Bangkok
L
ines at the airport immigration control point were long and slow. Shake shifted his backpack and looked around idly. There was no way to shortcut this chokepoint, and the Thai police eyeing the lines with sub-guns hanging across their chests didn’t look like they’d take kindly to anyone who bulled to the front. Most of his fellow travelers seemed to be Asians of one kind or another, but he spotted a clutch of Americans gripping blue passports and a gaggle of rowdy Brits ahead of him in the serpentine conga line that led up to a row of kiosks where bored officials ran through the scan and stamp routine. Thailand may still be the Land of Smiles, but the days of easy access and laissez faire for tourists had vanished with the pervasive threat of international terrorism.
When it f
