Although we got to see the Olympic ceremonies live at night, we have the opposite situation with the Democratic National Convention—it comes on live on CNN—in the morning while you are seeing it at night. The only problem is finding a TV with CNN. Almost impossible.
Most unexpected--one night in Vientaine, Laos, we went to a Japanese restaurant and the TV was on--I saw on the tape at the bottom of the screen that Obama had picked Joe Biden as his VP. It was CNN breaking news. We asked the owner if he could turn up the sound. He was delighted to have people watch it so we had a great sushi dinner and went back the next night to watch the closing ceremonies of the Olympics.
Then a couple days later we were in Sukhothai, Thailand—really small place. We went to have breakfast and the restaurant was closed. So the "tuk-tuk" driver took us somewhere else and dropped us off at a hole in the wall sort of place. I noticed a large screen TV and asked the owner if he had an English channel--he smiled and changed the channel and there was Michelle Obama giving her speech on CNN International! Katie is in the picture giving an iced tea toast as we watch the live speech—for breakfast.
But since that time we have not been able to see anything. It is so frustrating. Unable to find a TV with CNN, we went to an internet cafe and tried to go to CNN online, but couldn't down load the video. Besides, the noise was horrendous— teenagers use the cafe for computer games that are brutally violent and noisy like cars crashing and gangsters shooting each other.
We are now back in Bangkok at Jim and Martina's house where we were able to watch Obama’s acceptance speech this morning after breakfast.
This election affects the whole world. We saw on Thai TV one day that McCain was head in the polls by 5 percentage points. I don’t know how most people in Thailand feel, but a guy at the bus station who didn't speak English, when he learned we were from America, said, "Obama!" and held up two thumbs.
The Thai have their own political problems right now—a half million people have descended on Bangkok for a massive demonstration demanding the resignation of the top government leaders for corruption. The government has responded with an ultimatum to disperse.
Most unexpected--one night in Vientaine, Laos, we went to a Japanese restaurant and the TV was on--I saw on the tape at the bottom of the screen that Obama had picked Joe Biden as his VP. It was CNN breaking news. We asked the owner if he could turn up the sound. He was delighted to have people watch it so we had a great sushi dinner and went back the next night to watch the closing ceremonies of the Olympics.
Then a couple days later we were in Sukhothai, Thailand—really small place. We went to have breakfast and the restaurant was closed. So the "tuk-tuk" driver took us somewhere else and dropped us off at a hole in the wall sort of place. I noticed a large screen TV and asked the owner if he had an English channel--he smiled and changed the channel and there was Michelle Obama giving her speech on CNN International! Katie is in the picture giving an iced tea toast as we watch the live speech—for breakfast.
But since that time we have not been able to see anything. It is so frustrating. Unable to find a TV with CNN, we went to an internet cafe and tried to go to CNN online, but couldn't down load the video. Besides, the noise was horrendous— teenagers use the cafe for computer games that are brutally violent and noisy like cars crashing and gangsters shooting each other.
We are now back in Bangkok at Jim and Martina's house where we were able to watch Obama’s acceptance speech this morning after breakfast.
This election affects the whole world. We saw on Thai TV one day that McCain was head in the polls by 5 percentage points. I don’t know how most people in Thailand feel, but a guy at the bus station who didn't speak English, when he learned we were from America, said, "Obama!" and held up two thumbs.
The Thai have their own political problems right now—a half million people have descended on Bangkok for a massive demonstration demanding the resignation of the top government leaders for corruption. The government has responded with an ultimatum to disperse.
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