Day After

Usually international news accounts make things look worse than they really are. Today the reports I read about last night’s many arsons don’t seem strong enough. The fires were so widespread, so efficient, and so simultaneous that it’s hard to believe they were the work of random mob members acting alone.

When the smoke finally cleared today, I couldn’t see any sign that the political dialogue had advanced from where things stood before the current round of protests began.

The public mood is a mixture of denial, depression, and disbelief. Over and over I hear, referring to the self-destructive forms that mass protest has taken here during the past couple of years, “this isn’t Thailand.” Perhaps the country has weathered worse identity crises in the past, but that doesn’t make it any easier to watch this time.

Jip’s sensitive nose is confused by all the new smells in the air.