Former President Bush Visits With King of Thailand

President George H.W. Bush is in Thailand to... well... basically talk about how much Thailand and America like each other.

It is actually very true: In a world quite hostile to American foreign policy, and even to some extent American culture, Thailand is one of America's closest major allies when you include the opinion of America by the Thai people as a whole. (Sure... England ranks higher politically, but the people of England are very strongly against America's role in the world currently. Same with Korea, Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Spain, Russia... but not Thailand.)

The majority of people here still actually like America. (The majority of people in Thailand can't find America on a map, and haven't a clue about the war in Iraq... but in America's case, that's a good thing.)

Also, in terms of trading, Thailand and America are very close. If you are in America and you ate a shrimp today, chances are it came from Thailand. If you are sitting at a computer reading this blog (duh), chances are the hard drive in it was made in Thailand.

I give George Bush Sr. credit: He has been a friend of Thailand with his work (alongside Bill Clinton) in trying to ensure that relief funds and efforts make it to the victims of the 2005 Boxing Day tsunami.