IN BANGKOK
I DON'T think I've ever seen so many frowns in the Land of Smiles.
"Dusit? Dusit Thani?" my taxi driver at Bangkok's international airport asked me, pulling a long face. He suggested a list of other hotels I could go to, but I declined.
"Ok I drop you nearby. You walk yourself," he finally said. "How far?" I asked. "3km."
It was the same story when I got to the hotel.
"Don't take our park view rooms, it's very noisy," the receptionist told me. "It's okay, I don't mind the noise," I replied.
"It's dangerous," he retorted. "No problem, I'm not worried."
Letting out a long sigh, he finally ended the conversation with a terse warning: "No one is allowed to stay in those rooms. That wing is closed."
He then shoved a hotel notice in my face and said: "You read this."
It was a laundry list of things hotel guests shouldn't do: Don't open your windows, don't watch the demonstrations, don't go out after 6pm.
Dusit Thani, located at the junction of Silom and Rama IV road, has unwittingly found itself in the middle of the Red Shirt demonstration which has crippled the major shopping district in Bangkok.
The five-star hotel is located at an intersection across the defence lines of the Red Shirts, who have set up a massive barricade of tyres and sharpened bamboo sticks.
The streets are deserted for long stretches and the shops are all shuttered.
But journalists have been checking in here, smack right in the heart of the standoff between the authorities and the protesters. It was a five-minute walk to the Red Shirts zone for me to get my bearings when I first arrived.
And the park view rooms — had they been available — would have offered a bird's eye view of the protest and alerted us to any imminent clashes.
Unfortunately, the journalists coming to Dusit Thani are far outnumbered by the guests who have been swiftly leaving, especially after grenade blasts rocked the intersection, killing one and injuring 86, on Thursday night.
On Friday, many guests lined up for early check-outs. The hotel was operating at half-capacity — now it has gone down to a quarter, its staff told me.
"I don't think the protesters mean any harm. But our business has been very bad," said one concierge.
Dusit Thani itself was not damaged by the blasts, but its entire parking lot has turned into a police zone, teeming with personnel on standby.
Steel barricades are set up, cars are carefully checked and every guest is subject to a search when they enter the building.
It barely resembles a hotel anymore.
But then again, having shopped along the same street two months ago, this barely resembles Bangkok anymore.
Read more of Teo Cheng Wee's experiences in The Sunday Times.