Now What?

Although the airports are open again, and the previous government has been dissolved by a court ruling, tensions remain high. Yesterday parliament named a new prime minister, the third in four months. Seen as a uniter, known to friends as Mark, he has been dubbed "Obamark" by the press.

Like Obama, he’s a fairly young politician, and so doesn’t bring along the baggage that his predecessors did. But he had to make some deals with the devil in order to put together a majority, so his hands may be tied in other ways.

Time will tell how many folks he can win over in what has become a country pretty deeply divided along class and geographic lines. But at least he can count on Jip’s support. She likes him because his dad is a respected neurologist who specializes in her disease.

Angkor Re-Run

Strange times in Thailand made a quick trip to Cambodia pretty appealing this past weekend. I’d been planning to go anyway, to again join the annual Angkor Wat road race. Not that I really need an excuse to go back to that cool place. This was my third trip, and won’t be my last. Every time, I find a new favorite temple.

The race itself might turn into a tradition too. I keep surprising myself at how important running has become in my life here. For several days before this event I was careful to get to bed on time, eat right, and stay out of the path of motorcycles—things I don’t always pay close attention to.

But those things paid off. I shaved four minutes off last year’s time. If I keep up that kind of improvement I could easily win my age bracket by the time I’m, say, 75.

Reputation Problem

The Land of Smiles has come in for some pretty harsh criticism over the last few days. One longtime observer, a former NY Times Bangkok bureau chief, wrote this: “Add Thailand to the list of countries that are giving democracy a bad name.”

Human rights organizations described as farcical a situation where “Thai security forces can engage in battles over trifles with neighboring countries but not responsibly protect the Government House or international airport.”

Americans who had registered their names with the U.S. Embassy to receive news updates during emergencies got text messages that said, among other things:

Beyond the airport situation, there is uncertainty as to what will happen next on the political front. Again, we will share confirmed information as we get it but in the meantime all personnel and their families should, as we discuss frequently, use good judgment.

Britain’s Daily Telegraph even included Thailand on a list of the world’s twenty most dangerous places. You know you’ve got a reputation problem when you’re mentioned in the same breath with Afghanistan and Haiti.

Based on what I see for myself while traveling around, I still have never felt the country to be unsafe. When people from outside Thailand write me concerned emails, I reply that motorcycle drivers continue to be the most dangerous people here.

The protest leaders do seem to be challenging the motorcycle dudes for the title of biggest thrill seekers. Lately they made headlines by calling the seizure of Suvarnabhumi Airport “the final battle.” The next few days should tell whether their noise is just empty rhetoric, or rather the sound of a country self destructing.

Smiling Moon

Rumors are flying about the airport closures. While we were in the South last week, having flown to Trang on what turned out to be one of the last flights out of Bangkok, we each phoned people we knew in the capital. We were hoping to hear that things were back to normal and we could catch a return flight home from our island trip.

Of course there were as many stories as there were phone calls: “My mom says they’re going to allow domestic travel only”… “international carriers can start landing at military bases next week”… “I hear that from noon to 5 Saturday afternoon, stranded airplanes will take off empty for their home bases and anybody holding tickets on a Thai airline can fly in”….

Naturally, we ended up taking the bus back.

In itself, our change in plans was a minor annoyance. But multiply our uncertainty by 70 million Thais, and you get some idea of how stressed out the country is feeling.

Which is why it was so cool to walk in the door from work last night and find Jip’s caregiver jumping up and down on the balcony, urging me to come look at the sky. A few minutes later, my phone starting ringing off the hook. What was the fuss? Venus, Jupiter, and the moon were lined up in the shape of a smiley face.

In itself, this happy configuration is a minor event. But in the context of recent events, people here can’t help thinking that the country’s path to self destruction is about to turn around. One of the people who called me about the moon even said I would personally receive good luck if I called five more people with the news. And today I read that only in Asia did the moon form a smile. Other places around the planet saw the same grouping as a frown.

Giving Thanks?

This Thanksgiving, I ate mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce on an island in the middle of the Andaman Sea, surrounded by good friends and big waves.

But to be honest it was hard to feel truly thankful, because the protests in Thailand have suddenly gone into high gear. For months they have been low intensity affairs that have dominated headlines without really affecting many lives here. Now the politicians and VIPs behind them have ratcheted things up several notches, and nobody is untouched by their actions.

The protestors’ closure of the Bangkok airports means that mail doesn’t arrive from abroad, Thai exports don’t leave, and thousands of people are scrambling to make alternate travel plans. The stuck tourists, businesspeople, tour operators, and hotel owners will never forget how much hassle these protests caused them.

Most frustrating of all for me is the seeming lack of a master plan beyond the protests. The goals are as unclear as those of Bush’s war on terror. The only certain outcome I can see is a big mess left for whichever government follows this one. Even if the protestors get the regime change they say they want, the benefits won’t outweigh the damage done to the country’s reputation.

This week the courts are supposed to rule on a case that could end up disbanding the ruling party. One group of protesters would be delighted by that outcome, and agree to vacate the airports. But another group would be incensed, meaning no net gain for the country. Or the king might weigh in Thursday evening, when he delivers his annual birthday speech. If he told people to calm down, they would.

Meanwhile, the vibe around here is pretty odd. Half the Thai people I talk to are anxious for a coup—“just so we can move on, put this behind us.” The other half are doing a variation of self-flagellation—“our country has such lovely land, lovely food, lovely weather; too bad we have to spoil it with such lousy people.” The papers say that more than half the population supports neither of the two main groups holding rallies.

Bedtime Story

The story I’ve been reading aloud to Jip for several months now is a Thai classic known as Four Reigns. She read this historical novel on her own many years ago, but doesn’t remember much beyond the broad outlines. Most nights it holds her attention for about twenty minutes.

The main character is a girl, Phloi, who is raised in the palace and lives to see four different Thai rulers. Whenever Phloi wrestles with sudden change—an unexpected death, an arranged marriage, a revealed secret—Jip pricks up her ears and asks that we read a little further.

We’re roughly halfway through the book. Despite a few anxious moments, so far Phloi has managed to handle all the challenges thrown her way. Like Jip, she understands the Buddhist teachings about impermanence, and remains optimistic. No matter what comes up in the rest of the story, I have no doubt that we shall overcome.

Forty-Five Week Funeral

Just when you think political squabbling will send Thailand into a death spiral, along comes a reminder that the country can in fact unite. This weekend’s cremation of the king’s older sister, an event that involved more than eleven months of preparation, slowed things down and made everybody proud to be part of a country with a distinctive culture.

TV channels showed nonstop footage of the parade and pomp, gluing lots of people to their sets and leaving the streets quiet. Protestors too seem to have taken a break, in order to watch the tunics and the trumpeters.

I caught only a few minutes of the broadcasts, while eating a late breakfast in a restaurant. Reports I read in newspapers today told of the king lighting the funeral pyre, accompanied by traditional funeral songs, while the nation collectively hushed.

Thaksin Loses British Visa, Divorces

The tale of Thailand’s most influential expatriate took two weird twists recently. After leaving on a short trip from England, his home in exile, Thaksin learned that his British visa had been revoked. A few days later, he and his wife announced their divorce after 32 years of marriage.

Of course it’s never wise to assume we understand what’s going on in somebody else’s relationship, but speculation is widespread here that the couple split up only to unfreeze as many of their assets as possible.

The anti-Thaksin protestors who continue to occupy government buildings around Bangkok are unlikely to feel much sympathy for his recent life changes.

Obama Victory in Bangkok, Part 2

Despite getting calls from Brits quoting Churchill—“Americans can be counted on to do the right thing, after they have exhausted all the other possibilities”—I’m still floating from the results of the election. It’s so nice to celebrate something political. After several years of crazy leadership we now have a chance to do a few things right. I wish the same outcome for Thailand.

But don’t think it’s all gonna suddenly get better overnight. Time to roll up your sleeves, folks. Everybody pitches in now. No fair sitting back and saying that he’ll take care of everything.

Obama Victory in Bangkok

We can all throw back our shoulders now and walk down the streets without feeling somehow ashamed of being American. Tear off those Canadian flags we sewed on our backpacks!

On Wednesday morning here, just before the polls closed Tuesday evening in the U.S., I joined about 200 other Yanks at a restaurant to watch the countdown on TV.

A big cheer went up at 8pm California time, when CNN’s high-tech graphics flashed that the long campaign was over. Some people started ordering drinks right away. Others slipped off to a late but guilt-free arrival at work, knowing that nobody at their offices would have been doing anything besides monitoring the results anyway.

I happened to have an errand to run at the train station. The place seemed quieter than usual when I walked in to the huge open waiting room. But the number of people waiting for trains looked normal. Then I noticed the huge screen above the ticket windows and saw that Obama was giving his victory speech.

Probably his words were lost on the majority of the passengers. (Who can understand public address systems in train stations anyway? The words are always unintelligible, even when they’re in your own language.) But the crowd seemed riveted nonetheless. This victory truly is a victory for the world.

The Basics

Somehow during today’s Thai lesson we got onto the subject of essential needs. I knew the words for things like air, water, food, sleep, and warmth. But my vocabulary got stuck as I moved up the hierarchy that I remembered from psychology class—things like security, stability, stimulation, and so on.

My teacher said students here learn in school from an early age that the big four are food, clothing, shelter, and medicine. That last one interested me because I’ve often felt that the average Thai is very quick to reach for a pill. Rather than wait out a headache or a fever, lots of people here pop something at the first sign of discomfort.

Another thing about medicine in Thailand is that very few drugs require a prescription, so people self diagnose, or they buy what their friend recommends. Antibiotic misuse is a big problem, according to my public health colleagues—something like half of the people who take them don’t finish the course, meaning that bugs get resistant pretty fast.

So when my teacher listed medicine as one of the basics, I wondered if that status also trivializes it in this culture. By definition things that are essential can’t be overly strong or difficult to get. Even the word for drug in Thai can be mild—it forms the root of words like toothpaste and mosquito repellent.

Jip's Birthday Party

The whole country takes the day off on Jip’s birthday. (OK, so she’s not really the reason for the national holiday, but we like to pretend.)

It’s easy for her friends to drop by because they’re not at work. But before this year, Jip always vetoed the idea of having people over. This year she suggested it herself.

Five nursing school classmates showed up in the early afternoon, when Jip is usually chipper. She then surprised us all by kicking everyone out of her room after just 15 minutes.

So the gang and I went to the kitchen and ate the goodies they brought. When we checked in with Jip a little while later, she was grinning and asking us where we’d been. Before long the whole group was belting out popular tunes from back in the day.

Jip’s caregivers watched in amazement from the sidelines. “I don’t know any of those songs,” said one. “I think they were popular before I was even born.”

Thaksin Charged

A couple days ago Thaksin got two years in jail for violating conflict of interest rules while prime minister. He will likely never serve this time, but the verdict is splitting the country even further.

Being sentenced in absentia likely means that he’ll either decide to truly drop politics and stay away from Thailand for good, or that he’ll try to increase his power base so that he can return to dropped charges. His detractors hope for the former, his supporters the latter, and therein lies the rub.

Baseball Blues

The state of affairs in Thailand wasn’t the most discouraging headline I read during my time in the U.S. My beloved Chicago Cubs win that prize, alas.

The Cubbies just rolled over and died in the first round of the playoffs. This happens from time to time in baseball. Teams that dominate in the regular season forget how to win when they reach the postseason. As people have been saying about the economy lately, past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Yet despite the disappointment of watching the lads flame out, I’m still grateful to them and to Lou Piniella for giving me lots to smile about this year. Maybe the biggest smile of all came when I called Jip from Philadelphia and casually mentioned that the Cubs were finished for the year. I didn’t expect her to have much reaction.

To my surprise she immediately blurted out, “Oh no! Sweet Lou!” I didn’t know she knew the Cub manager’s name, let alone his nickname.