First days

Ana and I began the journey by flying from San Francisco to Bangkok, Thailand. My wife and travel companion, Ana Fisher, is a part-time instructor in the Child Development Department of City College. We traveled for at least 25 hours including flight time and time at LAX and Narita airports before landing in Bangkok at midnight. We immediately took a one and a half hour taxi ride to Pattaya, where my brother lives. The taxi driver told us about the recent troubles in which anti-government demonstrators occupied the international airport for about 10 days and managed to force the President to step down. Our driver, not sympathetic to these protests, felt that the demonstrators (the “yellow shirts”) were against government programs to help the poor.

Our first day in Pattaya was restful and enjoyable since our hotel (called the Perfect Place) is tucked away in a quiet area. The weather is pleasant this time of year, upper 80s during the afternoon and pleasantly cool at night. Pattaya is a tourist city and a center of Thailand's legalized sex industry. Not officially legalized, I am told the police either own the brothels or are paid off. I am told that the women are happy they can make good money and can decide who they want to go with, but I haven’t actually spoken with any Thai women about this. Many come from the countryside and use their money to help their families or save it to purchase a house. Sometimes women try to pick me up as I walk down the street; there are many older men walking around with Asian women.

We can get Al Gazeera on our TV. It is the first time I have seen Al Gazeera. I think they do a very good job of counter balancing the biased account of Israel's occupation, the assault on Gaza and Middle East politics. If the American public would see this coverage it surely would sway public opinion to be more critical of Israel and the United States.

motor scooter adventures

Yesterday we decided to rent a motor scooter in order to go on an excursion outside the city. It was my first time driving on the left side of the road which was quite challenging. With Ana sitting in back, we drove through chaotic traffic on an unfamiliar motor scooter, but we made it OK out to the beautiful, peaceful countryside. We visited a Buddhist temple (the temple of truth) in a forest perched on a hill with a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside looking towards Pattaya and the sea. Surprisingly, there was no other visitors. In the evening, we drove downtown to Pattaya's busy waterfront promenade to check out the scene. However, on the way back to our hotel we got lost and drove all over for about 75 minutes trying to find our hotel. Not fun at 10 pm after a long day and suffering from jet lag.