Nothing Happens in Bangkok

I mentioned not too long ago that things were starting to heat up around Bangkok. Fugitive former PM Thaksin was about to find out from the Thai supreme court whether or not the government was just in seizing $2.2 billion from him after the coup that threw him from power. Well, the verdict came down the last Friday in Feb and the word from the court was that about $1.1 billion was properly seized but the rest was his.

Sort of a win-win or lose-lose depending on how you look at it. Well, it wasn’t that easy. Once the supreme court said that he had obtained these funds via illegal actions while in power that brought every government agency to now take a crack at old Khun Thaksin.

For instance, now that it’s been declared that he used his office to benefit companies that he held significant ownership in the government is now looking at those companies and their officers and directors. Part of how Mr. Thaksin sidestepped the issue at the time was “selling” his shares to his children, housekeeper, and some others close to him. Well, the court said that the sale was a farce and that he was actually in control of those shares but . . . get this . . . the tax boys are saying regardless, those people never paid taxes on the proceeds of the later sale of their shares so they owe millions in back taxes. Not a great day to be a friend of family member of the former PM.

His supporters figured they couldn’t get a rally going on such short notice (uhm, the court had announced months ahead of time what day they would render their ruling – but let’s forget about that) and they would stage a “massive” rally in Bangkok March 12 – 14. The local press has been going absolutely nuts talking about where the protesters are staging, how to avoid trouble, what emergency rations you should keep in your house if all hell breaks loose, etc.

Depending on what numbers you believe, about 300,000 – 500,000 people have amassed in the capital to basically say “Hey, give the rich dude back his money.” Well, I guess to be fair, they’re saying that removing Thaksin via the coup was illegal and thus the government in charge is not a legitimate government but let’s be realistic . . . this whole thing is about Thaksin wanting to get back in power so he can overturn his conviction, declare that his money was seized illegally, and take control again.

So, you would think that the place is on the verge of civil war, right? Really, things seem pretty calm. Other than the police being everywhere and the military situated in key places where protesters might make trouble I’ve really seen nothing that would lead me to any concern.

In fact, so many people were so concerned about potential violence that on Friday night traffic was the lightest I’ve seen in Bangkok in as long as I can remember. I asked some local business owners about the impact and they’ve said that foot traffic from tourists is definitely down but their regular customers are still coming.

As for me, even though there was a supposed large gathering of protestors about two and a half blocks from my apartment I’ve only seen two protesters. It was actually funny on Friday, my building manager stopped me when I went down to the mini-mart and said “Khun Bill, maybe today you can stay in your room. Not good for you to go outside today. Maybe go outside Bangkok if you can.” She was obviously very stressed as were the security staff in the building.

But other than some isolated fights here and there between Thaksin supporters and those who wish he would just STFU, not much has really happened.

In poker related news I met up with Tim from Pokerology for some pool and shop talk at Sports Academy last week. Then he headed down to Phuket with some friends and met up with one of the Poker Affiliate Solutions regulars, Hazo, down there.

Hazo called me on Friday to say that he was coming up to Bangkok. He and I had exchanged some emails recently. He’s moving to Thailand and so I gave him some advice on where to hunt for apartments and such.

We missed each other on Friday due to some mobile phone malfunctions on Hazo’s part but we met up at a Thailand Friends event for one of our member’s birthdays. After the birthday party I took him over to one of my favorite haunts on Soi 22 where a friend of mine owns a bar.

There’s a rumor that one of my good, good friends and former Party cohorts will be here on the 18th. He’s almost made it to Bangkok once or twice in the past so I’m still regarding it as rumor until I actually see him sweating profusely in the hot Bangkok sun but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.