st1412_webb

SCANDINAVIAN TRAVELER | EXPLORES | BANGKOK
I
n
the dim light of the Amontre Playroom & Brasserie
on Sathorn Road, in Bangkok’s financial
district, Gift Prasit sips her cocktail.
The 41-year-old stockbroker and head of
institutional sales is well versed in the interconnected
worlds of politics and finance. She is also a
yellow-shirt supporter.
“The previous government wouldn’t have been so
bad but it was too greedy,” she says.
She talks about alleged corruption in various government
programs, not least a program of subsidies
for rice farmers, the controversial handing out of
tablets to schoolchildren, and a cash rebate for firsttime
car buyers.
Even though the current military regime has similarly
populist policies, she won’t criticize it.
“It happens everywhere and it is probably unavoidable,”
she says.
Prasit describes herself as someone with an average
middle-class background, but now represents
the upper middle class. She recently swapped her
BMW for a smaller Nissan and lives in a high-rise
condo within walking distance of her office on Silom
Road. She took part in the antigovernment protests
last year – “from day one” – and was relieved when
the military finally stepped in and
took over the country.
“This time it’s well planned,
and they have appointed neutral
people with a good track record
to run the country. It’s too soon to
Gift Prasit
tell whether it will be better, but it’s
a good start,” she says.
She says Thaksin’s supporters are
less politically sophisticated.
“Education is key,” she says.
L
ast
year, just in time for the opening of
Anostam’s Siwalai Rocket Coffeebar,
the yellow shirts, now rebranded as the
People’s Democratic Reform Committee,
took to the streets and occupied
half-a-dozen major intersections and public areas.
Violence flared up and there were shootings and
bombings.
“You sense the anxiety over the political situation
immediately,” he says. “Even though people still go
out, they behave differently. They don’t relax.”
Despite the political commotion that has brought
parts of Bangkok to a virtual standstill in the past
eight years, the city has shown a remarkable ability
to bounce back and put past injustices behind it.
Anostam says many of those who protested on
the streets last year have cooled off with life in
Bangkok – at least on the surface – back to normal.
“For us, it’s business as usual.”
Food for thought: Life
goes on for Bangkokians
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DECEMBER 2014 | SCANDINAVIAN TRAVELER