If you’ve been reading my blog for sometime you know that I’m a huge supporter of non-profit organizations who help people in need around the world. I received a message through email from Bloggers Unite about an online awareness campaign for refugees.

On November 10, 2008 bloggers from all over the world are uniting to raise awareness on behalf of more than 40 million refugees. To ask the world to face the atrocities so many human beings must endure and to join together to help bring forward awareness and action for these problems.

Bloggers Unite along with Refugees United are asking bloggers to participate by blogging about the campaign or placing a campaign badge on your blog to help spread the word. The core cause of Bloggers Unite and Refugees United is sharing of information which leads to empowerment. Your actions matter, and your words can help change lives! Here’s more information about Refugees United which was taken directly from the Bloggers Unite website:

About Refugees United

Refugees United is a non-profit organization that helps refugees relocate family and friends through the use of the internet.

Refugees United provides refugees with an anonymous forum to reconnect with missing family. By registering with nick- names, scars, former locations and other markers only identifiable to family and close friends, everyone can remain ‘invisible’ to all but relatives.

• All refugees are welcome, regardless of conflict, place or time.
• Refugees United is an independent, non-political, non-religious NGO.
• No third party is involved. No official papers need to be filled in.
• The service is free of charge, easy and safe.

The Refugees United search engine is the first of it’s kind. Visit Refugees United to see how it works and to learn more about the work that Refugees United is doing.

Here are two more pictures showing my perspective from inside the riverboat while cruising along the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, Thailand. In the right picture you can see the Phra Pok Klao Bridge, one of the many bridges which crosses over the Chao Phraya River.

Today, I spent a good part of the day on a riverboat sightseeing along the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, Thailand. The Chao Phraya River is actually the largest river in Thailand and runs north to south starting in the center of Thailand where two other rivers meet, the Ping and Nan river, and empties into the Gulf of Thailand. Some of the largest and most densely populated cities in Thailand are situated along the Chao Phraya River, including Ayutthaya, Nonthaburi, and Bangkok.

I waived down a taxi in the front of my hotel, jumped in and headed toward the Sathorn Pier, also known as the Central Pier, which is located near the Taksin Bridge. The taxi driver actually dropped me off at one of the smaller piers near the Sathorn Pier to catch a riverboat. The picture in this post was taken while standing on the pier, and shows the riverboat I road on while sightseeing along the Chao Phraya River. There were many popular historical landmarks which could be seen while traveling along the Chao Phraya River including a number of temples, the Grand Palace, and the Royal Thai Navy Dockyard.

If your visiting Bangkok Thailand for the first time I highly recommend that you take a riverboat cruise to experience Bangkok from a different, yet very interesting, perspective. If you have the whole day to spare, depending on what type of riverboat you take, you can tell the boat driver to stop at several of the piers so you can get off the boat and visit the popular landmarks along the Chao Phraya River.

Now that I feel refreshed after taking that shower here’s a summary of the last leg of my trip into Bangkok Thailand! The long journey from Hawaii to Thailand took about 15 total hours, including the stop over in the Philippines. Once I landed in Suvarnabhumi Airport, in Bangkok, I was treated to a long wait in the visa check line. I think I spent almost an hour in the line, probably because they have to take a picture of everyone that enters into Thailand for reasons which I have no idea. If anyone knows the reason why they take a picture of people please indulge my curiosity by posting a comment.

After getting through the visa check line I headed straight to the money exchange counter where I exchanged my US dollars to Thai baht with an exchange rate of $1 dollar for 32.82 baht. After exchanging my money I headed toward the meeting place in the airport where I had arranged for a friend of mine who was in Thailand to meet me so we could catch a cab to my hotel. The meeting area was quite a distance from the luggage carosel so I got a little lost since it was my first time in Bangkok’s airport. On the way to the meeting place I stopped by a local wireless carrier kiosk where I purchased a local SIM card for 150 baht, which is really cheap; 150 baht comes out to about $4.50 USD. The SIM card came with 100 free minutes which would be more than enough during my stay in Thailand. I swapped SIM cards at the kiosk just to make sure it would work with my phone; it worked just fine so I headed to meet my friend.

Picture of SIM Card

Once at the meeting place it didn’t take to long to find my friend. We jumped in a taxi and headed for my hotel. The drive from the airport to downtown Bangkok on Sukhumvit 11 took about 30 minutes through the express way. It was exciting to see Bangkok for the first time, and my first impression of Thailand is a positive one. I think I’ll really enjoy my trip here!

I just arrived at my hotel in Bangkok which is located on Sukhumvit 11. It’s actually a brand new hotel which was just opened 4 months ago. The room isn’t very big, but it is comfortable and has everything I need. I don’t plan on staying in my hotel room much anyway during most of the trip. I decided to snap a photo of the room to post here! The hotel offers free wireless internet access as well as two computers in the lobby with internet access for anyone staying in the hotel to use. I’m going to take a quick shower and then I’ll be back to do a more comprehensive update post about my trip so far.

So I just arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, Philippines where I’ll be staying for two hours until my flight to Bangkok, Thailand. The flight here was pretty uneventful as I slept halfway through the whole flight after watching the in-flight movie “Get Smart” with Steve Carell which was a great movie.  I’ve been to Manila one other time when I was much younger, I think I was 13 at the time, and it wasn’t like the way I remembered it.  Everything seemed a lot more bigger and hectic back then, but it just might have been because I was much younger.  There isn’t much to blog about, and I’m getting a little hungry so I think I’ll end this post here and get a bite to eat at one of the delicatessens.

It’s 12:34am on October 4th and I’m heading for the airport to catch my flight on Philippine Airlines. I have my passport, ticket, and two bags filled with only the necessities needed for a short 4 day trip. I’ll have a two hour stopover at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, and if I can get internet access I’ll do an update post when I arrive in the Philippines.  I’m not looking forward to the long stopover, but I guess I’ll try to make the best of it by keeping busy posting on the blog.