Donald's Newsletter from Thailand

Donmuang District, Bangkok, Thailand Sunday, November 25, 2001 11:45am

Hello Everyone:

Sa-wad-dee khrup!

Well, I've been here a full week now and have settled in nicely. Here is some of what has been happening to yours truly....

Bridge on the River Kwai

The team spent the first three days based at The Botanic Resort on the River Kwai. Quite the place - I stayed in a Raft Room, floating on the river. The service and food were top notch, and it was an experience to be served early morning breakfast and watch the sun come up on such an important historical site.

During the wee hours of Monday morning, everyone gathered in their pajamas in a jungle clearing to drink beer and watch the meteor shower. What a show! (The meteors, guys - not the pjs.) I've never seen anything like it - hundreds of large meteors per hour, streaking from one horizon to the other across an ink sky. No ambient light anywhere to spoil the view. If I saw nothing else in Thailand, this one night would be worth the entire trip.

On Monday afternoon, I went to the current Kwai River Bridge - which is about 500 meters from the famous original (wartime) site. The annual Kwai River Bridge Festival starts on November 24th, so the area was packed with hundreds of vendors and workers setting up.

Lights, fireworks and fake bamboo "guard towers" had been installed on the bridge. Street vendors yelled "Hey you!" - the normal and not impolite Thai greeting to farangs (white foreigners) - as they tried to hawk everything from replica Japanese wartime flags to coconuts. A sound stage was being erected for a rock concert, and the latest Brittney Spears jingle blasted into the jungle. Disneyland at the war graves. Leaving all this, I walked about a kilometer up the railroad track, until I came to the original cut and trackbed - still visible after almost sixty years. I was almost alone - accompanied only by the faint, but still audible, strains of Miss Spears.

On the way back, I met a very old Japanese man, being followed by two younger men as he walked up the tracks towards the original site. He certainly could have been in his late 70s or early 80s. Perhaps on a return visit, perhaps not. There can't be many left on either side who are still capable of making the trip.

Work in Bangkok

On Tuesday morning, the team started work in earnest back in Bangkok. The client's main project involves the design of an integrated security, access and video system for a new facility - but I'm also developing an overall integrated security and asset protection plan while I'm here.

Many thanks to those who recommended me for this assignment - as the trip has resulted in other new business that will see me return to Thailand in the early Spring. Hmmmm.... perhaps a few more clients and I'll open a sub-office in Bangkok. (Side note to my old squad - Hey guys, any volunteers to staff the operation?)

As some of you are aware, lately I've become extremely interested in recording and editing video presentations - and this trip has provided a real opportunity to shoot some footage in about as exotic a location as I can imagine. So far, I've shot about ten hours of digital video, and I brought forty hours of tape with me. Lets see here.... forty hours of tape, no talent, very little experience - yes, I should be able to put a ten minute video together if I'm lucky! When I return, give me a month and I'll send out cd-roms to all my friends so you can share some of my experiences.

Last night - Saturday evening, November 24th - my hosts took me on a bicycle tour of some of Bangkok's historical sites, including the Grand Palace. We weren't able to see the fabled "Emerald Buddha" as this is only displayed during the day, but I must return during the daylight hours. I expect I will spend several days-off filming in the Grand Palace.

Thus far, one of the most significant things I've seen in Thailand is the large statue of King Rama V on horseback - as the activities at this memorial highlight the deep differences between North American culture and the Thais.

King Rama V, who ruled until 1910, is revered throughout Thailand as the king who freed the slaves. Even in Toronto, you will see his photo displayed in just about any genuine Thai restaurant you dine at. But, until I visited his statue - I never realized how important this King is to all Thais, and I never understood the genuine sense of history and cultural tradition felt by ordinary Thais.

We arrived at the statue of King Rama V at about 2am - to find several hundred young people gathered to pay their respects to his memory through prayer, and offerings of incense and flowers. I am told that this occurs on pretty well a 24 hour a day basis - every day.

This is the MTV / Much Music generation - late teens and early 20's - independently making their way 24 hours a day to pay homage to a man who has been dead for almost one hundred years. Such a thing is almost unimaginable in Toronto - but occurs every day in Bangkok. Business professionals in suits, beggars, students, soldiers, bus drivers - they were all there on their knees. Truly, there is much about duty, tradition and commitment to country and each other that we Canadians could learn from the Thais.

Navigation - The GPS Secret.

This is the first real test of my GPS - Global Positioning System - that I purchased a few months ago on line from GPS Central in Calgary. (http://www.gpscentral.ca/)

I just can't describe the feeling of being in a foreign city of 20 million, in a foreign culture, of not speaking the language - and of being entirely confident about where I am, where I'm going, and how to get there.

I purchased a Garmin Etrex Vista - which is a little handheld unit smaller than most cell phones. Bangkok is mostly low rise - and satellite reception is no problem even in the heart of the city and in the little rabbit warrens of alleys and sidestreets.

The unit records my track each day, and I make a "waypoint" of any special locations so I can return later. This has proved to be a fantastic tool for film making, as I will see a shot, subject or location during the working day and make a note of it on the GPS. On my day off, I can then return to the exact spot to video or interview. I'm also finding that no matter what the GPS states its accuracy is on a given day (usually from 7 to 18 meters) - the device will lead me to within 3 meters of any location anytime.

All for a few hundred dollars. It just doesn't make sense not to have a GPS on any trip. Upon my return to Canada, I'll be purchasing a second unit as a backup, as I just couldn't do without one now.

As a plug for GPS Central, even with shipping, their prices were almost 20% lower than anywhere else I enquired - either on line or shopping in person in Toronto.

Well - that's it for now. Next week I'll include a couple of photos with the newsletter so everyone can be truly jealous. I can't believe I'm getting paid for this.

la-gon khrup!

Donald