REDS BRING BANGKOK TO A STANDSTILL

The red shirt anti-government protesters were out in force in Bangkok today, blocking many roads and forcing several high profile shopping centres - including Siam Paragon and Central Chitdlom - to close early in the afternoon.
Police have estimated the number at 30,000, and organisers of the protest have said they plan to stay in the area overnight and possibly move elsewhere tomorrow. My pictures were taken earlier this afternoon close to Siam Discovery and MBK. I spent some time in the latter shopping centre which was open and busy, no doubt as a result of others in the area being closed.
This is the fourth time I've taken pictures at red shirt gathering in the past couple of months and at no time have I felt threatened or in danger. On the contrary, I normally get smiles as soon as I raise my camera to my eye.
Today's ventures into the heart of the city will have caused many people lots of problems, and I'm not sure whether the government will tolerate such high profile demonstrations and the associated disruptions for too long.
The latest red shirt demonstrations are already making news around the world. People will once again be asked 'What's going on in Bangkok?' I wonder if anyone is able to devise a mathematical equation that will predict the amount of damage done to Thailand for every second of negative coverage in newspapers, on websites and on televisions around the world?