Thailand - 14 April, 2003:  Departure from Bangkok

Today we reluctantly depart Bangkok.  It is time to go home.  We have a lazy morning in the apartment and head out for an early lunch.  Then back to the apartment to finish packing and get out and find a taxi.  Plenty of taxis are available and we are soon on our way to the airport.  And it is a quick ride.  Not because the driver is driving like a mad man, but rather because the streets are empty.  It takes us 20 minutes to get there, for a ride that could sometimes take 2 or more hours.  While the streets of Bangkok may be wide open (and safer), this is the deadliest time to be on the roads in Thailand.  In five days of festivities, over 600 dead and over 35,000 injured on the road.

We check in for our flight and then go and hang out in the Singapore Airlines lounge as we wait for our flight.  Jacqui is taking Singapore Air, while I am taking Finnair.  It is a good thing our flights are at about the same time.  The flights are uneventful.  Empty and with the flight attendants wearing minor biohazard suits.  We need to fill out medical declaration cards for Singapore, but other than the thermal scanners checking our temperature, it is pretty smooth (just glad that we are not arriving from a SARS effected area).

I head over to Terminal Two to meet up with Jacqui, who lands a bit later.  After collecting our luggage, we grab a taxi and head over to visit with a friend of Jacqui -  Carol.  We will be staying in Singapore for the next few days.  A lot of people think we are crazy, given the SARS thing, but we actually feel quite safe and comfortable in Singapore given the strict and efficient measures that have been put in place here.