Just on Monday, Chicklet, Danny, and I were planning a winter break trip to Thailand. We had found tickets for under $1000 from LAX, had been discussing the required vaccinations, and had checked out which guide books to buy.
Then, on Tuesday, I flip on CNN, and what do I hear? “Thai tanks surround capital….coup rumors are flying around Bangkok.” So I immediately text Chicklet, who is in class; by the time she gets out the picture is much clearer:

An honest-to-goodness coup d’état! Thankfully, no blood appears to have been shed. The current (now former?) Prime Minister was in New York at the UN conference (not a coincidence, I’m sure), and he’s now flown/fled to London. Not sure he’ll ever step foot in Thailand again. The coup leader has “welcomed” the ex-PM back into the country, but I’m pretty sure everyone involved knows that this offer is just bait for an arrest to be made. (“Come back home! We need to show you these nice gallows we built in your absence….”).
Given how stable the country appears, our trip might not be in that much jeapordy. Maybe we’ll even get lucky and the price of plane tickets will go down. Or, maybe the Baht will experience massive inflation and our dollars will be worth that much more….not that I’m hoping for economic ruin in Thailand or anything…
On the home front, I’ve now attended all my classes, and I seem to have a decent balance, but probably too much reading. I see much skimming in my future. I also sat in on the class I’m TAing (into math for poli sci); the students asked insightful questions, so I’m optomistic about the course. Now if I only had a dissertation topic.
Update: Chicklet says:

You should include in your post the PM’s reaction: “I was prime minister when I came, and I was jobless on the way back.” I guess you can take everything in stride when you’re a billionaire.