Little Deuce Coup d'Etat

Here I sit in Thailand, the site of numerous coups over the past few decades, and I have no idea what is going on. The most recent coup took place in 2006 and democratic elections were held in 2007 leading way for a new government to take office a few months ago. Good right? Not so fast.

Since the end of May, people have been demonstrating in Thailand calling for the resignation of the Prime Minister. The demonstrations have seen very little violence, but still, schools close down periodically, streets may be closed, and people warn us not to go near the crowds in Bangkok. Right, because the first thing that comes to mind when I see a large mass of people chanting in a foreign tongue is to grab a sign, wrap my shirt around my face to thwart any tear gas, and hop right in the middle of it.

This past Friday, the protesters decided to march on the Government House and (I quote) "lay siege". Lay siege? Do they plan to bring catapults to throw flaming projectiles over the walls and then ford the moat with a battering ram? Regardless, all of the news articles were pretty intense about this latest development discussing how the Prime Minister met with army officials to ensure there would not be a coup, how all non-essential personnel were sent home from the Government house, or how the police would resort to force should the protests turn violent. Then on top of all of this, a number of state unions have agreed to join the protests should the government try to disband it.

Protesters March in Thai Capital (Video)
PM Ends Meeting With Army Chief
Violence Averted as PAD Claims Easy Victory
Protesters Lay Siege to Government Complex

Here's my issue though: I have no clue what's going on. I've narrowed this down to two possible reasons:
1. I don't speak Thai (shocking, I know) and therefore can't understand what people are saying.
2. It's not that big of a deal.
The former of course seems the most plausible.

The take home message? Coups in Thailand are a dime a dozen, so there's nothing to worry about. There will still be rice for every meal, I still won't understand a single word spoken to me (other than farang of course), and those evil construction workers outside our window will still start work exactly 15 minutes before my alarm goes off, regardless of when I set it.