President Thongchai Winichakul, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you for having me back here in the great American city of Philadelphia.

Believe it or not I was here for the first time in 1968, and I did not see the Liberty Bell.

That year (LBJ) Lyndon Baines Johnson was the President of the United States and the country was in turmoil. America was divided by her war in Vietnam. At home in Thailand Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn was the Prime Minister.

That year the AAS held its Conference here in Philadelphia.

That year a counter part academic organization was set up, i.e. Ihe Committee of Concerned Asian Scholars (CCAS).

That year I came to attend the AAS Conference for the first time. I was young and rather beautiful.

Being educated in America in an exceptional time, I came to learn and know more about my country Thailand, Southeast Asia, and Asia in general.

To tell you the truth I found out, here in America, that Angkor and Vientiane, the old centers of Cambodia and Laos were conquered by the Thai from Ayutthaya and Bangkok. Back home we, Thai, learned from history text-books that the Burmese destroyed our Ayutthaya in 1767, 9 years before the American Revolution. It was one sided and wounded history.

At the same time it was here in America where I found out that our military governments were aiding the United States in waging open and secret wars in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

In short my seven years experience in America (1965-1972) helped me cross the border of Thailand into a larger part of Southeast Asia in particular and of Asia in general.

46 years have passed like lightening (46 ปี ผ่านไป ไวเหมือนโกหก), now in 2014, old and not beautiful anymore, I am back in Philadelphia again. Thanks to the AAS and an award for Distinguished Contributions to Asian Studies (DCAS) .

It is indeed a thrill to be mentioned along with Clifford Geertz, O.W. Wolters, Benedict Anderson, Jane Hanks, Taufik Abdullah, and Anthony Reid.

46 Years have passed and Ihe United States are now with an African American-President Barak Obama while back home in my country Thailand, we are having the first female Prime Minister: Miss Yingluck Shinnawatra. Interesting enough my country Thailand is now in turmoil and the whole situation is a big mess.

Thank you for this Distinguished Contributions Asian Studies honor. Thank you for bringing me back to Philadelphia for the second time. This time I told myself that I must see the Liberty Bell. I hope this is not the last time but I may be wrong which is not unusual for any so-called scholar. Thanks to you ALL.

(Charnvit Kasetsiri-28/3/2014)