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Postcards from:
Bangkok Thailand Calcutta India Angkor Wat Cambodia Aranyaprathet border Angkor Wat First Day Angkor Wat Second Day Angkor Wat Third Day Bangkok Thailand Big Bear Lake California
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Hello from Bangkok,
The 13 hour flight
from Los Angeles seemed longer this time and produced unaccustomed
discomforts. I think the twenty pounds I lost during the past months must
have reduced the natural cushioning my body fat usually provides.
Fortunately, one of the monks from Wat Maha That, a Bangkok temple with
royal patronage sat next to me out of Taiwan and enjoyed sharing his
understanding of the
Dhammapada. To my
surprise, his understanding differed significantly from my own! That fact
gave us plenty to explore, making the time pass more quickly.
I have been here
two weeks, enough time to complete another $350 comprehensive "Executive
Physical Checkup" at the marvelous
Bumrungrad Hospital. The doctors and laboratory staff confirmed I am
as fit as a fiddle (who ever heard of an unfit violin)! Pronounced
healthy, I walked the miles of isles in the enormous Pantip computer
shopping mall a couple times. Pantip
is a six story electronics shopping bazaar with a large empty plaza
surrounded by hundreds of stalls selling every imaginable gadget of
interest to computer enthusiasts. Many shops are still selling illegal
software, even
though the government officially prohibits it. Numerous persistent touts
push "sexy DVDs" to the mostly foreign men strolling this astounding maze
of commerce, mirroring the energetic efforts of ladies on the street
selling "massages." One still sees throngs of elder foreign men with
clinging young Thai girls in tow on the streets of Bangkok.
In thinking of the
upcoming mid-term congressional elections I am appalled at the use of fear
to influence voters. On numerous occasions my explorations have taken
me to places commonly characterized as "dangerous." Fear is often
mentioned by people reading my accounts of such escapades. Previously
mentioned, being alert and fearless is no doubt my best defense against
becoming a victim of the numerous predators who target foreign tourists. I
cannot help but wonder if the current government's actions designed to
instill fear in the populace don't play right into the hands of those who
would do us harm. Surely our enemies would like to perceive us as
paralyzed by fear!
CNN and other news
sources available at the hotel here in Bangkok are covering the national
debate in America as the mid-term elections loom. I am gratified to see
the
polls show a majority of my fellow citizens have come to their senses
and are likely to elect a new set of rascals who want to move our foreign
policies back toward something more sensible... something more like what I
am seeing here in Southeast Asia. These countries plus China have been
facing even more challenging confrontations with mostly Muslim insurgents
for some time. The
three southern provinces of Thailand bordering Malaysia have have been
the subject of a terror campaign waged by Muslim separatists. The violence
has resulted in more than
1000 deaths since 2004! The recent
coup here in Thailand
was followed by the appointment of a
new
prime minister who has vowed to reduce the violence by peaceful
diplomatic confrontations with the Muslim minorities in that small border
region of his country.
Increasingly, members
of the American political estate are calling for
diplomatic engagement - a shift of foreign policy in our relations
with the several insurgency groups in Iraq, something long rejected by the
Bush administration. Members of the administration are signaling an
urgent willingness to modify "strategies" just ahead of the elections! Suspicious,
but better late than never. Of course, it is too late for
Pat Tillman. Kevin writes this eulogy on the occasion of his dead
brother's birthday. Read his lament and weep. I did.
One of Winston
Churchill's more memorable comments comes to mind: "Jaw, jaw, jaw is
better than war, war, war." Fortunately, most other major players on the
international stage understand that wisdom... especially China.
I am flying with
Bhutan's national
airline, Druk Air to Calcutta Wednesday morning. There I will
investigate ground transport possibilities into
Bhutan. A quick search with Google located numerous personal
travelogues: this
one
I found informative. More when I have a better idea of actual itinerary
possibilities.
Peace Fred L Bellomy
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See
postcards and photos for other Bangkok visits:::
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