After being in Thailand for just over a year, I have been through 2 red shirt protests which have both gotten out of hand. The red shirts have paralyzed the city demanding change. But is being in Bangkok really as dangerous as the media makes out? I don’t think so.

Some international media make out that everyone is killing each other, but the fact is only the red shirts and the army have been fighting in a few areas in and around Bangkok. Are the red shirts the terrorists as everyone claims? Maybe, maybe not, as I do not have the full understanding on what is happening. I think this is for Thai’s to figure out and it would not be fair if I write who is bad or who is good in this conflict, but I do have an opinion.

I have talked to yellow, red, multi colored supporters and can confirm most of them want to protest peacefully, although I have heard some disturbing reactions towards the other supporters/leaders, but this might just be hot air.

I sure we have heard claim s that many red shirt supporters have been paid to support them, which the red shirt leaders have denied. I can tell you that I have seen with my own 2 eyes people handing out 500 baht to supporters, I have even spoken to supporters who have admitted to me that they are only supporting the red shirts because they are broke and really need the money. Whether this money came from the leaders or sponsors is not known, I think we have a fairly good idea.

I think this conflict will be very hard to solve, I have read many forums, articles of how to easily fix the situation, but all these so called easy fixes are not looking at the long term. I do not have a solution, this is something will go on for years if Thailand is not careful.

Anyway, I am not here to talk about my thoughts on Thai politics, I just wanted to tell people that Bangkok is not in civil war (as of right now) as some media sources may have you to believe, traveling in Bangkok is relatively safe if your a tourist and want to do touristy things, if ou don;t put on a red shirt charging at the army with a stick or calling the red shirts muppets, then this conflict will not effect you at all. If you have a flight booked and you can move it o a later date, then go for it, but if you have a discounted flight where you can not change days and may lose a lot of money, I say you should come. Just use some common sense and everything will be fine, but this is just my opinion on the current crisis in Thailand.

Don Carswell is publisher on Thailand who you can ask about anything on Thailand.
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