I had a nice long visit in Bangkok, spending a month (mid-November through mid-December) in UN ESCAP’s Energy Security Section working on a variety of Asia/Pacific projects related to energy access, efficiency and security. While there, I also attended a three day ‘Experts Working Group Meeting on Enhancing Regional Cooperation for Energy Security in Asia and the Pacific,’ and was invited to chair one of their sessions (addressing the concerns of energy importing countries). The meeting was quite lively, with lots of divergent viewpoints from country experts.

Bangkok view, with strings attached

My stay in Thailand was during ‘high season’ – I didn’t see a drop of rain the whole month, and we had beautiful sunny weather. I had an apartment off Petchburi Road, up on the 26th floor, and you can check out my balcony view in the picture. Note that I had to tie down my running gear; I learned the hard way that Bangkok that high up is a pretty windy place. My shorts ended up on another balcony downstairs, but luckily I was able to retrieve them…. (and yes, of course I used the inside stairs to do so!)

Roger on the River Kwai

I took advantage of my time in Thailand to stay at some really nice resorts in both the mountains (Khao Yai) and the beach (Hua Hin)…. but one of the more interesting trips was to Kanchanaburi to see the Bridge on the River Kwai. The one remaining today is made of steel (not wood, like in the movie or in Pierre Boulle’s memorable novel), but the bridge was just part of an incredible story of the 250 mile long ‘Death Railway’ from Thailand to Burma, built by POWs and forcibly conscripted Asian labor during World War II. Many of the POWs came from Changi (see last year’s Singapore posting), and it has been estimated that more than a hundred thousand persons died building the railway. I took the train for several miles over wooden trestles & cut-away sections overlooking the river, and then a boat trip on the river itself. On the tour I met an Australian fellow whose father had been captured at Singapore, and spent 18 months as a POW working in the brutal conditions. He survived the war, and passed away just two years ago. I asked about his war stories, but was told that there weren’t any: his father refused to ever talk about the experience.