 14:55
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Senso posted:What makes you think there might be places where one can't drink, in Vietnam? He's not going for the temples.
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Aug 18, 2015 15:11
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ReindeerF posted:Well, add Thaksin (Central) Pier to the list of places to avoid. Yeesh. I mean.. At least you guys are in the low tourist season right now, right? Western tourists will have totally forgotten about this nonsense by the time December rolls around.
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Aug 18, 2015 15:57
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Senso posted:What makes you think there might be places where one can't drink, in Vietnam? I'm definitely aware that drinking is not a problem in Vietnam, I was more concerned with finding a 2nd country to visit for a week with harsh regulations. But that being said if a place is worth going to for x reason i'll put up with those crappy rules, i'd just rather avoid it. Another question: my partner is looking to bring over clothes/toys to Vietnam to donate to a local charity once we land in Vietnam, will this appear sketchy? Are we better off donating cash, or buying gifts there? I don't mind answering odd questions, and I would hope that the x-rays at the airport would rule out any smuggling suspicions.. it would suck to bring a suitcase full of toys and have them all shredded in search for nothing.. Shanghai is another top contender but it just seems so far away, but if flights are cheap and the dates line up I may look into heading out there for a week. I'll start researching other cities in China to possibly visit, but probably on the southern end of the country.
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Aug 18, 2015 16:17
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ja_raul posted:I'm definitely aware that drinking is not a problem in Vietnam, I was more concerned with finding a 2nd country to visit for a week with harsh regulations. But that being said if a place is worth going to for x reason i'll put up with those crappy rules, i'd just rather avoid it. Other than in like Aceh or some remote parts of southern Thailand, you'll have no problems drinking anywhere. ja_raul posted:Another question: my partner is looking to bring over clothes/toys to Vietnam to donate to a local charity once we land in Vietnam, will this appear sketchy? Are we better off donating cash, or buying gifts there? I don't mind answering odd questions, and I would hope that the x-rays at the airport would rule out any smuggling suspicions.. it would suck to bring a suitcase full of toys and have them all shredded in search for nothing.. You'll be fine bringing toys. Apart from sex toys, which are forbidden, they're not going to cause any problems with kid toys, I'm not sure what you thought the rules were. Of course if you're bringing 20 identical toys in their boxes, they may think that you're importing for commercial purposes and want to tax it. But if it's just a suitcase of random toys and gifts they're not gonna care.
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Aug 18, 2015 16:28
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Here's the guy that blew up the shrine: Those are the clearest images of him from the video. In the video he sits down, shrugs off his backpack, immediately stands up and hurries away. Supposedly he got on a motorbike taxi just afterward and left the area. The bomb went off just a minute or two after he was gone. He might be Thai, I can't be sure, but my immediate reaction on seeing the photo was that he's white.
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Aug 18, 2015 18:27
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Everyone is pretty much saying he is a clone of Tsarnaev. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...-injection.html
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Aug 18, 2015 18:30
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His posture and the way he moves around really doesn't seem Thai at all to me.
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Aug 18, 2015 18:31
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Sheep-Goats posted:
That was what I thought, although I also thought that was just me not knowing Thai people well enough. Dude looks like a white nerd though.
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Aug 18, 2015 20:38
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You have to appreciate that he took the time to wear a yellow outfit. Some people were like, hey, he's a yellow shirt, but obviously anybody could wear a yellow outfit. Anyway, I found that moderately amusing. I'm sure reddit will find some missing Indian kid to blame.
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Aug 18, 2015 22:23
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ReindeerF posted:You have to appreciate that he took the time to wear a yellow outfit. Some people were like, hey, he's a yellow shirt, but obviously anybody could wear a yellow outfit. Anyway, I found that moderately amusing. I'm sure reddit will find some missing Indian kid to blame. Not yet but they did find his shirt 
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Aug 19, 2015 06:12
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ReindeerF posted:You have to appreciate that he took the time to wear a yellow outfit. Some people were like, hey, he's a yellow shirt, but obviously anybody could wear a yellow outfit. Anyway, I found that moderately amusing. I'm sure reddit will find some missing Indian kid to blame. Speaking of scapegoats, I'm really curious how the police are going to find a way to tie the red shirt conspiracy onto whatever Burmese migrants they round up
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Aug 19, 2015 06:30
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The box of school and art supplies I sent months ago finally made it to Laos. Behold: the only Lao temple to have it's own Spyrograph kit. Not gonna lie, I teared up a little. It's nice when a plan actually goes the way you hope it will. Sorry, shoulda resized that. Pixelante fucked around with this message at 07:03 on Aug 19, 2015 |
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Aug 19, 2015 06:58
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https://twitter.com/RichardBarrow/status/633908305857941505?s=04 Some suspicious looking objects at BTS Nana. I have to go to the UK passport office next week, right next to BTS Nana.  Also I can't believe people are getting so close to what could be a bomb ready to explode. E: Looks like a false alarm, the BTS station is open again already. Bardeh fucked around with this message at 09:15 on Aug 19, 2015 |
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Aug 19, 2015 09:07
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When I was last in bkk in April, they had metal detectors/cursory bag checks on the MRT, but not on the skytrain. Which is still a joke really since they didn't check you if, for example, you had a wheeled suitcase that would take too long to open. I saw on fb they now have installed metal detectors at the Chiang mai night safari, typical knee jerk security reaction that doesnt achieve anything except inconvenience. Buy shares in G4S, tourism's loss is their gain.
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