But then again, maybe not

Just a few minutes, the guard came in taking with him an Asian guy who looked like he just came from the beach. He looked a bit nerdy, had a backpack with him and a bit lost too. I knew as soon as he spoke that he was Japanese.

He was a reporter from NHK and he is on vacation in BKK but thought that he might do a story or two. He wanted to know if there were soldiers guarding TN at the height of the coup. Unfortunately, all the information I knew then was based on what my boss told me and what I saw a week later when I returned from Seoul. I did see the soldiers but I couldn't remember if they had machine guns with them. Maybe not. In fact, their presence was sort of underplayed so as not to scare people. Sure, there was a soldier or two guarding all the possible entry/ exit points but they tried to be invisible as much as possible.

So anyways, I gave my card to the reporter after the brief conversation and he replied: "Salamat po."

I asked him how he knew I was Filipino. He didn't directly answer my question, and only said: "I've been to Manila."

So again, maybe not. Being Yipon that is. My accent gives me away.