Message in a Bottle by Don Coppock's blog
Don Coppock was born and raised in San Diego, California. He has worked in ship yards, shovelled snow off roofs and owned a music store in Lake Tahoe, California, and was a commercial salmon fisherman in southeast Alaska in the 1980s where he worked with Observer publisher, John Murray. They recently re-connected on Facebook, and Don has agreed to write a monthly column examining issues facing America with a perspective gleaned from living as an ex-pat 8000 miles away in Thailand.
Rebuilding After Thai Tsunami
Column By Don Coppock
When you make the descent into Patong Beach, one of the more popular tourist stops in Phuket (pronounced Pooket) Thailand, the first thing that strikes you is the wild jungle greenery cascading down the mountain and threatening to sweep this insular town into the ocean.
Jim Szynkiewicz was born in Czechoslovakia and witnessed first hand the brutal reality of WWII when Nazi Germany occupied his homeland. After the war Szynkiewicz lived for a decade in Egypt before emigrating to the United States and settling in Waterbury, CT. Jim worked in manufacturing for 40 years before retiring in the 1980s. Jim is a community activist in Waterbury and has written a column in the Observer for the past 15 years. In addition to writing about local politics and manufacturing, Jim has often written highly detailed columns about the complexity of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Thailand Is My Home
I’ve lived in Thailand 3 years now and have come to regard it as home. I’m still American, and of course that has certain obligations, though they’re diminishing. I liked America fine, but the prospect of growing old there as a single childless man just didn't appeal to me, so I decided to search for a better life, and thus far I haven't regretted it.