After returning from Laos and dinner with mosquitoes at Nang Rong I managed to get a studio room in the Bumrungrad Hospital Residence. The $20 room is modern and in the residence building attached to the hospital building where several food services are located. Later in my stay I switched over to a one bedroom Residence apartment; much larger and only $30. While I did have some minor surgical procedures done while there this time, they hardly justified my lengthy 17 day stay in the hospital's residence service, but it was cheap and convenient. Much of this period I've been preoccupied with my terminally ill sister, Joyce Carol Bellomy Barney Carson... she died of metastasized cancer on the 19th of February and I must process that somber reality and my failure to convince her to stop smoking.

After 17 days in Bangkok I bought an overnight $45 first class sleeper ticket on the train for Hat Yai to the south on the way to Malaysia where I will get a new Thai visa for another 30 days.

Peace,
Fred Bellomy

Bangkok Thailand: The Thai national and royal symbol is the Garuda, a half-bird, half-human figure that in Hindu mythology is the steed of the god Vishnu. The Garuda (pronounced 'kruth' in Thai) adorns the scepter and royal standard of His Majesty the King, and is incorporated into the insignia of many government departments.

Bangkok Thailand: A sign in front of Wat Suthatthepwararam.

Bangkok Thailand: Rows and rows of Buddha statues line the walls around the grounds of Wat Suthatthepwararam.

Bangkok Thailand: Inside the grounds of Wat Suthatthepwararam.

Bangkok Thailand: Inside the grounds of Wat Suthatthepwararam.

Bangkok Thailand: An interesting sculpture on the grounds of Wat Suthatthepwararam.

Bangkok Thailand: Decorated doors into one of the Wat Suthatthepwararam buildings.

Bangkok Thailand: Rows and rows of gold Buddhas.

Bangkok Thailand: Another alert Wat Suthatthepwararam temple guard.

Bangkok Thailand: Some of the flowers growing on the Wat Suthatthepwararam grounds.

Bangkok Thailand: That's me standing near the entrance to the Wat Suthatthepwararam temple grounds.

Bangkok Thailand: On the streets near the Wat Suthatthepwararam one finds many stores selling devotional goods.

Bangkok Thailand: On the streets near the Wat Suthatthepwararam one finds many stores selling devotional goods.

Bangkok Thailand: School children visiting the Wat Suthatthepwararam temple.

Bangkok Thailand: Sign identifying the National Museum.

Bangkok Thailand: Sign relating the history of the Bodhisattva Kuan statue in a small Wat near the famous Oriental Hotel on the river.