Martial law has been lifted in more than half of Thailand, two months after the move was authorised, a government spokesman said.

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Thailand partly lifts martial law



this is such an incredible example of how we, in the western world, live in this fucking bubble of ignorance. people see the words "martial law" and gasp. do you know what the average day for us was in phuket, under "martial law"?



wake up around 9-ish, head to breakfast, then to the pool, where my first singha (beer) is consumed. we keep drinking around the pool 'til about noon then i grab my half-finished 3rd singha of the day and walk to bobby's. halfway there i finish my singha and stop into any store and pick up another one. the cashier opens it for me, with the opener that sits on every store counter for just that purpose. keep walking to bobby's, we pick a beach over lunch, pack up some towels, hop in the jeep, stop at a store and buy a bag of beers, one opened for my mom and i, hop back in the jeep, and head to the beach we chose, drinking beers on the way. when we get to the beach, we swim immediately because it's so fucking hot in bobby's jeep, then towel ourselves off, by which time the beach guy comes along and asks if we would like any drinks. we order another singha. swim. another beer. swim. another beer. then we're all crispy and water logged so we head back into patong, back to our rooms, where there is beer in the fridge. shower, get dressed, then off to dinner. along the way we stop and get singhas at any store, bring our half-finished beers into the restaurant we pick, eat, leave, wander around bangla road, where the crowd is so thick you can lose each other in minutes, and everyone has a beer in hand. if it's a more energetic night, we'd lose the folks and head to a bar or karaoke or something, where buckets of sang som would be served, buckets you could take outside to the very public street at the end of which was patong beach. along the way if i finish my drink, no worries, every fucking store sells single cold beers and has an opener and is open til like 6am. grab another drink, head to the beach and sit in cocaine-like sand in 25-degree night air and listen to the waves. and the entire day, we passed cops everywhere who smile at us.



had i done all of that in richmond, how many times would i have been arrested or bobby had his license taken away or we'd have had to pour our beers out?



this is thailand UNDER martial law. i wonder what it's like without it?





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