Hot Bangkok and nastiness towards Singapore..

Another scorching day here in Bangkok. As we head towards the Thai new year and the great water throwing festival the mercury is rising rapidly. Starting to get uncomfortable again; hot and very sticky.

Last night on one of the talk shows there was a senior military man dishing the dirt about various scandals. He claimed to have been offered 300m baht to "wipe out" one of Taksin's main opponents and when he refused an attempt was made on his life. Shockingly he also claimed to know exactly who carried out the new year bombings in Bangkok, but wouldn't say who. Apparently the authorities know but it seems the population are not to be privy to this information, just for the ears of the select few. All friends together I guess.

More anti-Singapore protests in the news. This picture was on the front page of the Bangkok Post this morning, showing Thais burning an effigy of the Singaporean PM and burning flags, whilst draped in the Thai flag and shouting for Singapore to go to hell. Singapore is one of Thailand's key allies and best buddies as it were. Nice way to treat your friends, eh.

Nationalistic sentiment is getting stronger here and this kind of ugly scene seems to be becoming more common. I think it boils down to having been shafted by one of their own, Taksin. Now they have to find a foreigner or foreign entity to hold responsible, as is so often the case. So much for their much trumpeted tolerance and friendliness towards outsiders.

I'm starting to feel the need for a beach. I really feel like spending a few days by the sea doing absolutely nothing except reading, swimming during the day and quaffing chilled Tiger in the evening. Now that is something I will really miss when I go back.

Hot Bangkok and nastiness towards Singapore..