Court Proceedings Today

Last night I managed to fall asleep by midnight and woke up promptly at 2:00 AM in a cold sweat. That was the extent of my night´s sleep as usual these days. This morning just before 9:00 AM, I made the dreaded walk up the Chaing Mai police station steps again. (photo left) My future, as always of late, was uncertain. I was unsure if this was going to be an official court appearance, just another procedural formality, or a trip to the “monkey house”.

Turns out it was a procedural visit. My case has officially been handed over to the court system, and the police needed to release my bail so that I can be bailed out again under the court system and not the police. A rather ridiculous procedure, but it took most of the day.

First, it was the paperwork shuffle at the police station. A meeting with the “good lieutenant” was my first stop. Then it was to the bail office to authorize the release of my bail. Next it was upstairs and the accountant to get the actual bail check. This process went around in a circle for the next hour or so. Back and forth, up and down the stairs until everybody had all the forms filled, stamped, signed, and what not.

The next part was going to be a little more tricky. Everything (including myself) was to be transferred to the courthouse near the town of Mae Rim. I was ushered out the side door and shown to my ride. A beat up diesel pick up truck with a steel cage on the back. It was already crammed pretty full with Burmese refugees. Thankfully, the court officer (aka “guy in white T-shirt”) was easily convinced to allow me to follow the truck on motorcycle with a friend. Once he saw that I had already been out on bail for 2 months, he allowed it. However, he did carry the bail check with him as assurance.

After arriving at the Mae Rim courthouse, the paper shuffle started again. This time it went much quicker. The courts accepted the paperwork, and issued me a little blue card with my next date of appearance. I was all the way back out into the parking lot when “white T-shirt guy” came running after me. I thought to myself “UH-OH, that was just too easy.” Seems that the police station didn´t address the check properly, and it needed to be changed. Surprisingly enough, he handed me the check and asked me to take it back to Chiang Mai and get it fixed. Oh, believe me, my imagination ran wild but I did the right thing and made the trip to the city and back with the check.

By the end of the day, the court “officially” accepted the bail money, and I was on my way back to Chiang Mai. Today was certainly a struggle with procedural and language issues. I made it through, but this is still only the tip of the iceberg. I have come to realize that I am horribly inadequate and ill prepared. People keep asking me who my attorney is. When I tell them I don´t have one, the response is always the same. “Are you crazy???!!!”. No, not crazy, just out of options. I can either pay an attorney now or pay my fines later. Neither of which I have enough savings for yet and I will still be looking at considerable prison time either way.

I have a much better idea now of how this will play out. Most of this is however very sensitive information regarding myself and those around me. I will be releasing it in several password encrypted posts over the next few days. Many things have come to light today, and I´m feeling pretty down at the moment. Maybe an hour or two of sleep tonight will do me some good.

Deadlines Looming

This weekend I had the chance to get out of the city and into the mountains again for a day. It was a great day out with some dear friends. Details of the excursion and the reason for going can be found in the encrypted passkey portion below. The photo on the left was the sight as we left the city and headed into the mountains. Yup, that´s water (rain) in the air and lots of it. Keep in mind we are all traveling by motorcycle on a mountain road with some pretty serious twists and turns. Bottom line is that we got wet on the way, but it was well worth it. I should have some more pics up on facebook in the next day or so.

Now, on to the deadlines. The courts have finally started issuing new appearance dates for the musicians involved in the arrests of over two months ago here in Chiang Mai, Thailand. All of us are concerned and unsure of what our futures hold. Myself included. Some here have more to lose than others in the way of family, businesses and investments. I really feel for these guys, and we are all hoping for the best.

The rest of this post will be encrypted for safety reasons.

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Songkran - The Day After

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly things are put up and taken down in this country. Even during my time traveling with the big sound production crew here, I was amazed how fast things go up and then come back down again. Yesterday the streets were filled with people, food and goods vendors, concert stages, and every possible bit of merry making activity going on. This morning at 10AM I went out, and was amazed to see that once again Chiang Mai had been transformed back into the semi-sleepy little city that I have come to love so much despite the hardships of living here. All the vendors were gone, the streets had been swept clean, and the monolithic celebration of the week was all but forgotten. Absolutely amazing.

As per local tradition, I went out with some friends today to officially ring in the new year, but in a much quieter and subdued manner. We went across town to the big ¨Wat¨ or temple on the banks of the Ping river. Local customs include the pouring of water, burning of insence and candles, releasing small animals into the wild, and other traditions that are said to bring good luck for the new year and wash away any bad luck of the previous one. It was a great and peacefull way to spend a day. It may seem strange to folks back home, but just everyday stuff to the folks here.

The really great news of the day is that I found a battery charger to borrow for my camera!! I was able to get some great pics of today´s outing and I have uploaded the pics to Facebook. Below is a link to the public gallery on facebook which doesn´t require an account to view. Enjoy the pics. All things considered, I feel very lucky to have experienced this once again and be able to share it with all of you. Life is about to get very difficult very soon, so this was a nice prelude to whatever comes next.

Songkran - the day after - Photo gallery

Songkran and Happy New year

Nothing new here to report yet from the good lieutenant of Chiang Mai´s finest, but I suspect that may have something to do with the upcoming New Year Festival. Most city and Gov´t offices will be closed for about the next week. Good luck for me as far as time goes, but it does stretch out the waiting game which is the hardest part.

Yes, I know that most of you had your New Year´s parties back in January, but here they do things a little bit different. The New Year Festival is called ¨Songkran¨ here and the festivities last for about a week starting this coming monday. It´s also called the ¨water festival¨ due to it´s origins, but they do take it to the extreme (especially up here in the north). The entire country goes into a NATIONWIDE waterfight that can last up to a week. I remember last year quite well. I didn´t get dry for nearly a week even though the temps were in the 100´s. The only way to stay dry is to stay home. Even going to the corner market for eggs will get you soaked 10 times over.

The video below was posted after the 2009 Songkran festival, but was filmed only about two blocks from where I live. What you see is not just contained to one street or area here. It happens on every major street in the whole city and lasts a week. One of the wildest (and wettest) things I´ve ever experienced. Absolute chaos.

If you want to learn more about the history and festival traditions of Songkran, check out this video. It explains it alot better than I can and saves me alot of typing for which I have to pay for the privilege.

Thailand Update March 28, 2011

Getting details can be difficult here in this country, but with some persistence and determination it can be done. Knowing a fair amount of the language helps, but the most important thing has been my local Thai friends who have gone out of their way to help me out. One such friend is ¨Goong¨. I barely know her as merely an aquanitance through another friend. Her husband was locked up in that same jail for over a year when they lost his aquittal and release papers. He literally sat in there day in and day out for a year because some clerk mis placed his file. She was there everyday for a year, so needless to say, she knows that place inside and out and knew who to talk to when it came to getting my temporary bail arranged. Without that I would not be out and able to work on my case before it goes to court. For that I am incredibly thankfull and I definitely owe her and her husband a dinner or three!!

I´m starting to get an idea of what it´s going to take in order to get my situation straightened out. It´s still a rather monumental task, but I have no choice but to face it and dig in. As you may remember from my original article (LINK HERE), the immigration officers wanted to cut a ¨deal¨ with me on the night of the arrest. This was the usual ¨bribe offer¨ to make everything go away without any paperwork or charges. This is always money that goes directly into the officers pockets and does not go to the government. The grand total they wanted at the moment was a ridiculous 120,000 THB. That´s double what I make in a year here, and in all actuality it wouldn´t have fixed anything. In hindsight, I´m actually glad I didn´t have that kind of money because I can now take my case to the courts where the level of corruption is considerably less and any fines that I have to pay will go to the appropriate government offices and not some corrupt cop´s pocket. Also, in the end I may be able to resolve my immigration problem once and for all and return to being a productive member of this society. At first I was very angry because with the new job, I was very close to resolving my immigration issues on my own when all this happened. Now I am trying to look at this challenge as a blessing and a chance to continue getting my life on the right track even though it is under rather extreme conditions.

Again I thank everyone for all the kinds words, helpfull advice, and words of wisdom. There is still a treacherous road ahead, but I´m looking at it in a different light. Yes, it´s still a dangerous and potentially deadly situation to be in, but Iḿ trying to look at the bright side and see this as an opportunity for progress despite the dangers involved.

As for recent news, there´s not much to report today. The aftershocks have pretty much quit and we haven´t had a power outage for at least a day now. The internet is still pretty hit or miss during the day, but that´s bearable. Hopefully more news tomorrow.

Chaos comes to Chiang Mai

Until this week, I can honestly say that I had never set foot into anything that could be described as a war zone. Wednesday afternoon, I took a quick break from work and stepped outside when I heard the sound of helicopters overhead. I was greeted with the sight of two government choppers circling to the east and a large plume of black smoke rising from the same direction. I soon learned that UDD forces had seized Warorot bridge and begun burning everything in sight. The crisis was short lived and the military quickly took control of the bridge. A visit to the area later in the evening was almost heart breaking. This is an area that I had walked through many times. It is a rather scenic bridge with many flowers and a great view of the river. The view that night was one of devestation and carnage. Heaps of twisted metal that once formed the makeshift blockade, smoldering piles of burning tires and rubbish, burned out vehicles just sitting there still half engulfed in flames, and the remnants of the many flowerpots that once lined the edges of the bridge strewn over the road shattered into bits. Strangely, we were allowed to make our way through the scene without any trouble, but approaching the bridge we were met with a full military blockade with rows of soldiers sporting full riot gear, M-16s, and shotguns. Needless to say, we didn't venture much further.

For now things have quieted down and the city has been under a full nightime curfew for the last few days. Even the 7-Elevens close at 9pm. It's so quiet that it's almost creepy. We all just keep watching and waiting, but hopefully the worst has passed.