Just in case you're watching the news, I'd like to offer some perspective on what's happening in Thailand.

First of all, we are very safe here.  The demonstrations are almost all very peaceful, and we have nothing of note happening where we live and work.  Some of the provincial airports are being shut down by the protests, but since we're not traveling at the moment, this has very little imapct on us as well.  There are certainly some areas of Bangkok that are being affected more than others.  We don't venture to Bangkok very often either (too much traffic and pollution for our liking) so again, the impact on us is minimal.  And while I make no predictions about what will happen in the future, I'm guessing it will have very little impact on our "normal day to day life" here.  I'll certainly keep you posted through the blog if things change.

One thing I have noticed that does directly impact us, however, is the value of the Thai Baht.  Over the past few weeks or more, the Thai Baht has lost value against the U.S. dollar.  That means we have to send more Thai Baht home each month to pay our American bills.  Because the Baht got stronger last fall, we're sitting about where we expected last year even with the recent devaluation, so all is OK.  But I'm hoping for a quick and peaceful resolution to everything here so things can go back to normal.

Hope all of you are doing well.