Hard to find the actual protesters in this image, "Will all those in the media please raise your hand?" (as snapped by @newley)
We are sure some (if not a lot of you) have read or heard in the news that Thailand has experienced a military coup. The head of the Thai army has named himself Prime Minister and it is believed that the King will not have much to do with this coup as he is getting older (86).
The military presence in the city is widespread and there is a 10pm-5am curfew. Shopping malls, public transportation and many other businesses have been forced to close their doors at 9pm in order to workers to all get home by the 10pm curfew. The military is monitoring internet service providers (ISP’s) for content and has threatened to shut down access to certain websites entirely (and possibly the whole internet).
The U.S. Embassy in Thailand issued a statement a couple days ago ‘strongly suggesting’ that all unnecessary travel to Thailand be suspended.
The U.S. Department of State recommends that U.S. citizens reconsider any non-essential travel to Thailand, particularly Bangkok, due to ongoing political and social unrest and restrictions on internal movements, including an indefinite nighttime curfew throughout Thailand. The Department of State has advised official U.S. government travelers to defer all non-essential travel to Thailand until further notice.
Paul and I have been and continue to watch the political situation closely. A lot has changed since we left Bangkok a week ago and a lot more can change in the next week as well.
We're currently scheduled to fly to Phuket, Thailand on June 2 and back to Bangkok on June 5. We'll be watching closely as we have to decide if we are going to return to Thailand.
One of the biggest bummers is that for anything related to the Thai Coup we're not covered by our travel insurance. This is significant as if we choose to avoid Thailand or change plans or if something happens to us directly related to the Coup it will not be covered by insurance.
Deciding to cancel your trip yourself is called “change of mind” and is not covered either.
However, life in Thailand continues as normal for the most part. 80% of life is not affected by the coup. But there's still a chance that things get worse... or that other problems arise.
We appreciate your prayers for the people of Thailand, the remaining government and the King as they work through this difficult time to come to a place of peace again.
We will write more later as we decide what we plan to do.
Becky Kortman
I'm a homeschooling, world traveling, Jesus follower who is a wife and mom of 4 kids, In all my travels, I am looking for places that fit with my soul and feel as much like 'home' as they can this side of heaven.
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