Feeling weak this morning, but no longer feeling sick, so great, great improvement!

Richer and I met by Tina Singhsacha, part of the Corporate Affairs senior leadership team under Busba, and we headed out to the airport hangar and the plane for a television shoot for Mahanakorn, (literally "city" I understand), a very popular general interest television programme in Thai, that will be subtitled I understand for their viewers!

I must explain here that Tina, apart from arranging the tele-conference with her doctor to get me on the road to recovery again, has also turned out to be some sort of a food angel for me over the last three days!  She knew exactly what sort of bland Thai food would be good for me, but I could never explain to any hotel staff in her absence what I needed, so I have just kept on phoning her each time I have needed to order some food, and simply pass my phone to the waitress, so Tina can explain my needs- I would have been both lost and sick without you Tina- thank you so much for all your extremely hard work put in for Richard and I over the last few days- way over and above the call of duty, and so appreciated by us both!
Maybe you should also become the senior food consultant for the bank whenever any dinners are being arranged!

The TV shoot was amidst a museum of other aircraft and great fun, and followed by lunch at a nearby hotel, with the homely sounding British accented Ashley Veasey, CIO for the Bank and acting CEO in the afternoon for the press conference that followed.

We were also surrounded by other dedicated staff from the Bank who had given up their most special holiday of the year (like our Christmas and New Year) to support us, along with the senior leadership and team from the great PR agency, showing equally amazing commitment, supporting our whole visit so incredibly well.

I wonder how many people in Britain would be willing to go to work on Christmas Day or Boxing Day to support blind people in their country- simply remarkable, to say the least, and deeply moving to me as I reflect on it now.

The honoured guest at our afternoon press conference was a really delightful minister from the government with a passion and love for her people that was so obvious as we chatted together before the event started.  I confess that, due to my slightly unwell state at the time, that I do not have her full name to hand as I write this now, late at night! She was addressed with great warmth and respect by all who knew her as "your Excellency", and I think that the very fact that she had given up precious time on this national holiday speaks volumes of her heart and commitment for her country and people. We were entertained by a great band of blind guitarists at the start of the press conference, who, with their excellent lead singer, played several great numbers for us!

They have just released their first album, that I am sure will be a great hit!  They were also really cool looking everybody said, with really cool clothing and hair styles- I am looking forward to getting a copy of the album!After the Minister and Ashley spoke  I enjoyed some time fielding questions, whilst a tropical downpour delayed the press heading out to see the microlight.

I got to meet a number of blind people who had come along, accompanied by the President of the Thailand Association of the Blind, Monthian Buntan, who has also been a very active member of the World Blind Union.

Everybody who then got to actually see and feel the size of the microlight were somewhat appalled by the size of it- or, probably more correctly, the lack of size of it- whilst I guess Richard an I are so used to it that we forget how tiny it actually is to be flying more than half-way around the world.

Lots of photos around the plane, then, with I think everybody happy though tired after a full day, we all piled into waiting transport- most going home to be with family and loved ones for the remainder of the holiday, and Richard and I back to prepare for our flight to Puket tomorrow morning.

Saying good-bye to all the bank staff we had come to know as friends in the past few days was difficult, but I somehow think it will not be my last visit to this great country- the land of the smiling people with such big
hearts- thank you so much, Bangkok SCB leadership and staff for the memories we take with us!