Land of Smile

Jil's blog has been keeping us informed about the situation in Bangkok. He wrote about the whole situation with the two sides: yellow shirts and red shirts.

For several years he lived in a town near there called Pattaya, (If I remember correctly - about 30 miles away) and I visited him there for two weeks in 2004, when we traveled around the country. So. . .we didn't spend the whole time in Pattaya, but started in Bangkok, went to Chiang Mai, other parts north and then back to Pattaya. I arrived in Bangkok, at midnight, spending almost 24 hours to get there. It was the trip of a lifetime, for me, other than his 2008 marriage to Epril in the Philippines. Anyway -Some of his friends from Pattaya came to the wedding in Jasaan.

Now, I wonder. . .are they worried about all the fighting that's going on in Bangkok? Sitting here at this computer, I can't help wondering. . . it must be effecting their lives somehow.

When our Philippine exchange student, Nathan, would talk about the fighting in Manila, in 1986, then, he compared it to a weather report: There were some parts of Manila, people just wouldn't go to visit "that day" due to skirmishes. The rest of the city would be safe. Life would go on, as before. They would just avoid that specific area. Of course, Nathan was young. Would he feel the same way now.
We had a chance to meet with Nathan again. Several times during our visit to the wedding. We re-united with him then and there. And when we returned to Manila, he invited us out to dinner at the restaurant he owns. . .where we met his lovely wife, saw pictures of his beautiful children. He's now obviously older, has a family. He has obligations. Does he think differently now about these situations? Or is it the common way of thinking when you're surrounded, so often, by the turmoil in these Asian countries. Does it becomes just a part of living, that you ignore for the better part of the time. Or make do with the situations that come up.
Thailand is noted as The Land of Smile. And it was true - wherever you went, people seemed to be very friendly. Has this all changed? Now, Noi's family is from the Northeast area - quite a distance from Bangkok, and she doesn't seem too concerned. I guess that's still The Land of Smile.

Later: Thursday evening: FYI - Okay. Paul read this blog and said that Greg had said they were burning buildings in Udon-thani, which was originally an American airbase near where Noi's family live. They live in a village nearby. Noi saw her sister and brother on UTube - watching whatever was happening. (It's a small world.) So - I guess that kind of changes what I said above.