All the traveling was fine. No problems. Flew direct from JFK to Bangkok. Stayed overnight, as it turns out, right by the epicenter of the coup. I wouldn’t have know it if someone wouldn’t have told me. I had dinner with my neighbor in Brooklyn who recently moved to Bangkok to teach school. He showed me around a bit. We had the Thai equivalent of fondue – the give you a big pot of broth and you cook your own food in it. The sauce we got was amazing. I was exhausted with the long flight and jet lag and went to bed early. I loved Bangkok surprisingly. I have to go back. The next day I went back to the airport and took a $35 flight to ChangMai.
NYC was a good training ground. In NYC I will not take a ride from the random men at the airport soliciting rides, nor will I do it in Bangkok. I think that has worked for me so far. I did manage to negotiate a cheaper ride to the airport from the hotel. He said “600Baht” and I said it was 500Baht last night and he said “oh if that is what they quoted you last night”. It was easy and I was surprised I was successful. I felt like I went over a hurdle. I felt good and I saved a whopping $3.