Good-Bye Thailand!

Throughout my six months in Southeast Asia, I have visited Thailand a number of times. As well as visiting Bangkok, I have traveled up north to Chiang Mai, and most recently down south to the island of Phuket. My various trips around Thailand has landed it in second place of my favorite country in Southeast Asia (second to the Kigndom of Cambodia of course!). After this weekend, with my departure to the states a week away, I know that this was my last trip to this beautiful, friendly, interesting country (for now...).

When I left Southeast Asia in 2007, I flew out of Bangkok. I remember walking through the airport and thinking how strange it was to leave somewhere and know, for a fact, that you would never return. How wrong I was! With all of my various connecting flights and visits to Bangkok, I returned to the airport 10 times. Funny how that works out.

This past weekend I was on the beautiful island of Phuket. The views were stunning and the quiet white sand beaches allowed for a lot of time of reflection on my past six months here. Though usually Phuket is a crowded place for backpackers, in the off season you can find a number of deserted beaches. Unlike the beaches of Sihanoukville in Cambodia, there were not any children selling trinkets or women trying to offer you massages and hair beading. As such, it allowed for an entire weekend of alternating between napping and eating pad thai.

One thing that struck me when I was in Chiang Mai and continued to interest me on this last trip is the ability for me to travel back and forth between two countries with a violent border dispute. Though Preah Vihear was declared to be a part of Cambodia in 1962, Thailand still claims that the temple should be awarded to Thailand. In 2008, UNESCO declared the temple to be a World Heritage Site. Violent border clashes have errupted periodically since then, with over 18 Cambodians killed and thousands displaced. However, I was still able to make all five trips to Thailand without a problem.

My thoughts on this are that the two countries have an interesting relationship, with Cambodia semi-dependent on Thailand, and Thailand being far more developed and thus unconcerned with its smaller neighbor. They can look at Cambodia's tanks, recently acquired this year, and not be worried by the threat. Conversely, a UNESCO World Heritage Site benefits Cambodia greatly. For a country that is so recently recovering from a devestating genocide, it all helps.

My self-reflection on my past six months led me to begin making a list of things that I will miss, as opposed to things I am looking forward to when I get home. The ability to take a short flight and visit Thailand was high on that list. Sure, I am still looking forward to eating sushi, turkey sandwiches, and spending time with friends (in that order of course), but all in all, I recognize that Southeats Asia has become home and will be greatly missed.