Curfew you say? Personally speaking, the last time I had a curfew I was 18, had a large mobile phone to text my mother with (“Please do not pick me up from the front door of the party” – instructions she of course ignored). But a curfew from the government? For most of us, that would probably be a first. The good news being that as of last night, given their ‘peaceful transition’, the 12am curfew has been lifted for all Thai beach cities such as Phuket, Samui and Krabi.
If you’ve been following the news on Thailand then you’d be aware of the recent coup that saw Yingluck Shinawatra (aka former PM Thaksin’s sister) removed from power. In short,the last decade or so in Thailand has been a topsy turvy one with power swinging from the yellows (Democrats) to the reds (Thaksin). Colour preferences aside, the coup has been largely peaceful with the military taking over for the interim period until new elections are held next year.
However, we’re not here to play political nomad, but rather, to highlight that the land of smiles is still the land of smiles! With the tourism industry accounting for approximately 16.7% of the country’s GDP, millions of people and businesses rely on those visits from tourists such as you and I.
So we thought it apt to ask a few friends there on whether life is really “same same”:
So whilst non-beach cities such as Bangkok continue to be under curfew (and we are not by any means saying you should go to Bangkok – we do acknowledge travel warnings from certain countries have put out), perhaps this article can give you just a little insight on what life is really like in Thailand now.
After all, I was just in Phuket last weekend. For my friends and I, we turned the curfew into an excuse to detox 🙂
#supportthailand
