Lawrence (Larry) Daks

Current Name:
Lawrence (Larry) Daks
Other names: For nearly 60 years, I gave "Lawrence Donald Daks" as my
legal name. In 1999, my parents advised me that I wasn't "the Donald,"
that this name was a figment of my childish imagination. Perhaps I'd seen
myself as "Donald Daks," a counter-culture Walt Disney character.
Recently, when I tried to correct the record at the Department of State, I
found that the only person entitled to a government ID is "Lawrence
Donald Daks"! Quack quack!
ddress:11346 Orchard Lane
Reston, VA 20190
Home Phone: (703) 478-3666
Email:LDAKS@earthlink.net
A
(L-r) [back row] Robert, Nongkran, Mitchell,
Nathan, Jennifer, Larry; [front row] Noah,
Nicholas (2004)
Location in Thailand
Kasetsart University, Bangkok
Thai Name
Diregrith, Direg
Current passion (who/what?)
Family and family history,
Tracking down old friends,
mysteries,
Writing holiday letters,
Almost anything offbeat
Larry in 1962
Most indelible memory of
PCV tour and training in
Thailand:
Contributing to the Kingdom's
brain drain by marrying
Nongkran.
Other memories:
* Ran Shaffner's infinite patience, trying to help me with the ups and downs of a tonal language.
* Recalling how devastated Thai were by the assassination of President Kennedy.
* George Papagiannis, mistakenly sitting on an old lady's lap, and then responding to her cry of anguish,
with "Mai pen rai krap. Farang mai tyy!"
* Walking across a rice field in Korat while the sun was setting, and having my guide point to the sky
and ask, "Do you have one of those in your country?"
* The scream after I told one Khun Nuchanat, a teacher who had entered a "Hongnam" at a school in
Chiangrai, that if she was already "seated," she was likely over a snake that had gotten into that facility's
toilet bowl.
Who best portrays Larry today? Some people think I look like Woody Allen. I do have a grown
daughter, but wish to point out that our relationship is perfectly normal.

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Family
Our two great kids. Jennifer, 37, is married to Robert Strach, an aerospace engineer. They've given us
grandkids Nicholas and Noah and, by the time you get this Memory Book, our third grandson is likely to
be a reality. The Strach family live in Issaquah, Washington.
Mitch, our son, has braved winters in Minnesota for half of his 34 years. A graduate of a broadcasting
school, he has gone from on-the-air Deejay to the world of computers. Mitch's company is called
"Behind the Scenes," and that's where he is, supporting systems, designing software and engaging in
myriad types of troubleshooting. Mitch and his girlfriend, Mariah, live in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.
Highlights Since Leaving Thailand
But I've gotten ahead of myself. When we returned from Thailand in April 1965, I found a job with the
Office of the Solicitor of the Department of Labor. Immediately upon arrival in Washington, DC, I
started contacting government offices to see if anyone was looking for a Thai instructor. As a result,
Nongkran wound up teaching for the Department of State, and my eyes were opened to a new career.
However, I'm also a beneficiary of one of life's wonderful accidents. While Nongkran's job got me
interested in the Foreign Service, my introduction to public diplomacy occurred because I went to the
wrong room for an interview. I was amazed when the conversation began, "So you want to work for the
United States Information Agency," since I'd never heard of the organization and had no idea what it
did! However, there was talk of a job in Laos, so I nodded in the affirmative. A year later, I abandoned
law, spending 30 years doing press and culture work. To quote Dave Barry, "I'm not making this up."
Our tours took us to China, Laos, Taiwan and Thailand along with several stints in Washington, DC,
and the ultimate golden handshake, 18 glorious months at the East West Center in Honolulu. Each place
we lived and worked contributed to a career that became a complex Asian mosaic. From day-to-day
contact with Thai students who were my contemporaries in age but not life experiences, more mature in
many ways, and yet insular in others, to directing a large language school in Bangkok that is one of
American public diplomacy's most successful partnerships; from allowing myself the delusion that, I
could help present the Royal Lao Government with a face that would somehow stem the revolutionary
tide of change, to a few years later being a first-hand witness to that change; and from the privilege of
living on both sides of the Taiwan straits, where the two authoritarian societies we first experienced,
have both undertaken significant reforms, in one case making the transition to democracy, and in the
other case, moving-despite the communist party's choice of labels-steadily closer to a free market
economy and, albeit gradually, some personal breathing room for 1.2 billion Chinese. I'll let others
judge the merit of this, but when the choice was career or fun, we usually took the fork in the road that
led to continued job satisfaction. I stayed in Asia, where we wanted to be, and in one case even returned
to the same job a second time. We've also maintained contact, and friendships, with people in each of
the countries where we've worked.
I retired in March 1996, and now work part time as a consultant on projects that relate to China.
However, as my career is winding down, Nongkran's seems to be just beginning. I could no longer ward
off her entrepreneurial instincts with the excuse that we had an upcoming overseas assignment. In 1999,
Nong's dream became a reality, when she opened up the Thai Basil Restaurant in Chantilly, Virginia. In
her "spare time," Nong writes cook books, teaches cooking, and caters. She also manages an annual trip
to Thailand and still finds opportunities to spoil our grandsons. (Several members of Group III have
made it out to the Thai Basil, but we look forward to welcoming more of you. Just give us some

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advance notice when you're coming.)
Looking back, there are lots of things that I failed to do, or undertook only half-heartedly. However,
dwelling on past regrets only gets in the way of future progress. Looking ahead, I am hoping for
continued good health, and success in searching for things to do that are fun and that might perhaps also
help others along the way. While I enjoy traveling, I believe that people are a lot more important than
places, and that possessions lose value the minute that we let them possess us.
At our reunion, or whenever we meet, I'd like to hear about your motivation for joining the Peace Corps
and learn how our time in Thailand affected what's come since. Whenever an ex-PCV pat him or her self
on the back for self-sacrifice and dedication, I wonder if there isn't a bit of revisionist history going on.
Sometimes I feel like saying "lighten up," there was nothing wrong in volunteering to have an
adventure, my primary motivation. However, perhaps I'm out of step.
What would I like to do when I grow up? On a personal level, I hope to leave something in writing for
our kids and grandkids, so they can better appreciate both their American and Thai roots. On a larger
level, I want to find new ways to bring Americans and Asians closer together, through dialogue,
exchange and interaction.
Nongkran and Larry at Nongkran’s Restaurant, THAI BASIL