You Say You Want A Revolution? Well... You Know.

Thailand's military finally threw out Prime Minister Thaksin (and the rest of the government) last night at around 9:00 while he was off in New York. Bangkok is under martial law, I've heard. Farangs on the PattayaSecrets board are, as expected, running around doing their chicken little routine "The property prices are falling! The property prices are falling!"

The schools and banks and government offices are closed today, and so far the king hasn't had anything to say.

There is a tank parked at the end of my street, and troops are banging on doors looking for traitors to the cause. We are huddled here in the dark with only the light of a storm lantern for warmth and hope. Gunfire crackles in the distance and occasionally a mortar round makes a hollow boom. Large crowds of druken tourists are being rounded up by angry-yet-triumphant members of the revolutionary forces to be taken to as-yet-undetermined places for interrogation. The local Thai population is taking a wait-and-see approach, mostly hiding, but occasionally coming out to wave to the passing troop trucks, with their rifles bristling erect against the wind like miniature sequoias.

No mom, of course that's not real.

Anyway, this was pretty much a done deal the moment the elections were tossed out a few months back. Besides, it's been 15 years since a revolution, and all my "Revolution Rocks" party favors and "I'm Cuckoo for Cool Coups" T-shirts were in dire need of an airing out.

I like this picture from Reuters:
See? If this were one of those big, scary revolutions, the soldiers wouldn't have put a traffic cone next to the tank to keep the passing vehicles safe. Ergo: Nothing to worry about.