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We are now in our third day of airport shut-downs throughout Thailand. Bangkok's the new and old airports are both closed. Phuket is open for international flights only.

Since TV news coverage has been completely consumed with the story in Mumbai the latest twist in Thailand's ongoing political division there has been practically nothing in the news about these events. Authorities are not saying much so we have been piecing together facts on our own. This is what we know from talking to many colleagues in the tourism industry here:

The PAD (see related stories below) took over Bangkok's new airport 25 November. Thousands of demonstrators occupied the main terminal building, took over the control tower, and blocked traffic to and from the airport with barbed wire. The airport was shut down shortly after that. Several thousand passengers are still in the building and the demonstrators have remained. The old airport, as well as airports in Phuket and Chiang Mai were closed soon thereafter. The government had moved temporarily to the old airport since the same demonstrators began to occupy the area around Government House, making it difficult and at some times impossible for officials to enter the building.

PAD has called this "the last battle." They have demanded the resignation of the Prime Minister, who is the brother-in-law of deposed PM Taksin Shinawatra. It is widely believed that Thailand's current government is simply a puppet of the former PM. Shinawatra has apparently settled in Dubai after his diplomatic passport was cancelled, prompting his deportation from the U.K. He and his wife were recently tried and convicted in absentia for various acts of corruption.

The new PM has refused to step down or to call new elections.

Few people in Thailand are neutral about the political events that have been brewing since long before Shinawatra was deposited in a military coup in 2006. Both sides enjoy significant public support so neither side is willing to back down.

We have been devoting our efforts over the past few days to assisting our customers who are stranded here. Both Phuket and Chiang Mai are now open for international flights. However, all of these flights are fully booked well into the first week in December. Thai Airways is exploring the possibility of using Utapao airport near Pattaya as a temporary base. A number of inbound interenational flights have been diverted to Utapao. Airports Authority of Thailand has closed the old Don Muang airport as well as the new airport until Saturday at 18:00. This is meaningless since they have moved "reopening" dates forward by six to twelve hours for the past few days.

The government has been completely incompetent in handling this problem. The PM called an official State of Emergency yesterday and has asked police to clear the airports. We also know that the police and military will not do that because such an exercise is likely to end badly.

For those of you who have written and called us, we are fine although very frustrated. The demonstrators have not been violent or aggressive. The city is functioning normally. There are no demonstrations in public places. Military leaders have dismissed rumors of a coup. We are taking this situation one hour at a time.

This is to update you on the recent bomb blasts in Delhi.

The bombs were of low intensity and went off at four locations; one was at a traders area, one at a local shopping market and two in Central Delhi - that is near Connaught Place. At three places they were defused. In total there were 30 deaths and 29 with serious injuries. The present situation seems to be under control and fortunately there has not been a single case of tourists leaving the country. It will be not be proper to say that the situation was not serious but in the last 24 hours, it has improved.

Though we would take the stand that it is safe to visit the country, it will off course have to be a personal decision. More often than not - the places effected are not normally visited by our guests, if that be of some solace.

Television news broadcasts from Thailand over the past few days have shown images of massive demonstrations at Government House, the country's parliament building in Bangkok. These demonstrations are nothing new. They have been going on since long before the first time deposited Prime Minister Taksin Shinawatra fled the country the first time.

The demonstrators, loosely organized as the Peoples Alliance for Democracy, are trying to bring an end to the government of the current Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. Samak, a close ally of Taksin, heads a political party that was founded when Taksin's party was ordered dissolved by the courts for illegal activities. It is widely understood that the new party is merely a proxy of the old one.

Very shortly after it was formed, Samak's government sought to rewrite the recently enacted Constitution in a way that was seen to favor those in power. The new Constitution was the first in Thai history to be approved by popular vote.

Taksin returned from self-imposed exile barely two month ago in fulfillment of a Samak campaign promise. In past weeks both he and his wife were indicted in the first wave of charges of fraud, corruption and abuse of power. Taksin took advantage of the opening of the Olympic games in Beijing to skip bail and take refuge in London. This only inflamed the opposition at home. Traffic in central Bangkok was brought to a standstill on August 19th when tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the British Embassy to demand the extradition of Taksin and his wife. Thailand's Supreme Court has issued arrest warrants for both of them and has revoked Taksin's diplomatic passport.

Yesterday, following several days of boisterous demonstrations around Government House, Samak ordered a violent crack-down and the arrest of PDA's leaders. Police resorted to tear gas and riot control tactics, even though the demonstrations had been largely non-violent. Many Thai people were alarmed that this action was as excessive as it seemed.

Leaders of the unions representing 25,000 members employed by government-owned Thai Airways have called for a two-day "sick-out" with 15,00o people stopping work immediately as a protest against the government "attacking the people." Airports in Phuket, Hat Yai and Krabi are closed temporarily after demonstrators blocked entrances to the airports in Krabi and Phuket because the airline was forcing its employees to continue operating.

Union leaders at the Mae Moh power station in Lampang have vowed to close the power station down if the Police action continues. The power station supplies 10% of the country’s electricity.

While news reports are somewhat unsettling, visitors to Thailand are in no danger. Unless you happen to be near Government House you would not probably know anything unusual was happening here unless you saw a news broadcast on television. There are no curfews, tanks in the streets, or anything else. Numerous privately-0wned airlines operate flights to TG destinations. There are no passengers stranded anywhere.

Acts of civil disobedience in normally-passive Thailand are unusual. Members of the growing vocal opposition say they are tired of politicians and the elite getting away with murder. They want an end to Taksin's puppet government and want to see him stand trial like any other Thai citizen.

Remember, God hates television and everything on TV looks larger than it really is. The sun is still shining here, the beaches are still beautiful, the food is still delicious, the bargains are still waiting to be had, and Thai people still have the world's biggest smiles.

Pro-government "demonstrators" with weapons moved into the area around Government House where the original demonstrators were camped out, causing an escalation of violence that ended in one death.

Prime Minister Samak called a State of Emergency, which placed responsibility for policing Bangkok in the hands of an unwilling military that has promised to exercise the utmost restraint.

Thai Airways employees continue sick-outs, causing the delay or cancellation of 80% of their flights. The Kingdom's rail and bus transportation systems have virtually come to a halt as employees refuse to work in protest of the government's handling of the demonstrations.

Employees of the country's utility companies were organizing to cut water and electricity to all government buildings. However, this move fizzled.

Meanwhile, Thailand's Election Commission has ruled that Samak's party had committed fraud during last December's elections and that it should be dissolved. This would ultimately cause the Sammak government brought to a legal end, which is what anti-government protestors have demanded all along.

Dissolving parliament means that elections are called. This has happened frequently over the years in Thailand, probably more than Italy but less frequently than Japan.

A front-page editorial in today's Bangkok Post newspaper strongly disagreed with Samak's declaration of a state of emergency, calling it "another vain attempt to survive the political crisis he faces."

In his blog, Purple Dragon's Managing Director Douglas Thompson suggested to the British that "You get Gary Glitter back, we get Taksin. Fair trade, na?"

Although it may appear on television that the entire city of eleven million is under siege, all organized protests have taken place in an area the size of a small sports stadium located several kilometers from the city's commercial center or any places tourists might want to visit except for Dusit Zoo.

On Monday Thailand's Constitutional Court threw Prime Minister Samak out of office because of conflicts of interest. (He had hosted an early morning cooking show on television called "Cooking and Grumbling.") The State of Emergency was lifted almost simultaneously.

The coalition government running the country has elected a new Prime Minister who happens to be the brother-in-law of deposed PM Taksin Shinawatra. Before you gasp in amazement just remember what you can get away with if your brother is the Governor of Florida.

Civil Disobedience in Bangkok has flared up once again. We did not realize it until we received an email from one of our customers. We have unplugged the TV and cancelled the cable subscription.

Yesterday looked like any other day. No tanks in the streets. Sunshine. Clear skies. People on the street were shipping or going to work as they normally do. Nobody heard screams or gun shots in the distance.

At Government House, however, the same protesters who have been encamped there for weeks attempted to disrupt the opening of parliament. Police used tear gas, resulting in 72 injured.

Leaders of the PAD have said that they will not resort to confrontation in the future, but will hope that one of several pending legal cases will bring an end to a government they consider corrupt and dictatorial. Several cases are pending before the courts to dissolve each of the political parties that form the current coalition government. Thai laws provide for political parties to be dissolved and politicians barred from holding political office if they are found to have broken election laws.

Several of our friends abroad have asked whether things are really as bad as they see on CNN. (It's odd that nobody ever mentions BBC, or any other major television news outlet.) The answer, of course, is "absolutely not." The demonstrations are still confined to a very small area far from visitor attractions, hotels, or shopping areas.

The unfortunate fact is that many television viewers have an appetite for blood. They want to see the news close up. Unfortunately, the cameras that deliver the news to your TV set lack perspective of any kind.

Maybe you would feel better if you avoided the news and watched reruns of The Nanny or got caught up with what is happening on The Bold and the Beautiful. THAT's human drama you can trust.