A Very Merry Christmas from the French Alps

Christmas Eve is a time for feasting and festivities in France, and Les Arcs in the Savoie Alps put on its usual spectacular show for December 24th. But behind the scenes town officials and business owners were voicing concerns over the future of winter sports tourism, with bookings outside school holiday dates well down on previous years. Not just fireworks but accommodation, lift pass and food prices have skyrocketed in recent seasons, and the average European snowsports enthusiast is beginning to think twice about the annual holiday on the slopes that he once took for granted.

The not-so-average punters who can afford the five star Arc 1950 resort will be less affected by a worldwide recession, but the plummeting value of the rouble will mean that some Russian visitors (photo) may be feeling the chill - although perhaps not this couple, going by the elegant attire and footwear of the dog!

And across the world back home in Thailand...

With the very evident tightening of belts in Europe and the US, no prospect of an end to the recession in sight, what chance the optimistic pronouncements of the new Thai government on the imminent return of the tourists proving accurate? More hope than certainty perhaps, given the even greater threats to the Thai economy posed by falling exports to the West. With a nation still deeply divided, the Democrats have their work cut out over the next few months. Bets are being taken on the chances of their administration not surviving through to Christmas 2009. The 'redshirt' DAAD supporters are down but not out, and planning a major rally for Sunday 28th. A significant economic downturn could jeopardise the fragile peace, and play right into the hands of the more militant members of the Thaksin camp.

So a volatile and unpredictable situation, although there is at least hope for expats and Brits in particular, reeling from the effects of the strengthening baht! Thai Crisis suggests that Thailand may have to reverse its currency stability policy and stop supporting the baht by selling dollars. Small comfort though, in a country where a key part of the appeal was its incredibly low cost of living, an advantage that is steadily being eroded away in recent years. The expat forums are awash with talk of moving to Laos, Vietnam... not just because of the cheaper prices, but also because of the less protectionist attitude of their respective governments to foreign investment, actively encouraging expat entrepreneurs to set up in business. Hardly the case in Thailand.

Still, I've been in France for barely a week, and the mai pen rai, never mind, live for today attitude of the Thais hasn't faded away completely just yet. So it's back for a Christmas Day's skiing on the snowy slopes of Les Arcs, and the incredible scenery of a part of the world that has so much going for it. Tomorrow's another day. So let it snow, and have a great festive season!

Ice sculpture at Les Arcs

Thaksin phone-in blocked? Angry crowds in Chiang Mai

Ex-premier of Thailand Thaksin Shinawatra was to have taken part in a live phone-in tonight to supporters massed in a Bangkok stadium, and at rallies around Thailand. However there was both anger and disappointment amongst the several thousand strong crowd in Chiang Mai when the authorities allegedly blocked the transmission of his satellite phone call from "somewhere in a neighbouring country". [Ed. at this stage there is no evidence that the phone-in was deliberately blocked. There was pressure on Thaksin to avoid further provocation, even from within the political groups he used to lead]

- technicians and organisers at Chiang Mai DAAD headquarters struggle to establish the satellite uplink, to no avail...

The anger was pretty muted in the circumstances. Imagine the reaction of a crowd somewhere in the West, gathered together at a major rally to listen to a revered, if fugitive former leader, only to be told that the transmission had been deliberately blocked by the authorities of that country. There would be outrage, demonstrations, possibly even riots. However this is Thailand - and there was a certain resignation at a not unexpected turn of events. Thailand's democracy is stuttering, and the prospect of real freedom of expression is even more remote after tonight, according to one of the Chiang Mai organisers.

One of the rally leaders puts on a brave face, but he couldn't mask his disappointment at what he saw as yet another deliberate attempt to stifle the voice of the ordinary Thai people...


Very striking is the composed and orderly nature of every rally I've been to here in Chiang Mai. A far cry from the gangs of stupid thugs that the PAD leaders would have their followers believe are gathering in hordes in the north of the country. With the help of an interpreter, I was able to chat to half a dozen red-shirted followers present at tonight's gathering, and they all expressed an articulate understanding of the issues involved. Hardly the ignorant peasants portrayed by their yellow-shirted opponents.

Plenty of passion - but no aggression

Not a single major Thai TV network broadcast the pre-recorded speech, only showing brief clips of the 50,000 strong gathering at the Bangkok stadium. In the address Thaksin suggested that Thailand was undergoing a "coup d'etat" targeting the newly formed democratic institutions, accusing the military of directly intervening in the current discussions over the formation of a new government.

He also berated PAD for their occupation of the main Bangkok airports, Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang, and appealed for unity.

Earlier in the evening, the Imperial Mae Ping Hotel at 6.30 pm. If the number of lights in the rooms is any indication, occupancy is extremely low, in line with the 10% reported by a number of top hotels in Bangkok

10.30pm, at the What? bar, Loi Kroh. A few expat regulars watch the Liverpool Hull match, barely a farang to be seen in the street outside...

To avoid accusations of bias... here are some yellow-shirts.

Taken in those innocent days when PAD hadn't hijacked the colour for their own purposes, and people happily wore yellow as a sign of respect for the King on a Monday.

Lest it be forgotten that ordinary people are the pawns in the machinations of the powerful as the game plays itself out...

RELATED POSTS:

November 27th - Thailand - Caught in a humiliating political farce
November 28th - Chiang Mai - the calm before the storm?
November 29th - Thai tuk-tuks to face down the tanks
November 29th - Red-shirts rally in Chiang Mai
November 30th - Thailand - the land of worn and tired smiles
December 1st - Crisis in Thailand? What crisis. Mai pen lai
December 3rd - Airport occupation over... or is it?

Crisis in Thailand? What crisis. Mai pen lai ...

It was getting pretty chilly watching the DAAD pro-democracy concert taking place at the Three Kings monument in the centre of the walled city, a tribute to the founders of the city of Chiang Mai. No accident that this location had been chosen – symbolic of the protest movement’s determination to be seen and heard at the heart of the capital of northern Thailand, one of its strongholds.

However even the attractive dancers did little to warm things up in the unseasonal cold, and the music was at least as bad as the racket constantly bombarding listeners to ASTV, the PAD (People’s Alliance for, cough, Democracy) TV propaganda channel. What it must be like for the demonstrators on the spot at Government House and the airport, subjected to a combination of that racket plus megaphone indoctrination all day long, week after week... no wonder they’re all acting so crazy.

Click on any photos in this blog, small or large, to see the full-size photos

At the Chiang Mai concert red shirts were gradually being covered up with other hues of clothing. 6 pm; time to leave.

Plenty of free food on offer at the DAAD (Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship) concert - but with all due respect to this version of Thai music, my ears couldn't take any more

Multiple official warnings from nations around the world are being issued with respect to travel to Thailand, but they are hardly needed - the effects of the crisis are already beginning to bite hard. I mostly avoid the Chiang Mai Sunday Market – overpriced, heaving with bodies, even outside the high season. Usually it feels something like a Bangkok traffic jam – a step forward, a long pause... you spot a small gap to squeeze into, jump in... only for your new lane to grind to a halt as half a dozen battleship-shaped Germans coo over some trinket, oblivious to the effect they are having on traffic flow. The Thais, being excessively polite, never lean on their horns. Everyone waits patiently.

Pretty quiet around the market, whether handicraft or food stalls...

The most direct route back was via the Sunday Market, so I chanced it. Well into the ‘busy’ time of year, yet despite this a first for me – being able to stroll from one end of Walking Street to the other, barely having to break stride.

A group of US tourists without a care in the world... after a few glasses of ginseng wine

Yes there were some people about, but mainly Thais; the farangs were few and far between. The Thai traders’ smiles were firmly fixed in place; but was it my imagination – they seemed a little forced. It was a strange sensation, once out of the highly charged political atmosphere of the concert arena, back amongst ordinary folk just trying to get on with their lives. A recent poll suggested some 60% of Thais were losing interest in the whole long drawn-out debacle. I can understand that – apathy creeping in, along with embarrassment at the loss of face for Thailand on the world stage. But the same 60% also believed that the Thai constitutional courts were best placed to sort out the whole mess in an objective, unbiased manner. Now there’s naivety for you!


There’s so much to be admired about the Thai approach to life, the “sabai sabai, mai pen rai” attitude - roughly equating to the message of the Bob Marley classic “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” - has its good points. Why worry about those things you cannot change? But this mindset has its limitations, leaves Thailand’s people open to exploitation by the more unscrupulous. The “it’ll all turn out alright” approach plays right into the hands of those powerful puppeteers pulling the strings.

Drat .. wanted to avoid politics in this post, and I’ve slipped up several times already!

Still you just can’t avoid the evidence of your own eyes. Loi Kroh Chiang Mai, 8pm Sunday night, and deserted. A sad sight.


On the political front (sorry again ;-) PM Somchai flew back into Chiang Mai at lunchtime today to be greeted by crowds of supporters who ‘escorted’ him back to his home... New appeals were broadcast by military chiefs asking all those involved to step back from confrontation by way of respect for the Monarch’s forthcoming birthday... Ominous threats issued from the same sources however, aimed at the demonstrators (ie the DAAD pro-democracy supporters), warning them of serious consequences should they come out in force after the courts rule on the legitimacy or otherwise of the governing political parties, tomorrow, Tuesday. (I think we all can guess what that decision will be)... The police are dropping fliers from helicopters onto the main Bangkok airport, ordering PAD to leave the premises (riiiight – that’s bound to work)... 240,000 tourists currently stuck in Thailand trying to get a flight out, and counting, tens of thousands more trying to leave each day... violent incidents are spreading ... and even my flight back to France on December 18th is looking a bit touch and go right now.

Still, you never know what tomorrow will bring, so as the Thais say, mai pen lai ...

To finish on a positive note... with a knitting needle and some string ...


... these can be made. Never ceases to amaze me, the creative talents you see on every street corner.

Venus, Jupiter and the crescent Moon in conjunction tonight. Get the distinct feeling that they're having a good laugh at our antics ;-)

Thailand - The Land Of Worn And Tired Smiles

Away from all the polemics, the disinformation spouted by the propaganda machines, the vitriol, the accusations and counter-accusations, the power plays by those hungry for control and self-enrichment, there is another Thailand.

Take away the tiny minority of trouble-makers in the pro-democracy camp, and what do we have left? A mighty majority of ordinary folk who ask only for the right to live in peace, the means to feed and clothe their families, and with a minimum of basic human rights - including one man, one vote.

Here are the real people of the Land Of Smiles.

Which puppeteer will end up pulling the Thai people's strings when this crisis is done?

(All photos from today's pro-democracy rally and concert in Chiang Mai... click on any image to see the full-size photo).