As everyone knows, there has been recent political turmoil in Bangkok. The airports in Bangkok were closed for a week and a half and are now open for departures and arrivals. Oriana and I have closely followed current news reports from the BBC and The Bangkok Post, as well as CNN. I urge anyone concerned with our safety and security to check these sights for current information. I've included a few recent posts:
Thai flights resume after week of protests
Story Highlights
International flights to and from Thailand's capital are gradually resuming
Anti-government protests that stranded tourists at Bangkok airports end
Constitutional court dissolves Somchai's ruling party, government
People Power Party members likely to maintain grip on power
However, the prospect of renewed political chaos was raised as a party that was forced from office amid the protests prepared to regroup to maintain its grip on power.
A passenger jet took off from Bangkok's main airport for Sydney, Australia, on Wednesday evening, the first international flight departing from Suvarnabhumi airport since protesters seized the airport November 25.
Vudhibhandhu Vichairatana, chairman of the board of directors of Airports of Thailand, said operations at Suvarnabhumi international airport would return to normal in "a few days."
Cargo, military and emergency flights from the international airport resumed Tuesday afternoon, spokeswoman Monrudee Kettuphan said.
The protesters ended their siege early Wednesday after the Constitutional Court dissolved Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat's ruling party, effectively dissolving his government.
Somchai's government is accused by the protesters of being a front for Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra, whom they want to stand trial on corruption charges.
The court found that the
People Power Party committed electoral fraud, and it barred
Somchai and other top party officials from from holding public office for five years. The decision wrapped up months of opposition protests in
Bangkok that have driven government officials from their offices in addition to shutting down the airport.
But in an effort to sidestep the ruling, lawmakers with Somchai's party reformed under a new name Wednesday in a move that will allow them to retain their grip on power, a tactic sure to rile anti-government protesters.
Non-executive People Power Party members are free to retain their status as lawmakers if they can find a new party to accept them within 60 days, in this case the Puea Thai party, which welcomed a mass exodus of People Power Party members Wednesday.
The court's decision, therefore, was akin to a time-out during a game, and Thailand's political crisis is expected to continue, analysts say.
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Thailand's political crisisThe former People Power Party members have no plans to dissolve parliament, said Subharat Nakboonnam, a spokeswoman for the caretaker government. They will hold a special session next week to vote for a new prime minister, she said.
CNN's Dan Rivers in Bangkok said the court's ruling was little more than a face-saving resolution for the airport protesters, increasingly desperate and isolated as Thais became angered by the blockade, and would change little.
"This is merely the interval between acts; the PAD protest show and the Thaksin puppetry are about to start all over again," he said.
This week's court ruling was the second time in three months that Thailand's courts have removed a prime minister from the People Power Party, which took office after elections in December 2007. The ruling also dissolved two of the party's coalition partners over allegations of vote-rigging.
The week-long siege at Suvarnabhumi and a smaller airport, Don Muang, had a devastating effect on Thailand's vital tourism industry.
About 60,000 tourists arrive at Suvarnabhumi every day. And each day it remained shut down, airport authorities lost about 50 million baht ($1.4 million) in income, according to the Thai News Agency.
In addition, the shutdown stranded more than 100,000 tourists in hotels around Bangkok, unable to fly home.
Shammi Huda, a British citizen in Thailand for knee surgery, was holed up Wednesday in a luxury hotel in the heart of Bangkok with his wife and 15-month-old daughter -- at an airline's expense.
"Aside from the uncertainty of when we can fly back, there's no palpable feeling in the air that such a momentous thing has been happening outside," he said.
E-mail to a friendWal-Mart shopping incident:
(CBS/AP) Police were reviewing video from surveillance cameras in an attempt to identify who trampled to death a Wal-Mart worker after a crowd of post-Thanksgiving shoppers burst through the doors at a suburban store and knocked him down. Criminal charges were possible, but identifying individual shoppers in Friday's video may prove difficult, said Detective Lt. Michael Fleming, a Nassau County police spokesman. Other workers were trampled as they tried to rescue the man, and customers stepped over him and became irate when officials said the store was closing because of the death, police and witnesses said. At least four other people, including a woman who was eight months pregnant, were taken to hospitals for observation or minor injuries. The store in Valley Stream on Long Island closed for several hours before reopening. Police said about 2,000 people were gathered outside the Wal-Mart doors before its 5 a.m. opening at a mall about 20 miles east of Manhattan. The impatient crowd knocked the employee, identified by police as Jdimytai Damour, to the ground as he opened the doors, leaving a metal portion of the frame crumpled like an accordion. "This crowd was out of control," Fleming said. He described the scene as "utter chaos," and said the store didn't have enough security. Dozens of store employees trying to fight their way out to help Damour were also getting trampled by the crowd, Fleming said. Shoppers stepped over the man on the ground and streamed into the store. Damour, 34, of Queens, was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 6 a.m., police said. The exact cause of death has not been determined. A 28-year-old pregnant woman was taken to a hospital, where she and the baby were reported to be OK, said police Sgt. Anthony Repalone. Kimberly Cribbs, who witnessed the stampede, said shoppers were acting like "savages." "When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling `I've been on line since yesterday morning,"' she said. "They kept shopping." Wal-Mart Stores Inc., based in Bentonville, Ark., called the incident a "tragic situation" and said the employee came from a temporary agency and was doing maintenance work at the store. It said it tried to prepare for the crowd by adding staffers and outside security workers, putting up barricades and consulting police. "Despite all of our precautions, this unfortunate event occurred," senior Vice President Hank Mullany said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those impacted." A woman reported being trampled by overeager customers at a Wal-Mart opening Friday in Farmingdale, about 15 miles east of Valley Stream, Suffolk County police said. She suffered minor injuries, but finished shopping before filling the report, police said. Shoppers around the country line up early outside stores on the day after Thanksgiving in the annual bargain-hunting ritual known as Black Friday. It got that name because it has historically been the day when stores broke into profitability for the full year. Items on sale at the Valley Stream Wal-Mart included a Samsung 50-inch Plasma HDTV for $798, a Bissel Compact Upright Vacuum for $28, a Samsung 10.2 megapixel digital camera for $69 and DVDs such as "The Incredible Hulk" for $9.
Oriana and I are pumped for our travels throughout Southeast Asia. We feel confident and secure in our journey, and look forward to sharing the experiences with all of you.
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