After crossing back from Laos I went to Nakhon Phanom for a couple
of days. I stayed in a hotel across from the town clock near the
river. Every hour it would give this soft chime that I quite enjoyed.
Particularly since it came early every hour, reminding all and sundry
that the clock was running 13 minutes fast and nobody cares.
Last week the Burmese closed their border with Thailand again (they
do this every couple of years). There was a border scuffle and the
usual nonsense about who shot at who first. The bridge in Mae Sot
that I crossed about three weeks ago to get a new Thai visa is now
blocked with a barbed-wire barricade and soldiers.
Scott
