Southeast Asia by Brad Boyle

When we first looked at the itinerary for our world cruise, one area we knew very little about was Southeast Asia. Countries such as South Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia were names that we recognized but would not be able to label on a map of the world. The little that we did know was usually associated with conflicts – the Korean War and the DMZ (the “demilitarized zone”), the Vietnam War and the fall of Saigon, the Khmer Rouge and the killing fields in Cambodia. As these events were not pleasant thoughts, we try to avoid them. While these countries cannot change their past, what we observed first hand was that the people of these countries are working very hard to establish a much more stable and progressive future.

The most surprising aspect of our visit to Southeast Asia for me was how similar the major cities are to major cities in North America. This was more than the proliferation of Starbucks, McDonalds and KFC. It was things like a brand new opera house in Saigon, modern subway systems, the Internet cafes, and the teenagers with cell phones and iPods. While each of the countries still had a large gap between the “haves” and “have-nots”, the proportion of the population that had achieved economic prosperity was much greater than I had expected. Thailand and Malaysia in particular had much larger segments of middle and upper classes than I expected. South Korea has clearly come a long way to overcome its history of conflict, and while it still has some political issues, South Korea has become a leading nation in this region. Cambodia, however, is still suffering from its recent tragedy with the Khmer Rouge which has almost eliminated a generation of it people.

It was my impression that the increased prosperity evident in these counties is providing a more visible objective for the youths in the cities and leads to them raising their goals. As many predict, this could lead to increased economic growth and more prominent roles for these nations in the near future. In many ways, these countries seem to be following the path established by China over the past 20-30 years although at different speeds. What impact all of these changes might have on the world economic and political maps will likely provide great fodder for university debating teams and economic theorists for many years.

We have posted some pictures on our blog from some of these countries and if you would like more information on our impressions of any of the places we visited, just let us know.