Thailand 27: April 21, 2003

As our time in Thailand begins to wind down, Liz and I are attempting to get to some of the restaurants we haven't yet tried, the vacation spots we haven't yet visited, and the stores at which we haven't yet purchased anything (a rapidly shrinking list). We'll miss Thailand quite a bit and we're shocked at how quick our two years have passed. There are few places as welcoming to foreigners and as easy to live in as Bangkok. Let's hope Kampala is one of them.

Of course, world and regional events have impacted our stay in Thailand. The war in Iraq has had a bit of an impact on work for me, but not so much outside of the Embassy. Thais typically like to avoid confrontation in their daily lives and in their foreign policy and so we don't hear much about Thai opinions from Thais in face to face conversations. Thais (especially Muslim Thais) who have an opinion are largely against the war. The opposition is broad, but not that deep. Opposition cuts across levels of society, but probably is strongest with intellectuals and nationalists. Most university professors have been lecturing against U.S. policy, though the general level of scholarship here is pretty low with even the most distinguished teachers relying on non-sense and pseudo-science to support their positions. I'm hopeful that the sight of some happily dancing Iraqis will change a few minds, or at least shut a few mouths, but we'll see. The Speaker of the House wrote a letter to the editor recently in which he argued that whether the U.S. made the right decision or went about it in the right way, Thailand should support the U.S. because a world dominated by the U.S. is better than any of the alternatives. A pretty subtle point, I thought, but not one that has won him much support.

The Thai government, as is their usual policy, has kept pretty quiet, but has cooperated with the U.S.. Security at the Embassy has increased somewhat, though its always pretty high. Last month, the Thai government kicked out 11 Iraqi "diplomats" so I suppose those are 11 less potential threats to worry about. We've been getting a lot of calls at the Embassy from concerned Americans in Thailand wondering if it is safe here or if they should go back to the U.S. We also get calls from people stateside asking if they should cancel their upcoming travel plans. At this point, we simply tell them that there is no travel advisory for Thailand (we can't tell them to travel or not to travel) and that there is no evidence of a credible threat against Americans in Thailand. That satisfies most people, though at one point I had 2 or 3 people per day in tears. Surprisingly, we haven't seen any decrease in the number of Americans coming to the Embassy to take care of routine business (new passports, notarials, reports of birth). The number of Thais applying for visas has dropped about 30 percent, and this is the peak season as Thai schools are on holiday in March and April.

We get frequent protests at the Embassy, though most of them are pretty small and all have been non-violent. The usual make up is Thai Muslims with some lefty Euro hangers on (with a few Americans thrown in). A few Buddhist-related peace groups have had candlelight vigils out front. Very polite groups, they scrape away the melted wax from the sidewalk before they leave. There have been calls to boycott American products, especially in the South, but I don't think they've had much impact to date. No problems walking the street, though there is one area of town that is largely Middle-Eastern Muslim and that's probably not the best place to take a stroll.

Of more immediate concern in Thailand, has been the spread of SARS in much of Asia. It is just killing the tourism industry, despite the fact that Thailand (miraculously) has only had 7 SARS cases, each of which consisted of an already infected person traveling to Thailand. The government has set up some sort of screening system at the airport, but its really inconsistent. A few people wear masks. The Prime Minister recently pledged to give 2 million baht (47 thousand dollars) to any Thai that dies of SARS, though I'm not sure that statement really addressed most people's concerns. After an initial phase in which many locals (including my wife) were panicked, most of those people (excluding my wife) have calmed down a bit.

I'm wrapping up my time as the full-time American Citizen Services officer. Many, many calls from concerned relatives looking for missing loved ones (everyone has turned up so far, though a few had some explaining to do) and lots of deaths. Last month, an American man was killed in a motorcycle accident in Pattaya. The issue there was figuring out who was his next of kin: Could it have been his wife in the U.S., currently locked up in a mental institution and without evidence of an actual marriage certificate, could it have been his common-law Thai wife or their 20 month old daughter, or maybe his elderly aunt? Naturally, he had neglected to register his daughter as a U.S. citizen, so I may or may not be able to get her citizenship now that he has died. The woman who hit him had insurance and the insurance company asked me to determine to whom it should make the payout. I demurred. The deceased was Jewish and I worked with the local Rabbi to have him buried in the small Jewish section of the Protestant cemetery. Another older American passed away, leaving me to try to figure out what to do with his .22 and Remington shotgun. He had moved here in the 1960s and failed to unpack much of his bags, so going through his possessions was like entering a time capsule. I found spiced apple rings from 1968 and the May 1970 issue of "Ace," a gentleman's magazine. About a month ago, we had three deaths in one day -- two suicides and one person who fell in the bathroom. One suicide slit his wrists, the second jumped off his hotel balcony (coincidentally, the same hotel that wouldn't give up the dildo collection mentioned in my last e-mail). As it turns out, this person is/was the prime suspect in a murder investigation in California, and I had to go ID the body in the morgue (note: a body that has been introduced to the pavement after a fall of 50 or so feet does not look exactly like a body that has not done so). I've been working with the local police in California and with the FBI to obtain tissue samples for further testing. The original request I received was for the deceased's lower jaw -- I spent some time trying to figure out how to pack and ship that. Fortunately, we've been able to limit the request to some blood samples. We also had our first murder in quite sometime. An American brought back a younger man he had picked up at a bar and was killed in an apparent robbery attempt. We get very few violent crimes against Americans and we've been working with the local authorities to track down the killer. The police have his nickname and a photo, but have made little other progress.