Pakistan 

Like most young reporters in the 1980's, I was drawn to Pakistan at a time when the United States was supporting a Mujahadin war against the Soviet backed government of Kabul, Afghanistan. Peshawar became a familiar resting place. I spent time with the Mujahadin in 1984.

In the summer of 1998, the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was caught off guard by the detonation of an Indian nuclear weapon test device. Given increased friction over the disputed territory of Kashmir, the weapons race symbolized by the nuclear tests seemed to mark 

In mid-October 1999, Pakistan's military carried out a 17 hour coup against the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
General Pervez Musharraf united the army, charged Sharif with conspiracy and later gross corruption, placed him under arrest and formed a new government. In late January 2000, Jim Laurie, as head of news for STAR TV along with reporter Joe Kainz interviewed General Musharraf in Rawalpindi. 

Afghanistan 

The reporter over a career covers many natural and man-made disasters. Famines in Cambodia and Somalia. Air crashes in Japan, Guam, Taiwan, and India. Floods in China. Cyclones in Bangladesh. But after an earthquake in a remote region of in late May 1998, we met a boy and a neglected region of the world crying out for help.

Hong Kong 1997

1997 saw Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule.
 

Much was made on July 1, 1997 of the first Chinese People's Liberation Army troops and their entry into Hong Kong from the mainland city of Shenzhen. Media attention was focused on the troops largely because they symbolized China's sovereignty over Hong Kong and because since the PLA deployment to end the democracy movement of 1989, the PLA had come also to symbolize the idea of political repression practice by Beijing.

In fact the concern about the PLA was totally overblown. In the years since the hand-over, the Chinese army in Hong Kong has shown exemplary behavior. They are virtually invisible in this crowded city. Nine days after the army entered Hong Kong, this dispatch was filed from the main PLA military base in the city.

Hong Kong has had its share of troubles in the years since the hand-over to the end of the century. It has suffered an economic turn down, complaints about the leadership abilities of the Chief Executive Tung Cheehwa and questions about the rule of law and the progress of democratization. But one story that gained much attention in 1998 was the opening of Hong Kong's sprawling new airport.
It must be said, two years after this report was written, the airport seems to be operating just fine. And rapid economic growth seems to be returning to this Special Administrative Region of China.

Bangkok

Bangkok, Thailand is known for many things. Deep Buddhist culture, its frustrating traffic jams, its friendly people and superb service, its wonderful restaurant, its girls of Patpong, the place where the 1997 Asia economic crisis was ignited. But few would consider the Thai capital as a top ranked medical center. It may be time to re-consider.