Updates!

Last Wednesday the redshirt separatist camp was stormed by Thailand's army. The group left the encampment but also set fire to parts of the commercial area. There's still bits of resistance in the region. About a week prior, the redshirt leader General Khattiya was shot by a sniper during an interview. This provoked a lot of the violence that sprang up and led to Wednesday's assault on the camp. The general later died from the gunshot on Monday, two days before the camp raid.

So due to the numerous violent conflicts that arose in Bangkok last week, the trip was pushed back by two weeks. I'll now be leaving on June 17th instead of the 3rd and the flight schedule is more or less the same. Taking a smaller plane (Turbo-prop Q200) for one hour to Newark, NJ and after a four hour wait, it'll be straight to Tokyo on a much, much bigger plane (777). With the time zones, I end up getting to Tokyo only three hours after leaving Newark. After a four hour stay in Tokyo, it's on to Bangkok for eight weeks.

Also, looking into the packing situation I found this site. I always end up overpacking and bringing around stuff I don't end up using. One of the things I'm going to definitely bring along is a GRE prep book.

The deadline for departure is now like 24 days away.