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One month later I can finally open my closet and choose a top of any colour without wondering how it will be perceived by others. I can even wear my yellow tank top under my red rain coat if I wish. Because Bangkok seems 100% back to normal, one month later.

Well, almost back to normal.

The streets are cleared of tires, protesters, barricades and the remnants of arson activity. The tanks have rolled out of the city center, no more soldiers keeping post outside of my apartment building, and thankfully, no more curfews.

It was… an experience. Trapped in my apartment with my roommate (poor girl!) for days on end really made me appreciate the little things like going out to get groceries…and toilet paper!!!!. And my love for public transportation is definitely re-affirmed.

Living on the 17th floor of a building only 1km away from the madness did grant me access some powerful views. Here is my “Phaya Thai” experience of the civil unrest in Bangkok:

Empty shelves at the local 7-Eleven, which subsequently closed for the remainder of the unrest. I made it out to this 7-Eleven on the Saturday before the riots in hope of stocking up on snacks and toiletries. This is what most of the shelves looked like. I was able to buy Pringles, toothpaste and laundry detergent. But not the instant noodles, eggs, milk, bread and toilet paper that I was in need of. Thankfully the little restaurant located in the pathway of my building remained open the entire time. Where she got her groceries, I will never know.

For most of the time of unrest my street remained closed with army checkpoints set up around the Phaya Thai and Petchaburi intersection. I had no idea the other parts of Bangkok were completely unaffected by the protests and that life beyond my area was continuing normally.

For hours, the tire smoke filled the air. At first, in the earlier part of the day, the air was thick and black as can be seen in the photo above. The wind blew the fumes into my building, 1.5 kms away, filling the corridors with a smoky mist and a smell of burnt rubber. The building on the far right is Central World Mall, which was later looted and burned.

As usual I was watching the news both on my laptop (CNN and BBC) and then the local news on the TV, translated by my roommate.  I watched the news this way, because I learned early on that the local and international press were reporting different “facts”.

Prior to the riots, on local TV, my roommate translated the speech of the Red Shirt leaders who had surrendered with the wise words of: “today is not our day” (loosely translated). As soon as the speech was over I could see the events posted on Facebook to celebrate the end of the madness. The pessimists like myself knew that this was the beginning of a new, more chaotic phase of the protests.

And it sure was. Within the hour there were explosions, and then the looting and burning began.

Last week I finally decided to take a walk in Siam Square and head past Central World on my way to yoga. This is the side view of the damage done to Central World mall, almost 100% of the damage happened to “Zen” department store, seen here.

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