Groovy Thai-Farang Love Story

from http://www.idahostatesman.com/115/story/441154.html

Doug Kimmel, a young man serving in the Air Force in Thailand during the Vietnam War, looked forward to his regular trips across the shared base to the office of a pretty young Thai girl named Kathy.

She was suspicious of the handsome young American "because he was always trying to talk to her," said Dara Kimmel, Doug's daughter, who now lives in Seattle.

Then one day he came in and told her that it was a special day in America and asked if she would like to have dinner with him.

Kathy had learned a little English in school, but not enough to carry on a conversation with her suitor, certainly not enough to speak to him during a date.

"It was Christmas," Dara said. "And she said she would go, but her brother came along to translate."

She said that during that first "date," Kathy mostly sat quietly while her brother and her future husband chatted.

Not long after that, Doug came across the base to see Kathy again; this time he was in his full uniform. He shook her hand and then asked if he could write to her. He was going back to America.

During the next few months, he would write letters to her and she would occasionally write back.

Then came the letter from America with a marriage proposal. Kathy ignored it.

The letter was followed by a visit by officials from the U.S. Embassy in Thailand telling her that a man in America had asked her to marry him.

She didn't know what to tell them at the time, but she soon found her answer in a drug store window while shopping in Bangkok.

The answer was written on the face of a picture postcard. It showed a gypsy looking into a crystal ball with the word yes displayed on it. She had her answer, bought the card and sent it to Kimmel in America, Dara said.

While making arrangements to fly to the United States, Kathy's mother gave her some gold jewelry and told her daughter that if Kimmel didn't show up or if he treated her poorly, she was to sell the jewelry and come home.

Doug and Kathy were married for 32 years before Doug died of brain cancer at age 61 on June 20, 2008 at their home in Boise.

After college, Doug spent two years in Nepal with the Peace Corps. He joined the Air Force in 1972. Later, Doug went to work for the Bureau of Land Management as a surveyor and worked in Oregon and then Idaho, where he and Kathy raised their daughter.

"We had a great family. I feel closer because it was just the three of us," Dara said, explaining that she saw extended family only occasionally.

"He loved being outdoors," Dara said. "He was super fit. He liked to hike and take us to places where he had surveyed."

She said she and her dad enjoyed high adventure hikes that took them to Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier in Washington, as well as hikes closer to home.

Kathy never had to sell her mother's jewelry, and the family returned to Thailand many times to visit her family, Dara said.

"He loved Thailand," she said. "And mom's family loved my dad."