Thailand

Miami, Florida
Monday
December 17, 2001

My Dear Family and Friends,

Sawat -dee,

I just checked the temperature readings on my Internet Home Page:

Mae Hong Son Thailand December 31, 2001 Dear Family and Friends,
	Please click on the image for more photos of Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son.

I am writing from Mae Hong Son, a small town in the mountains in the northwest corner of Thailand, near the border with Myanmar (Burma).

Tonight is New Year's Eve and the hotel is providing a "gala dinner" and entertainment. I have also found two noisy clubs with live music, so there will be no lack of celebration. The town is fully booked with Thai people on vacation and an assortment of "farangs" -- foreigners.

Bangkok, Thailand January 20, 2002 Dear Family and Friends,
	Please click on the image for more photos of Phi Phi, Krabi.

Thailand was a wonderful winter adventure. After Bangkok and Pattaya, I spent few days in the North. I visited the Hill Tribes and drove through the mountains near Mae Hong Song.

Miami, Florida
June 14, 2002

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, I am off again.

To hell with the money; to hell with the stock market; to hell with caution and trepidation.

I got my typhoid, diphtheria, yellow fever, hepatitis A and hepatitis B shots and I am ready.

On Monday I leave for a return trip to Southeast Asia. I fly from Miami to Los Angeles on American Airlines. Then to Hong Kong and Bangkok on Cathay Pacific. I will arrive on Wednesday June 19 in the early afternoon, just in time for a cold one at my favorite Bier Garten. (I think I have finally mastered the international dateline stuff.)

June 24, 2002 Thailand Sawadee krap, Hello Everyone, Greetings from the “Land of Smiles.”
	Please click on the image for more photos of Trat.

I arrived uneventfully in Bangkok on Wednesday afternoon. The trip, door to door, was thirty-three hours. That includes the three times I had to remove my shoes for inspection at Miami International Airport. (What price security?)

Hua Hin

Thailand

July 16, 2002

After Angkor Wat I flew back to Bangkok. I strolled through a large park in the center of the city and practiced my Tai Chi with a Chinese master. I went to the zoo.

I attended Friday evening prayers at the ornate Wat Suthat. A huge gold Buddha and mysterious chanting.

Miami, Florida August 19, 2002
	Please click on the image for more photos of Thailand.

Wherever I travel, an unexpected emotional moment may arise - an encounter with someone or something that can move me to tears of happiness.

West of Bangkok, in Nakhon Pathom, I was wandering around a very large market place. Everyone stares since I am the only farang (foreigner) around.

Miami, Florida
5 June 2003

Dear Family and Friends,

Do you remember that optimistic quotation from MAD Magazine? "What, Me Worry?” Like Alfred E. Newman, it is my mantra for this summer.

Bangkok Thailand Dear Family and Friends,
	Please click on the image for more photos of Bangkok.

I have a buddy in Miami who has a very short attention span. He doesn't like my long-winded travel letters. He says he "skims" them but actually I don't think he reads them at all. He doesn't even share them with his wife.

Sukhothai Thailand (My fan mail is unanimously in favor of my detailed ramblings. Sorry "Blinky!" Print it out and read in small doses.)
	Please click on the image for more photos of Sukhothai and Si Satchanalai.

I flew north to Sukhothai, checked into The River View Hotel (crummy view of a muddy river) and hired a driver and his tuk-tuk - a small cart with a roof and benches powered by a motorcycle in the rear.