Myanmar has brought in experts from the Malaysian and Thai central banks to help with the transition.

WSJ: Myanmar Announces Currency Reform

How, Chaturon asks, could the central bank governor launch an investigation into the non-performing-loan scandal at Krung Thai Bank last year when he used to be chairman of that state-owned institution.

CNN: Thailand's New Enforcer

In August Abrams and his wife, Sandra, lost their effort to keep living in a luxurious Manhattan apartment that overlooks Central Park and is owned by Marisa Chearavanont, a daughter-in-law of Thai billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont.

FORBES: Russell Abrams' Hedge Fund Accused of Fraud Amid Losses of 70%

They tend to prefer the high-rise glamour of the Melia Hua Hin Hotel next door, though Thai families do enjoy the bungalows on the Sofitel's adjacent property, called Central Hua Hin Village (Central comes from the hotel's management by the Central Group).

CNN: The Grandes Dames

Nor have more recent immigrant groups such as the Hmong, Thai and Mien, who came to work in the fields during the 1970s and now live in Central Valley cities such as Stockton, Fresno and Modesto or, of course, the Mexicans, who have been coming since then and are now the majority of workers in the fields, where Spanish is the common language.

ECONOMIST: California's Central Valley