Bangkok, Dangerous?
Saturday night in Bangkok. I stop to watch the moon's reflection in the Klong Rupkrung, the little canal that separates Samsen Road from the old Phra Arthit neighborhood on the Chao Phaya riverside. At 10pm the night is hot enough to cause a few beads of sweat to trickle down the back of my knees. Still and sleepy, the neighborhood moves to a languid, sticky and slow beat.
About two miles away, I know, protesting Thais--the "Red Shirts" are camped out and occupying the city's main intersection. The situation is grave, the politics complicated, and the sides deadlocked. There's been violence: a few weeks ago, on April 10th, 11 people were killed in the political clashes, and hundreds wounded.
That's when many foreign goverments--including mine--issued tourism advisories warning their citizens to avoid travel to Bangkok.
I came anyway. Walking down Phra Arthit road on Saturday night, busy with young Thai kids strolling in the park, hanging out in streetside bars and coffeehouses, listening to folk singers playing guitars, I was glad I did. Without the crowds of backpacking tourists, who seem to grow more numerous every year, this lovely old corner of the Bangkok riverside felt completely--and wonderfully--Thai.
Do I recommend ignoring travel advisory warnings? Yes--sometimes. Too often government advisories are written as a "one size fits all", and pitched to the least experienced, most fearful, traveler. Also, governments tend to hoist warning signals these days at the slightest of provocations. You almost wonder whether govenments are trying to protect tourists, or avoid trouble for themselves (for if something does go wrong, the government may have to finance evacuations and/or arrange flights out of a troubled area for its nationals).
Still, when a warning sign does go up, I do pay attention.
And then I do my own research.
I didn't really worry much about going to Bangkok in the middle of a political crisis. I've been to the city dozens of times, know it well, follow the politics closely. I knew that the demonstrations were happening in two distinct and well-defined areas of the city that I could easily avoid if need be (Bangkok is a sprawling city of separate neighborhoods.)
Most importantly, I have local friends I can rely on (one of them is even a policeman). Before buying my ticket, I phoned them to see what things were like on the ground. And they said: It's fine. But traffic is bad and the shopping malls in Siam Square are closed.
The traffic, I laughed, is always bad in Bangkok. And the closed shopping malls sounded like a big plus to me (and to my pocketbook).
For a traveler on a budget like me there are advantages to traveling where you're not "supposed" to go. I got a great deal, nearly 40% off, on a hotel room. Taxis were easy to find, restaurants not crowded. (The tourist advisories are killing small businesses in Bangkok. I tipped extra, everywhere.)
But the real bonus to traveling against the grain isn't financial. It is an empty lane, a quiet moon over the canal, and the sound of laughter and Thai folk music floating in the velvet Bangkok night.
Empty road near the Pra Sumen fort, Saturday May 2nd, Bangkok.
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