Here's what happened...

Sawatdee ka! HELLO! I know it has been so long since I wrote last, but a lot has happened in the past month. Decisions had to be made and requirements had to be fulfilled. In the past two months Thailand has been having many political issues. It all started three years ago when the Prime Minister named Thaskin, wanted to get rid of the monarchy in Thailand. After a military coup, Thaskin was exiled. Before he was exiled, he gave a lot of money to the poor people of Thailand and greatly earned their support. Since then two other Prime ministers have been elected, but the Thai people have always rebelled against them because they supported Thaskin. During Thaskin's power, two groups of protesters were formed. The PPP who supported Thaskin and his supporters and the PAD who supported the King. Starting in October, the PAD started to rebel against the Prime Minister in a more dangerous fashion. The PAD over took the Thai Parliament building and refused to let anyone gain access until the Prime Minister was
was removed from power. After about two weeks with no prevail the military stepped in and chased them out with "Tear gas" which was really the start of them throwing grenades. After the tear gas and the grenades and the first casualty, the PAD left the area. Not long later they started traveling around the city, protesting against the prime minister and in November it greatly escalated when the PAD over took Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport, totally closing it down and letting no travelers in or out of Thailand. During this 10 day siege over the airport, there were shootings, thrown grenades, and surprisingly and catapult. At the end, 6 people were killed by shootings and others were killed in different ways. On December 3rd, the Prime minister was pulled from power and the PAD celebrated. They left the airport for the King's Birthday which was Friday, December 5th. On the day of his birthday, the king makes a annual speech, to tell the Thai people what they need to improve on and what he is doing for them as their king. The Thai people were waiting for his speech on Thursday night hoping that he would tell the two protesting parties to stop. When the time came for him to make his speech, his son, the crown prince came out and said his father would not be making a speech this year because he was too ill at the moment. That was the last straw for the Thai people and the protesters on both sides continued to fight. Thailand had no prime minister, and a new one was going to be elected by the end of December. If it was a supporter of Thaskin again, the PAD would once again rebel and try to gain to control, if the Prime Minister was from another party, then the PPP would rebel trying to get another Thaskin supporter in to get rid of the monarchy. It was then that I had to make my decision about my stay in Thailand. I was not in a very safe position. From the roof of my house, I could see the protesters traveling in and out of the airport. The fighting at the time was on stand by for the King's birthday, but was going to continue soon. My host parents were telling me about how bad the situation was getting and how unsafe it was. In the end after talking it over with Rotarians, my host parents and my parents back in America, I decided it was best to come home. I arrived back in America on December 15th. Recently in Thailand, Thaskin the prime minister who was exiled wrote a letter of apology to the king and wants to return to power. Also, there were shootings by the government trying to stop the protesters. I do not regret my decision to come back and I am very happy to be safe. Since I have come back, I re enrolled in Morningside Academy High School, and I am currently working at a Thai restaurant so that I will not lost any of my Thai language or the culture.

I want to thank rotary for accepting me as an exchange student. My exchange year may have been cut down from a year to a few months, but in those few months, I have learned more than I could have in years and years of study. I learned the language and I practice it everyday, I learned an AMAZING culture and tasted many crazy and amazing foods. I have changed so much from my exchange. Someone can always change their appearance from the outside. You can change your hair color, your make up and your clothes, but it takes something dramatic to change what's on the inside. Rotary has managed to change me inside and out. I have become a more accepting and outgoing person. I am not afraid to follow my dreams because I now know that anything you set your mind to can be accomplished. Thank you Rotary for choosing me, and thank you to my host parents for giving me a home. Thank you everyone who supported me, helped me get here, and those of you who read my blogs.