Coup d'état Thailand

Millions of Thai citizens seem to be happy with the coup d'etat

After over 6 months of peaceful non-violent citizen anti-government protests held mostly in Bangkok, the situation slowly began to esculate toward violence. As the political gap widened between the two sides, something needed to be done to avoid more killing and splitting the country.  So the Military took over control of Thailand with martial law, ready with tanks and guns if necessary. It also rescinded the constitution to avoid further violence as the two political parties were at a standoff and neither would budge. This is not a new thing to Thailand as the country has had 12 military “coups". The only thing I noticed was the day after the coup, all schools were closed for one day while all the protesters were dispersed and told to go home and a curfew was put into place. Now less than one month later there has been no violence and Thailand has begun the slow process of resolution and avoided a revolution.

On Friday, July 14th Thailand's military government has fully lifted a night curfew it imposed nationwide after seizing power last month, May 22nd. Now the "Thai Happiness" campaign begins. One of the first things the takeover did was to pay the rice farmers what they had been promised by a corrupt government who said it didn't have the money to pay them.

Singing at the Bangkok Airport, "nothings going to change my love for you"

"The overall situation has been resolved and there is no tendency toward possible violence. Therefore, in order to relieve and mitigate the impact on people's daily lives, and to boost tourism by Thais and foreigners, the curfew order is being canceled in the rest of the country," the junta said in a statement issued over all domestic TV stations.

Coup d'état Thailand -- Is it safe to come here?

YES. Very safe! To date the coup has been completely peaceful, so come and enjoy Thailand with the caveat that the driving can be crazy and normal crime never goes away. But on the balance, it is as safe to come here as it is to go to Florida. (Much safer than some parts of Florida or the US.)

With a Thai "Wi" a greeting of honour and respect with hands held in a lotus flower position, a peaceful Thailand welcomes one and all. Blessings!

Full Moon and Wi Kru

Friday, June 13th evening offered a great viewing opportunity of the "strawberry"or "honey moon" of June. Astronomers say on average, this event occurs once about every 14.3 years.  Interestingly I was married on June 13th in 1963, but the moon wasn't full and the marriage ended after 25 years.  Friday the 13th hasn't fallen on the same day as a full Moon since Oct. 13, 2000 (I was sixty), and it won't happen again until Aug. 13, 2049, and I will be 109 years old then! Just not sure where I will be viewing it...
One of the nicest holidays that we have in Thailand is "Wi-Kru day" (kru is the Thai word for Teacher and wi is the greeting done with hands in a prayer position). It is a day of honoring TEACHERS! Imagine that???
This year we had an entire school of over 800 students present flowers on their knees and bow to show respect and gratitude to their teachers, a very moving ceremony and one of the reasons I LOVE teaching in Thailand.
Culturally the order of respect and importance in the country is; #1 the King, #2 the Monks and #3 the Teachers, with elders, parents and family following in that order. So young people grow up honoring teachers and their elders, what a concept!

 The floral presentations are exquisite works of art. The arrangement with the candle is presented by the boys, the one without, given by the girls.

Enjoying Wi-Kru and Full Moon with my Thai friends

Buddha Blessings from Thailand and Many Happy Full Moons