I heard from my brother Jamie, who has just completed his 3 day trip to Thailand! His email is as follows:

My dear family,

I am writing to you from a town that has the same feel and temperature as Ste. Maxime, only it's about 500% cheaper and it has no bord de mer. My hotel room, runnng at a rate of $15 a night, has a pool right outside its door. Also, if your french sucks, or more relevantly, if your thai sucks, it doesn't matter because every single person I've talked to has spoken to me in english. I am on a hunt for a cell phone and the language immersion school I signed up for. I'll be in Chiang Mai until the 16th when I hop on a bus and go off to my site in Mae Sai. As soon as I figure out what my cell phone number is, I'll let you know. I like this place lots more than Taipae, where it was rainy and I found as many 7-11's as Starbucks in Manhattan.

My best,

Jamie

Jamie - if you read this, please don't get mad at me for posting your email. It's just that it's funny, and I was so happy to hear from you I had to share with the world.