My heart is heavy as I write this blog post. I have been spending every evening in my apartment because we continue to have a curfew each night. The curfew is 9:00 p.m. but everything closes around 6 or 7 p.m. so all of the workers can be home on time. The quiet streets often leave you with an eerie feeling.
The protests started here in Bangkok in the month of March. Most of us thought they would protest for a week maybe 2 and then go home (most of them are from the Northern part of Thailand). That would have been a blessing but instead the protestors stayed for almost 2 months. One problem with them staying for 2 months is that many hotels, malls, and other businesses had to close during that time.
There have been clashes at times and some deaths but this past week was the worst. Many of us were ready for the government to move in and send the protestors home, but none of us could have even imagined such destruction.
Wednesday- May 19th started like a fairly normal day for me. I went to church (a 5-10 minute walk from my apartment) to help paint. There were about 10 of us painting, laughing, and having fun. The cell phones started ringing about 3:00 that afternoon telling us that we needed to get home right away because the army was moving in and things were not going as planned and there was a curfew for all people in Bangkok to be home by 8:00 p.m.. We all cleaned up quickly and headed home. I stopped to buy food on my way home and one student (Nice) would also come to stay at my apartment.
About 9:00 p.m. Wed. night Nice and I stood out on my 8th floor balcony and the streets were empty and it was very quiet and the sky was filled with smoke. We weren't sure exactly what was on fire but we knew it was something big because smoke was everywhere and you could smell it. We were watching the news non stop and looking at things on the internet to get the latest information. It was the scariest night I've had here in Bangkok.
I can still only watch the news and look at the internet for the latest information because it isn't safe to go into those areas yet. I am very thankful that I live in an area of the city that was untouched by all of this destruction. I live only a few miles from some of it but every mile counts in this situation :)
This next week I plan to go and visit some of these areas that were damaged by fire and where many lives were lost. These are areas that I have walked many times before to shop, eat, watch movies, and hang out with friends. I will update with pictures soon.
Please pray for Thailand and for a peaceful resolution to come soon. I promise you that Thai people are some of the friendliest people I have ever met. Pray that many people may come to know the True and Living God through this situation.
The pictures didn't go up in the order I wanted them to but overall you can get the idea of the damage done to Central World. The last 2 pictures were taken this past Christmas and the other pictures were taken this past week. Central World was only 1 of the 30+ buildings that were burned last Wed. night early Thursday morning. 