Okay, here we go... I don't even know where to start; overall, we took close to 3,000 pictures while on vacation. Camera crazed for sure. But one can't really help themselves, Thailand is simply beautiful. I've been searching all week for a way to describe it and really, nothing works. The people are so generous, kind, friendly, and warm. The women are exceptionally beautiful, odd I know, but I couldn't help constantly checking them out. The culture is pure peace. The language is quiet and calm. The food is interesting. The Western male tourists are perverts. And the scenery is breath-taking. Forget the 23 hour flight and go already!!
I learned a few things while in Thailand..
1) We have quite possibly picked the single best president the US could ever imagine. The whole world agrees. From the second we sat in our first cab in Bangkok, the third or so statement from he driver's mouth and after "where are you from" in broken English was "Obama!", from the numerous Obama t-shirts on the backs of local Thais in every corner of Bangkok, to the politically obsessed Europeans... Germans, Irish, Dutch, Russians we visited with; it is clear the world loves Obama. When I mentioned that Obama was good for us, meaning us Americans, I was countered with Obama is good for the world. How right they are.
2) We are extremely privileged to live the lifestyles we do. Yes, we have a long ways to go in certain aspects.... crime, fear, reputation, greed, etc, etc. But overall we are educated, we are successful, our standards of living are high, we make good money, we are plentiful in employment, we have shelter, we have food. This is not to say that Thailand doesn't, in fact in ways Thailand is a lot like the U.S., but there are some things that are different. For instance, Thailand is extremely inexpensive compared to U.S. standards, the people make considerably less. Retirement is not common. Parents work their whole lives just to get their kids to school. There are not many government assistance programs, if you are out of work you are out of work, if you are disabled, well good luck... here's a bucket/microphone take to the streets for income. You get my drift in not so many words we are privileged.
3) Green. Green. Green. If you are not green yet, get green now. If you are half-assing it now, you gotta work way harder. Unfortunately, Thailand and I am sure many Asian countries or for that matter, less developed countries have not caught green fever. The waste and pollution is ridiculous. Think of countries that have unsafe drinking water i.e. no drinking water from the tap = limited use of reusable cups/bottles = millions of plastic bottles in the trash. I was absolutely astonished at the amount of plastic bottles in public trash containers... all ready to be put in a landfill. And that's just one small example. There is a serious amount of waste. We've got to double-time, triple-time it people, if we want to save this planet!
