Better late than never as the saying goes. We were very fortunate to take some wonderful trips last year to attend conferences for the FBI National Academy Associates. Timothy traveled to Accra, Ghana and St. Kitts, Caribbean and then I joined him for Bangkok, Thailand and Tallinn, Estonia. We wanted to share some of wonderful experiences and photos so here is the first of several stories. When you click to see the slideshow (80 out of over 500 taken in Thailand), notice the fingers of "The Hunted" princess that was part of the entertainment one night. Thai baby girls fingers are massaged every day so they bend "elegantly and naturally" for native dancing. We hope you enjoy this glimpse half as much as we did our trip. The slide show is here. Click "read more" below for the whole story.

We flew to LAX to catch a 17 ½ hour direct flight to Bangkok on Royal Thai Airlines on August 17, 2007. Although the flight was long in duration, it was the best flight we have ever had. Royal Thai treats the economy and economy premium better than first class service on US based airlines. There were 32 flight attendants on the flight and they all worked the entire flight. They provided us with four hot, 5 course meals and if you woke up and moved, they asked what else they could get you. We landed and were met by Royal Thai Police command that escorted us into a nice lounge area and offered us refreshments while they took our passports for processing. Within 5 minutes, while we were enjoying coffee and hot chocolate they had cleared us through customs, immigration and retrieved our luggage. We were escorted to a waiting vehicle and made the trip to the Dusit Thani Hotel. Our suite was very nice, a library, den, large sitting/TV room with a kitchenette, separate dressing area As Timothy put it, the twin beds (very common overseas) were Sleep Number 200 – he thought they were like cement, I on the other hand loved it and slept great while in Bangkok. The floors, walls and ceiling were all beautiful teakwood. Beautiful fresh orchids were throughout the rooms in our suite and each day a new “treat” appeared, whether it was fruit, chocolate, crackers, etc. I have discovered that this is the norm for the President no matter what country. All of the participating countries bring gifts relevant to their respective countries to present to the President – Timothy. We of course traveled with an extra suitcase of gifts from AZ as well for the attendees. The “royalty” treatment was nice to experience but it can also get old very quick, except for flying through customs and immigration. Timothy was always being pulled in forty directions but somehow managed it all as a pro. Since Timothy was going to be tied up in NAA meetings all week, I took several day trips with a tour guide and the two body guards (female Capt’s – one from Royal Thai Police Internal Affairs and the other from Customs). They met me each time I left the hotel room and were actually a lot of fun, spoke very good English and took great care of me. Timothy, me, and two LEGATs (legal attaches) from the FBI, the body guards and a dedicated tour guide took an early tour upon arrival at the hotel. We visited a 5-ton gold Buddha, the flower market and vegetable market, a fine silk shop where they will make you anything you desire within 24 hours and last a world famous jewelry store. We finally tired and went back to the hotel for a rest before the evening event. We joined General Israphan (#2 guy in the Royal Thai Police which has 350,000 officers) along with Matt and Debbie Rai from Colorado (Matt is also on the NAA Executive Board as a Vice President) for dinner at the Intercontinental. This is where the issues begin. The General is not accustomed to anyone saying no to him. Dinner was a traditional Thai 7-course meal and he helped to fill my plate. I knew that Timothy would not eat the majority of the food and I did not want to offend the first day. I started with Seaweed soup, the broth was strong and I could not identify the floating objects in the soup. The chicken, beef and pork pot stickers were very good. The rest was something out of water…Sea bass in the whole, large fish eggs (not caviar) wrapped in a dough, on and on. We both made it through it, Timothy was actually a trooper as well, but we only did it by drinking large volumes of water and Fanta Orange. We thought the night was over, silly us, we returned to the hotel and the General had commandeered the library at the hotel for evening entertainment every night. General Israphan called the two Deb’s up to sing Karaoke with him. When asked what I wanted to sing, I did not answer fast enough, he wanted to sing a Christmas song in Bangkok in August! So, the General and the two Deb’s sang Silver Bells. I must admit the General is pretty good and he has a Major that sings with him. This Major was interviewed by the General for a Media Relations job but when it was discovered he could sing, he became the General’s Major – accompanying him everywhere and singing Karaoke with him every day. The rest of the week, Timothy was tied up in meetings and training sessions so I started my touring. I was very fortunate to see three of their major Temples. Ayuthaya about 2 hours outside of Bangkok is well preserved even though it was burned many many years ago, they have preserved all the Buddha statues. Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) is among Bangkok’s oldest temples. Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) is Thailand’s biggest attraction. It is on the palace grounds. The Buddha is solid emerald but absolutely no cameras are allowed as it is so revered by the Thais. I also experienced an Elephant show, which was actually quite amazing how well they were trained. I rode an elephant free reign in the country. I was also treated to an Alligator show where two young men put their heads inside the alligator mouths. I saw very few dogs on my travels and those that I did, were roaming free at the temples or at residences along the highway in the very rural outskirts. About 2 hours outside of Bangkok proper, there is a floating market; only accessible by water as the natives sell their wares and food out of their homes on the waterway or out of boats that they paddle along the waterways. This is where my bodyguards really helped in negotiating prices for their wares. I am not one to bargain but they actually had some pretty good items and you end up getting them for 50% of what they started out. The best food sold here was deep fried bananas coated with honey. One other highlight was a day trip to Kanchanaburi, the Bridge over the River Kwai. It was great to see this and go through the museum and visit the cemetery to learn more of the historical facts as I had only seen the movie before. We had lunch at a wonderful restaurant on the bank of the river. The best Chicken curry I have ever had and Thai French fries, which they were so proud to serve to me. They were lacking in taste but made from real potatoes. Each evening, there was a dinner for the entire NAA membership which consisted of 26 countries (Australia, Timor, Malaysia, Nepal, New Guinea, New Zealand, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Malaysia, Philippines, Guan, Fiji, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Laos and Cambodia to name a few. The General continued to seek me out and prepare the first plate for me, I still have no idea what half of the stuff I ate was and I do not want to know. Karaoke occurred every night after the dinners including after dinner on the dinner cruise on the river through Bangkok. Traffic was almost overwhelming in the city. Taktak’s are very common as are mopeds and motorcycles. All the cars get up to stop at the light and wait for the light to turn. The mopeds/motorcycles all move up and then take off like a race when the light turns. They have LED counters at each lighted intersection that start at 180 seconds and count down until the light changes. Their elevated rail system is great and used constantly within the city. Thai people are very gracious, loving and peaceful. Their King was actually educated in the US as were his daughters. Since the King was born on a Tuesday, yellow is Tuesday’s color; Thai people wear yellow all the time to honor their King. Throughout the country, there are very large “markers” of their beloved King and often the Queen is with him. We had a wonderful time but waited 6 months before we ate rice again. They serve it for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even their desserts are made of rice. The only down side to our visit was the weather. It was 89 degrees and 90% humidity, rained almost every afternoon for a short time. It was so heavy at lunch at the River Kwai; I could not see the bank on the other side until it stopped. Just before our 17½ hour flight back to LAX, we got an hour foot, leg and shoulder massage for $4 US dollars. Probably the best purchase we made. We took over 500 photos, but we hope you get a feel for our wonderful trip with the selected photos.