Change is an ever-present fact of life, and recently I put the wheels in motion for a big one. In a few weeks I'll be leaving Student Weekly, leaving my shoebox-sized apartment and leaving Thailand. I'll be moving to Melbourne, a city I've never lived in before (having come from Sydney), to start a new phase of life and a new bunch of adventures. I don't have much of a plan in place, but I'm excited by the prospect of doing something different.
I've lived in Thailand now for almost nine years, with most of those years spent working for Bangkok Post Student Weekly. Those nine years have flown by in what feels more like about four years, so I guess that means I've had a pretty good time here. Thailand is certainly never boring, and Bangkok is a city that provides endless amounts of fun, endless frustrations, quite a bit of danger and plenty of inspiration, ideas and excitement.
Things have changed a little since I started at SW as a Sub-Editor back in 2006. In the time I've been here, several staff members have left and a few new people have come, we moved our office to a different part of the Bangkok Post building and we've redesigned the magazine a couple of times. In my humble opinion Student Weekly has gotten better than ever over the past few years, and as Editor I've tried to carry on the great work of my predecessor, Sean. I'll miss working here and the team that I work with a lot, but after almost nine years it feels like the right time for a change.
Thailand is going through quite a bit of turmoil at the moment, but then so is the rest of the world, and the Land of Smiles has over the years and decades proved pretty resilient and able to cope well with whatever fate throws at it. I'll look forward to coming back here to visit (hopefully on a semi-regular basis!) and to see how things develop for this amazing country.
In the meantime, I'll be carrying on work here as usual for another month or so while running around getting things ready for my move to Melbourne. I'm glad to say that life is never boring!
Ben Edwards
Editor
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