More on the Mongolian Dzud

Here's a video from the New York Times on the effects of the dzud on Mongolia's herders, something we mentioned here a few weeks ago. (Caution: The video contains detailed footage of dead livestock.)

Trouble in Bangkok, continued

Yesterday, 19 May was a difficult day in Bangkok. The government authorities began their crackdown on the Red Shirt protesters at 5:45am, and by the time we went to bed at midnight, it seemed that half of the city was on fire.







All of these pictures were taken from our apartment building, some from our apartment windows, others from the roof.

Later in the day, some of the fires were out, but one huge fire continued to burn. Central World, a massive shopping complex that is said to be the second-largest mall in southeast Asia, was fire-bombed by some of the Red Shirt protesters as the government security forces moved in.




The Red Shirts had camped outside Central World for six weeks without so much as scratching a plate glass window, but just as two of their leaders were surrendering themselves to police and telling their supporters to go home, it seems that some more radical followers decided to leave a token of their frustration and anger.

Major news websites will have their own chronology of the day's events. For us, the day was spent shuttling from the TV to the roof of our building to the computer for e-mail and Internet updates -- all while trying to work from home. Social networking sites in Bangkok, like Twitter, were a good source of up-to-the-minute information, but we could never be sure what was accurate. The Embassy also sent out regular bulletins throughout the day. A nighttime curfew was put into place yesterday; it extends through Saturday.

The three of us are fine here in our apartment. Unlike many others in the city, we did not lose power yesterday, and our TV signal was only out for a couple of hours. Soldiers blocked entrance to our street yesterday, and this morning Jennifer saw a group of soldiers resting right in front of the gate to our building.


So we are still at home, working as best we can through our remote access to office e-mail, and waiting for the situation to improve. It's a sad time for Thailand.

Here are pictures of yesterday's events from the Boston Globe's Big Picture.

Impressions of the day and background and analysis from BBC World News.

Short analysis from Slate.

Long analysis from Foreign Policy, with pictures.

A map showing events here; our apartment is just off of Sukhumvit 3.

Trouble in Bangkok

All frivolity aside, the security situation in Bangkok has become more serious over the last 48 hours as the military and police continue to crack down on the Red Shirt protesters. The U.S. Embassy (including USAID's offices) has been closed since Thursday afternoon of last week. We've been told to stay at home, which is exactly what we're doing. The situation is very fluid here, so we're checking the TV and Internet for continual updates.

The streets outside our apartment are quieter than usual, but there is still some normal life going on out there. When Patrick came in from the airport at 1:00am on Monday, he saw police and soldiers stationed around main intersections in the neighborhood, including the entrance to our street. Here is a map of the protest zone; our apartment is between the "U" and "K" in "UK Embassy."

This blog is not really the place for us to air our opinions on the politics of Thailand, but we can tell you that the situation is very complicated. A friend of ours who recently left Thailand told us, "After four years of living in Thailand, the only thing I understand is that I don't understand anything here." We -- like many -- are surprised at how violent the situation has become, and how quickly that has happened. We are sad for Thailand and the vast majority of peaceful, fun-loving people who make this country their home, and ours.

For some background reading, you can read the following:

BBC World News: Q&A and a basic timeline and analysis

The Economist: a provocative article and the Thai government's response and background on the region where many of the Red Shirts come from

Time magazine: more analysis

For current events, the Bangkok Post and the Nation are the two English-language newspapers here in Bangkok.

Here are some picture galleries of events over the last few days from the Boston Globe's Big Picture and LIFE magazine.

As always, you can get in touch with us through our personal e-mail addresses -- we'd love to hear from you. Rest assured that we're doing fine.