Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Business as usual?

The curfew in Bangkok, which had been in place since 19 May, was finally lifted on Saturday. To help the small stall holders affected by the arson, the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA) closed off Silom Road from Dusit Thani Bangkok on one end to Narathiwat on the other and turned it into a walking street cum bazaar from 28 - 30 May. Just about anyone could have gone and set up a simple stall to sell his/her wares.
Half of Bangkok was there to shop
They would not let this grand sale flop
Did not matter what colour shirt they wore
Though rain and sweat down their shirts did pour

Most were wise and took the sky train
Avoided the jams, stayed dry from the rain
Train loads came, by night and by day
Grenade blast marks kept no one at bay
Had these same folks "greeted" the reds weeks ago
Politely asked them to pack their things and go
Would we have ended with the same carnage
A city sacked despite people's outrage

7 comments:

Unknown said...

shopping the greatest therapy! after the stressful days and nights, some retail therapy would make these shoppers happy.:p

Lee said...

Hi Serline, wow! You living in Bangkok? Bet you speak Thai fluently now.
I have always loved Thailand, Bangkok....and its friendly people.
Glad to know you and family are safe after what we see on TV re the riots etc.
You take care, keep well and keep a song in your heart, best regards, Lee.

Sylvia K said...

Wow, that's a lot of people! I don't like crowds, but I can understand people being eager to get out now that the curfew has been lifted. Hope things go well! Have a great week, stay safe! And give the little one a hug for me!

Sylvia

Anonymous said...

Wow, these photos are incredible! So many people!

You used to live in Singapore? My uncle (and his family) moved there to work with the SIBI school. I hope to visit them...someday :)

Unknown said...

Amazing! that's a lot of people! I'm sure the sellers are very happy with their profits!

Ces Adorio said...

I love the poem and the accompanying images.

Buck said...

So many people... It's nice that a little bit of normal has returned to Bangkok. Only very rarely does our city close off a street like that, but it always makes people happy to have small vendors in the street.