Strange praise for Peter Skilling

The reputation of Dr. Skilling's research reaches far beyond Bangkok.

In the border town of Chiang Khong (on the Thai side of the Mekong,
opposite Laos) I received the following interesting observation from a
local restaurant owner, when I admitted that I study Pali.

I paraphrase:

"You know, at the University in Bangkok, people who want to study,
they go to study with a Canadian man.  This foreign teacher, he knows
more than all the Thai teachers, more than the Thai monks; everybody
knows it is true, and they want to study with him only.  It is the
shame of Thailand."

I was absolutely astounded that Dr. Skilling's reputation had reached
"laypeople" (in both the academic and religious sense) in Chiang
Khong, and it is rather strange praise to say "His scholarship is so
great, it is the shame of our nation" --but this almost precisely what
she had to say.

E.M.