Tentative Travel Plans

Just the end of another weekend here. I'm still alive, still kicking and still waiting. I've been keeping a close eye on flight patterns and prices going back to the states. Prices seem to bounce all over the place. Not knowing when exactly I will have to go makes it nearly impossible to plan for, but I just try to watch the schedules as they fit to the needs I have. Here's what I have so far.

First of all, (due to deportation regulations) any flight I take cannot land anywhere in the kingdom of Thailand as a layover. That alone makes it a bit tricky, but I have found an alternative to flying through Bangkok down south.

Korean Air #668 flies from here in ChiangMai to Seoul, South Korea....and cheap! They only do it twice a week, but they do make the flight on Thursdays and Sundays. This flight number is pretty certain, and will most likely be my first step back.

Step two will be from Korea back to somewhere (anywhere) in the states. I will most likely be getting whatever happens to be affordable and available at the moment. That is the part that has my head spinning at the moment trying to find the flight numbers I might need. The three front runners on price alone at this point are Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Honolulu.

The one thing that I have to consider is that I will be hitting the ground running with maybe a few dollars in my pocket when I get back. Getting back in one piece is priority one. Priority number two will be finding work so I can stay that way. Honolulu is probably going right out the window due to the cost of living. So, most likely it will be L.A. or Vegas. Neither of which I am particularly fond of, but beggars can't be choosers. My chances of finding some work and making a little money are a bit better there.

Flight prices are ranging anywhere from $900 to $1,600. That is a HUGE divide. I can probably pull off the $900 flight, and have seen a few of those deals come and go already. As always, it's going to come down to the wire and what is available on the day I have to go. It's really driving me up the wall not being able to act on this and having the whole thing up in the air. For now, I just try to keep up on the latest info.

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Mental Preparation

As it begins to look more and more like I will be able to leave Thailand, I have made it a point to try and catch up on news and events back in the states. In hindsight, that might have been a mistake. Holy cow!!! The federal government is running out of money. The Justice department is running guns to Mexico. People are just randomly opening fire in skating rinks, casinos and car shows. Oh, let's not forget the Casey Anthony fiasco. What on earth is going on over there? I guess I'll find out for myself soon enough.

I do get some English speaking news channels here. The two I get most often are FoxNews and AlJazeera. Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum. It's pretty bad when I get better unbiased news from AlJazeera than I do from so called "fair and balanced" Foxnews. I guess I just see the world and especially America in a little different light these days. Just like anything else, it helps to stand back a little and get a view from the outside looking in.

As for my current status, I checked in with the courthouse again this week regarding the posting of the court documents and my judgement back to the local police who still have my US passport. The answer was the same "one or two weeks" that they have been telling me for nearly three weeks now. My contact at the US Consulate attempted to negotiate a planned exit, but was stonewalled by the local authorities. Once again, I just get to sit and wait. I am beginning to think my landlord is in cahoots with the court. I think she wants to make sure she gets one more month's rent out of me before I get shipped off and she can rent the place twice for one month. Yes, I am joking of course, but anything is possible here.

Depending on what flight I can get on short notice when the paperwork goes through, I may or may not have enough to get out. I am trying to stay optimistic, and am very thankful to all who pitched in to at least give me the possibility of getting out in one piece. There are still a few hoops to jump through here, and once I do get back then the real challenges begin. I was having an interesting conversation with some Thai friends the other night. They reminded me that for the price of a plane ticket to the states, you can build a small house here. Irony indeed.

That's it for me in the here and now. As always, be good to yourselves and each other out there.

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Gratitude, Appreciation, and Clarification

I have been a bit overwhelmed this week as friends new and old have rallied around to help get me out of here. It's been about a 50/50 split between the US and Thailand as far as those who have pitched in to help get me home. I am amazed and incredibly grateful on many levels. I want to reply to everyone personally who has responded and helped. I will get it done as quickly as I can, and hope you can accept this temporary statement. I'm currently basing my communications out of a small internet shop in the Chang Phuak district of Chiang Mai, Thailand. The PCs and keyboards are all in Thai, and many websites only display in Chinese, but I am making due. Hey, that's what you get for 30 cents an hour.

I have an appointment with the US consulate here on Tuesday thanks to some prodding from my good friend Pete back in the states. I should have a slightly clearer idea of how things might play out after that. The financial goal for getting a ticket out is getting closer and thanks to some sharp travel advice from some local fiends it may not cost as much as originally anticipated. It's still going to be a tricky piece of business getting all the pieces put together, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel now.

I have been getting a few questions lately about my legal situation. Yes, it is a bit bizarre. I know. I will try to spell it out in simple terms. All the information is also here in my blog over the last few months as well. Some of it has been encrypted due to the fact that there was an ongoing court case at the time the posts were published. Now that the court case is finished, I can speak a bit more freely. I will do my best to answer the most frequently asked questions below.

Why were you arrested? I was playing a guitar in a restaurant with some friends. I was not being paid, but the simple act of utilizing a skill of any kind outside your home can be considered work under Thai law regardless of whether or not you get any compensation. In this regard I was technically working with out a permit and the police were within the law when they arrested me.

What were your charges? I was charged with working without a permit and not having a valid visa

What is the status of your case? CLOSED!!!! I entered a guilty plea on both counts. I was sentenced to 2 years probation and paid a fine. I paid the fine and promised to be a good boy for the next 2 years. Any problem with the police in the next 2 years gets me an automatic jail sentence.

Why are you facing jail time if your case is closed? I am facing jail time again simply because I cannot get home. Thailand is deporting me (kicking me out) for immigration violations, but they are certainly not going to give me a ticket back to the states. Thai law states that I must be returned to my "country of origin". I have worked hard to support myself here on this side of the planet, but the average salary of most people here is less than $200 a month. International travel is not much of an option for most.

Hope that answers a few questions, and as I stated before there is much more detailed info here on my blog. Those were just the most common, so I thought I would clarify them as best I could.

Tragic Day Around the World

With the tragic and violent events in Norway, Seattle and Texas over the last 24 hours, I am sadly reminded of how truly frightening this world can be.

Here in Thailand there has been a ongoing tragedy as well unfolding this week. Last week the Thai military lost a Huey helicopter in a dreadful crash near the Myanmar border in an attempt to extract 35 soldiers from a remote jungle area. All five personnel were lost. On Tuesday they sent in a Blackhawk to recover the bodies. It also went down killing all nine aboard. Today the third recovery attempt was made with a Bell 212 helo. It has gone down also killing 3 out of four crew members on board. Royal Thai Army Channel 5 (yes they have their own TV station) is reporting that the crashes are all weather or instrument related and insists that they were not shot down. Truly a sad series of events for these men and their families.

On another note, we have been getting new reports about human rights injustices in nearby Myanmar. Even with as difficult as things have been for me here in Thailand, it is nothing compared to what goes on just across the border a few hours away. I would certainly not want to be facing jail time there. Civilian prisoners there are now being forced to work as porters (human donkeys) during military operations, carrying heavy loads of ammunition and supplies without adequate food or shelter. Those who are unable to carry are used as human shields and mine sweepers. I've spent alot of time talking to the refugee population here, and have seen and heard some horrific stories over the last couple years. Makes me feel pretty lucky sometimes.

I do have some status updates on my own struggle that I will be posting as soon as I have more information. For now and as always, take care of yourselves and each other out there. The world is a pretty scary place sometimes.

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Hurry up and Wait

If there's one thing Thailand is good at, it is making you wait. We jokingly call it "Thai Time" here. It used to be annoying, but I got used to it after a while. This seems to be the only place in the world where you can show up 2 hours late and still be an hour earlier than everybody else. This has actually worked in my favor on several occasions here in this whole ordeal, but the waiting does get really old sometimes.

At the moment, I am allowed to walk the streets temporarily, but that is only because of the kindness shown to me by one very nice police officer. He knows I'm not a flight risk, and he does still have my passport after all. Once the court paperwork is processed, I will either need to have a ticket out or go back into custody. I have been trying to be proactive in staying updated and checking in on the status of everything. Today I made another trip out to the courthouse to see what the paperwork status was. Ordinary Thai people are lovely in the way that they never seem to want to say "no", give you any bad news, or tell you they just "don't know". They really are trying to "save face" and also make you feel better most of the time, but sometimes a straight answer is the best option even if it may not be what they think you want to hear.

Finally, word from the court clerk was that the documents are "Not Finished" and she doesn't know exactly when they will be. She did however give me a phone number to call direct and avoid the traffic to get out there every time I need to check something. At the moment, I am still trying to organize funds and a plane ticket back to the states. As soon as the paperwork does go through, I will be either deported or jailed depending on whether or not I can afford to get out. It's still a pretty tricky game. I will probably have only a matter of hours to book an international flight and get a police escort to the airport.

For now, I keep trying to stay current airline flight patterns and prices to find the best way out. It is a very specific set of circumstances that the local immigration police need to see before they will allow me to leave.

1. No layovers in Thailand which means no cheap re routes through Bangkok from here in the North. I may have to get bounced through Korea or Taiwan again.
2. Final destination in the USA

From there they couldn't care less what happens to me. I'm still not sure where in the states I might get dropped, but it looks like it will probably be the western half because it's closer. Likely possibilities could be Seattle, Los Angeles, or San Francisco. It's all a matter of what's available and what I can afford when the time comes. I'll be arriving without much more than the clothes on my back and a couple bucks in my pocket. About the same as when I got to Thailand nearly two years ago. But hey, if I can pull that off here in Southeast Asia and still be alive two years later, I think I can handle it.

Ticket to Nowhere

I really didn't imagine myself being able to post from here in Thailand again, but after all the strange stuff I've seen here, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.

My court case is finished. I entered a guilty plea on all counts, and was sentenced to a fine and two years probation. I paid the fine at the courthouse, and was turned back over to the police who are still in possession of my passport. It all sounded too good to be true. That's because it was. As I suspected and have written before, my case is being handed back over to the immigration authorities. They will be detaining me for deportation.

In the midst of everything, I have had a few strokes of good luck. First of all, I am able to write this message today because the paperwork has not yet been processed. The local dept policeman who I've dealt with through this whole ordeal has been a pretty decent guy. He told me that he could keep me locked me up until the paperwork was done, but chose not to. He also told me that he appreciated my promptness over the last four months in showing up every time when asked. So, I have at least a few days of freedom before I go back behind bars for a third time.

Now on to what will happen in the next few days once all the court paperwork is processed. In a case like mine, Thai law says that I must be deported to my "country of origin". They certainly aren't going to foot the bill, and I don't exactly have the kind of money laying around for a ticket out. I've got about enough for a bus to Burma, but certainly not enough for an airline ticket around the world. At the moment, I have two options. Buy a one way ticket to anywhere in the states, or submit myself for an indefinite lock up till I can.

I've tried to explain this time and time again both here in my blog and emails at various times over the last couple years. Some people get it. Some don't. Yes, it's a kinda screwy system, but it's what I'm stuck with.

So, here's what I need:

A big pile of money to buy a one way ticket to the U.S. (yeah right..just a little joke). On they day they call me in, I will need to have a paper ticket in hand bound non-stop for the US. If I have that, I will get a police escort to the airport and they will put me on the plane. Without that, it will be back to the shackles and it could take months or years before I get the chance again.

Seriously though, at this point my only hope is going to be the US Consulate here, and this is where I do actually need some assistance. If they are able to get me out and ship me back sometime in the coming months or years, they will need a delivery address and contact person on the other end. So, who wants to take a special delivery? Please email me with your current information if you are willing and or able ASAP so I can get the information to the Consulate before I go back in sometime in the next few days.

So, there you have it. I'm happy to have the court case finished, but dreading the idea of leaving everything behind that I have worked so hard to get only to be dropped penniless into one of the most expensive countries on the planet. Such are the breaks, but we just take what we can get I suppose.

As always, take care of yourselves out there and each other. Tomorrow is always still just a mystery.

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Final Blog Post

The time here is getting short. Very short. I have done my best to upload what files I can and make arrangements for what few things I needed done here before I am taken back into the custody of his majesties finest. I have notified the US Consulate here as to my current status. They thanked me for the update, wished me luck, and said "have a nice day". I didn't expect anything more than that. I do have a little help with the translation and interpretation details tomorrow. It's not ideal, but between my Thai and their English we will have to make due. I just want to make sure I have an understanding of things as they play out in the coutroom.

It doesn't look pretty, but in the grand scheme of things, it hasn't looked great for a long while. I'll see you all on the flipside of somewhere. Exactly where that will be, I still don't know. Thanks for the memories everyone.

To all those who I've met along the way: I was honored to have you met you and shared a small piece of my life you.

To all those I have recently managed to re-connect with: It was also an honor, and I deeply regret the circumstances surrounding the regained connection.

To all future readers: Please do not read this blog and it's archives and get any ideas about future plans for yourself. The path I have taken on this journey has been most dangerous, difficult and even life threatening. It has been fraught with heartache, disillusionment, and despair. Yes, I made some incredible and profound progress in understanding myself and the world around me, but the emotional, physical, and mental price has been immense. This price has nothing to do with money. You pay for it in blood, bone, muscle, scars and tears.

For all the thoughts in my head, I have little more to write about at the moment. I have volumes that I would like to speak, and only a few minutes and paragraphs to put them down to words. I wish all of you the best. Take care of each other out there, and most of all, be true to yourselves.

Signing off indefinitely,
Matt - Expat-Matt

Updates July 07, 2011

Not too much that I can report today. Internet access is getting harder and harder to find here in this neighborhood. There have been some things going down behind the scenes, but nothing directly related to my own case. I've got about six days now before my next court appearance. My understanding is that it will be my time to appear before the court and officially enter my "guilty" or "not guilty" plea. I have been advised to enter a guilty plea on the work permit violation and hope for a light sentence. If I fight it and lose, then I can expect them to throw the whole book at me. The outcome if it were to go to trial is still unknown, but without any legal representation my chances are quite slim.

Entering a guilty plea on the 13th will send me directly to sentencing on the same day. I will have to serve what ever time I am given and pay any fines. Once those are completed, I will be handed over to the immigration department and I start the whole process with them while under lock and key. They will be wanting to collect a sizable amount of cash in fines for the overstay of my visa, and then will want me to come up with a plane ticket out of the country so they can deport me. I don't have that kind of money, so they will probably just have to keep me in IDC (immigration detention) indefinitely. I have thought a great deal about that outcome, and have somewhat come to grips with it. Nothing more I can do at this point.

I have also thought a lot recently about my experiences over the last 2 years. When I came here, I was on death's door and just begging for somebody to put me out of my misery. Since then, I have been through a great many changes. I've fought tooth and nail to survive here any way I can and endured hardships that I never even thought possible. I do still think it's a bit ironic that after two years I was finally getting back on my feet and now this whole mess happens. In the end, I suppose I should be thankful. It's been an unreal and incredible journey that gave me two more years on this earth when my days were clearly numbered at the start.

Many thanks go out to all who have helped me along the way. I couldn't have done it without you. If it had not been for a select few friends from countries across the world, I would certainly not have survived. For that I am thankful. You all know who you are, and I'll never forget. It's nearly time to close the book on this chapter. The next is a mystery. I will try to get online to check email and make another post or two before the big day rolls around. Take care of yourselves out there.

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Thaksin party wins Thai election by a landslide

By Jason Szep and Martin Petty
BANGKOK | Sun Jul 3, 2011 10:54am EDT

http://www.reuters.com/

(Reuters) - Thailand's opposition won a landslide election victory on Sunday, led by the sister of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a triumph for red-shirt protesters who clashed with the army last year.

Exit polls showed Yingluck Shinawatra's Puea Thai (For Thais) party winning a clear majority of parliament's 500 seats, paving the way for the 44-year-old business executive to become Thailand's first woman prime minister.

"I'll do my best and will not disappoint you," she told supporters after receiving a call of congratulations from her billionaire brother, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and lives in Dubai to avoid jail for graft charges that he says were politically motivated.

"He told me that there is still much hard work ahead of us," she told reporters.

With nearly all votes counted, Yingluck's party won a projected 261 seats with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's Democrat Party taking 162, according to the Election Commission.

Abhisit conceded defeat. "I would like to congratulate the Puea Thai Party for the right to form a government," he said.

Exit polls by Bangkok's Suan Dusit University showed Puea Thai doing even better, winning 313 seats compared to just 152 for the Democrats, dismal enough to threaten Abhisit's job as party leader.

Yingluck's supporters were jubilant, erupting in roars and cheers as television broadcast the exit polls.

"Number one Yingluck," some shouted. "Prime Minister Yingluck" screamed others, as party members slapped each other on the back.

"Yingluck has helped us and now Puea Thai can solve our problems and they'll solve the country's problems," said Saiksa Chankerd, a 40-year-old government worker.

The results were a rebuke of the traditional establishment of generals, old-money families and royal advisers in Bangkok who loathed Thaksin and backed Abhisit, an Oxford-trained economist who struggled to find a common touch.

"People wanted change and they got it," said Kongkiat Opaswongkarn, chief executive of Asia Plus Securities in Bangkok. "It tells you that a majority of people still want most of the things that the ex-prime minister had done for the country in the past."

The size of Puea Thai's victory could usher in much-needed political stability after six years of sporadic unrest that featured the occupation of Bangkok's two airports, a blockade of parliament, an assassination attempt and protests last year that descended into chaotic clashes with the army.

"Chances of blocking Puea Thai in the near term are severely limited," said Roberto Herrera-Lim, Southeast Asian analyst at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group. "The instability everyone has been worried about now looks less likely. The military will have to be pragmatic now."

RED SHIRT VILLAGES

Yingluck was feted like a rock-star by the red shirts who designated entire communities in Thailand's rugged, vote-rich northeast plateau as "red shirt villages" to help mobilize supporters, each festooned with red flags and Thaksin posters.

"This win is very important because it will determine Thailand's destiny," said Kwanchai Praipana, a red-shirt leader in Udon Thani province, where the movement had set up hundreds of red villages in recent weeks.

The red shirts accuse the rich, the establishment and top military brass of breaking laws with impunity -- grievances that have simmered since the 2006 coup -- and have clamored for Thaksin's return.

Thaksin said he would "wait for the right moment" to come home. "If my return is going to cause problems, then I will not do it yet. I should be a solution, not a problem," he told reporters in Dubai.

Thaksin, a former telecommunications tycoon, scored landslide election wins in 2001 and 2005 and remains idolized by the poor as the first politician to address the needs of millions living beyond Bangkok's bright lights.

Yingluck electrified his supporters, ran a disciplined campaign and promised Thaksin-style populist policies, including a big rise in the national minimum wage and free tablet PCs for nearly one million school children.

Abhisit had warned of instability if Yingluck won, blaming the red shirts for unrest last year in which 91 people, mostly civilians, were killed. They cast Thaksin as a crony capitalist, fugitive and terrorist who condones mob rule.

But Abhisit's denial that troops were responsible for a single death or injury last year was mocked even in the Democrat stronghold of Bangkok. A web-savvy generation could, with a few mouse-clicks, watch videos on Youtube showing military snipers firing on civilians, eroding his credibility.

Abhisit's backers want Thaksin to serve a two-year prison term. They dismiss Yingluck as a simple proxy for her brother.

Throughout the six-week campaign, the two sides presented similar populist campaigns of subsidies for the poor, improved healthcare benefits and infrastructure investment including high-speed rail systems across the country -- a style of policymaking known in Thailand as "Thaksinomics."

The clear majority should make it easier for the opposition to execute those promises but could also fan inflation if they pursue a plan to lift the minimum wage to 300 baht ($9.70) per day -- a roughly 40 percent increase.

The election is Thailand's 26th since it became a democracy in 1932, ending seven centuries of absolute monarchy. Since then, it has seen 18 military coups or coup attempts.

Opinion polls had predicted Puea Thai would win about 240 seats, short of a majority. In that scenario, smaller parties would have been crucial, possibly helping the Democrats stay in power if they had managed to form a coalition government.

Yingluck said her party was in talks with Chart Thai Pattana, a smaller party with a projected 20 seats, to join hands in parliament and provide some breathing space.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/03/us-thailand-election-idUSTRE76013T20110703

Elections are Almost Here

Seems like I can´t walk by a store, news stand, or restaurant these days without hearing or seeing something about the upcoming election. No, I´m not talking about 2012 in the US. I´m talking about July 3rd, 2011 in Thailand. The election here is less than a week away, and it has some pretty big implications in what it can mean for the future of Thailand.

This is the first major election since last year´s riots and attempted overthrow of the government by the UDD. There are so many factors at play here that things are bound to get interesting. This particular election was supposed to happen back in November 2010, but has been postponed multiple times due to unrest and violence. I vividly remember last year´s chaos as we endured riots, bombings, shootings, national curfews, and military patrolling the streets. I will never forget the day I heard the helicopters come roaring in and watched the massive column of black smoke rising from the east end of the city. See original post Hopefully we wont see anything like that again.

Things are feeling a little bit tense here, but everything is just under the surface. Allegations of vote buying and corruption have already begun, and international election observers are being allowed in to monitor the process to a limited degree. Some say that we are on the edge of another coup, but others are saying that the whole thing will blow over without a whimper. There are several ways that this whole thing could go, and I won´t even speculate as to how things might turn out. The entire country is very divided. As they say ¨Ha-sip Ha-sip¨ (50-50).

The military has a great deal of influence and power here and have the ability to overthrow the government like they did back in 2006. It was in 2006 that they performed a military coup. They canceled elections, threw out the current constitution, ousted parliament, arrested cabinet members, and imposed martial law throughout the country. The current military leaders have promised to stay out of the election process this time. Hopefully things will proceed with cool heads and defy the odds. I am already hearing reports of military tanks in the streets over in the northeast, and there has been a pretty heavy presence in the air and on the ground both here and in surrounding provinces.