Yeah, there have been lots of incidents of violence down there recently.  It
really sucks.  This most recent case was the worst so far, I heard over 100
dead :-(  The prime minister, Taksin, claims that it's just crime and gun
smuggling, others believe it's Muslim separatists.  Whatever the case, no
one seems to be doing anything about the situation.  Recently, enough
explosives were stolen from a gravel pit to blow up a city block.  Tourism
is way down in the area and restaurants and hotels are closing.  Some
western companies have a travel ban to the area.
We used to live down there in Songkhla for the first 6 months we lived in
Thailand.  Not much was going on at that time but it still wasn't the
greatest place to be.  Now all the guys from Dennis' company aren't renewing
their contracts that expire in September.  Dennis and I are betting that the
company will send us down there to live.  Grrr!
--
Britta
Sandpaper kisses, a cuddle and a purr. I have an alarm clock that's covered
in fur!
Check out pictures of Vino at:
http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson click on the Vino album