The Thailand military seized control of the government in a coup last Thursday. As the Thais say, it's about time. They have had political unrest for about 6 months. Military took over and instilled militia law. Thailand has had 18 coups in 82 years, some successful and some not. Only 6 days in to this coup and from my point of view it has been relatively peaceful.
First day of the coup gave an uneasy feeling purely because of the unknown. It all happened so quickly. My phone started lighting up around 4:30 with alerts, by 6:30 TV was cut, 7pm a curfew was put in place and by 9:30 school was canceled. Social media was lit up with all kinds of talk and it was rumored that we were going to lose internet. Never did lose internet. Erin was stuck at the mall with KB and I was on edge.
Erin finally arrived home and things started to calm down. School was called and everyone got out of bed to celebrate the coup day, can't have snow days so we have coup days.
Poor Walter is in India and missing all the excitement. Don't worry I always make him feel included 😜
I probably sent him 50 texts with in an hour window, from sheer panic driven texts to relaxed and calm texts.
Despite the coup life has continued normally. Monday TV came back, you don't see any sign of military where I live, kids are back to school and the only thing still in place is the curfew.
This curfew thing has made life tricky. On a normal school night not a big deal. Curfew is from 10pm to 5am. This curfew was put in place on a Thursday night right before the weekend. Erin's prom was this weekend. The prom was held at the Hilton from 5:45 - 8:45 now that is a party!! She made the best of it and it was truly a memorable night. She is still deciding if that is good thing or a bad thing.
Walter and I had a party on Saturday night as well. Instead of the normal adult start times of 7 or 8pm our party was moved earlier. Hey this curfew doesn't excuse expats. We adults all had to be conscious of our times not just for ourselves but our drivers too. We all agreed we would leave the party at 9 but like teenagers we pushed our luck a little and didn't leave until 9:45. It was like a mass exodus of people quickly leaving and all the drivers lined up outside anxious to get home themselves. Walter and I feeling incredibly guilty that we are late and now KB will be late. I was never very good about curfew when I was a teen can you imagine how difficult it is as an adult especially when your having fun. We arrived home a few minutes after 10 and felt terrible that now KB had to drive home so we padded his wallet a little to make up for it. Money helps with the guilt. He arrived safely home with no issues.
The only thing remains is the curfew and I don't know when that will be lifted. As for any issues we have had none and this coup has not affected us one bit. The army seems to be making strides in unraveling some of the corruption that has taken place. Keeping things peaceful seems to be the goal of the military. None of the airports have been affected and there is no talk of anything like that happening.
This weekend I go to Bangkok and I REaLLY want to go so let's just hope the coup stays on this peaceful journey and gets sorted out quickly.
Cheers from the other side
😘 M
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