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How things have changed
By Larry Westfall
I was stationed in Bangkok, Thailand when I first joined the Army - or should I say - they joined me. I am now retired here and started thinking about how things are so much more different than back in 1973. I can remember going home after being assigned in Bangkok and the first thing I wanted was a Big Mac, fries and a coke. Why? Because McDonald's hadn't branched out this far yet. Now, every fast food joint that exists is in Thailand from Burger King to Dunkin' Donuts to Kentucky Fried Chicken. Calling home was via the military's Automatic Voice Network (AUTOVON) to an Air Force base in Michigan to "pretty please" ask an operator to patch you through to mom and dad for a morale call. Or, I would have to contact the good folks at the Military Affiliate Radio Station (MARS) and they would put up a signal to somewhere on the east coast of the USA and they would patch me through to home. It was a one-way transmission so conversations were something like: Hello, over. Hello, over. Merry Christmas, over. Happy New Year, over. And we got to talk for a whole three minutes. But, hey, it was free. Now, I direct dial on my cell phone and talking to mom and dad is crystal clear. I relied on mail to keep me informed on what was going on back home and a letter to a single soldier was like gold back then. Now, I can email my sister and my other relatives and find out what is happening immediately. Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) didn't exist back then so when I got paid, I would exchange about half of my money to the local currency and stash it in my room. We did have access to one credit union but they were inconvenient to get to. The only television we had was in the Thai language with one show per night broadcast over the radio in English. So, you had to watch the TV with the sound off and your radio correctly dialed in to watch and understand. Now, we have a satellite and way too many channels. So many changes with technology have made life so much simpler - from banking to calling home to getting food that I love to eat. That is why I love it over here in Thailand. I have the best of both worlds. My cost of living is low and I can access anything and everything that I need. So, yes, times have changed - changed for the better.
Larry Westfall is a retired expat living out his golden years in Khon Kaen, Thailand. He enjoys riding his mountain bike for daily exercise and looking for treasure with his metal detector .
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Contributor's Note
Photo of Ronald McDonald taken at one of Bangkok's many McDonalds.
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Ronald MccDonald with a typical Thai greeting
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Very interesting share.
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This intel was contributed by larry
larry
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May, 2012
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