Red Shirt Turmoil

So, apparently today while we were out conducting research in the village the Thai military storm the Red Shirt camp in Bangkok and forced the leaders of the rebel group to surrender. As a result, members of the party located in other parts of Thailand, mainly E-San, or the Northeast (where Khon Kaen is located) decided to demonstrate their dislike of the situation by burning down buildings, including Khon Kaen city hall, a government run broadcasting station across the street from Khon Kaen University (KKU) and Udon city hall (where a nurse from the village offered to take me when I stay in the village overnight).


On our ride home from the village, our first clue that something was amiss was the giant cloud of smoke emanating from somewhere near downtown. Shortly thereafter the retarded traffic began. Our translators immediately became concerned because in all of their time at KKU they had never seen such terrible traffic. I mean, it was bad. At one point I had to pee so badly I thought I was going to pass out, so two of the translators and I jumped out of the van, went inside a local business to pee and came back out with plenty of time to get back into the van exactly where we had left it.


One of the interpreters had a voicemail from Prof. Darani (who owns the dormitories we are living in) notifying us that our trips to the villages tomorrow would be cancelled and that we needed to be at the Faculty of Nursing at 8:30. We later learned that there is a curfew in place from 8PM to 6AM and that if the political situation gets any worse all power and communication networks will be shut down. This brings me to the current blog post. I was going to wait to post my journal in order, but I wanted to get this information out there first in the event that the situation escalates.


Currently, I am recharging every piece of electronic equipment I brought with me in the event that the government decides to shut off the power in the city. It's sad that such a wonderful day in the village has turned into a frenzy over political unrest. I find it hard to believe that a country as stable as Thailand that has been without conflict of any kind for so many years should suddenly go into a tailspin a few days after I arrive. I mean, I knew I had that effect on men, but I had no idea I transcended boundaries.