Thank You, Hillary

A friendly สวัสดีค่ะ(Hello) from Hillary

Phew! Good thing they didn't send Biden, he probably would've remarked on their "funny looking oriental clothes" or something. Hillary is wrapping up a successful diplomatic visit to Thailand. From Xinhua:

Meanwhile, Thailand's Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, who also joined the press conference with Clinton, said the United States and Thailand promises to strengthen the bilateral tie.

In addition to that, the two countries will work closely within the ASEAN context particularly in the ASEAN-U.S. dialogue and also in the other regional organizations, Kasit said.

The United States has reaffirmed its continued interest and full participation for the well-being of the Asia-Pacific region and Southeast Asia's peace and security development, Kasit said.

Libertarian-Feminist Kerry Howley notes that it's often embarrassing to be an ex-pat because our leaders are "hubristic". From where I'm sitting, I don't know what the fuck Howley is talking about (even though I usually agree with her). Hillary Clinton is trying to voice U.S. interests in the region of promoting free trade and stopping aggression from rogue states. Uh, isn't that what diplomats are supposed do? Let our nation's foreign-policy interests be known?

Besides, it's not embarrassing to be an American in Thailand. Besides my own personal experience, I can cite this poll which shows that 21% of women from Northeastern Thailand (Isaan) prefer American husbands (trailing slightly behind the Brits). Isn't that what's most important when living abroad, the local women?