Last night, the English-language Bangkok Post was reporting that some factions of protesters had begun the shutdown early, on Sunday afternoon, ahead of the planned Monday operation, “prompting bus services to be rerouted swiftly as police set up service points near the seven protest sites”.
For days in advance, Bangkok's businesses have been stocking up their inventories and making other arrangements. Such precautions have become commonplace in recent years in Bangkok in advance of the demonstrations and other disruptions that have become a fact of life.
The protesters are calling for the resignation of the prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, ahead of an election currently scheduled to take place on 2 February. Their latest chosen method for making their point is to paralyse the city today, by blocking key road intersections in the capital.
The larger issue concerns an ongoing political struggle between supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra – a former prime minister currently living in exile, and the brother of Yingluck Shinawatra, the current prime minister – and an opposition force led by a former deputy prime minister named Suthep Thaugsuban.
Experts say as many as 150,000 protesters could turn out for today's "shutdown", which some say could end up lasting more than a day, and will cost Bangkok businesses millions of dollars.
Among the expat-focused advisory groups most proactive in preparing its clients for today's protests was Bangkok-based MBMG. The company issued an email alert to its clients on Friday in which it detailed why the protests were taking place, where the key trouble spots and issues for residents, workers and business owners were expected to be, and what precautions their clients might best be advised to take.
These included a suggestion that clients with property or goods that they insure in Thailand contact MBMG in order to determine in advance of any problems the extent of their coverage, and a recommendation that those with medical or life insurance check to see whether there might be “any relevant exclusions or restrictions”.
“It may also be worth checking your business interruption, assets and liability coverages to ensure that these are adequate,” the emailed client alert added.
“There has already been a noticeable impact on many businesses and business sectors from the protests that have occurred during the last two months. Any businesses that are suffering or may suffer cash flow issues should contact MBMG’s business planning advisers to look at any ways to attempt to address this.
“Both businesses and individuals should note that, notwithstanding [the anti-government protestors’] reassurances, there may be delays in inbound or outbound money transfers and that in any panic, ATM machines may experience shortages of cash and may not be able to be refilled.
“[And] while there is no suggestion of any food or water shortages, it may be prudent to stock up in case it becomes difficult to get around Bangkok or we see hoarding again", as has occurred during some previous periods of unrest.
The alert went on to say that MBMG Group executives were planning to contact all its clients who were likely to be affected “in any way” by the shut-down “to let them know the contingency measures that we have put in place”.
These included arrangements for MBMG staff to work remotely, due to the liklihood that, because of their proximity to the Asoke-Sukhumvit intersection and consequent concerns about employee safety, the MBMG offices might not be open on Monday.
18 coups d'etat
Although Thailand's current political unrest dates back only to early November, the country has seen some 18 coups d' etat since 1932. In spite of this, it has developed and prospered during much of that time, as MBMG noted in its alert to its clients on Friday – behaving, the alert quotes Franklin Templeton's Mark Mobius as having observed, as though Thailand's economy and its politics were "barely acquainted".
