Thailand Trip Closure

At the closing dinner.

 I honestly never imagined it would take me nearly three months to sit down and write my final blog post about the Thailand trip. With that kind of delay, it doesn't really serve much of a journal of my thoughts, feelings, and observations during the trip. Unfortunately, I lost steam when Blogger ate half of my last post on the bus back from Chicago, and considering I still suffered from a bronchial infection when I got home I didn't have the energy or motivation to blog. Then life happened, with three trips to Iowa, a trip to California, surgery, drum corps... it took me two months just to download, organize, sort, and post my photos.

So, where were we? Wednesday was our last day in Thailand. After the doctor's visit, the medications, and a decent night of rest, I felt marginally better and decided to head out with the class for our final business visits. After a morning debrief at the hotel, we went to PwC for a nice visit with a Kelley alumnus who is a partner and several other PwC staffers, one of whom was in Singapore but chimed in remotely via video conference. If I'm remembering correctly we learned something about forensic accounting. Although I was not quite 100% that day and I can't recall the specifics now, I do know it was a good visit and I was impressed by the engagement and contribution of so many employees.

Following PwC, we visited FinTech - a financial product venture capital firm owned by a Thai bank. This was an interesting visit. The office itself was pretty trendy and designed to inspire creativity, so it was fun and interesting to see. Our host was quite the unique character. He essentially shared his life story and how he ended up in his third(?) career running this place. He laid bare all of his past trials and failures, moves, and career choices - from dropping out of college (failing?) to opening all of the Apple Stores in China. Basically, it was a story of someone discovering himself, his strengths, and his motivations. He learned something at every step along the way, and he didn't stay in jobs he didn't love. And you never can predict where you will end up.

Lunch came after the FinTech visit. Brenda took a student back to the hotel, I think, and Angie went to lunch with Peter leaving me to walk with the Students, Dom, and O to a nearby second-floor restaurant for a buffet lunch. I didn't have a lot of energy or a huge appetite, so I sat quietly with Dom and O and ate little bites of the available dishes. I don't remember being super impressed, although I'm sure it was fine and I know it was better (for me) than the lunch at the airport two days earlier. I think I was most disappointed in the drink selection. In the end, I reluctantly drank whatever they offered figuring I wouldn't get much sicker at this point.

We had free time after lunch. Some people shopped and some got massages, but I went back to my room to rest and pack. I actually don't think I got to the packing at that point, but I appreciated the rest. I had to meet Angie and Brenda in the lobby at some point to work out - once and for all - the tipping situation. After a series of misunderstandings and miscommunication beginning prior to the trip and continuing throughout, we finally figured out the most appropriate tipping protocol for our guides and made arrangements to properly compensate them for the amazing service they provided during our time in Bangkok.

Closing feast at Ban Khun Mae.

That evening we headed out for our closing dinner, walking to nearby Ban Khun Mae Restaurant. We were in for a treat - and it's a good thing I had an appetite. This place brought out copious amounts of food, served family style, and we could barely begin one dish before the next couple of dishes were delivered. We had giant prawns; we had soup in flaming cauldrons; we had green mango salad; we had fish... It bordered on being wasteful, but everything was delicious and we certainly didn't go hungry. Angie shared some reflections on the trip, and we presented our gift to Peter. The students gave each of us thank-you gifts, as well. I received a small packet of what I think are dried scorpions... I'm not really sure. All of the writing on the package is in Thai, and it sits unopened on my nightstand. The more meaningful gift was a personalized leather passport cover which they had made in one of the markets. It was perfect; I love it.

Walking back to Pathumwan Princess Hotel.

I took a while for me to sort out the bill and get an acceptable receipt for the drinks, but I finally got that sorted out and walked back to the hotel with the leadership team. I spent the rest of the night packing before getting a few hours of sleep, but of course some of our students went out to Khaosan Road for one last night on the town.

We left quite early for the airport, with some boxed breakfasts from the hotel. I bought a few gifts at the airport, since I had missed out on a couple of opportunities to shop during the trip. The travel was, thankfully, uneventful except for the Chinese tourists who kept trying to cut us off at the airports and the lost bus driver on the way to Zionsville. The first flight, to Hong Kong, was the nicest plane I've ever been on. Thankfully, while I didn't feel great, I was well enough to travel without too much discomfort. I slept some and watched some movies. I took Friday off of work and went to the doctor in Bloomington. The two-hour wait was miserable and I actually fell asleep in the waiting room. I finally saw someone who prescribed a different antibiotic, and after two more days of rest I was ready to head back to work.

Churning of the Milk Sea at the Bangkok airport.

I certainly would have enjoyed the trip a lot more if I had been healthy. But in these past few months I've had the opportunity to tell many friends, family members, and colleagues about the trip. Each time, I find myself telling them what a great trip it was: fun, responsible, curious, and engaged students; excellent business visits; great guides; beautiful scenery; elephants; time spent with friends; delicious food; good colleagues; no travel issues. In spite of my illness and the experiences I had to skip, it really was one of the better Kelley trips I've been on. I could see myself going back to Thailand.

Don't forget to check out my photo gallery, also linked in the right column!