Somewhere far above Vietnam, I sit in the tail end of an Airbus A340-400 watching
Mamma Mia! on my in-seat entertainment console. I have left behind Thailand, which faces an uncertain future as factions vie for political power in the capital and ripples from the unrest and the global economic crisis wash up on the country's shores as diminishing prospects for a stable and prosperous future. I'm headed toward an American that less than a day ago elected Barack Obama as President, opening a hopeful new era in my home country. As my taxi pulled away from the hotel off of Petchburi Road where I first encountered Bangkok nine and a half months ago, my boyfriend of the past 15 months stayed behind and hailed his own taxi to return to his family's home on the other side of the city. We will be apart for a minimum of six months and quite likely as long as 10 months.
It has been a momentous day on many levels.
I have already chronicled the changes in my life that brought me to Thailand, settling in Phuket to work as editor of a fortnightly English-language newsmagazine. I suppose this post opens a new story, the beginning of another adventure.
Whatever. I'll try not to pontificate as much this time around. Keep it light. Learn to write like a blogger rather than a print journalist filling space. Work on suppressing my Protestant tendency to explain myself.
Posted by: robertmpratt in Phuket Post on
Nov 4, 2008
My farewell letter to Phuket Post (as submitted):
With the current issue of Phuket Post, Associate Editor Robert Pratt departs the newsmagazine after leading it for the past eight months during a period of transition. Mr Pratt leaves Phuket for his native California, where he will ship out at the end of November for a position playing jazz saxophone aboard the Cunard cruise liner the Queen Victoria.
"I take away vivid memories of the unique people of Phuket," Mr Pratt said. "Many impressions of the warmth, spirit and traditions of the Thai people will stay with me: bringing early morning alms to monks at Wat Kun Chee, honouring Princess Ubol Ratana during the grand opening of Patong's Millennium Resort, paying respect to Chinese gods during the Vegetarian Festival, and many more memories. The friends I have made in Phuket will have a place in my heart wherever I plant my feet."
Posted by: robertmpratt in Phuket Post on
Oct 15, 2008
Despite my dissatisfaction with working at Phuket Post, I have loved working with all of the people there. They have made it fun for me, and I’m glad to have had a chance to get to know them. I continue to be amazed by all the good work the native-Thai people do in producing an English-language newspaper. There’s no way I could do even 10 percent of what anyone in the office does if I tried to write, layout or sell ads for a Thai-language newsmagazine.
Even though I still have about two weeks left before my final day, Senior Designer Khun Boo arranged a casual group photo shoot. And she comped up the photo into a nice going-away postcard for me. Made me cry for thinking about leaving everyone. Duk and I plan to return to Phuket, however. So maybe we’ll have a chance to visit with many of our Phuket Post friends next year.
The prospect of returning to my country as it struggles with the greatest financial crisis the world has ever seen is strangely appealing. Somehow I feel that I want to be there to go through it with my fellow Americans. The thought that I might return to a country in the midst of a transition between President George Bush to President Barack Obama makes me even more enthusiastic.
Yes, I've decided to return to California. My main reasons for leaving Phuket are that my employment here has not turned out the way I hoped. I settled down here with intention of staying for at least a couple of years -- at least enough time to leave a definitive mark on Phuket Post. But a number of things have led me to conclude that I won't be able to do what I want to do, and I won't bother my few faithful readers with the gory details.
Today is as good as any to make this announcement. I purchased my return ticket this morning, and I'll depart Bangkok in the early evening of Nov. 6 and land 20 minutes later in San Francisco. Thanks to crossing the International Date Line, I'll get back the full day that I lost in mid-January when I came here. If only the flight were 20 minutes long. Total travel time will be along the lines of 16 hours. Ugh. I don't think there's a longer possible flight in the world than Bangkok to San Francisco.
Posted by: robertmpratt in Phuket Post on
Sep 19, 2008
At this point, I think that me and Khun Boo, the senior production artist, have worked out a good routine for developing and executing cover concepts. The formula is to have some large central element coming into the frame from the lower left. Then the main headline at the top, and subhead and teaser text running down the right side. It's a rather common way of approaching magazine covers, but to my mind, the Phuket Post's covers have never been better.
Our cover story looked at the famed Phuket Vegetarian Festival in three parts: a profile of one of the maa song, or "enchanted horses" who perform superhuman feats during the festival. Khun Tucky turned in sidebars detailing the schedule of events and some notes about traditions involved in the festival.
Also in this issue, Khun Jang turned in an extensive examination of the efforts of local leaders to promote tourism in Phuket in the aftermath of anti-government protests that closed the airport. In all, I felt that it was a successful issue, with a good mix of content.
Find the latest issue here, as well as an archive of recent editions dating back to March 2008. These are all the issues I've worked on so far.
During the past two years, I've traveled across the Atlantic to Europe and around the Pacific to Mexico and Thailand. 
