Election Day

I am not sure if mainstream American news has mentioned the political upheaval that has been happening in Thailand. Frankly I don't know how they would find the time between Justin Bieber's arrest and Richard Sherman's "racial" interview. Clearly those things are more important. Basically Bangkok has been shut down since early January due to protesters demanding a government change. I won't pretend to understand the intricacies of what is going on, but it's a big deal. For the most part the protests have been peaceful, and I respect the hell out of any nation that stands for something and doesn't back down on what they believe in. If Thailand can become even a notch less corrupt because of this then I am all for it. Time will tell how long it carries on, but February 2nd was deemed Election Day. It's complicated, but the protesters don't want anyone to vote because they know the "corrupt" government will just be re elected. What does all this mean to me? It means for Election Day and 24 hours before no alcohol could be sold or consumed. On a Saturday! I work 7 days a week and Saturday is my day to let loose and watch English Premier league. Who woulda thought id become an avid soccer fan (Liverpool!!!).
We decided to head to our usual bar despite the warnings that they would not be serving. We've become quite close with the Thai couple that owns the bar and as usual they were happy to see us. They had us sit inside with them and served us our usual Leos. We were just friends having some drinks, they weren't serving and we weren't buying. A few minutes into the Newcastle/Sunderland match other patrons began trickling in armed with their own bottles of HongThong or Sangsam. By halftime every seat was full and everyone was drinking. Paper bags were carefully placed around each bottle as if that were enough to hide the banned substance. The energy was high, we were doing something wrong and it felt like it. The rest of the street was dead and many restaurants didn't even bother opening to avoid an alcohol fine. Halfway through the game the electricity went out. The staff scrambled and with in minutes every table was lit with candles. I felt like I had stepped back in time to the prohibition era....hiding in a speakeasy with my brown paper bag and no electricity. Throw on a little big band jazz and the image would be complete. Unfortunately the police arrived to break up my dream. Now I felt like I was 20 years old at a college party that just got busted. The police made everyone leave, though luckily our owner friend talked his way out of a fine.
It was a really interesting day proving once again you never know what tomorrow will bring in Thailand.