By Admin1 (admin) on Saturday, February 22, 2003 - 6:32 pm: Edit Post |
Thailand RPCV Harvey Price
Thailand RPCV Harvey Price
Harvey Price
As much as I may like to think, and wish, that my presence in Thailand as a PCV (Group 1/Thailand) helped to create better relations between America & Thailand, in reality I realize that, as only one person, I had very limited impact. However, the real impact to help foster and build a better relationship and cognizance of Thailand has been because of the concentric circles of my friends and relatives, and their friends, who became aware of, and interested, in Thailand over the years since. Many of these friends came to see for themselves and to learn and to love Thailand, to form friendships and relationships of their own. They in turn told their friends, and relatives, and the circle of awareness and relationships of Americans with Thailand has increased exponentially through the years.
Peace Corps has had a very substantive impact on my life. Before I came to Thailand, I had never been abroad (except for a short trip to BajaCalifornia). In fact, when I first received a telegram in San Francisco from Peace Corps (in 1961, there were no faxes nor emails) inviting me to join their training program at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, to go to Thailand, I immediately ran across the street on Market Street (where I was working) to a Rand McNally book store, to look at a world atlas (there wasn?t any internet, either, then) to find out where in the world Thailand was located.
I remember how excited I was when our Peace Corps Group was in the San Francisco airport , after having completed the training program, and heard the announcement of our flight, Pan Am 1, "Around the World?! Since then I?ve travelled to many countries in Asia, Africa and Europe, and made numerous trips around the world.
Before joining Peace Corps, I expected to work as a lawyer in an office dealing with local matters, nothing very exciting, but at least using the knowledge that I had absorbed from my undergraduate and law school education . I saw a fortune teller during my Peace Corps days and he told me that after I left Thailand "I would return." Sure enough (as is the case, I later realized, with most foreigners who come to Thailand, and fall in love with the Kingdom), I was back soon thereafter. Within several years, I, together with a Thai lawyer, established a law firm in Bangkok which has since grown into a substantial corporate practice with clients worldwide. Before I realized, I was representing big name companies around the world. Peace Corps has certainly changed my entire life.