A few nights in Bangkok

We are here in Bangkok, Thailand because I’m conducting a security controls assessment of some of American Express’s outsourced vendors. Because IBM is a big customer of Amex we have a contract agreement with them to conduct these assessments to ensure the confidentiality of employee data.

Yesterday there was a big political demonstration in front of the hotel complex where we are staying. Supporters of ousted Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra were demanding his re-instatement. The hotel staff advised us to not leave the hotel while the “circumstance is still occurring”, to use their wording.

This wonk finds Thai politics particularly inscrutable. It seems to be more personality then ideologically based. As Prime Minister Thaskin governed with a populist bent but was also accused of much corruption. The present Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, was born in England and educated at Eton and Oxford. The Dann’s have more then an academic interest in this story. Last December at the height of the tourist season protesters took over the major airports for almost a week. Thailand’s critical tourist industry has taken a hit since and at a time of world wide economic recession. As we are flying this afternoon to the island of Ko Samui in the Gulf of Siam (we aim to do some serious coral reef diving) we are keeping our fingers crossed that we won’t be spending our remaining days in Thailand at the Bangkok airport.