Buy When There’s Blood in the Streets

If the old investing axiom to “buy when there’s blood in the streets” is to be taken seriously, now might not be a bad time to buy gemstones. Forget the banking and unemployment problems scouring the developed world- Thailand is a mess right now. So far all of the blood is donated- by some estimates, the “red-shirt” reformers have given 300,000 cc’s of their own blood with which to make their political statement- which boils down to dissolving the current government and holding elections to restore democracy.

This past weekend saw some 100,000 protestors swarming the streets of Bangkok wearing their trademark red clothing and waving red flags of all shapes and sizes. This might be a city approaching twenty million in population, but when the protestors are mobile on scooters, motocycles, the trademark 3-wheel “tuk-tuk” open taxis as well as piled into the back of pick-up trucks, it makes one heck of an impact on a person. As we went about our business it sometimes seemed like the sea of red was everywhere- major thoroughfares and small streets alike.

One thousand hotel rooms per day are being canceled right now according to official sources as tourists, business people, and convention-goers decide that the risks are too high. Whether Abhisit’s government falls as a result of the current wave of protests remains to be seen, but as buckets of donated blood are being poured out at the prime ministers home and office it sure leaves an unpalatable impression of Thailand on the world stage.

All of the images you see here were shot from my cell phone camera this past weekend on Saturday, March 20th. While the security situation is in flux and nobody knows for sure if the government will fall, I have to say that Thailand is pretty darn polite when it comes to political upheaval. Until things get really out of hand, Melanie and I are happy to be here buying stones and taking your requests.