Face Saved All Around

At last! The outrageous occupation of the airports in Bangkok appears to have ended and in true Thai style, an army of cleaners will swoop in and business will quickly get back to normal. Except that this high season there will be fewer visitors, with many having canceled their trips, or at least the part that included Thailand. And that will trickle down to many businesses and people living close to the edge. The high fuel costs during the summer already had dealt a blow to tourism, and the global economic downturn was also having its effects. The tourists coming this high season had booked before all that, but next year will definitely feel the economic effects of this year. And now next year's tourist season will also reflect the recent insanity with even fewer potential visitors willing to risk having their vacation ruined by political unrest. Face-saving is as superficial as face makeup. There still should be some accountability for the holding hostage of a country and hundreds of thousands of guests in, or planning to visit, that country. Normally I do not advocate the litigious route, but in this case with so many billions of baht having been lost by this calculated act of terrorism, it seems only just. Sadly, it will not compensate those on the lower reaches of the 'trickle down', but it might make the perpetraitors think twice before trying this again.