I'm staying around Ploenchit - Sukhumvit area, in the central business district.

So far, the protesters have vowed that they will not close down the airports. However, no one can tell if they will break their promise or not.

At the moment, they have disrupted the primary rail roads, halting train services going in and out of Bangkok. Thousands of people are now stranded in the major train stations in Bangkok.

If you've already made plans for a holiday, then don't waste it. Trust me, the Suvarnabhumi Airport is not as beautiful as our own KLIA. Plus, it isn't 100% complete, and there are still some renovation / touch up work to be done on the airport.

Most tourist areas in Bangkok are still relatively safe to be in. Where are you planning to stay in? If you're going to put up at areas like Khao San Road or Silom or Sukhumvit area, I think it's still fine.

25 April? That's a long time from now. I do expect the political unrest to be resolved by then. Thailand cannot afford to stay in this situation for long or it will further hurt the already suffering economy.

Those areas you plan to travel to are quite safe.

By the way, for those who love going to Chatujak weekend market, you'll be pleased to know that it is now open at nights too (Saturday night), so it will be much cooler than sweating under the hot daylight sun.

If you are unlucky to be stranded in Bangkok, you can always contact the Malaysia embassy for assistance. Please take note of the embassy's address and contact number in Bangkok:

http://www.kln.gov.my/perwakilan/bangkok

35 South Sathorn Road
Bangkok 10120
THAILAND
+66-2-629 6800 (General Line)
+66-2-679 2208 (Fax)
malbangkok@kln.gov.my
GMT + 7 (1 hour behind Malaysia)

Work day:
Monday - Friday
0800 - 1200:1300 - 1600 (Mon-Thurs), 0800 - 1130 : 1400 - 1600 (Fri)

You can reach the Malaysian embassy via BTS (Skytrain). Disembark at the Chong Nonsi BTS station and look out for the Australian Embassy. The Malaysian Embassy is just next to it (you will find a Shell petrol station near the Australian embassy)

Baiyoke / Platinum Mall is around the Pratunam area, which is rather near to the hot spot war zones. I reckon you should take a lot of precaution.

Many outlets are probably closed due to both the protests as well as the long Songkran holidays.

You'll probably will experience more water games / splashes / water guns than shopping during these few days.


Latest updates about the Emergency Situation:

The military has managed to calm down most hot spots. There has been quite a number of fatalities and deaths. Damage done to the streets are plentiful, not to mention that some ministry buildings (Education Ministry) was torched.

Just be careful.

I'll continue staying at my safe home where I can have a birds eye view of the city.

Sunbeams here with some slightly outdated reports from Bangkok

As most of your have read, several key leaders of the Red Shirts (protesters) have surrendered, thus, officially ending the days of the violent protests. It still remains unknown as to why they suddenly decided to end it, but unofficial reports state that the red shirt leaders are worried about further casualties to the protesters. Some other reports also mentioned that in lieu of the Songkran spirit (Thai New Year), the protesters decided to give in and celebrate the new year with a "ceasefire". They did mention that the protest will resume after the Songkran festival though.

The Emergency Decree is still active and enforced in Bangkok and surrounding areas, but overall, everything seems calm and peaceful. I drove to and back from a nearby district yesterday (Nakhon Pathom) and found no signs of unrest. The usual Songkran mood is coming back once again, with people having fun and playing with water sports all over the city.

Speaking of Songkran, Prime Minister has extended the Songkran holidays by another 2 days. This means that this entire week is a holiday week. This would cause many Thais to extend their holidays, thus, making the return to Bangkok on this weekend (instead of today). So for those of you who will be travelling around this weekend in Thailand (be it by air, train, bus etc), be warned of extremely heavy traffic.

Weather in Bangkok averages around a high 31-32 degrees with no rain. No worries, as everywhere you walk, you'll be offered splashes of water (sometimes with ice in it) for free!

That's about it for now. For those who will be coming over soon, do enjoy your holidays, but always keep updated with the news no matter what.