Update

We have received a few e-mails from concerned people due to the unrest that’s going on over here. However, for our Lincoln friends it just so happens that all of this is going on during the first week of football and as we all know the world revolves around the Big Red Machine at this time.

Here’s a quick recap: the ex-prime minister Thaksin was ousted and charged with corruption and a whole slew of other allegations. His wife has already been tried and charged. They allowed both of them to go to the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in which he fled to the UK. He is absolutely loaded and is the owner of a soccer team there. Pretty much this guy is pretty unsavory and will likely be put to death if he ever comes back (hence the UK won’t extradite him). So this new PM has been in power for only about 9 months and the PAD (People’s Advocacy for Democracy) says that he is just Thaksin’s puppet and want him to resign. Well the PAD organized and stormed in and took over a state run television network, they are camped out and protesting in the Government’s House (which is the PM’s residence). Friday they demonstrated in the airports at Krabi and Phuket and the railroads have all shut down in support of the PAD. It’s been largely non-violent except for a little incident where there was a skirmish. There are warrant’s out for the head PAD leaders as well as a mandate to get the protesters out of the Government’s House. So far the King has had a special meeting with the PM (he usually stays out of the politics of this country) and right now there is a parliament meeting to discuss how best to go about everything. As of now the military is with the PM but an ex-general with power wants him out so if the military is swayed he’ll be out! Good news is the king won’t allow a bloody coup…meaning they won’t go into a civil war or anything. Believe it or not this one man has that much power. Today the airports opened back up but the railroads are still closed.

It’s a little volatile right now but as long as you stay away from the troubled spots you are fine. With that said Allison and I are headed to Krabi tomorrow!! J (don’t worry mom it’s not bad down there, just at the airport). We were planning on taking the train which is the way to go, but we obviously can’t do that now so we are taking a 14 hour bus ride. We will go and visit a bunch of the islands and relax a bit.

I know I’m not making good with my promises on posting more believe me it’s not due to a lack of things to report but I’ve been very busy with ActionAid Thailand and now with Allison here only one of us can be on the internet at a time so it gets a little difficult to manage. But everyone is fine and dandy over here and we are excited to hit the beach!

Saturday we went to a Muay Thai match and it was one of the craziest things I’ve been too. Matt and Brooke knew a guy from the movie set they worked on together so we went with him and he knew the owner of the gym so we got in for free and sat literally 10 feet away from the ring. We saw 6 matches and these guys are crazy as is the crowd…you had everything from bookies, low-middle class people to the mob and people that were throwing down 300,000 Baht on matches. No, we are not betting the way they do it is impossible to understand. We saw a kid get knocked out and another one broke his shin. Definitely an intense intense sport.

Besides that I went to Laos for about 3 days to the capital. It was very sad, for the capital of a country and there was nothing going on there! I can’t believe how much I take for granted the little knowledge I have of Thai…because in Laos there is NO Thai or English spoken. It was very difficult to communicate and almost starved because I couldn’t order food. But it was an experience at the least. I met a few people on my travels, as always, and unfortunately I see them and it scares me that these people are out in the world. It amazes me how people twist and turn and try to cover-up who and what they are. Then the next guy behind them is proud of who and what he is and does. However if you are buying human lives I suppose your conscious has gone out the window a long time ago. It only fuels my drive to help ActionAid and the things they are trying to accomplish.

Also Brooke went on a 10 day meditation retreat where there was no absolutely no talking. Obviously not something I can do but she said it was amazing and wants to do another one. It gives you a unique insight into yourself and helps you to figure out your internal problems. Something we all probably could use but few have the ware withal to go about it.

I hear our football team won but didn’t look to impressive, I only hope that you all had a beer for me and cheered extra loud. Hopefully we will come around. I miss football so much and will let you know if I find a place to watch it.

Thanks again for your concerns and keeping tabs on us! We are all fine, safe, and having a blast. I’ll be sure to post something once I get back from the island! For more information on the political unrest over here

Here’s to you,Ryan