I'm heading over to the pro-government rally in a few minutes--or I'm trying to, not having much luck but I'm not giving up. But I wanted to highlight this story by the BBC. Probably the best up to date overview so far. I'll report back after the rally. Hopefully have some photos too.

Update: Very frustrating night. I went to the designated place for the protest, Sanamluwang Park, only to learn that the venue had changed at the last minute. This was probably a wise decision as the 'Yellow-Shirts' who have surrounded the Prime Minister's office were not far away from Sanamluwang and were probably angry for the events that occurred last night, which were largely interpreted as a revenge of sorts for the airport situation. And it was also probably wise as the park and area surrounding was filled with families just enjoying themselves on a cool Sunday Bangkok evening. It was a carnival like atmosphere and could have ended up badly.

However, the venue was moved at the last moment to the Victory Monument, which is a long, long ways away from where I was. And Bangkok traffic is intense, even on a Sunday evening. But I got a taxi and headed out that way, only to be stuck in a nasty traffic snarl for two and a half hours. By which time the protesters at the Victory Monument had largely dispersed. So, tomorrow I am off to the airport first thing in the morning.

One note, this article by AFP is wrong. The protests were no where near the 'Yellow Shirts.' As I said above, the original venue was very close, but the last minute change (which was a wise choice in my estimation, as it lowered the potential for clashes) moved the 'Red Shirts' quite a long way away from any 'Yellow Shirt' protesters. More tomorrow.

Update 2: Interesting, if nasty article in the New York Times. This is far from an impartial news story. It's very slanted towards the pro-government party. For example this line: "But the meeting between Mr. Chamlong and the police also underlined the demonstrators’ apparent impunity in carrying out their illegal sit-ins that have caused chaos among travelers across the region. I don't know if they are technically legal or not. But you know, civil disobedience has to be forceful, but peaceful, to be effective. (And I have no dog in this fight.) So, who is the writer to judge the situation in this way?

It also smacks of Western elitism. I love how the West is telling the Thai's what is an appropriate means of protest and what isn't:

The United States State Department called the airport seizures “not an appropriate means of protest” and urged protesters to “to walk away from the airports peacefully.”

European Union ambassadors in Bangkok issued a statement that called the seizures of the airports “totally inappropriate.”

“We urge the protesters to evacuate the airports peacefully without delay in order to avoid a major consular crisis and its economic consequences for Thailand,” the European ambassadors said.

Of course, the West is saying these things because the have to pay the freight for all the stranded tourists. Never mind that it is the Thai's government and country at stake here. I find that irritating, to say the least. Let the Thai's sort it out. When we stick our noses into business that isn't really ours we just make it worse.