Firstly, let me just say we are safe here on Koh Tao.
Secondly, let me reiterate that we are safe on Koh Tao.
Thirdly, mum, dad, we ARE safe.
The first we heard about any trouble on the mainland had been through our families, reporting back what the western media has been reporting. Here on Koh Tao we didn’t notice anything different, it’s currently low season so the lack of tourists didn’t seem amiss anyway.
This is what is happening so far.
- On the mainland, there is to be no gathering of more than five people.
- On the mainland, there is a curfew for locals and tourists between 10pm and 5am.
- This does not apply to travel yet, so you can still take overnight buses or trains.
- Someone reported that the 7/11s are shut on Koh Phangan. This hasn’t been applied to Koh Tao, thank god!
- Some TV channels have been blocked and are playing ‘patriotic’ music all day. The cooking channel is blocked too. I guess it was a threat to national security. Fox Movies is still on, and I can watch repeats of Law & Order on the Diva network.
- My beloved ‘Daily Mail’ website, home to all news that is trashy, weird, and not news, has been blocked by some Thai website. Facebook? Watch this space.
I haven’t really followed the conflict so far, especially since we’re so removed from it all, but I found an interesting and informative article on the current situation.
http://theage.com.au/comment/game-over-for-democracy-in-thailand-20140526-zrord.html
Let’s see what happens in the next few weeks, but for now…
