...there are a ton of Arabs here, as well as some ethnic Thai muslims, and Usama Bin Laden T-shirts are sold by street vendors as well as "George Bush International Terrorist" T-shirts. My favorite nightclub here in Pattaya is mostly frequented by Arabs and some Thai people, and I'm not sure how things will be when I go there tonight. Generally speaking though, here in Thailand it has been the Arab foreigners who have been the most polite to me, and I doubt that it will be much different this time. Arabs who can travel here are certainly upper-class, rich, and highly educated by middle eastern standards, so I am sure I would recieve very different treatment from the oppressed masses if I were to visit any Arab country right now. My point is that despite the relatively large number of Arabs here, contrary to what many people would think, I find the white people here far more hostile.

It's nice to have some good Thai food again, even though I'm having to get used to how hot it is after eating much less spicy food in Taiwan. I think I'll take off to have some som tom, panang muu, and larp gai right now...

By the way, I just found a blogspot done by a person who says he is in Baghdad: dear_raed.blogspot.com
  ¶ 3/26/2003 10:26:00 PM