The dissolution of parliament came as a shock. We knew the Thai government was unstable; the two previous governments had collapsed. The country was in an on-off military conflict with Cambodia, the southern provinces of Thailand were flooded, and corruption and drug smuggling were rampant. Compounding this instability, no democratically elected government has completed a full term since Prime Mini

Going to Singapore this year to travel and meet friends felt like a homecoming. The Mass Rapid Transit announcements in the four national languages of the country - English, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil - the smell of hawker stalls, and the sweltering heat, all filled my heart with heavy nostalgia. Coincidentally, my trip fell into the week of the Singaporean National Day holiday, which provided an