johnbernstravelblog

It’s not often you get to see history being made. I wanted desperately to go down to see the tanks on the streets of Bangkok and see what was really happening with the coup.
Even though I was a little nervous that the situation might be unstable, I hopped on my bike and headed down to the center of the government district to see what was going on.

The whole ride was uneventful—it was business as normal all across Bangkok—nothing out of the ordinary at all.

It wasn’t until I reached Si Ayutthaya Road, about a block from Government House, that I saw any soldiers. They had barricaded off the street. People were stopping by and giving the soldiers bottles of cold water, soft drinks, sweets and flowers—and the soldiers were taking the flowers and affixing them to the barricades. It wasn’t exactly the dangerous situation I was expecting. A large stack of goodies and water was piling up by the barricade—people were bringing far more treats to the soldiers than they could eat and drink. The soldiers were sharing their treats and water to anybody that looked hungry or hot.

Across the bridge from the barricades were two tanks. Onlookers had started to gather around the tanks. More flowers were being given to soldier and the soldiers were decorating the tanks with the flowers. People were chatting with the soldiers and posing for pictures in front of the tanks and with the soldiers. It was certainly not a war zone—it was more like a petting zoo with tanks.

I wandered around for a few hours taking pictures. Several times I was given water by the soldiers.

Tour groups stopped by to get pictures in front of the tanks. Small crowds of a dozen people gradually swelled; eventually hundreds—possibly more than a thousand—Thai and foreign onlookers started to gather. The police dropped the barricades and allowed traffic through—they were certainly acting confident that there was no threat of a counter-coup.

It all seemed very organized, very stable and very friendly. No hint of menace at all.