BUSINESS (ALMOST) AS USUAL IN BANGKOK

News reports would have you believe that the entire centre of Bangkok is one no go area, and while it's correct to say that red shirt anti-government protesters control a part of the centre of the Thai capital it's also correct to say that business, for some, continues as normal - even within the red zone.
I've just come back from a meeting that took place within that red-controlled zone. Advertising still needs to be sold and companies still need to market themselves. Perhaps I should be getting danger money, especially as my taxi driver declined to pass the makeshift red shirt barricade - leaving me a five-minute walk to reach my meeting. That wasn't a problem though, and I even got a friendly "Sawasdee krub" from one of the red shirt guards manning the checkpoint as I strolled through, no questions, no searches and no problems.
Okay, so this wasn't in the heart of red country but it was in one of the areas where wearing the wrong coloured shirt might get you into trouble. And as for the meeting, I'll let you know but it will hopefully have turned out to be lucrative and worthwhile.