Thailand: Bangkok

Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son: "Happy New Year"

Mae Hong Son
Thailand
December 31, 2001

Dear Family and Friends,

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.

Thailand: "Bah in Bangkok"

Miami, Florida

June 5, 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.

I will not be cowed by bio-medical acronyms.

My spirit will not be tainted by that puerile color wheel emanating from the offices of Shrub’s henchmen in Washington.

Instead, I shall journey on to admire the lovely hues the world provides.

Trat, Thailand: "Breakfast with the Monks"

June 24, 2002

Thailand

Sawadee krap,
Hello Everyone,

Greetings from the “Land of Smiles.”

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?)

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