Sprouting like a flower in the rough yet beautiful red sea Thailand sports some of the most spectacular sites within Asia . A land of elephants, beaches, and beautiful women, Thailand is a hotbed for political upheaval and coups. Starting soon after the occupation ended the politics in Thailand began a topsy turvy journey to where it is today. While the coups have become more peaceful in the past decade they still have more than a fair share of violent outbreaks and riots. The following is a story of one man caught within the latest takeover of Thailand .

Friday night 9 PM local time: Austin Trubadore Masten was taking a short walk from his hotel down to a supermarket. The air hot and balmy stuck to his neck like fog sticks to the chilly underbelly of London . A workaholic, Austin had taken the vacation at the join request of his boss, daughter, and psychiatrist who warned him that his current stress filled life would lead to an early demise. Faced by the fore-mentioned three-pronged attack Austin had little recourse but to meticulously pack his bags, purchase some Thailand health insurance, and take a ‘vacation'. Austin was of course bored to tears by the 5 th day of lounging around drinking Pina Coladas on the beach.

A little spice had occurred the night after his arrival while at a local skin bar. Voluptuous Thai women bedecked in gold bikinis were dancing in sultry and erotic fashion; eventually one noticed Austin 's attention and zeroed in on his British wallet. Joining him at the bar she invited him into the back for more risqué attentions, the somewhat bewildered Austin began accompanying her to the darkly lit area she had indicated.

Soon after he stood up a group of fellow expatriates burst into laughter while sticking their fingers at him. Wondering what the source of their rude entertainment was Austin broke off from following the curvaceous beauty to question their intensions. Soon after Austin left the bar in a hurry, the woman had been of a wholly unnatural configuration being at birth a boy.

Now here Austin was on Friday night during his 5 th and final day within the city of Bankok . As stricken as he had been a few nights before Austin was content to live out this final night in his hotel room watching whatever happened to be on HBO. With a couple bottles of decent lager and a large pack of potato chips he made his way home.

Soon after leaving the supermarket Austin heard a song playing in the distance, though steadily approaching along with steady a one two drum beat which was notably louder. Once he reached the crux of a small hill which overlooked his hotel Austin could see a strange looking flood of people moving in synergy. A parade he thought, wondering at the odd scene. Abruptly he noticed, with confusion similar to a fish plucked out of water that the streets were deserted, the windows were shuttered, the desertion nearly palpable. Reckoning correctly that the time for sane thinking was surely now Austin hooked around a corner to get back to the hotel. He went as a cheetah does on the chase, quickly sprinting to catch its prey. Unfortunately for Austin he wasn't as liken to a cheetah as in his school days and his endurance flagged around a minute from his hotel.

A drizzle began to fall as the music and pounding steps of the approaching mob drew nearer creating a pandemonium of sound. He began to recognize the thick sounds tank engines make, and began slip over past an edge into a pit of panic. He leaned back against the door of a small pottery shop to relax and get his breath back before he finished his journey back to safety. Suddenly he felt a hand gripped his shoulder and he jerked away flailing his arms backwards to strike whatever had attacked him. After stumbling away a few feet Austin rotated to see what had assailed him. He realized it was one of the expatriates who had laughed at him the other night, effectively saving him from the attentions of the re-assembled dancer. Glad to see a familiar face even one associated with such embarrassment gave Austin a small smile. The man was beckoning Austin within his 1 st floor apartment to give gain safety. Quickly striding towards the room he slipped on the loose wet shingles of the tiled street. The expatriate grabbed him from the ground with two meaty hands and hauled him back into safety. The noise was now a roar of diesel engines and loud over amplified music punctuated by the stamping of feet.

Slowly the sound faded into the distance, leaving with it a headache punctuated by occasional loudspeaker announcements. The expat who Austin now knew as Johanson McGregarson, hailed from an assortment of Asian countries and was surprisingly calm, “Its calmed down now, go back to your hotel”, he said.

Austin later learned that uprisings such as this happened every few years, generally with little violence. The dose of reality he received in Thailand smacked Austin in the face and he is no longer as stressed because of work. Likely this is because he cut down his hours to a low (by comparison) 50 hours a week.