Thailand

Thursday

April 1, 2021

Sunny and Hot

Dear Larry B, Larry L, Michelle T, Salah A, Joanne L and David A, Elaine A, Jeff Z, and Lois and Art F,

(Copy to My Friends and Family Everywhere)

My dear New England friends, you have often asked me, “Jan, will you ever return to Boston?”

My answer now is “Maybe.”

A prominent intuition decided to add the Department of Travel and Hotel Management to their Graduate School of Business.

The school administrators reckon that the potential waning of the pandemic portends a dramatic increase in the demand for all sectors of the hospitality industry.  A business rebound will induce a concomitant surge in university enrollment. 

Of course, in the Boston area, hospitality students already flock to Boston University, Salem State, Lasell University, Endicott College, Bay State College and Bunker Hill Community College.  And don’t forget down Rhode Island way, the ever-popular Johnson & Wales University.

But, and this is a big but, a prestigious institution will attract high caliber, motivated international students from such places as the United Arab Emirates, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Qatar, the State of Kuwait, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, not to mention the brainiacs from the State of Israel.

Naturally, the elite, high society families from Africa and Asia will not be outflanked by the Middle East.   This friendly competition translates into fully paid graduate school tuitions, instant demand for first class residential property and restaurants, haberdasheries, boutiques, nail salons, and most importantly, high figure donations and even higher figure endowments.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has promised a substantial endowment.  The new university program will be known as the Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud School of Hospitality and International Tourism.  Graduates will earn a master’s degree.

Hassanal Bolkiah Muiz'zaddin Wad'daulah, the Sultan of Brunei, has countered with a comparable donation to fund the Chair of the Department.

If I am offered a position with the school, I have promised the selection committee to decide with all deliberate speed.

Why am I even a candidate?  I suppose it harkens back to my New York City Haaren High School English teacher job (1965-1968), and my hotel training and management development positions: The Plaza Hotel (1968-1974); The Sheraton Corporation (1974-1981).  What really impressed the committee was my final career move as Director of Headquarters Personnel at The Howard Johnson Company (1981-1986) down in Quincy, Massachusetts.   

Could my obsessive-compulsive international travels (1966-2020) also be a factor?

Do I relocate from Bangkok to Boston? (Cambridge, actually.)

Potential Income.  Modest unearned retirement income grows to substantial mid six figure earned income. (But I’ll need a new wardrobe.  My old “corporate suits” don’t fit anymore.  And all my woolen clothes are in cold storage.)

Taxes.  At the moment I pay USA Federal Income Tax and no state tax or Thailand taxes. I recall my move to Boston years ago. My colleagues mentioned that my new home state is called Taxachusetts.  (Do you wonder why all the Tampa Bay Buccaneers free agents decided to stay with the team?  No personal income tax in the State of Florida!  But I digress.)

Cost of Living.  Low to High.  BKK: Price for a meal of a freshly cooked egg and vegetable omelet with rice, about a buck and a half.  BOS: Price for an egg salad sandwich, $17.00.

Climate. Subtropical to Temperate. Warm-Hot to Cool-Cold.  Polo shirts to parkas.  Maybe I can take up skiing?  No, not downhill!  Cross country!  Speed skating?  Hockey?  (But I digress.)

Social Life.  Do I leave my forty-nine-year-old, loving and caring girlfriend?  Tell me my friends, will anyone in New England date an octogenarian stumbling around on a “hiking” stick?

Think about it. My students will earn a Harvard MBA from MBS. 

Mind you: I still must meet with the President of the University, Lawrence Seldon Bacow (MOT).

Another “Larry” in my life?

If Larry raps, “Jan, you da the Man!” … then it’s mittens out of mothballs.