Terror in paradise

Some couples do it after a few weeks, it took him six years to convince her to do it...  It was their first overseas holiday.

As a statistician Jasna Lekovic’s brain only knows one way – the analytical approach to everything. Analyse, access, calculate, estimate, approximate and do it all again. This ensuring the best possible outcome.

“I spent hours on websites like agoda, STA travel, webjet and others to guarantee the best holiday we could have” she says with much delight. “I compared resort reviews, checked google maps,  priced accommodation and provisions on-line” Jasna continues with her smile turning from delight to sheer pleasure. Her boyfriend, Mitch, had already assumed a lethargic holiday style to organising the adventure “I told her to relax, it will look after itself. Let the travel agent deal with all that” he says.



Phi Phi island, Thailand.



The white sandy beaches, delicious food and bargain shopping of Thailand was the destination of choice. Jasna had pre-planned where she wanted to swim, eat and shop but she couldn’t plan for the escalating political unrest and associated terrorism, which remained oblivious to any future tourist at that stage.

The couple arrived at the magnificent Horizon Karon beach resort and spa in Phuket for a two week stay in the sunshine. “It was like a palace” says Mitch. At the top of a hill overlooking the cool blue water, the open-air reception felt like the kings private court yard. The room was even nicer. Spacious, bright, clean, decorated in Thai culture and the most important for many Australian travellers – a fully stocked bar fridge.

Throw the bags in the room, grab the bathers and hit the beach. That was the itinerary for day one. “It wasn’t like the postcards – crystal blue water  and palm trees. On closer inspection Karon beach was a dirty noisy street with empty land blocks on one side and murky water and hawkers on the other” says Jasna. 

Never the less this was an adventure and they were determined to enjoy everything Thailand had to throw at them. Despite the Tsunami of 2004, prolific under-age sex trafficking  and totalitarian government. Thailand still ranks as the 6^th best holiday destination in the world, according to a 2009, Age newspaper, article. After visiting the country you can see why. “The only bad meals we had was when we tried western food. The Thai food was amazing satays, curries, stir-fry’s you name it, it was divine.  Oh, the aroma as you walk past the restaurants. Some much culture, history and excitement. I think it’s time to go back” says Jasna.

After nearly two weeks on Karon and the much cleaner Kata beachers, the holiday was about to turn from relaxation to terror. “Jasna was in the shower, an event I didn’t get an invite to. So I turned on the, Australia network, TV channel. I managed to see the five minute ABC news” Mitch says. One story that caught his eye was the political unrest and tension in Thailand’s capital Bangkok – a destination they would travel too in the next few days.

The news story left plenty to the imagination and only stated that Australians should avoid Bangkok due to potential terror attacks. Thailand, like China, monitors its internet and subject matter deemed political sensitive is suppressed and dealt with in no uncertain terms ‘this page cannot be displayed’. Frantic phone calls home, apart from hello how are you, proved pointless. Don’t travel to Thailand was the only information available on smartraveller.gov.au and that was dated several months ago.

“It was good to know in a crisis our travel agent gave us a 24 hour emergency hot line number to contact, so we did. They didn’t care and told us, it was our responsibility to find the Thai airways office in Bangkok and organise a change of flight with them direct” fumed Jasna. Mitch pipes up in the background “But their happy to take the money”. With no alternative the couple boarded the hour long and tension filled flight to Bangkok. On arrival all was quiet – well as quiet the 17^th busiest airport in the world can be. The only strange thing Jasna’s analytics noticed was a large amount of Thai people wearing red t-shirts on the commute from airport to hotel.

There was an unease over Bangkok and it was more than the humidity. With a rare opportunity to experience a new city, curiosity got the better of the couple. The travellers didn’t stay hidden in the hotel, instead visiting temples and historical sites. “For the most part Bangkok treated us well. It has an abundant culture and vibrate energy” Jasna says. Unfortunately that vibrate energy can sometimes be misdirected into the evils of terrorism. Thailand consistently remains on high terror alert. This wasn’t terrorism understood in the western sense, it was political motivated but aimed at its own.

The political landscape of Thailand is nothing like the picturesque beaches of Phi Phi island. It is a harsh and cruel world for its citizens who don’t have the luxury of democratic rights, as website opendemocracy.net indicates. What the government and King say goes without question. Mitch remembers a tour guide telling him that Thailand’s King  Bhumibol Adulyadej is a great man, easy to say when criticism of him can lead to three to 15 years imprisonment. 

Every political party in Thailand is represented by a color which can be seen worn by its supporters. The anti-government supporters known as the red shirts were the group that would terrorize Thailand’s capital and escalate the country to the brink of civil war. They were defending what they believe to be the illegal deposing by the military and the illegitimate corruption case against former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The holiday quickly descended into chaos as panic and fear replaced the excitement Jasna had felt for this adventure. “I grow up in Serbian during the war. I know what it’s like and I don’t want anyone to deal with that again!” she says with real conviction. “I’ll never forget having a Thai solider point a machine gun at me and ask to inspect my bag” Jasna continues.  The military followed tourists throughout the eight story 2000 shop MBK shopping centre in phayathai road Pathumwan, later a scene of much devastation. “It is the fear of not knowing that’s scarier because of the language barrier you don’t know what’s going on” Mitch says.

As the hours passed the city’s fabric was torn from its seams. In streets nearby the couples Le Fenix hotel, demonstrators smashed windows, over turned cars, robbed and bashed random members of the public and chanted slogans in their native tongue. The red shirts could have been described as lava from an erupting volcano spewing through the city, burning everything in its path. Daylight brought no respite, it only sought to provide clarity to the situation.  The number of dead had exceeded 50 and injured 187 the English language newspaper, The Bangkok Post, reported. The heat and humidity wouldn’t, couldn’t stop the red shirts as they continued their political heist of a once relatively peaceful place.





Terror in Bangkok, 2010.

  

Bombs were found undetonated in surrounding streets and in some cases had exploded causing mayhem and human carnage. Grenades whistled past the heads of innocent bystanders, guns and knives (which can be brought on the street) were now mandatory items for life in Bangkok. “Luckily we had a tour outside of the city planed. We jumped on the bus and sped to tiger temple up north and hoped the might of the red shirts couldn’t overturn a bus stopped at the lights” Jasna says.

The remaining holiday for the couple wasn’t the same again. Shopping was dangerous, visiting landmarks was a risk even dinning out could be fatal (and that’s not just a dodgy curry!). Having spent the next few days in what felt like solitary confinement the holiday was over. They were at the airport with hundreds of other tourist, awaiting their boarding call.

“Experiences like that make you appreciate being Australian” says Mitch. “Or it makes you appreciate having the opportunity to live in a stable country” the overseas born Jasna states. Thailand has so much to offer from the beaches, beautiful food, smiling people, culture to its vast history. Yet it seems to take a beating politically, environmentally and socially consistently. This most recent political fundamentalism almost caused civil war. The 2004 tsunami killed over 150,000 people and left millions homeless. It’s rated poorly for human rights abuses, as the government turns it back on under age exploitation in the sex industry and human trafficking.

The bloodshed and violence continued in the streets of Bangkok for nearly a month as the 2010 political unrest continued. It’s hard to comprehend witnessing a political response such as this firsthand. Sadly, as governments move to impose totalitarian rule in many parts of the world – situations like this will become more prevalent. Egypt being the first publicized situation in 2011. “The red shirts sure make arguing about Tony Abbott speedos a mute point” Jasna says.