Reasons for Riots

Julia: So Todd we're talking about riots. Can you tell me about riots in America? You ever experienced any rioting?

Todd: There has been a little bit, like there's been riots from, you know, fans going crazy, you know.

Julia: Oh yeah.

Todd: After their team won the championship that's usually a problem. Cities sometimes have to be on high alert if their team wins a championship which is absolute idiocy. It's like "hey we won the championship, let's go turn over cars and, you know, burn things." It recently also happened in Canada.

Julia: Yes, I remember, yeah.

Todd: It's happened in Detroit, it's happened in Dallas. I think the most famous riot we had was the LA riots but that was a long time ago, that was over twenty years ago. Now it's about social unrest.

Julia: Yeah.

Todd: And social injustice for like inner city people but I was in Thailand right when they had their riots.

Julia: The political riots.

Todd: Yeah, so I actually left the day before they came down and occupied downtown and things got serious.

Julia: Wow, and you wouldn't have been able to leave probably if that happened? Did they close the airports?

Todd: Oh no, I think the airport was still open yeah, yeah, but I did see them every day so I mean before that they would often ride, you know, the red shirts, would ride down and for people listening you had the red shirts who were against the government and they came and they occupied Bangkok and that was quite interesting. But to be honest, I never felt threatened but then again I'd left the day before anything happened so before things turned ugly.

Julia: And were tourists targeted during those riots?

Todd: No, not at all. Actually it was weird being a foreigner at the time when all this was going on because you felt like you were at somebody's house when they had a family fight. You know, have you ever been at somebody's house and maybe the daughter gets in a fight with the mother and they get so heated in the argument they forget that you're even there? That's what it was like in Thailand at the time.

Julia: So you didn't feel under threat in any way?

Todd: Oh no. And actually the red shirt people were trying to be careful not to hurt anybody. The government, the yellow shirt people, were trying to be helpful and not, make sure that no tourists were hurt. It was really an internal fight.

Julia: A domestic issue?

Todd: It was a domestic issue and it was quite interesting how both sides took so much care to make sure that no outsiders were harmed even though eventually it turned really violent for each other. So a family squabble you might say.

Julia: Hmm.