For me and Thai, it was all about the alphabet. I love the Greek alphabet, and it was a big part of the glory of learning Ancient Greek, but I had never fallen so instantly and heads-over-heels in love with an alphabet (technically an abugida—a consonant script with vowel diacritics) before I met Thai. ”What IS this? An alien script left by the superior race who seeded humankind on Earth?” Swirling snakes fill the pages, each with a perfectly round head and a slivering body, often crossing over itself and making loops. The vast majority of them are made with a single long and graceful stroke, without lifting the pen, which adds to the sheer sensual pleasure of Thai craftsmanship. A medieval monk using calligraphy to pass on the written treasures of an ancient civilization—that just about captures the feeling! I’ll never get enough. Hats off to you, king Ramkhamhaeng รามคำแหง! (The Thai king who according to tradition created the alphabet in 1283.)