Diary Prequel Package — page 131

Left IAD sensual looking. Men almost effeminate. The sexuality of both men and woman stood out. (This was also seen to some extent in Thailand.) The Institut Pasteur in Phnom Penh is the best science they have there. I was very impressed with Laos. I expected a stark, Communist-style society. It was very warm and friendly. People seemed to look upon us as if we were normally there. They did not stare, nor did they smille too much. They were "very normal" looking. Bill Steiger and I had a terrific time running around the track in the National Stadium. The Laotian National Track team was practicing there at dusk and we ran until it got dark. Viet Nam was amazing. Hanoi was a vibrant, bustling exciting-appearing city. The most amazing experience was trying to walk across the street with the motor scooters and cars going very fast and literally messing into each other from multiple different directions. It was incredible that they did not hit each other continually. The word from the CDC folks who were with us was that you needed to just cross the street and not look or speed up or slow down. Just cross at the same pace and the scooters and cars will avoid you. It was scary. Haiphong was a different story. It was more stark and gray. The Vietnamese women are incredibly beautiful. We stayed at the Hanoi Hilton - beautiful hotel, run by Vietnamese, but very western. It seems incredible now given the energy, beauty and talent of these people that we could ever had been at war with them for so many years. Interestingly, they seemed to love Americans. It appeared to be very genuine. Indonesia was similar to what I imagine Hong Kong to be. Many skyscapers in an Asian country. The polluted stench in the air was similar to (but not quite as bad as) Delhi. Oct. 8, 2005 (Saturday)- Left IAD Oct. 9, 2005 - Arrive Bangkok via Tokyo on commercial flight. Met by Ambassador Ralph (Skip) Boyce and Health Attaché Jordan Tappero. Skip was terrific and we hit it off very well during the trip. He knows Jim Huskey from prior DoS activities. He was in Beijing with Jim during the Tianman Square incident. Stayed at Conrad Hotel. Settled in at hotel. Extremely hot and muggy. This was just at end of rainy season and we expected rain, but got very little throughout the trip. However, I can remember the heat. Visited with deputy Prime Minister in the ornate, but beautiful Government House. Of note, the Deputy PM mentioned how happy he was that Thailand offered assistance to USA during the Katrina Hurricane disaster. Also met with Health Minister Suchai Charoenratanakul and Prat Boonyawongvirat Acting permanent Secretary. Our CDC is not entirely satisfied with the performance of the health ministry. The Thais seemed to be fixated on whether and how much Tamiflu the USA will give them for their stockpile. We celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the Thai MOPH - US HHS/CDC (TUC) Collaboration. Had multiple meetings and luncheons with United Nations reps and NGOs. Here and elsewhere, we had numerous Press Conferences. Suzy DeFrancis (Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs) clearly did not want Julie or I in the spotlight (see above comments). She literally kept the press away from us so that they would concentrate on the Secretary. The Secretary was cool about everything; Suzy was the problem.