Question: In the Thrilling Cities author's birth city, where did the 2008 Olympic torch relay begin?

thailand: the april 18 relay through bangkok was the olympic flame's first visit to thailand. the relay covered just over 10 km, and included bangkok's chinatown. the torch was carried past democracy monument, chitralada palace and a number of other city landmarks. m.r. narisa chakrabongse, green world foundation (gwf) chairwoman, withdrew from the torch-running ceremony, protesting against china's actions in tibet. several hundred protesters were present, along with olympic supporters. thai authorities threatened to arrest foreign protesters and ban them from future entry into thailand. a coalition of thai human rights groups announced that it would organise a "small demonstration" during the relay, and several hundred people did indeed take part in protests, facing beijing supporters. intended torchbearer mom rajawongse narissara chakrabongse boycotted the relay, to protest against china's actions in tibet. in bangkok, students told the media that the chinese embassy provided them with transportation and gave them shirts to wear. <SEP> The 48 km (30 mi) leg took a total of seven and a half hours to complete, and attracted protests by pro-Tibetan independence and pro-Human Rights supporters, prompting changes to the planned route and an unscheduled move onto a bus, which was then briefly halted by protestors. Great Britain: The torch relay leg held in London, the host city of the 2012 Summer Olympics, on April 6 began at Wembley Stadium, passed through the City of London, and eventually ended at O2 Arena in the eastern part of the city. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has officially complained to Beijing Organising Committee about the conduct of the tracksuit-clad Chinese security guards. The Chinese officials, seen manhandling protesters, were described by both the London Mayor Ken Livingstone and Lord Coe, chairman of the London Olympic Committee as "thugs". A Metropolitan police briefing paper revealed that security for the torch relay cost £750,000 and the participation of the Chinese security team had been agreed in advance, despite the Mayor stating, "We did not know beforehand these thugs were from the security services. Had I known so, we would have said no." <SEP> after being lit at the birthplace of the olympic games in olympia, greece on march 24, the torch traveled to the panathinaiko stadium in athens, and then to beijing, arriving on march 31. from beijing, the torch was following a route passing through six continents. the torch has visited cities along the silk road, symbolizing ancient links between china and the rest of the world. the relay also included an ascent with the flame to the top of mount everest on the border of nepal and tibet, china from the chinese side, which was closed specially for the event. <SEP> His mother was Evelyn ("" Rose), and his father was Valentine Fleming, the Member of Parliament for Henley from 1910 to 1917. As an infant he briefly lived, with his family, at Braziers Park in Oxfordshire. Fleming was a grandson of the Scottish financier Robert Fleming, who founded the Scottish American Investment Trust and the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co. Ian Lancaster Fleming was born on 28 May 1908, at 27 Green Street in the wealthy London district of Mayfair. <SEP> The book was first published in the UK in November 1963 by Jonathan Cape. Thrilling Cities is the title of a travelogue by the James Bond author and "The Sunday Times" journalist Ian Fleming. The cities covered by Fleming were Hong Kong, Macau, Tokyo, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, New York, Hamburg, Berlin, Vienna, Geneva, Naples and Monte Carlo.