Unfortunately, my prediction on Thursday night - http://teachinginthailand.tumblr.com/post/595200038/the-calm-before-the-storm#disqus_thread - turned out to be quite accurate. After a few weeks of relative calm following the clashes on April 10, things have again gotten bad very quickly here in Bangkok. One area has even been listed as live-fire zones and all civilians have been restricted from this particular area. Although this is definitely true, the area, given in scope of how big Bangkok is, is rather small. It is a very important area, but a small area nonetheless. The red shirts, or anti-government protesters as international media likes to refer to them, are holding their ground and are refusing to end protests. They have essentially created their own city within the grounds of Bangkok - http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/investigation/37419/inside-the-red-city.

Over the past 3 days, army soldiers and police officers have surrounded the area in order to cut off all water and food supplies. A lot of the clashes and violence that have occurred - 24 reported dead (although red shirts claim that number is higher) and over 200 injured - have been in regards to red shirts trying to get these supplies into their protest site. Contrary to popular belief, the army has not invaded the protest site, at least as of now. If this does happen though, the violence and the blood shed will skyrocket. Everything that is occurring now are small skirmishes and clashes on the outside, as the police and army are literally directly outside the protest site.

The effects of this are rampant. The BTS and the MRT, two of the main forms of public transportation besides buses, are completely shut down. The school system that was initially scheduled to begin tomorrow has been postponed for at least another week. Even if the clashes end quickly, the nicest and most posh area of Bangkok will have been trashed. High-end restaurants, shopping malls, and hotels have all been shut down for nearly a month. Smaller, family-run stores and restaurants have also been shut down in the area.

I hope, for the sake of Thailand and for the Thai people, that the clashes end shortly, and that a positive outcome is reached, but at this point that hope is seemingly improbable. I have personally been staying out of trouble, as I luckily live and work on the outside of the city. I will keep updating more regularly as the situation is going to change continually over the next couple days.