It appears that the height of the drama and violence surrounding the red shirt protests has passed. The protesters were bused home yesterday with 200 baht in their pockets (from the government I might add) to buy food on the trip home.
It will be nice to get back to life as usual. My school was scheduled to start the new school year on May 11, which was pushed back to the 17th and then the 24th. I've been told that it may be pushed back to June now. This last week was declared a holiday by the government and I went to the beach with a couple of friends to get away from the craziness in Bangkok. We had a good time, but chose a bad day to come back. We came back last Wednesday, which was the day that red shirt leaders surrendered to the government and the protesters evacuated the protest sights. That sounds ok, right? The problem is that some of the protesters disagreed with their leaders and started burning buildings in Bangkok, 36 to be exact, and violence continued. 52 people have died in the last 6 days and 407 have been injured.
At this point, the government and the red shirts have not come to an agreement. The prime minister has proposed a 5 point plan for reconciliation that he intends to push through. A special task force has been assigned to rebuild the city and offer assistance to businesses that were adversely affected. Two major malls were destroyed by fire and many other businesses in the commercial district have been closed for weeks now.
All I can say is praise the Lord for bringing an end to the protest. I am grateful for the Lord's protection throughout the entire ordeal. I am praying now for unity and reconciliation for the people of Thailand. They are very divided politically. I am also praying that Christians in Thailand step up and share God's love during the rebuilding and restructuring process. I pray that Thai people will be more receptive to the light and truth of Jesus Christ.
The area surrounding my church became a late protest sight and was ravaged by fire and violence. I haven't been there in the last week, but from the pictures I've seen, I think it will be quite shocking. I've included one picture of a burned mall and two from the area near my church.
