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All banks to open on Monday Published: 21/05/2010 All commercial banks will open all their Bangkok branches on Monday, except the branches damaged by rioters, chairman of the Thai Bankers Association and president of Kasikorn Bank Prasarn Trairatvorakul said on Friday.

Pattaya has come through this crisis virtually unscathed. It's not over yet, but the crisis part of the crisis seems to be rapidly winding down and each passing hour makes it less and less likely that anything dramatic will happen in Pattaya. Nobody is talking about whether they would stay here, where they would go, or what country they would escape to anymore. Like it or not, the curfew seems to be working well in Pattaya and nearly everyone is willingly cooperating with it in hopes that what has happened in Bangkok and other cities will be prevented in Pattaya. I think the local authorities are to be commended. The only aspects of life out of the ordinary in Pattaya are the curfew, bank closings, and the shopping mall closings. Everywhere other than the mall closing areas in Pattaya is perfectly normal during the day and there has been no trouble of any kind at all. No buildings burnt down. No looting. No shootings. No military presence. No violence. No bullet riddled dead bodies in the streets. No running for cover because of gunfire. No roads blocked. No serious traffic problems. No fear or panic. No evacuations. Within the next couple of days life should return to completely normal in Pattaya and unless something new happens, I think everyone who loves Pattaya ought to consider themselves among the luckiest people in Thailand. What happened in Bangkok and other cities could easily have happened here. Thankfully, it didn't. I'm much happier seeing postings on this board about who is to blame for the crisis and criticizing each other for what is and is not permitted to be posted here than I would be if we had to be reporting about major damage, violence, and problems in Pattaya. Thank goodness that earlier reports of bombs and other problems in Pattaya turned out to be only rumor.

No city-wide water shortage, mayor reassures Pattaya City Council Vimolrat Singnikorn The more than 50 percent drop in the Mabprachan Reservoir and sporadic complaints from eastern Pattaya residents again has some Pattaya City Council members worried about water shortages. Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome ensures city counselors that there will be no water shortage during this dry season. Pattaya Mail - Vol. XVIII No. 21 - Friday May 21 - May 27, 2010 News

SUNEE PLAZA included the following as part of his information: A passenger who arrived late at the airport had no problem coming down to Pattaya in a taxi. No challenges were made. Sunee Plaza, Gay Pattaya, Gay Thailand

UPDATE ON THAILAND 21/05/10 In order to quell any rumours that are going round, we can absolutely confirm from personal observance. This morning the following were open: * Big C South * Friendship * Tukcom * All the small shops we could see * Bank ATMs * Bank exchange windows * The immigration office at Jomtien * The banks themselves were NOT open and said they wouldn

Ok, then I misunderstood you. I thought you were talking about friends or family driving out to the airport to pick up passengers or take passengers to the airport during curfew hours. They have been permitting taxis and van services to take passengers to and from the airport during curfew hours. As long as the passenger has the documentation to prove he is on his way to catch a flight or has just arrived at the airport, they have not been unreasonable about it.

Everybody. I don't see it the way you do at all. I see nothing problematic about any of the posts you cited, although I do agree that one of them is questionable. Regarding my old board, I removed it when the powers-that-were suddenly started blocking web sites. For whatever reason, mine was the first one blocked. At the time, no one had any idea why my site was blocked. Then, next thing we knew the other gay web sites started getting blocked. Even my Thai attorney was unable to find out why these sites were blocked or who blocked them. To this very day we still don't know. Without knowing what was going on or why, I decided not to take any chances. Right or wrong, good idea or bad idea, that was my decision at the time, a decision I'm not so sure I would repeat today. However, regarding the posts you cite I'm whistling in the wind. It's not my decision to make. GT owns this board. He is where the buck stops. He'll be the one to decide whether to agree with you or not and he'll be the one who decides whether to let those posts stand or whether to remove them. I'm not going to remove them because I don't see them as dangerous posts. Don't forget, GT is looking for "a few good men" to join us as moderators. If you feel strongly about those posts, I would be delighted if you wish to join us as a moderator.

I don't know. A curfew is a curfew. I doubt such an explanation would be accepted for private vehicles and the the odds of being arrested are too great. I certainly would not ask someone to take that risk just so I can save taxi fare and between police and soldiers stopping the vehicle, I would doubt the driver would ever make it to the airport anyway. I think passengers arriving during curfew hours are just going to have to open their wallets and take a taxi until the curfew is lifted.

Air passengers can travel to and from airport during curfew hours BANGKOK, May 20 (TNA)

I agree. You have all the free speech you want in Thailand. Free speech means you are entitled to voice criticism of the government without fear of penalty. But under Thai law it is a serious violation, a very serious violation to voice criticism of the monarchy. Thailand also has libel laws that differ from the libel laws of most western countries. Those kinds of posts are what we object to and will not permit. What we are being asked by some to do is to permit this board to operate in violation of Thai law, thus placing the board owner and moderators at legal risk. That is something I absolutely refuse to do. If that makes me a "nervous nellie," then I'm a nervous nellie. I don't know anyone who posts on these boards qualified to interpret Thai law for me. I've said it before and I'll repeat it now - there is no way I will tolerate being placed in legal jeopardy for the sake of message board posts. I have yet to ever see anything so profoundly important that it just cries out to be placed on a message board despite placing the board owners and moderators at risk. If we are being asked to permit the envelope to be pushed so that political discussions don't have to be "farcical," then either don't have those kinds of discussions on this board or start your own board and you be the one who places yourself at risk. For some strange reason, I don't see very many of the critics starting their own boards. I think it is quite well known that I have the greatest respect for Hedda, but I really don't think it will be very much help to me if the police come knocking at my door when I tell them, "But Hedda said it's ok." If such a thing ever happens, I'm sure the police will listen intently to my arguments - all the way downtown.

I think it would be even better if the bars would consider opening during the day. Since the shopping malls are closed, I think they would get a lot more customers looking for something to do and someplace to go. Also, while it is good they are opening from 6:00pm to 9:00pm, that's when most customers are going to have to decide whether to go to the bars or have dinner at a reasonable hour. If special permission is needed by the powers-that-be to open during the day, along with a temporary suspension of that asinine "no liquor sales between 2:00pm-5:00pm" rule, I think it would be a good idea to try to get it, especially if the curfew ends up extended even further.

Pattaya under curfew for a further 3 days – UPDATE On Wednesday Night at 8pm, Pattaya Police backed up by Pattaya City Hall Security Officers began a tour of the city and ordered all establishments, including Bars, Discotheques, Banks, Shopping Centers and Convenience Stores, to comply with a Curfew order issued by Thailand’s Prime Minister earlier on Wednesday. The order came into force at 8pm and lasted until 6am on Thursday and we have been informed that a further 3 days of curfew are planned from Thursday until Saturday starting at 9pm and finishing at 5am until the situation in Bangkok and other provinces, where rioting is taking place, is brought under control. Here in Pattaya this could not have come at a worse time as the city struggles to continue life as normal while 150 kms away in Bangkok, fires have been reported at over 20 separate locations around the Thai Capital as the remaining Red Shirts refuse to leave the Capital quietly. On Wednesday Night we toured the city which was mostly in darkness as bars and shops were ordered to close. There were rumors spreading earlier on Wednesday evening that a bomb had been discovered at Big C in North Pattaya which had been closed since early evening. This rumor was found to be untrue and the center had been closed due to the curfew order. With many 24 hour convenience stores closing, panic buying began and Police were called to one minor incident at a store in Soi Neun Plub Wan which led to no arrests and was brought to a conclusion quickly. We can report on another incident which occurred on the overpass leading to Highway 7 in Central Pattaya where someone placed a tire on the overpass and set it on fire. Police are not sure if this is related to the Red Shirts or a prank by local youths. It is currently being investigated by Police. We must inform people currently residing in Pattaya that if you are caught breaking the curfew, you may be liable to arrest and could be fined, although it appears that authorities are not enforcing these curfew regulations in a strict manor here in Pattaya. http://www.pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/20966/breaking-news-pattaya-under-curfew/

Nothing has been said officially that I've been able to find, but I doubt very much that Thai authorities are going to expect incoming passengers, especially since many probably would not even know about the curfew, and even more especially at a time when Thailand needs all the tourists it can get, to end up being forced to remain in the airport until 6:00am. That would be ridiculous even for Thailand.

I support the curfew. I don't know whether the curfew has anything to do with it, but so far in Pattaya there have been no violent incidents associated with the Red-Shirt protest and nobody has been burning tires, burning down buildings, or trying to shoot people. If the worst that happens in Pattaya is, assuming the reports are accurate, shopping malls closing for a few days, then Pattaya is one of the luckiest large cities in Thailand.

Good question. I haven't been able to find anything official to explain it. It was a BoT decision. I haven't been able to come up with an answer that makes much sense. Until an official explanation is released, it's on my "I Don't Get It" list. I have a feeling that if and when an explanation is released, it will continue to be on my "I Don't Get It" list.

A question came up about what the penalties are for curfew violations. So far, I have not seen anything published that tells us what the penalties are. What I can tell you is this afternoon I heard a story from a farang friend who lives with his boyfriend. Despite the curfew, the boyfriend decided to go out late last night anyway. He didn't get very far. His motorcycle was confiscated and it cost him 1000 baht to get it back from the impound lot. Other than that, I have heard nothing about penalties. I don't intend to find out the hard way.

I have not yet heard whether the Pattayaland bars will also be open. If anyone knows please post the information.

I traveled the entire length of Thepprasit Road. The story that went around last night of an explosion there appears to be in error. I saw no evidence of an explosion. Everywhere I went today, everything appeared perfectly normal. Again, you wouldn't even know anything was going on if it wasn't for television and the news media. The problems in Pattaya are apparently downtown. I wasn't anywhere near that area today, so someone else will have to let us know the story. Also, city services seem to be operating normally. Mail was delivered today and there was trash pickup today. I have not heard any reports of violence or any other safety problems in Pattaya today. If you missed the post, the Sunee Plaza bars will be open from 6:00pm to 9:00pm during the curfew days. I have not heard anything about the Pattayaland bars. However, if you are in Pattaya, you should be perfectly safe going to the bars during those hours.

I received the following in an Email from SUNEE PLAZA: _____ UPDATE ON THAILAND 20/05/10 Up until a few days ago, we were carrying a “travel advisory” that said it was “business as usual” in Pattaya. I am sure you heard yesterday the troops stormed the red shirt encampment in Bangkok and ended the siege. Yesterday evening at 21.00 the police came round and closed all the bars. There was a curfew imposed and we had not heard about it. Today we heard the curfew has been extended for a further 3 days (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) from 9 pm to 5 am. We have no knowledge of any possible extension to this, or what will happen after these three days. However, that apart, the bars are all open from 6 pm to 9 pm. DON’T LET THIS PUT YOU OFF! The boys are still here. They still want to meet you and entertain you. In fact with the bars closing at 9 pm they are more keen than ever! They still need money and it's not long until the end of the month when rents are due. There has been no trouble in Pattaya that we have heard of. Reports of explosions at Big C, or the Town Hall appear to be false rumours. Paradise is here, it just closes at 9 pm for the time being. As soon as there are any real problems here we will let you know.

BOT: Banks Can Open This Weekend Published: 20/05/2010 All banks nationwide can be open from Friday to Sunday, Bank of Thailand (BOT) assistant governor Sorasit Soontornkes said on Thursday. Mr Sorasit said the central bank had received many complaints from the public after it previously announced that all commercial banks and financial institutions will remain closed this weekend due to the escalating political unrest in Bangkok and other provinces. Debt payments had become a problem following the announcement, he said. "To ease people's financial difficulties, all banks, especially the ones in department stores, can open from Friday to Sunday without asking for the BOT's permission," the assistant governor said. Banks can open this weekend

Can you be specific? I don't see any posts that I would think would bother the powers-that-be. Which posts do you have in mind?

I have just received word that the curfew hours will be from 9:00pm to 5:00am. That's a new time. Last night it began at 8:00pm. Now it will begin at 9:00pm and end at 5:00am.

I have just received word that the curfew hours will be from 9:00pm to 5:00am. That's a new time. Last night it began at 8:00pm. Now it will begin at 9:00pm and end at 5:00am.

Have you ever been to Central World in Bangkok? Here is what they did to it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG16dQZ1r68

The curfew has been extended for three more nights. The only time I've even seen police in Pattaya lately has been when they're clearing the streets when the curfew begins.