November 23, 2014 Cough-Cough, Progressive Bangkok, Democracy to Militaristic State

Not much going on today.  I'm starting to get a bit congested and coughing.  I think all the pollution and dust from my visits to Rio, Nairobi, Maasai Mara, Bangkok and Kathmandu has taken its toll.  I should have used one of the masks I bought along on the trip.  But, it just didn't seem too stylish.  I actually finished that Gresham novel I was reading and watched the new Doors documnetary movie that just came out on Itunes.  Sundays are a bit quite here in Bangkok, though I found that to be true at a lot of the places that I have been. It's as if Blue Sunday is alive and well in other countries.
I'm still pretty impressed with what has happened to Bangkok since I was here over 20 years ago.  Back then the city was so polluted it was difficult to see across the street.  Additionally, the sewage system, if there was one, was not up to date and you could always count on smelling something awful while walking the streets.  There were not too many "new buildings" back then.  The economy was not very progressive.
Now, Bangkok is thriving with new infrastructure: super highways, mass public transportation, sewage systems (don't smell a thing except for the street food vendor preparations). The horizon is covered with new modern buildings/shopping centers/malls. There is a real vibrant feel to the city.
Where did all the money come from to move Bangkok and Thailand from a third world country to a thriving metropolis? China.  The Chinese has been putting billions of dollars into building infrastructures and upgrading housing into third world countries.  I found this just starting to happen in Kenya as well. Seems China is moving away from the militaristic approach to winning and influencing their enemies.
The building of Thailand over the years has had its political problems.  The country has been a democratic one until the last year when a military coup happened.  There also is guerrilla warfare going on in the southern portion of Thailand.  Since the coup, there has been a "rounding up" of previous democratically elected officials and their staffs accused of billions of dollars in kickbacks, political favoritisms, bribes and  bloated offshore cash accounts.  Progress seems to always bring out the worst in people.
I'm in early tonight, still coughing my head off.  I guess I better start taking care of myself for a few days.