A state of emergency, few students, but otherwise an ordinary day.

The Thai govt. have declared a state of emergency in Bangkok. According to the BBC a SoE means the govt. can:

• detain and remove people from any location
• deploy troops to help police maintain order
• ban gatherings of more than five people
• impose restrictions on media reports that could "undermine public security".

Life at school continues as normal except most of the students have gone home and teachers have a good chance to catch up on marking etc.

I have 11 in my Geography class. All of them were there this morning (all have since gone home). I asked who supported the opposition, 2 students put up their hands. I asked who supported the government, no-one put up their hand. I asked who doesn't know or doesn't care, most of the rest put up their hands.

As far as I can see having the students going home is doing more to create fear and anxiety than it is to make a sense of calm or security. Tomorrow will also be a day off for students. There is nothing in the streets around here to suggest that it is anything other than an ordinary day. I don't think it's cynical to suggest that the govt. has made the declaration with self preservation as their top priority.

Will update later.