Sawadeekap

I am with the boss now in Bangkok, who's here for the 4th Annual Consultation Between Malaysia and Thailand. The delegation is led by the PM, and going by the crowd who welcomed him at the hotel last night, we have a fairly big team here. In fact, it is a bit too big.

Well, I found out this morning - from a Wisma Putra memo slipped between the International Herald Tribune and The Bangkok Post which were delivered to my hotel room - that lower-ranking officers like myself are not required to attend any of the events today. Wait, the "exemption" is not just for those at the bottom of the pecking order like myself. Even my colleague, a very senior official and a Dato' has also been excused. The boss, of course, will be there.

Some checks revealed that the eleventh-hour change (we were supposed to be at the official welcoming ceremony and Consultation proper) was due to logistical constraints. Shucks, I was actually looking forward to visiting the Government House at the Thai Koo Fah Building. And sit through a meeting chaired by two PMs (never experienced before mah...).

Well, I guess that leaves me some time to do some shopping and walk around town. A journalist friend from Malaysia I met yesterday said there's an outlet near the hotel which charges the equivalent of RM30 for an hour of foot massage. That's dirt cheap.