An Unusually Nice Burmese Soldier

I might have mentioned, I made it to the "Three Pagodas Pass" border station last month. That's the Thai/Burma border, or Thai/Myanmar if you prefer ("Burma" seems to be making a comeback). My friend Suksa and his wife are standing with a Burmese border guard. The guard is not smiling, but if he were you'd see that his teeth are stained black from chewing betel nut. No one in Thailand does that anymore. He was an interesting guy in other ways. He was very friendly, for instance, gregarious even. He spoke very good English, and very good Thai. He cheerfully posed for pictures, and he even let us walk inside the gate a little bit and see a couple of things (without paying the VISA fee). Suksa was of the opinion that the Burmese government wanted to put their best face forward at this border post.