Bangkok diplomatic nightlife, Soviet spies, tranquil Buddhist monks, Thai princesses, Khmer Rouge, cave temples, cobras, a Nobel Prize and more fill the pages of Palace of Yawns. When a 29-year-old advisor was posted to Korea by an American foundation to advise the Ministry of Health on management of the national family planning program, he developed a breakthrough method allowing governments to reduce birth rates as rapidly as possible from fixed budgets. Based on his discovery, the United Nations recruited him, and from Bangkok he directed a UN program to assist Asian governments in resetting their demographic goals. Though eight countries requested the UN to help them implement the program, it failed to do so, instead turning out a barely read "study" much later. Palace of Yawns recounts this failure, its harmful growth consequences, and the amazing year which the adventurous young advisor spent in Southeast Asia as the Viet Nam War reached its historic climax.