For those of us lucky enough to visit Bangkok in Thailand the view of the opulent Golden Palace is spectacular. Gary and Helen Donoghue are regular visitors because they have family living in the city.
If I heard correctly they have been there 22 times. When we needed a speaker at short notice last week Garry, with editorial assistance from Helen, provided us with a different perspective.
His talk was "Banged up in Bangkok." It was an object lesson in looking where you were going. On one of their trips Garry set off and because of construction took a different route to his normal one. Unfortunately that resulted in a significant cut to his scalp when he didn't see a projecting object and a subsequent fall. To add to his woes this resulted in another significant cut.The eventual result was a trip to the hospital and seven or eight stitches in each wound.
Garry showed us photos of a very modern hospital and commented very favourably about the speed and quality of care provided. None of the long waiting times we experience at emergency departments in New Zealand. As a visitor he was charged for the services and all the charges were very reasonable. Food for thought. Anyhow he now appears to be fighting fit again (or should that be "running fit?").