The Near Future, 2010 

Bangkok Bank, Silom.

      Strolling down the corridors of power and affluence through Silom early Friday, the first thing that struck me as seemingly odd was that colossal monolith of money, Bangkok Bank, which was opening its doors at an unusually early time– 7:30! “What’s this?” I wondered aloud, some sort of Twilight Zone ‘Thai time’ in reverse, where instead of things opening, um..well just a ‘little’ late, it was actually an hour early! I’ll admit, the Bangkok Bank security guards looked nervously around, but the smiling legions of staff walked past happily, knowing they would be…oh-maybe locked down with all that money!

Just the smell of all those billions of baht can get you …well, let’s just say feeling a little giddy!

Then, pausing while passing a few more rows of police barricades, I could see the brown army of three hundred combined Bangkok police, having just finished off their morning ‘kway- tiaow’ (noodle soup), looking pensively at their watches awaiting the Red Shirts’ arrival, probably thinking, “they’re not going to get here until noon, and we have to stand here and wait on them half the day, what a long day this is going to be…!”

 As if on cue, the Prime Minister’s motorcade came driving through (this explains the empty roads for sure, I thought), and the brand new PM’s official vehicle, a bullet proof Land Rover, jetted past with the legions of brown uniformed police standing at attention saluting. So, as follows my normal routine, I picked up a local paper and read the following tidbits of tactical planning by the BB’s PR Dept. of CC (Big Boys’ Public Relations Department of Counter-Chaos): In its statement, it warned:

“The head office will operate from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 
The bank has also advised clients and others to avoid coming to the head office, and instead to go to nearby offices for banking services. All communications channels at the head office are opened and will be manned as usual.”

… Does sound like they are preparing for a military style confrontation, doesn’t it?

(The following somewhat hypothetical scenario is based on what could possibly happen in a future event. Any likeness or similitude to actual events may vary in your locality. If you find yourself caught in anything resembling the aforementioned situation, contact your local Bangkok Bank manager immediately- unless it happens to be the main office!)