FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Vice Blog

Bangkok - Coup Is No Big Deal

Tuesday night in Bangkok and the phone rang. A friend, who has contacts in the Thai Army, dropped me a line. He'd just been told not to go out, as something dangerous was about to happen. I thought he was having a laugh and cracked up, but sure enough the army soon got the party started…

I got a few calls from mates claiming tank sightings on a major road into town. Was this really possible?

Then the Thai TV cut out and switched to images of the Thai monarch, along with some pretty swinging music. "Amazing Thailand", sure enough. Soon Thai internet sites and chat rooms were awash with news and sightings of tanks rolling through the rain.

Many tourists were caught off guard and seemed pretty panicked at first, but most Bangkok residents and ex-pats seemed pretty excited and smiles were everywhere. Far from an atmosphere of fear, most seemed to know that the end had come for PM Mr. Thaksin (aka "Toxin" or "Thug Sin" among his critics) and were rapidly becoming jubilant as soldiers wearing yellow ribbons symbolizing their devotion to the Thai king arrived.

For most people here this coup is a pretty good thing, which is hard to understand from a western perspective, but easy enough for those westerners who have lived here during Thaksin's regime. I say regime because it wasn't a fair or truly democratic system at all, and Thaksin and his cronies have been right royally screwing people left right and centre and buying up the farmer's votes and those in charge of the checks and balances.

Far from cowering in fear and avoiding the tanks and troops, many Bangkokians were out on Wednesday giving roses and gifts to the troops, hanging around smiling and taking photos. Tourists joined the impromptu fun. Some kids were checking out the cool looking tanks.

These guys are seen as heroes to many Thais, and frankly I can't disagree with them. Anyway, perhaps I'm biased because Wednesday was declared a national holiday, thus giving me the day off. How often do you get the day off because of a military coup eh?