When I first began this journey many months ago and began to tell people about my plans, my good friend and one of my many wise mentors, Bruce Peterson, referred me to a University school mate of his to meet. The man he referred me to is Pongpol Adireksarn, a very accomplished person to be sure!
I asked the Thai teachers at my school how to pronounce “Pongpol” and they all recognized his name immediately. They told me he was very important in politics and is a Thai celebrity! His resume confirms this: past Member of Parliament, former Minister of Education, author, and now TV host for an adventure channel (like National Geographic). I called Mr. Adireksarn and, at the mention of Bruce’s name, he graciously invited me to visit his home in Bangkok. Thank you Bruce Peterson!!!
The trip into Bangkok is becoming fairly routine now, and I have a good understanding of getting around on the “sky train,” so I made quick time to our agreed upon meeting point. Arriving about a half hour early, I did something I had yet to do in Thailand: I sat down in a Starbucks. Pretty much the same as you’d expect in America.
Twenty minutes later, Pongpol met me and we walked back to his home. The “yard” area to his home greeted me with a very large collection of potted plants—many Thais keep potted plants in their patio/porch so I guess it’s not technically a yard. We sat down in the foyer to his beautiful home and spoke at length. He gave me valuable insights and suggestions on turning my blog into a well-read source of information about Thailand from a foreign “insiders” view and suggested even developing it into a book at the end of my adventures. Now I just have to start taking those steps…
He also showed me some of his video footage from a recent safari in Africa, as well as beautiful photos he took in some of the wetlands here in Thailand. The pictures and video were absolutely breath-taking. I can easily make some trips to the wetlands here on a weekend, but I had not thought much of visiting Africa until seeing the video. His work has moved me to seriously consider the destination. He also gave me a copy of three different books and autographed each copy!
I am halfway through the first novel, Rattanakosin, which is a fictional re-telling of the historical events that surrounded the formation and founding of Bangkok as the capitol. The story is full of adventure and is wonderfully narrated. He wrote each book entirely in English, published them under the pen name of Paul Adirex, and then later translated them back into Thai! Incredible!
At the end of our meeting, I asked if he would be willing to visit my school in Samutsakhon as a guest speaker. He happily agreed to do so! I am now making plans and a formal invitation with my department head and the school director to make this happen.
I feel very fortunate and very lucky to have met Pongpol. He is a wonderful and very intelligent man and has already been a good influence on me. I will be keeping in contact with him and I hope to one day repay his kindness. Until then, I can pay that kindness forward to others.
I highly recommend my readers to take some time and view Pongpol's brilliant photography here:
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