{"id":18,"date":"2009-04-15T12:02:04","date_gmt":"2009-04-15T19:02:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/?p=18"},"modified":"2012-11-12T18:05:10","modified_gmt":"2012-11-13T01:05:10","slug":"every-rose-has-its-thorn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeisahighway.casaroberts.com\/?p=18","title":{"rendered":"Every rose has it’s thorn?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, let me jump right in to some responses to some questions and feedback we have gotten so far, and some more info we have found about what to expect while we are there.<\/p>\n

1) Is the country unstable?\u00c2\u00a0 We have been watching the events that are appearing on the news lately and keeping an eye on the political situation there.\u00c2\u00a0 So far the US State Department<\/a> has issued no travel warnings or advisories on travel to Thailand (unlike the recent advisory they issued for Mexico).<\/p>\n

Thailand seems to have a long history of governmental change – in the last 60 years or so years they have gone through almost 40 coups or changes in government, almost always peaceful and with little unrest.\u00c2\u00a0 The recent protests have been focused in Bangkok (where we plan to spend little or no time at all) and have for the most part been fairly peaceful.\u00c2\u00a0 Given the impact this tends to have on the Thai economy, most people expect things to get sorted out fairly quickly and for the political climate to settle down again until the next cycle of change.<\/p>\n

On a positive note, this sort of press tends to hit the tourism industry a bit and people expect prices to sink even more for rooms, flights, etc. in the coming months – we are already seeing huge price drops on Air Asia<\/a> for flights in and out of Thailand (for example a return ticket to Bali, Indonesia – about the same as a trip from Seattle to New York – is currently going for the sum of $150 US return).\u00c2\u00a0 So worst case scenario, we get to Bangkok on our current tickets and fly off to another location in SE Asia \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\"suitcase\"2) Yes you can come with us – however, you will need your own tickets as most of you exceed the 50lb limit that the airlines place on checked bags.\u00c2\u00a0 Seriously though, should anyone be in the mood for some tropical relaxation we have no fixed agenda for our time there so feel free to ‘pop in’ for a week or 2.\u00c2\u00a0 In fact we already have our first potential visitor!\u00c2\u00a0 Our cousin Russill – who has come to visit us almost every summer since we moved to the US – is going to come and join us for a couple of weeks of our journey.<\/p>\n

Things to expect should you decide to journey that way in the summer months (July\/August):<\/p>\n