Geek heaven

I'm here visiting my friend Rick, who has been living in Thailand for about six years. I met him over a frisbee in Central Park 25 years ago, then got him into computers as a career, and we've been buddies ever since.

When I got here, we headed out of town for a visit to a lake and a waterfall. On the way, we ran an errand to fix his computer printer, a local electronics shopping center. Rick's main contact there knows "everything there is to know" about PC configurations.

The wiring outside the building was an impressive rats nest of phone and power cables, with a dozen air con units blasting.

In a way, this place is a geek heaven. There's every piece of software ever written available bootleg for $3 per CD, and a wide variety of new and refurb add-ons at very low prices. Best of all, there are pleasant and talented people who'll help build, fix and configure PCs and peripherals at very reasonable prices (like a few bucks an hour, or just as a favor if you're a repeat customer).