First day of Bangkok Shutdown was calm

Yesterday was the first day of the siege of Bangkok organized by anti-government protesters who intend to hold it until the resignation of the Prime Minister. A day without major incident which was not the nightmare announced. 

Announced more than a week in advance Bangkok Shutdown almost resulted in the opposite effect to the one intended. If traffic was completly shut down on some roads blocked by anti-government protesters,  the trafic on the roads in the rest of the city as quiter than usual. It was even incredibly fluid early in the morning. The highway was particularly uncrowded and contrary to the AOT advice, it was not necessary to leave four hours in advance to reach Suvarnabhumi or Don Muang airports. The journey was never as easy and quick. Bangkok metros, MRT and BTS, were not really more crowded. MRT even saw a drop of passengers when the BTS had just a little more passengers comparing to a normal day and only had large crowd in stations near rally sites. The Airport Link by cons welcomed more passengers (20% increase) and the Chao Phraya Express also (40 % increase). Buses lost 30% of passengers. In short, the day was not the nightmare announced .

The reason ? It is actually quite simple. People had time to organize and probably overreacts by staying home and avoiding unnecessary travel . Some companies allowed their employees to work from home when others arranged schedules. But it can not last. The longest the blockade will last, the more people will have to move again and can not postpone their trips forever. Gradually, the legitimate fears of a crowded BTS  and trafic jams should come true. It will just take a few days longer than expected.

On the security side, two incidents involving gunshots were reported in the morning but for the rest everything went peacefully. No argument with Reed Shirts or confrontation with the police. An eighth site was added to the list of 7 blocked areas: Rama 8 bridge. Tourists are still advised to avoid protests sites and especially to avoid those in Chaeng Wattana, Lat Phrao and Victory Monument judged as those where the risks of violence are most important.

Note that you can follow the evolution of the situation on Twitter by following the tag #BKKShutdown