A South African in Thailand
Impressions and Experiences
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Impressions and Experiences
Introduction
Authors Note
What follows is a compilation of letters written to my family and friends while on an assignment in Thailand.
The assignment was to project manage the deployment of a SAP hosting infrastructure for Daewoo Korea, at the GM Thailand Hosting Centre. As part of the scope, the project migrated an initial set of data to this new hosted environment and conducted testing and validation of the installation and data migrations.
I hope this series of letters will convey how my perceptions of Thailand and its people changed, from my first impressions, to an emotional departure and a burning desire to return.
The sky never did cry for me! but the sun shines more brightly than ever, in new found hope and optimism!
What follows is a compilation of letters written to my family and friends while on an assignment in Thailand.
The assignment was to project manage the deployment of a SAP hosting infrastructure for Daewoo Korea, at the GM Thailand Hosting Centre. As part of the scope, the project migrated an initial set of data to this new hosted environment and conducted testing and validation of the installation and data migrations.
I hope this series of letters will convey how my perceptions of Thailand and its people changed, from my first impressions, to an emotional departure and a burning desire to return.
The sky never did cry for me! but the sun shines more brightly than ever, in new found hope and optimism!
First Impressions
Well, Thailand, what to say about Thailand, the land of smiles?
Yes, the people are friendly, but I have not figured out whether they are so friendly when you are not spending, but then my experience is based mostly on Pattaya till now.
And what to say of Pattaya, this sprawling metropolis of a resort town, once a quaint fishing village, now a massive brothel! Where fat, old, ugly men, with pounds and dollars, who probably couldn’t get laid in a cheap brothel back home, parade the streets with 20 year old nubiles, locked arm in arm, for the price of a pub lunch and an ale in Yorkshire. She welcomes the chance to send a few thousand baht back home, mainly in the north and north east of Thailand. If lucky, she can become his long term girlfriend, maybe live in his air conditioned apartment for a month or two, cook for him, satisfy him and hey, maybe one day go back home with him.
The competition is fierce, some Soi's (streets) are three or four hundred metres long, like Soi 6, which is lined on either side by beer bars. That is all there is on this Soi, beer bars, one on top of the next, where the girls are employed to firstly entice patrons to the bar to spend money on booze and then get the men to take them home for the night. This entails paying the bar owner a “bar fine” for each day she won’t be at “work”, to release the gai (gai is the Thai word for chicken or chic) from her otherwise money generating duties in the bar (for the owner of course). Thereafter she will do her best to get the fellow to spend as much money in the bar buying booze before they depart on their romp. Strangely enough, and this is where the “work” part of this is evident, is that the gais don’t generally drink or smoke. They prefer a soda or juice and then money instead of drinks for each round, which they pocket instead of supporting the bar owner. So it is a job and one which they will smile and do, probably coz they have to.
Then there are the shopping spots, big air conditioned malls, with original, designer label stuff and or knock offs. I don’t think you ever really know whether a higher price is a guarantee of an original, but who wants an original anyway, when some of the knock offs are dirt cheap and the quality is great.
You can shop in flee market style plaza’s, where you could get sworn at, which happened, I think, because I was asked what I was looking for. It seems that if once you tell them and they have the item, you are obliged to buy! When you don’t, you get attitude and an oddly pronounced fuck-off (once your back is turned of course) sounding something like “flaa ore” or “fla u” to which one responds with shock and wonder whether if you retort, some mai thai ninja boxer fellow, with an energiser bunny attitude, will appear from nowhere and proceed to flatten your nose and crack your ribs with one deft clip….. What fun……no! it really is, because it is a wonderland of goodies and clothes and jewellery and all things Asian and Western and, of course American. So many colours and textures and fashions, crammed into markets and malls, on motorbikes and being hawked on the pavements….
So many choices, what to buy?!
(Note on the bad attitude stall lady: it is the only time I ever experienced anything but courteousness and enthusiasm)
Yes, the people are friendly, but I have not figured out whether they are so friendly when you are not spending, but then my experience is based mostly on Pattaya till now.
And what to say of Pattaya, this sprawling metropolis of a resort town, once a quaint fishing village, now a massive brothel! Where fat, old, ugly men, with pounds and dollars, who probably couldn’t get laid in a cheap brothel back home, parade the streets with 20 year old nubiles, locked arm in arm, for the price of a pub lunch and an ale in Yorkshire. She welcomes the chance to send a few thousand baht back home, mainly in the north and north east of Thailand. If lucky, she can become his long term girlfriend, maybe live in his air conditioned apartment for a month or two, cook for him, satisfy him and hey, maybe one day go back home with him.
The competition is fierce, some Soi's (streets) are three or four hundred metres long, like Soi 6, which is lined on either side by beer bars. That is all there is on this Soi, beer bars, one on top of the next, where the girls are employed to firstly entice patrons to the bar to spend money on booze and then get the men to take them home for the night. This entails paying the bar owner a “bar fine” for each day she won’t be at “work”, to release the gai (gai is the Thai word for chicken or chic) from her otherwise money generating duties in the bar (for the owner of course). Thereafter she will do her best to get the fellow to spend as much money in the bar buying booze before they depart on their romp. Strangely enough, and this is where the “work” part of this is evident, is that the gais don’t generally drink or smoke. They prefer a soda or juice and then money instead of drinks for each round, which they pocket instead of supporting the bar owner. So it is a job and one which they will smile and do, probably coz they have to.
Then there are the shopping spots, big air conditioned malls, with original, designer label stuff and or knock offs. I don’t think you ever really know whether a higher price is a guarantee of an original, but who wants an original anyway, when some of the knock offs are dirt cheap and the quality is great.
You can shop in flee market style plaza’s, where you could get sworn at, which happened, I think, because I was asked what I was looking for. It seems that if once you tell them and they have the item, you are obliged to buy! When you don’t, you get attitude and an oddly pronounced fuck-off (once your back is turned of course) sounding something like “flaa ore” or “fla u” to which one responds with shock and wonder whether if you retort, some mai thai ninja boxer fellow, with an energiser bunny attitude, will appear from nowhere and proceed to flatten your nose and crack your ribs with one deft clip….. What fun……no! it really is, because it is a wonderland of goodies and clothes and jewellery and all things Asian and Western and, of course American. So many colours and textures and fashions, crammed into markets and malls, on motorbikes and being hawked on the pavements….
So many choices, what to buy?!
(Note on the bad attitude stall lady: it is the only time I ever experienced anything but courteousness and enthusiasm)
The Airport
No one was at the airport to fetch me!
So take a bus? Take a taxi? How about a limousine?
No Al, talk to tourist information, they will be able to tell you your options, what to pay, etc.
Yeah right!
The photocopied handout Tourist Information present reminds me of the sort of information I would expect at Johannesburg International. The information is outdated and hopelessly inaccurate, because half the services are not available and the prices quoted are half what the services ACTUALLY charge.
How much to Pattaya? 2900, is the reply. No thanks, I say, and proceed to the next tout.
How much to Pattaya? 1700, he says. Now that’s more like it I think, but what is the catch?
How much to Pattaya? I ask the next fellow, 2100, he brags his cut rate price. No! You are mad!
That fellow wants 1700, I brag back. Says he, now smugly, we not change car halfway, our car aircon, no exla char expless way (in his best accent).
Oh Shit! OK bugger all yawl!!
I find a tout and thinking I now have the street smarts, ask bluntly:
How much to Pattaya, including the expressway and all toll fees? He whips out a flip file and shows me the price, 2400.
Says me, NO OTHER COSTS! 2400 NOW! AND YOU TAKE ME PATTAYA AND I NO PAY NOTHING?!
Clever man that he his, whips out his receipt book and communicates that he will give me a receipt which says “Include expressway.”
So I know I am being charged too much, but hey, a receipt.
He can sense my thoughts and proudly displays a badge claiming he is an official mover of people for the Thailand Airports Authority.
Now I know I am in trouble, but hey, at the price, how much more could I be ripped off, so I reluctantly agree. He issues a receipt and in brackets (Include expressway) is noted.
I grab the receipt book and scribble “fully inclusive price from Bangkok to Pattaya”
He thinks I must be from South Africa, or at least a few Thai green curries away from the funny farm.
I am proud of my actions though, cough up the dough and with copy of receipt in hand, am being led out of the airport to my steed and the steed’s pilot.
Turns out the driver pays for everything, I relax at the back. Halfway though the journey he stops at a garage with a few shops. I’m thinking this is where they change the damned car for some clapped out scrap bucket. Well it ain’t happening, coz I got a receipt.
He offers in no English at all, that I should get some cool drink or something to eat.
What a nice fellow. So I buy him the bottle of mineral water he reluctantly indicates he would like and we are off again towards Pattaya.
So, we get to Pattaya after an uneventful 2 hours, and he asks where I am staying. The Bella Villa hotel? He hasn’t a clue.
So take a bus? Take a taxi? How about a limousine?
No Al, talk to tourist information, they will be able to tell you your options, what to pay, etc.
Yeah right!
The photocopied handout Tourist Information present reminds me of the sort of information I would expect at Johannesburg International. The information is outdated and hopelessly inaccurate, because half the services are not available and the prices quoted are half what the services ACTUALLY charge.
How much to Pattaya? 2900, is the reply. No thanks, I say, and proceed to the next tout.
How much to Pattaya? 1700, he says. Now that’s more like it I think, but what is the catch?
How much to Pattaya? I ask the next fellow, 2100, he brags his cut rate price. No! You are mad!
That fellow wants 1700, I brag back. Says he, now smugly, we not change car halfway, our car aircon, no exla char expless way (in his best accent).
Oh Shit! OK bugger all yawl!!
I find a tout and thinking I now have the street smarts, ask bluntly:
How much to Pattaya, including the expressway and all toll fees? He whips out a flip file and shows me the price, 2400.
Says me, NO OTHER COSTS! 2400 NOW! AND YOU TAKE ME PATTAYA AND I NO PAY NOTHING?!
Clever man that he his, whips out his receipt book and communicates that he will give me a receipt which says “Include expressway.”
So I know I am being charged too much, but hey, a receipt.
He can sense my thoughts and proudly displays a badge claiming he is an official mover of people for the Thailand Airports Authority.
Now I know I am in trouble, but hey, at the price, how much more could I be ripped off, so I reluctantly agree. He issues a receipt and in brackets (Include expressway) is noted.
I grab the receipt book and scribble “fully inclusive price from Bangkok to Pattaya”
He thinks I must be from South Africa, or at least a few Thai green curries away from the funny farm.
I am proud of my actions though, cough up the dough and with copy of receipt in hand, am being led out of the airport to my steed and the steed’s pilot.
Turns out the driver pays for everything, I relax at the back. Halfway though the journey he stops at a garage with a few shops. I’m thinking this is where they change the damned car for some clapped out scrap bucket. Well it ain’t happening, coz I got a receipt.
He offers in no English at all, that I should get some cool drink or something to eat.
What a nice fellow. So I buy him the bottle of mineral water he reluctantly indicates he would like and we are off again towards Pattaya.
So, we get to Pattaya after an uneventful 2 hours, and he asks where I am staying. The Bella Villa hotel? He hasn’t a clue.
I offer that I had heard it was near the beach road, so he goes that way.
We find the hotel, more by accident than knowledge of the area, or an address.
I thank the quiet driver, send him on his way and enter the Bella Villa.
Yep, you got it!
No reservation has been made for anyone arriving under the EDS / GM banner.
What a surprise, since they weren’t at the airport.
Thai for the un-initiated
As a prelude to my experience of checking in at the Bella Villa, some insights into understanding English as spoken by Thais.
Try to say the words as they are spelled, it is ssoooooo much fun! E.g.: W should be pronounced “weh” as in “went”
Another important aspect of Thai English is that there is no “R” well there may be but they can’t or won’t say it….so an R is replaced with an L or W if in the middle of a word or omitted entirely if at the beginning or the end of a word.
Bar is baah, important is impolant, reservation could be lellalation or wehewayhun, easy enough?
No, coz they don’t really like the L, so often, they will replace L with N, so impolent becomes imponent, easy enough with a word like important, but you get two or three words in a row, in a sentence, that have R’s and L’s and you can get really lost. It is so much fun!
Try this one: Fried Rice could be as we hear in the movies, fly lice, but more commonly here, faai waai (aai as in guy) so in context…..
I order pork stir fry, 60 baht on the menu, the waitress asks, You wan faai waai with?
Huh!? Blank stare. She tries again, slowly this time, faai…….waai…….with? pointing to the menu.
I am not registering sweetie…………
waai……waai………faai…waai….she tries again!
This sort of communication is usually followed by a long pause with me looking imploringly at the waitress, her looking at me waiting for the penny to drop. We get there in the end and I end up with STEAMED RICE!
Try to say the words as they are spelled, it is ssoooooo much fun! E.g.: W should be pronounced “weh” as in “went”
Another important aspect of Thai English is that there is no “R” well there may be but they can’t or won’t say it….so an R is replaced with an L or W if in the middle of a word or omitted entirely if at the beginning or the end of a word.
Bar is baah, important is impolant, reservation could be lellalation or wehewayhun, easy enough?
No, coz they don’t really like the L, so often, they will replace L with N, so impolent becomes imponent, easy enough with a word like important, but you get two or three words in a row, in a sentence, that have R’s and L’s and you can get really lost. It is so much fun!
Try this one: Fried Rice could be as we hear in the movies, fly lice, but more commonly here, faai waai (aai as in guy) so in context…..
I order pork stir fry, 60 baht on the menu, the waitress asks, You wan faai waai with?
Huh!? Blank stare. She tries again, slowly this time, faai…….waai…….with? pointing to the menu.
I am not registering sweetie…………
waai……waai………faai…waai….she tries again!
This sort of communication is usually followed by a long pause with me looking imploringly at the waitress, her looking at me waiting for the penny to drop. We get there in the end and I end up with STEAMED RICE!
Checking in
Now where did I leave off……… Aah yes, I have arrived at the hotel…..
Weherwayhun? …. For you? ……Name? Vatble……hands me a piece of paper and a pen, and gives me a pleading look. As I start writing my name, she asks; Compaly?
EDS I reply, to which she breaks into her best, we love business tourist, smiles and says something along the lines of….Aah, EDS, we have EDS here, we know EDS…….
OK!!!! I am in the right place. First problem solved. Now, do they have a reservation?
While I am basking in the glory of my success, all be it small, she is beavering away at a computer but seems to be getting more and more concentrated by the key stroke.
It would appear my “glory” is going to be short lived, especially when she says “hold on”, and scampers off to find help!........
Appears a middle aged woman…….probably the first one I had seen who had not greeted me in a manner befitting a visitor to the “land of smiles”. A stern woman, but one I am placing my faith in to get the job done, that is, give me somewhere to put my bags down, take a shower, have a cold beer and change out of clothes that are not suited to the outdoors of a hot and humid climate.
She starts to clatter away at the keyboard. You make weherwayhun? She quizzes.
No, EDS make.
Aah, EDS! OK! (haven’t we just been there!!!) Relax Al.
Clatter, clatter, stare at screen, frown…….Who make wehewayhun?
This is not going well and the approach is not working. Time to change tack, it is Sunday afternoon and I can always sort the room reservations and payments out tomorrow morning, from the office.
OK! Wait! Do you have room for tonight? I start out, (clever hey?!)
”No, full”, she says; and is that a look of despair in her eyes?
There is a long pause in the proceedings as both of us ponder our positions. I need somewhere to shack, she needs to accommodate me because EDS and GM are good customers. It turns out
GM have a full time block booking of 20 rooms at this establishment.
Panic? Not Big Al!
OK? You help me? Is that a pleading tone I hear as I now go back to trying to find a place to shack up.
She starts clattering the keyboard again. Frown, clatter, clatter, frown, frown………
OK! She says looking up. I give room tonight. Tomorrow you go Bella Villa, stay, then come Bella Villa, stay.
HUH!?!? You have room I enquire, starting at the beginning of that statement to unravel the message. In essence, they can accommodate me for Sunday night. Monday morning I must pack up and check out, leave my bags at the Bella Villa Prima and go to work. After work, return to Bella Villa Prima, collect my bags and they will transport me to another Bella Villa in Pattaya, where I am to spend Monday night. Then, check out of the other Bella Villa on Tuesday morning and return for the rest of my stay in Pattaya at the Bella Villa Prima!
Simple right?
Not so fast. All works according to plan. Monday I take my bags down and they put them in storage, all good. I return Monday evening, they take me to storage and I retrieve my bags. Down to reception and I am handed a set of keys.
Sheez they are organised. I have the keys to my room at the other Bella, issued form this Bella, impressive.
The porter arrives to assist with my bags and escorts me to the elevator………???
I go back to reception.
? Where I go? I ask in my slowest, simplest English.
You go room, she says, probably thinking I have become a little more insane than I was yesterday.
You….. mean…… room…….here……..Bella Villa…….Prima? says I now searching for the funny side of the situation.
Yes! She responds.
How long? I enquire.
14 November, is the comeback, but what she really wanted to say was probably, 14 November you stupid twit! When else?! Damned “Falang” (Thai word for foreigner)
So, I am now accommodated…….
PS:
I had been staying at the Bella Villa for a week.
When I hand my key in on Monday morning, the lady at reception hands me an orange receipt and indicates that I must sign it.
What is this for?
Foh bwekhast!
But I have breakfast in my room, I bought cereal, milk, yoghurt, coffee, etc, coz my accommodation is room only!
No, you loom have blekhast!
Cool, so what about the last week? But hey, thanks for telling me.
Blekhast now consists of some fruit, watermelon and pineapple (I skip on the paw-paw), orange or pineapple juice, 2 x toast and a ham and tomato omelette.
Sometimes I have the bacon, coz it looks cooked ok! Other times it simply doesn’t look to appetising, either crisped beyond edible, but mostly it looks pale and uncooked.
The rest of the buffet does not sit with me, but if I am still peckish after my toast and omelette, they have croissants, which can be washed down with filter coffee. Oh yes, they also have the regular cereal thing, so the choice is not bad and one beetles off to work with a satisfied tummy.
Weherwayhun? …. For you? ……Name? Vatble……hands me a piece of paper and a pen, and gives me a pleading look. As I start writing my name, she asks; Compaly?
EDS I reply, to which she breaks into her best, we love business tourist, smiles and says something along the lines of….Aah, EDS, we have EDS here, we know EDS…….
OK!!!! I am in the right place. First problem solved. Now, do they have a reservation?
While I am basking in the glory of my success, all be it small, she is beavering away at a computer but seems to be getting more and more concentrated by the key stroke.
It would appear my “glory” is going to be short lived, especially when she says “hold on”, and scampers off to find help!........
Appears a middle aged woman…….probably the first one I had seen who had not greeted me in a manner befitting a visitor to the “land of smiles”. A stern woman, but one I am placing my faith in to get the job done, that is, give me somewhere to put my bags down, take a shower, have a cold beer and change out of clothes that are not suited to the outdoors of a hot and humid climate.
She starts to clatter away at the keyboard. You make weherwayhun? She quizzes.
No, EDS make.
Aah, EDS! OK! (haven’t we just been there!!!) Relax Al.
Clatter, clatter, stare at screen, frown…….Who make wehewayhun?
This is not going well and the approach is not working. Time to change tack, it is Sunday afternoon and I can always sort the room reservations and payments out tomorrow morning, from the office.
OK! Wait! Do you have room for tonight? I start out, (clever hey?!)
”No, full”, she says; and is that a look of despair in her eyes?
There is a long pause in the proceedings as both of us ponder our positions. I need somewhere to shack, she needs to accommodate me because EDS and GM are good customers. It turns out
GM have a full time block booking of 20 rooms at this establishment.
Panic? Not Big Al!
OK? You help me? Is that a pleading tone I hear as I now go back to trying to find a place to shack up.
She starts clattering the keyboard again. Frown, clatter, clatter, frown, frown………
OK! She says looking up. I give room tonight. Tomorrow you go Bella Villa, stay, then come Bella Villa, stay.
HUH!?!? You have room I enquire, starting at the beginning of that statement to unravel the message. In essence, they can accommodate me for Sunday night. Monday morning I must pack up and check out, leave my bags at the Bella Villa Prima and go to work. After work, return to Bella Villa Prima, collect my bags and they will transport me to another Bella Villa in Pattaya, where I am to spend Monday night. Then, check out of the other Bella Villa on Tuesday morning and return for the rest of my stay in Pattaya at the Bella Villa Prima!
Simple right?
Not so fast. All works according to plan. Monday I take my bags down and they put them in storage, all good. I return Monday evening, they take me to storage and I retrieve my bags. Down to reception and I am handed a set of keys.
Sheez they are organised. I have the keys to my room at the other Bella, issued form this Bella, impressive.
The porter arrives to assist with my bags and escorts me to the elevator………???
I go back to reception.
? Where I go? I ask in my slowest, simplest English.
You go room, she says, probably thinking I have become a little more insane than I was yesterday.
You….. mean…… room…….here……..Bella Villa…….Prima? says I now searching for the funny side of the situation.
Yes! She responds.
How long? I enquire.
14 November, is the comeback, but what she really wanted to say was probably, 14 November you stupid twit! When else?! Damned “Falang” (Thai word for foreigner)
So, I am now accommodated…….
PS:
I had been staying at the Bella Villa for a week.
When I hand my key in on Monday morning, the lady at reception hands me an orange receipt and indicates that I must sign it.
What is this for?
Foh bwekhast!
But I have breakfast in my room, I bought cereal, milk, yoghurt, coffee, etc, coz my accommodation is room only!
No, you loom have blekhast!
Cool, so what about the last week? But hey, thanks for telling me.
Blekhast now consists of some fruit, watermelon and pineapple (I skip on the paw-paw), orange or pineapple juice, 2 x toast and a ham and tomato omelette.
Sometimes I have the bacon, coz it looks cooked ok! Other times it simply doesn’t look to appetising, either crisped beyond edible, but mostly it looks pale and uncooked.
The rest of the buffet does not sit with me, but if I am still peckish after my toast and omelette, they have croissants, which can be washed down with filter coffee. Oh yes, they also have the regular cereal thing, so the choice is not bad and one beetles off to work with a satisfied tummy.
Getting Acqainted - Part 1
Dan Scott, my direct report in Thailand and the fellow who brought me over here, had at least organised one of his contracted project managers, Ninad, to make contact with me on the Sunday afternoon, and bring me up to speed on transport arrangements and the like....
He kindly walked me over to the shopping centre up the road, pointed out a few eateries and took me to the hypermarket style store in the mall. I needed an adaptor for my computer and battery charger. They did not have, but Ninad assured me that I would be able to arrange something at the office in the morning.
Ninad gave me a few pointers on life at Bella Villa, EDS and GM and I welcomed his input. Ninad has been on contract at GM Thailand, for EDS, on and off for some 8 months, so he knows the ropes. He was preparing to head back to India on the Tuesday.
So, I had pointers, knew what time to be ready for work, where to meet the fellows and was now free to explore!?
Which way is the beach!
I strolled westward down Soi 4, a scraggly street, but then they all are, taking in the sights. A new high-rise being built on the right, just next to the Bella Villa, a walled but open stand with a decaying 6 foot corrugated iron fence on the left, hiding an unkempt mess. Then, on the right, an expensive looking hotel apartment block complete with private security guards and on the left, still that rusty fence. Still further, a mid range hotel with an expansive deck jutting out toward the road, at the first floor level, bedecked with umbrellas and chairs, around a swimming pool I presume. Now there is a building with a laundry service, internet cafe and cheap rooms on the right and coming up on the left is an all-night 7-Eleven. Outside the 7-Eleven are a number of motorbikes with sidecars serving a variety of local snack foods, sausages, kebabs and the like, another loaded with fruit, pineapple and what I later learn is Nah! a large litchi type fruit, but the peel is a bright red with brown coloured soft spikes about 3 to 5 mm in length. They look frightening and poisonous, but are refreshing and rather tasty. Directly opposite is Suzie Go-Go Bar with an elaborate entrance way, but there never seems to be anything going there, apart from the occasional 2 or 3 people sitting outside at a table having a smoke. I have never seen anyone go either in or out, and I walk by there often!? Suzie's big action would be Suzie Beer Bar which is on the corner of Beach Road and is part of the Go-Go Bar building (The same one you spotted in the photos I posted to the web). Always a million gais but seldom any patrons, how they make money, I wonder!?
Over Beach Road and I'm on the promenade which runs the length of Pattaya Bay, some 4 KM.
The beach is, at first a disappointment, where is the space I am so accustomed to, umbrellas and chairs everywhere, very little open sandy areas and touts everywhere. It is quite daunting. How does this work, how much does it cost to hire a chair, etc, etc. I decide to skip wandering onto the beach, or what there is of it to wonder onto, and head south down the promenade, taking in the sights and sounds of Pattaya on a Sunday afternoon.
I am struck by how calm everything is, even though the road is busy and the beach area is quite full. It is relaxed, with people lazing about in deck chairs under the umbrellas. Not many children to be seen though, a handful cavorting in the shallows and a few teenagers bobbing in the water just off shore!
I stroll down the promenade for about a kilometre, turn around and head back as it is now late afternoon. I have covered about 1km, but it has taken the better part of 2 hours, stopping to look at all the new things, wandering through the stalls selling trinkets and clothing, snack foods and ornaments..... getting a feel for what is available and what they cost.
I arrive back at Bella Villa as night falls and head up to my room to freshen up, it has been hot, humid, a long walk and a shower does the trick. I am now ready to try the food, but what and where is not decided! Should I eat at Bella, no, boring, head up to the mall, Alan.
I eventually settle on a Western Styled restaurant and after studying the menu from cover to cover, opt for a pork schnitzel, with some veg of the day and a beer. (Beer for me here is Heineken) The food is mostly tasteless and I end up spicing it up with a sweet chilli sauce which is available on the table. It is now about 9 PM and after the trials, tribulations and frustrations of my long journey, all be it in Business Class, I am feeling tired and return to the Bella to turn in for the night.
I scan through the TV Channels, Thai, Japanese, Indian, Portuguese, French, Italian, more Thai, ah! a sport channel (Thai commentary of an English Premier league game), another (English commentary), a movie channel (Thai subtitles), another, discovery channel and BBC world news......that will do!
He kindly walked me over to the shopping centre up the road, pointed out a few eateries and took me to the hypermarket style store in the mall. I needed an adaptor for my computer and battery charger. They did not have, but Ninad assured me that I would be able to arrange something at the office in the morning.
Ninad gave me a few pointers on life at Bella Villa, EDS and GM and I welcomed his input. Ninad has been on contract at GM Thailand, for EDS, on and off for some 8 months, so he knows the ropes. He was preparing to head back to India on the Tuesday.
So, I had pointers, knew what time to be ready for work, where to meet the fellows and was now free to explore!?
Which way is the beach!
I strolled westward down Soi 4, a scraggly street, but then they all are, taking in the sights. A new high-rise being built on the right, just next to the Bella Villa, a walled but open stand with a decaying 6 foot corrugated iron fence on the left, hiding an unkempt mess. Then, on the right, an expensive looking hotel apartment block complete with private security guards and on the left, still that rusty fence. Still further, a mid range hotel with an expansive deck jutting out toward the road, at the first floor level, bedecked with umbrellas and chairs, around a swimming pool I presume. Now there is a building with a laundry service, internet cafe and cheap rooms on the right and coming up on the left is an all-night 7-Eleven. Outside the 7-Eleven are a number of motorbikes with sidecars serving a variety of local snack foods, sausages, kebabs and the like, another loaded with fruit, pineapple and what I later learn is Nah! a large litchi type fruit, but the peel is a bright red with brown coloured soft spikes about 3 to 5 mm in length. They look frightening and poisonous, but are refreshing and rather tasty. Directly opposite is Suzie Go-Go Bar with an elaborate entrance way, but there never seems to be anything going there, apart from the occasional 2 or 3 people sitting outside at a table having a smoke. I have never seen anyone go either in or out, and I walk by there often!? Suzie's big action would be Suzie Beer Bar which is on the corner of Beach Road and is part of the Go-Go Bar building (The same one you spotted in the photos I posted to the web). Always a million gais but seldom any patrons, how they make money, I wonder!?
Over Beach Road and I'm on the promenade which runs the length of Pattaya Bay, some 4 KM.
The beach is, at first a disappointment, where is the space I am so accustomed to, umbrellas and chairs everywhere, very little open sandy areas and touts everywhere. It is quite daunting. How does this work, how much does it cost to hire a chair, etc, etc. I decide to skip wandering onto the beach, or what there is of it to wonder onto, and head south down the promenade, taking in the sights and sounds of Pattaya on a Sunday afternoon.
I am struck by how calm everything is, even though the road is busy and the beach area is quite full. It is relaxed, with people lazing about in deck chairs under the umbrellas. Not many children to be seen though, a handful cavorting in the shallows and a few teenagers bobbing in the water just off shore!
I stroll down the promenade for about a kilometre, turn around and head back as it is now late afternoon. I have covered about 1km, but it has taken the better part of 2 hours, stopping to look at all the new things, wandering through the stalls selling trinkets and clothing, snack foods and ornaments..... getting a feel for what is available and what they cost.
I arrive back at Bella Villa as night falls and head up to my room to freshen up, it has been hot, humid, a long walk and a shower does the trick. I am now ready to try the food, but what and where is not decided! Should I eat at Bella, no, boring, head up to the mall, Alan.
I eventually settle on a Western Styled restaurant and after studying the menu from cover to cover, opt for a pork schnitzel, with some veg of the day and a beer. (Beer for me here is Heineken) The food is mostly tasteless and I end up spicing it up with a sweet chilli sauce which is available on the table. It is now about 9 PM and after the trials, tribulations and frustrations of my long journey, all be it in Business Class, I am feeling tired and return to the Bella to turn in for the night.
I scan through the TV Channels, Thai, Japanese, Indian, Portuguese, French, Italian, more Thai, ah! a sport channel (Thai commentary of an English Premier league game), another (English commentary), a movie channel (Thai subtitles), another, discovery channel and BBC world news......that will do!
Getting Acquainted - Part 2
Another event filled weekend in Thailand has come and gone.
Friday saw us leave the office at 8.30 PM, that after we had planned to be away by 6.30 PM. Such is the nature of this type of project.
So, the weekend did not get off to the best of starts, but arriving back at the hotel at 9.30 PM saw me grab a quick shower, shuffle into a pair of jeans, t-shirt and sloffies and head down to reception to meet Dan and his other half. We had agreed that Dan would take me to the software shop, then have dinner an Vientiane restaurant, my favourite, and go out to play pool and have a few beers.
The software shop was an experience! Enter a tiny computer shop / internet cafe, through a back door, down an alley and in through a "buzz me in" door. Inside is a smallish, air-conditioned room, with shelves from floor to eye level on either side. The procedure is find the category of software you need, graphics, operating system, multimedia, PC Games etc, or DVD's and music cd's (which are mostly compilations of albums or genres, copied to CD as MP3's). Then browse a catalogue of available software.
Once you have located what you want, eg I needed "The Sims" game for Meghan and I wanted Adobe photoshop, you note the catalogue number on a piece of paper and present it to an assistant. The assistant then disappears out the door and returns in 5 to 10 minutes with your CD's and an instruction to pay in the computer shop. At 150 Baht this is a good deal. Adobe Photo Shop (Premium Edition Suite) and a DVD which Dan bought cost the grand sum of 280 baht. Probably what we would pay for a couple of blank CD’s.
Software in hand we head a few blocks downtown to Vientiane restaurant, by baht bus. The baht bus is a bakkie, converted to accommodate passengers at the back, which ply the routes around Pattaya. You flag the taxi down, hop on and when reaching your destination, ring a buzzer, hop off and hand the driver 10 Baht. Simple and cheap and safer than using the more expensive motorbike taxis.
I said I felt like fish and Dan suggested the Sea Bass, deep fried and topped with a sweet chilli, tomato based sauce. Sounds good as we tuck into a quart of Heineken. A few minutes later the waiter arrives bearing a large tupperware container, see-through, with a lid firmly in place! Reason for the lid, I discover, is to keep the live sea bass from ending up on the floor, as it is thrashing around inside the waterless container. The waiter enquires whether the fish is of a suitable size, to which I nod and he is off to chuck it in the deep fryer. The fish arrives on a large plate, head, fins, tail in tact, bedecked in the sauce. Quite tasty, but I would have preferred the flesh firmer, fussy me. Also ordered is a fried pork dish which we share.
Over supper I start getting to grips some Thai and in no time learn greetings, and a few useful words. Help, thank you, no thanks (especially useful on the beach with the hawkers, coz if you try to turn them away in English they go on and on, but say "mai ow khap" and they toodle off without a fuss) also words like GO and Now, some numbers and directional words Left, right, straight.
These are proving to be most valuable and I have acquired an appetite to learn a few more. The language is not that difficult from a pure words perspective if kept simple, but there are many words spelled the same but have different meanings given the tone in which they are said, rising, falling, level etc.... No matter to learn those, because I can get some basic messages across and the Thais seem genuinely impressed that a foreigner tries to speak Thai and are very accommodating in helping correct pronunciation and syntax. "Pom chop pai tonnee khap" means “I like go now!” "Cheque bin tonnee khap.....leea-ow leea-ow" please bring cheque now, quickly.
All sentences should end in "khap", which does not actually mean anything but is a pleasantry or sign of respect! "kah poon khap" kah poon is thank you, but always ended with khap. Hello "sa waa dee" but more correctly "sa waa dee khap"
Marvellous stuff!
Dinner done and armed with some basic Thai, we head off by baht bus for a bar closer to home that Dan frequents and we get stuck into a few Heineken and get the pool going. Dan is a reasonable player, but his girlfriend Lee, a local, and 7 months pregnant, is a real challenge (sorry Dan). The bar scene is loud, but let me explain why.
The bar is one of probably 20 in an open complex, with a roof. Each bar plays its own music and most bars are separated by nothing more than a pool table. Many of the bars have live bands, each playing their own style of music. So from where we are playing pool, there is music played from a hi-fi, over speakers we would associate with a DJ playing at a party. 20 metres away, to the left, is a band playing heavy rock music, 15 metres in front a band playing older 60's and 70's and samba style stuff, 20 meters to the right, more hard rock from a 4 piece band. The bar directly behind has got nightclub music going full tilt......... Attempts at conversation are futile and are limited to single word requests or gestures for more beer or the like. Fascinating, the night passes so quickly and we saunter off at about 3 AM, not bad considering we only left to go out at 10 PM and probably only finished supper by 11:30 / 12:00.
I am grateful in the morning, coz I do not have a hangover and actually sleep in for some time, rising at about 10. I grab breakfast downstairs and head off to collect the software I had ordered the night before, which was out of stock. Also pick up 2 music compilations for the price of one.
Wonder around the markets for a while and head back to the hotel. to deposit my goods and get some beach stuff. Spent the afternoon on Pattaya beach.
The evening saw me having dinner at Vientiane, said it was my favourite, and I opted for my favourite dish, Thai green curry, steamed rice and a pint of Heineken. Back to the bar to meet up with Dan, a few hours of pool, and in bed by about midnight.
Sunday was the day I had been looking forward to all week, a trip to Koh Lan, an island 7.5 km off shore of Pattaya........
Friday saw us leave the office at 8.30 PM, that after we had planned to be away by 6.30 PM. Such is the nature of this type of project.
So, the weekend did not get off to the best of starts, but arriving back at the hotel at 9.30 PM saw me grab a quick shower, shuffle into a pair of jeans, t-shirt and sloffies and head down to reception to meet Dan and his other half. We had agreed that Dan would take me to the software shop, then have dinner an Vientiane restaurant, my favourite, and go out to play pool and have a few beers.
The software shop was an experience! Enter a tiny computer shop / internet cafe, through a back door, down an alley and in through a "buzz me in" door. Inside is a smallish, air-conditioned room, with shelves from floor to eye level on either side. The procedure is find the category of software you need, graphics, operating system, multimedia, PC Games etc, or DVD's and music cd's (which are mostly compilations of albums or genres, copied to CD as MP3's). Then browse a catalogue of available software.
Once you have located what you want, eg I needed "The Sims" game for Meghan and I wanted Adobe photoshop, you note the catalogue number on a piece of paper and present it to an assistant. The assistant then disappears out the door and returns in 5 to 10 minutes with your CD's and an instruction to pay in the computer shop. At 150 Baht this is a good deal. Adobe Photo Shop (Premium Edition Suite) and a DVD which Dan bought cost the grand sum of 280 baht. Probably what we would pay for a couple of blank CD’s.
Software in hand we head a few blocks downtown to Vientiane restaurant, by baht bus. The baht bus is a bakkie, converted to accommodate passengers at the back, which ply the routes around Pattaya. You flag the taxi down, hop on and when reaching your destination, ring a buzzer, hop off and hand the driver 10 Baht. Simple and cheap and safer than using the more expensive motorbike taxis.
I said I felt like fish and Dan suggested the Sea Bass, deep fried and topped with a sweet chilli, tomato based sauce. Sounds good as we tuck into a quart of Heineken. A few minutes later the waiter arrives bearing a large tupperware container, see-through, with a lid firmly in place! Reason for the lid, I discover, is to keep the live sea bass from ending up on the floor, as it is thrashing around inside the waterless container. The waiter enquires whether the fish is of a suitable size, to which I nod and he is off to chuck it in the deep fryer. The fish arrives on a large plate, head, fins, tail in tact, bedecked in the sauce. Quite tasty, but I would have preferred the flesh firmer, fussy me. Also ordered is a fried pork dish which we share.
Over supper I start getting to grips some Thai and in no time learn greetings, and a few useful words. Help, thank you, no thanks (especially useful on the beach with the hawkers, coz if you try to turn them away in English they go on and on, but say "mai ow khap" and they toodle off without a fuss) also words like GO and Now, some numbers and directional words Left, right, straight.
These are proving to be most valuable and I have acquired an appetite to learn a few more. The language is not that difficult from a pure words perspective if kept simple, but there are many words spelled the same but have different meanings given the tone in which they are said, rising, falling, level etc.... No matter to learn those, because I can get some basic messages across and the Thais seem genuinely impressed that a foreigner tries to speak Thai and are very accommodating in helping correct pronunciation and syntax. "Pom chop pai tonnee khap" means “I like go now!” "Cheque bin tonnee khap.....leea-ow leea-ow" please bring cheque now, quickly.
All sentences should end in "khap", which does not actually mean anything but is a pleasantry or sign of respect! "kah poon khap" kah poon is thank you, but always ended with khap. Hello "sa waa dee" but more correctly "sa waa dee khap"
Marvellous stuff!
Dinner done and armed with some basic Thai, we head off by baht bus for a bar closer to home that Dan frequents and we get stuck into a few Heineken and get the pool going. Dan is a reasonable player, but his girlfriend Lee, a local, and 7 months pregnant, is a real challenge (sorry Dan). The bar scene is loud, but let me explain why.
The bar is one of probably 20 in an open complex, with a roof. Each bar plays its own music and most bars are separated by nothing more than a pool table. Many of the bars have live bands, each playing their own style of music. So from where we are playing pool, there is music played from a hi-fi, over speakers we would associate with a DJ playing at a party. 20 metres away, to the left, is a band playing heavy rock music, 15 metres in front a band playing older 60's and 70's and samba style stuff, 20 meters to the right, more hard rock from a 4 piece band. The bar directly behind has got nightclub music going full tilt......... Attempts at conversation are futile and are limited to single word requests or gestures for more beer or the like. Fascinating, the night passes so quickly and we saunter off at about 3 AM, not bad considering we only left to go out at 10 PM and probably only finished supper by 11:30 / 12:00.
I am grateful in the morning, coz I do not have a hangover and actually sleep in for some time, rising at about 10. I grab breakfast downstairs and head off to collect the software I had ordered the night before, which was out of stock. Also pick up 2 music compilations for the price of one.
Wonder around the markets for a while and head back to the hotel. to deposit my goods and get some beach stuff. Spent the afternoon on Pattaya beach.
The evening saw me having dinner at Vientiane, said it was my favourite, and I opted for my favourite dish, Thai green curry, steamed rice and a pint of Heineken. Back to the bar to meet up with Dan, a few hours of pool, and in bed by about midnight.
Sunday was the day I had been looking forward to all week, a trip to Koh Lan, an island 7.5 km off shore of Pattaya........
Getting Acquainted - Koh Lan
Sunday morning arrives and the weather is just perfect, slight breeze off the sea, to keep the humidity down on a morning that is probably around the 28 to 30 degree mark, and a slight cloud haze screening the sun from making it really hot!
I shower and dress, downstairs for breakfast, yes, omelette, toast and bacon, juice and coffee and head off to find the harbour and the ferry that will whisk me away to a paradise island. Well, I am hoping for a paradise island......
Down onto beach road, flag a taxi, hop on and head south to Walking street. So named, because no vehicles are allowed on this stretch of night time entertainment after 7PM. This is my first excursion down the "World Famous or Infamous" Walking street. It is 10 AM and nothing is going on, probably because they all only closed at sunrise......
Speaking of closing, the law states all bars must close at 1AM with some varieties allowed to close at 2AM. Well closed means switch off the main light, leave the coloured lights on and continue to serve booze until your patrons stagger on home. This place is weird sometimes, like chemists dispensing antibiotic without a script, walk in tell the pharmacist your aliment and he will want to give you antibiotics. My experience, coz I have a cold at the moment and really just needed some med lemon or colcaps or the like.)
I digress……………
So I am strolling down Walking street, as Pattaya Port is at the end of Walking Street.
Bar, after Bar, after Bar, getting quite boring now..... until I pass a seafood restaurant........ I have taken pics of the place, but to describe it, the front is lined with tanks and "ponds" built on the floor. Each has a species of either lobster, crab or fish. So you would arrive for a meal and select the beast of your choice. I know this is common in good seafood places all over the world, but the sheer size and scale is amazing! 10 different crab species from big blue ones with red pinchers to "plain-jane" sand coloured toe biters, small, med, large and the outsize!
Further down I discover a row of about 10 stalls, where " copy" artists are hard at work, painting Mona Lisa's and replicas of other famous works in oils and watercolour. Quality is stunning, but I don't stop to ask how much! These artists will also copy any image you give them, portrait, scene etc....
I arrive at Pattaya Port and am immediately struck by how clean and modern it is. A lovely quiet, shady, well kept park surrounds the Port Building, a Thai Style design, but recently built, so very modern. I purchase I ticket for the ferry to take me the 7.5 km across to Koh Lan, for the princely sum of 20 baht (yes the princely sum of R2.98). I board the ferry with about 5 minutes to spare and eagerly await our departure.
Damned "falangs"! These tourists really are inconsiderate, the walk down the pier is a good 5 minutes, and the captain has already sounded the horn for departure, but they stroll! so we depart 5 minutes late and head out into the gulf of Thailand. A flat sea awaits us and we cruise along as if it were across the Vaal Dam. I am informed the Gulf is no deeper than some 50 metres at its deepest, so we never see waves here, but just a gentle swell, which lullaby's us along.
On the approach to Koh Lan, I see no white sand beaches, but rather just a village, a pier and sharply rising hills for the shore line.... I had been told that the best beaches are on the opposite side of the island. The ferry docks and I stroll down to find transport, I am eagerly met by at least a dozen taxi drivers and negotiate a rate, based on the beach the driver suggests is the best, though he probably gets a kick back from the restaurant / beach chair owners, so that’s his version of “the best”.
The price is reasonable at 30 baht, and off we go, a short stroll through a very narrow street, covered in cement pavers. I discover that all the roads on the island, not many, are constructed from cement pavers. Add to that, the bakkie taxi feels as though its shocks have been welded firm and so we bump and bounce our way out of the village and up a REALLY steep hill. From the top, the view back across to Pattaya and Jomtien and further south to Rayong are stunning, but my cheap camera just cannot quite capture the real beauty of the scene. Looking away from Pattaya, toward Samae beach I spot, for the first time, that see through blue water associated with exotic islands, a few speed boats moored just off shore and the white sands......
I arrive at Samae beach, am offered a comfy, cushion covered, recliner beach chair which I accept and settle in. T-shirt off, slops off and wade into the balmy waters of the gulf of Thailand.
Clean nam, warm nam, swim with eyes open in nam, nam. (nam = water) So in short, "Khun Alan Pai waai nam" Alan go swim in water. And so the day progresses, me reading my book under the shade of an umbrella, cooling off, reading......
Lunch is taken at the restaurant run by the family from which I have rented the chair, and lunch today is sweet and sour pork, steamed rice and a Heineken (3PM and my first beer , I am so good). I order a medium sized bowl of sweet and sour pork, ends up it would feed 2 adults easily and I end up wasting quite a bit, but finish the rice. Very tasty with big chunks of pineapple, and other cucumber type veg, thinly sliced pork strips and a cold beer.
The rest of the afternoon much the same as the morning, reading and swimming and I take a stroll along the beach collecting a few interestingly coloured and textured pebbles, polished by the constantly lapping wavelets. I find one which I would like to have a small hole drilled in so that I can hang it from a necklace.
The taxi, which brought me to Samae beach arrives at 4:15, we had agreed 4.30, so I pay my bill for the day, 3 beers, lunch, 1 drinking water, a cigarette lighter and the chair, 330 baht, take one last wallow in the big "nam", slip my t-shirt and slops onto a still dripping body. No need for a towel in this climate, and hop on the taxi with 6 other souls.
We head back over the hill, me filled with the satisfaction that Koh Lan had been all I had hoped for!
I board the ferry without a ticket, coz it is easier to pay on the ferry, R2.98, and head for Pattaya Port.
What had been a lullaby cruise across, soon turns into a “green gill” experience for some of the tourists, especially those who had been quaffing copious amounts of Heineken or Singha or maybe even Thai whiskey. The wind has freshened and the swell is sizeable, causing the ferry to arch, bow and roll from side to side. Occasionally we catch a large swell side on as the ferry lurches into the trough in front of it, sending spray through the open sides, drenching the unsuspecting. It becomes quite a game as we try to avoid the spray, dashing toward the middle of the ferry, followed by large smiles of relief for some and anxiety for others.
I shower and dress, downstairs for breakfast, yes, omelette, toast and bacon, juice and coffee and head off to find the harbour and the ferry that will whisk me away to a paradise island. Well, I am hoping for a paradise island......
Down onto beach road, flag a taxi, hop on and head south to Walking street. So named, because no vehicles are allowed on this stretch of night time entertainment after 7PM. This is my first excursion down the "World Famous or Infamous" Walking street. It is 10 AM and nothing is going on, probably because they all only closed at sunrise......
Speaking of closing, the law states all bars must close at 1AM with some varieties allowed to close at 2AM. Well closed means switch off the main light, leave the coloured lights on and continue to serve booze until your patrons stagger on home. This place is weird sometimes, like chemists dispensing antibiotic without a script, walk in tell the pharmacist your aliment and he will want to give you antibiotics. My experience, coz I have a cold at the moment and really just needed some med lemon or colcaps or the like.)
I digress……………
So I am strolling down Walking street, as Pattaya Port is at the end of Walking Street.
Bar, after Bar, after Bar, getting quite boring now..... until I pass a seafood restaurant........ I have taken pics of the place, but to describe it, the front is lined with tanks and "ponds" built on the floor. Each has a species of either lobster, crab or fish. So you would arrive for a meal and select the beast of your choice. I know this is common in good seafood places all over the world, but the sheer size and scale is amazing! 10 different crab species from big blue ones with red pinchers to "plain-jane" sand coloured toe biters, small, med, large and the outsize!
Further down I discover a row of about 10 stalls, where " copy" artists are hard at work, painting Mona Lisa's and replicas of other famous works in oils and watercolour. Quality is stunning, but I don't stop to ask how much! These artists will also copy any image you give them, portrait, scene etc....
I arrive at Pattaya Port and am immediately struck by how clean and modern it is. A lovely quiet, shady, well kept park surrounds the Port Building, a Thai Style design, but recently built, so very modern. I purchase I ticket for the ferry to take me the 7.5 km across to Koh Lan, for the princely sum of 20 baht (yes the princely sum of R2.98). I board the ferry with about 5 minutes to spare and eagerly await our departure.
Damned "falangs"! These tourists really are inconsiderate, the walk down the pier is a good 5 minutes, and the captain has already sounded the horn for departure, but they stroll! so we depart 5 minutes late and head out into the gulf of Thailand. A flat sea awaits us and we cruise along as if it were across the Vaal Dam. I am informed the Gulf is no deeper than some 50 metres at its deepest, so we never see waves here, but just a gentle swell, which lullaby's us along.
On the approach to Koh Lan, I see no white sand beaches, but rather just a village, a pier and sharply rising hills for the shore line.... I had been told that the best beaches are on the opposite side of the island. The ferry docks and I stroll down to find transport, I am eagerly met by at least a dozen taxi drivers and negotiate a rate, based on the beach the driver suggests is the best, though he probably gets a kick back from the restaurant / beach chair owners, so that’s his version of “the best”.
The price is reasonable at 30 baht, and off we go, a short stroll through a very narrow street, covered in cement pavers. I discover that all the roads on the island, not many, are constructed from cement pavers. Add to that, the bakkie taxi feels as though its shocks have been welded firm and so we bump and bounce our way out of the village and up a REALLY steep hill. From the top, the view back across to Pattaya and Jomtien and further south to Rayong are stunning, but my cheap camera just cannot quite capture the real beauty of the scene. Looking away from Pattaya, toward Samae beach I spot, for the first time, that see through blue water associated with exotic islands, a few speed boats moored just off shore and the white sands......
I arrive at Samae beach, am offered a comfy, cushion covered, recliner beach chair which I accept and settle in. T-shirt off, slops off and wade into the balmy waters of the gulf of Thailand.
Clean nam, warm nam, swim with eyes open in nam, nam. (nam = water) So in short, "Khun Alan Pai waai nam" Alan go swim in water. And so the day progresses, me reading my book under the shade of an umbrella, cooling off, reading......
Lunch is taken at the restaurant run by the family from which I have rented the chair, and lunch today is sweet and sour pork, steamed rice and a Heineken (3PM and my first beer , I am so good). I order a medium sized bowl of sweet and sour pork, ends up it would feed 2 adults easily and I end up wasting quite a bit, but finish the rice. Very tasty with big chunks of pineapple, and other cucumber type veg, thinly sliced pork strips and a cold beer.The rest of the afternoon much the same as the morning, reading and swimming and I take a stroll along the beach collecting a few interestingly coloured and textured pebbles, polished by the constantly lapping wavelets. I find one which I would like to have a small hole drilled in so that I can hang it from a necklace.
The taxi, which brought me to Samae beach arrives at 4:15, we had agreed 4.30, so I pay my bill for the day, 3 beers, lunch, 1 drinking water, a cigarette lighter and the chair, 330 baht, take one last wallow in the big "nam", slip my t-shirt and slops onto a still dripping body. No need for a towel in this climate, and hop on the taxi with 6 other souls.
We head back over the hill, me filled with the satisfaction that Koh Lan had been all I had hoped for!
I board the ferry without a ticket, coz it is easier to pay on the ferry, R2.98, and head for Pattaya Port.
What had been a lullaby cruise across, soon turns into a “green gill” experience for some of the tourists, especially those who had been quaffing copious amounts of Heineken or Singha or maybe even Thai whiskey. The wind has freshened and the swell is sizeable, causing the ferry to arch, bow and roll from side to side. Occasionally we catch a large swell side on as the ferry lurches into the trough in front of it, sending spray through the open sides, drenching the unsuspecting. It becomes quite a game as we try to avoid the spray, dashing toward the middle of the ferry, followed by large smiles of relief for some and anxiety for others.
The sun is starting to set, directly over Koh Lan and I attempt to capture the images. I decide to use all sorts of settings on the camera, in the hopes of getting a good shot captured to my camera, which does not like taking pictures in low light, the dark or directly into the sun.
I think I succeed, risking spray and the lurching of the ferry, by hanging out over the edge to get the shot which is directly behind the ferry. Moderate success, I discover later, and with a little playing and enhancing with software, I get a few usable images of the sunset over the island.
We enter Pattaya Port and the waters calm down passing the breakwater. The taxis are lined up at the end of the pier, to whisk us off to our destinations.
The sun has now set and Pattaya has come to life....... We travel down Walking street a-ways, before turning up a side road, everything now bustling with activity, music and light, a remarkable turnaround from the decrepit, run down, hangover of earlier in the day!
I alight from the taxi at Soi 4, stop in at PIC Kitchen, a USA style diner-type restaurant and force down the most awful cheeseburger, with a not so bad chocolate milkshake. It does not really matter, because I am now feeling weary and I am looking forward to a shower, a quick call home to check on how things are going in Warmbaths and then to bed. A new week is about to start and I was sure it would be a long week........
It turns out to be just that, up at 5.30 every morning, and away from the office no earlier than 8.30 every evening. Given the 1 hour trip each way, we are getting in no earlier than 9.30 PM, must still grab a bite to eat, shower and into bed, unless I still have things to prepare for the next morning, in which case I set up the small table from my room, on my balcony and clatter away at the keyboard, preparing reports on the days progress, issues, or preparing action plans for the next day! Having had a cold has not made the week any shorter either.... but it is now Friday and we do not expect to have to work this weekend.
The effort is however paying dividends and the project is exceeding all stakeholders expectations at present, even with the snags we have been faced with, which have not been created by us!
I have been asked to start preparing a "brag" presentation, by GM Thailand, for presentation next week, highlighting how well the project has been delivered, on time! within quality! I think it is too soon to count the chickens, because we are in a critical phase right now......
I have not finalise my plans for this weekend, but I saw a package tour, at the hotel, to a place called " The Sanctuary of Truth". A very ornate, large Wat (temple). The tour includes a cultural dance show, ornate wood carving show, riding a horse around the sanctuary, a dolphin show and. wait for it, my personal attraction to this activity, "swimming with the dolphins"!
I think I will do it, just for the experience of a swim with the dolphins and maybe someone can take a photo of me with a dolphin. Package price is about R120, so very reasonable.....
Phom pai tonnee (I go now)
The end of the magic
It has been some time since I last made an entry in my “Letters from Thailand” journal.
Life in Thailand has become, well, life. I work from Monday to Friday, sometimes on Saturday, go “home” usually rather late, have a bite to eat, maybe a beer and settle into bed in preparation for the next days work. Each morning I awake and look forward to 12 noon, when I make my phone call back home to catch up on the goings on with my loved ones.A tough call for them, because it is so early in the morning. Meghan, I believe, has set up camp at the telephone, not waiting for my calls, but she is always the one to answer and the norm is a ring or two at most. She then proceeds to have very little input into the conversation and talking to her is like pulling teeth….. but I still love you Megs!
So what of the past two weekends…… Last Saturday saw us coming to the office at 9:30. The agenda being mainly technical activities, I took the opportunity of a couple of hours of quiet time at the office to catch up on outstanding admin tasks and then, along with Dan, left the technical guys to continue and went off to Sriracha, a coastal town 40 mins north of Pattaya and 40 minutes west of the GM plant.
Sriracha it appears is the Thailand hub for gas refining, but is a vibrant town, as colourful as the rest I have seen in Thailand. The destination is an electronics mall called TUKcom, on the main road through Sriracha from Rayong to Bangkok. TUKcom is the five-story home to electronics stores, shops and stalls of all sizes, shapes and merchandise, from computer hardware to cameras and from software to mouse pads.
We spend the better part of an hour looking around for the digital camera I have come to purchase, enquiring about price, memory cards, bags, VAT and guarantees. Playing one store off against another proves to be enthralling and I quickly learn that the approach here is not to discount the camera, but to add value with accessories.
So each store has the same price on the camera, but one will throw in the memory card for free, discount the camera bag and tripod, while the next will discount the memory card slightly and throw in a battery charger and batteries. I opt for the free memory, get a reasonable price on the bag and tripod, a warranty and I am charged not VAT. Ultimately I think I save at least R2500 on the best [possible price for the package in SA and we head back to the GM plant via the back roads.
The back roads remind me a little of the rural Eastern Cape, just more densely populated. One travels from village to village, separated by no more than a few kilometres at a time. Brick plastered dwellings and business premises are interspersed with wood and corrugated iron “shack type” dwellings and stalls. A real hodgepodge, which typifies this country.
And here is a personal observation……
Thailand is a country of poor people, who work hard for little return. Rural Thais farm rice, urban Thais work in industry or are hawkers. They have very little! Now when I draw a comparison between South Africa and Thailand, this is were it ends ……. Both countries have a large proportion of the population who have very little.
Thais smile, they are considerate and respectful to each other. Thais seem to appreciate each other. They are open, honest and friendly. Crime is not a factor and personal safety just is! Thais do not have security gates and burglar bars, rather, most dwellings are open affairs, suited to the climate. I feel safe walking with a camera dangling from neck and money in my pocket. I have stopped locking my valuables in the safe in my room, because the staff just do not take what is not theirs. Thais are tolerant, patient and caring and when treated with respect and dignity (the things humans are supposed to show one another), they respond as if you were family.
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Sunday was a sleep in day which ended with an afternoon on Jomtien Beach. Jomtien is Pattaya in Vallium. Not as raucous as Pattaya and geared more to the Family tourist. A nice beach on which I lazed until after sundown, taking some awesome photos with the new camera. Back to Pattaya by baht bus and an early night.
The week was really stressful, trying to ensure that all would be ready for the visit by the Koreans, from Wednesday. HP did not come to the party and I find myself having to stay on in Thailand fro another 3 days to ensure the project is completed. The Koreans seemed genuinely impressed with my efforts and ability as a project manager, suggesting I should set up a consulting business, focussing on the management of multi-national project teams. My response that I was no good as a sales man, thus would not be able to get any work in, was met with amusement!
And so Friday came and went, along with my colleagues from Korea and one of my team members from India, but I was to stay on past Sunday. So what would the weekend hold in store for me…..
I planned to consume a copious amount of Heineken on Friday night, which I proceeded to do…..
We got away from the office at 8 PM, so back at Bella Villa at 9 PM. Through the shower, into jeans, t-shirt and slops and out the door, money and smokes in pocket. Had dinner at an open air restaurant frequented by locals, pork fried rice and a Heineken, then off to the loud and vibrant Soi 2 beer bars, where I met up with Dan and Lee.
Played pool, drank beer, drank more beer and then saw a sight I bet you are not going to believe, especially coz I do not have a photo…..
A fellow has an elephant in the bar and for 20 bucks he will sell a small bag of fruit to feed it!
No jokes, an elephant is being led through the bar complex, as if it were just another day, another buck to make……Now seeing guys with big snakes around their necks, which they will drape around your neck for a photo and the exchange of some money is one thing, an bloody elephant????? And not a baby either, this one was taller than me….. and the first world wonder about Africa and lions in the streets of Johannesburg?!?!?!?! Come to Thailand boys!
I fell into bed at around 3.30 or so, not from too much beer, but rather exhaustion at the end of what was a really taxing week. If I had averaged 4 hours sleep a night through the week it was a lot….. and I was planning to take the 10AM ferry to Koh Lan on Saturday! Again little sleep, but it would be worth it.
I made the ferry with 5 minutes to spare and read the newspaper on the way over to the island. A slightly choppy ride created by a fairly stiff breeze out of the south. Samae beach is well protected from winds from the south, almost like Clifton in the fact that the winds are carried up over the hill and only settles once past the beach.
The day is glorious and I enjoy both breakfast (chicken salad) and lunch (Thai green curry) on the beach. 2 Heineken shandies complete the day and all too soon, I am heading back to Pattaya on the ferry.
An early night without supper, as I have no appetite, ensures I wake fairly fresh on Sunday at 8:30. A leisurely shower, coffee and smoke on the balcony and I am away at 10 AM to do the last of my shopping, back to the hotel to drop off my newly-got gifts and off to the Big Buddha temple, atop Pattaya Hill!
Inspired, I purchase a Buddha for our home and a monk blesses both me and my purchase.
Sriracha it appears is the Thailand hub for gas refining, but is a vibrant town, as colourful as the rest I have seen in Thailand. The destination is an electronics mall called TUKcom, on the main road through Sriracha from Rayong to Bangkok. TUKcom is the five-story home to electronics stores, shops and stalls of all sizes, shapes and merchandise, from computer hardware to cameras and from software to mouse pads.
We spend the better part of an hour looking around for the digital camera I have come to purchase, enquiring about price, memory cards, bags, VAT and guarantees. Playing one store off against another proves to be enthralling and I quickly learn that the approach here is not to discount the camera, but to add value with accessories.
So each store has the same price on the camera, but one will throw in the memory card for free, discount the camera bag and tripod, while the next will discount the memory card slightly and throw in a battery charger and batteries. I opt for the free memory, get a reasonable price on the bag and tripod, a warranty and I am charged not VAT. Ultimately I think I save at least R2500 on the best [possible price for the package in SA and we head back to the GM plant via the back roads.
The back roads remind me a little of the rural Eastern Cape, just more densely populated. One travels from village to village, separated by no more than a few kilometres at a time. Brick plastered dwellings and business premises are interspersed with wood and corrugated iron “shack type” dwellings and stalls. A real hodgepodge, which typifies this country.
And here is a personal observation……
Thailand is a country of poor people, who work hard for little return. Rural Thais farm rice, urban Thais work in industry or are hawkers. They have very little! Now when I draw a comparison between South Africa and Thailand, this is were it ends ……. Both countries have a large proportion of the population who have very little.
Thais smile, they are considerate and respectful to each other. Thais seem to appreciate each other. They are open, honest and friendly. Crime is not a factor and personal safety just is! Thais do not have security gates and burglar bars, rather, most dwellings are open affairs, suited to the climate. I feel safe walking with a camera dangling from neck and money in my pocket. I have stopped locking my valuables in the safe in my room, because the staff just do not take what is not theirs. Thais are tolerant, patient and caring and when treated with respect and dignity (the things humans are supposed to show one another), they respond as if you were family.
..................................................................................................................................
Sunday was a sleep in day which ended with an afternoon on Jomtien Beach. Jomtien is Pattaya in Vallium. Not as raucous as Pattaya and geared more to the Family tourist. A nice beach on which I lazed until after sundown, taking some awesome photos with the new camera. Back to Pattaya by baht bus and an early night.The week was really stressful, trying to ensure that all would be ready for the visit by the Koreans, from Wednesday. HP did not come to the party and I find myself having to stay on in Thailand fro another 3 days to ensure the project is completed. The Koreans seemed genuinely impressed with my efforts and ability as a project manager, suggesting I should set up a consulting business, focussing on the management of multi-national project teams. My response that I was no good as a sales man, thus would not be able to get any work in, was met with amusement!
And so Friday came and went, along with my colleagues from Korea and one of my team members from India, but I was to stay on past Sunday. So what would the weekend hold in store for me…..
I planned to consume a copious amount of Heineken on Friday night, which I proceeded to do…..
We got away from the office at 8 PM, so back at Bella Villa at 9 PM. Through the shower, into jeans, t-shirt and slops and out the door, money and smokes in pocket. Had dinner at an open air restaurant frequented by locals, pork fried rice and a Heineken, then off to the loud and vibrant Soi 2 beer bars, where I met up with Dan and Lee.
Played pool, drank beer, drank more beer and then saw a sight I bet you are not going to believe, especially coz I do not have a photo…..
A fellow has an elephant in the bar and for 20 bucks he will sell a small bag of fruit to feed it!
No jokes, an elephant is being led through the bar complex, as if it were just another day, another buck to make……Now seeing guys with big snakes around their necks, which they will drape around your neck for a photo and the exchange of some money is one thing, an bloody elephant????? And not a baby either, this one was taller than me….. and the first world wonder about Africa and lions in the streets of Johannesburg?!?!?!?! Come to Thailand boys!
I fell into bed at around 3.30 or so, not from too much beer, but rather exhaustion at the end of what was a really taxing week. If I had averaged 4 hours sleep a night through the week it was a lot….. and I was planning to take the 10AM ferry to Koh Lan on Saturday! Again little sleep, but it would be worth it.
I made the ferry with 5 minutes to spare and read the newspaper on the way over to the island. A slightly choppy ride created by a fairly stiff breeze out of the south. Samae beach is well protected from winds from the south, almost like Clifton in the fact that the winds are carried up over the hill and only settles once past the beach.
The day is glorious and I enjoy both breakfast (chicken salad) and lunch (Thai green curry) on the beach. 2 Heineken shandies complete the day and all too soon, I am heading back to Pattaya on the ferry.
An early night without supper, as I have no appetite, ensures I wake fairly fresh on Sunday at 8:30. A leisurely shower, coffee and smoke on the balcony and I am away at 10 AM to do the last of my shopping, back to the hotel to drop off my newly-got gifts and off to the Big Buddha temple, atop Pattaya Hill!Inspired, I purchase a Buddha for our home and a monk blesses both me and my purchase.
A humbling experience which I plan to do again.
From the temple I turn down the offer of a taxi ride and walk down the hill, along paved footpaths, through a lush and well kept park. At the bottom I flag a taxi and head for Jomtien beach.
There are jet ski races on the go and I settle into a chair and enjoy the spectacle of the races and entertainment on offer.
The thought dawns on me as the sun sets across the Gulf of Thailand, that the sun is setting on my adventure and I must start to say goodbye! I am saddened and do not want to leave the beach, knowing that leaving this beach means it is over. I order another beer and only when it is fully dark do I trudge off the beach and flag a taxi back to Pattaya.
I am surprised at how emotional I feel during the drive back and am not ashamed that a tear wells in my eyes and trickles slowly my cheek. I do not look forward to my life back in SA having lived this and wish deeply that I can find a way for my loved ones to experience this!
My views of SA are starkly mirrored in the news that Des has been robbed of her cell phone.
Early to bed, after two helpings of instant noodles……….. and I sleep poorly, tossing and turning……..
The thought dawns on me as the sun sets across the Gulf of Thailand, that the sun is setting on my adventure and I must start to say goodbye! I am saddened and do not want to leave the beach, knowing that leaving this beach means it is over. I order another beer and only when it is fully dark do I trudge off the beach and flag a taxi back to Pattaya.
I am surprised at how emotional I feel during the drive back and am not ashamed that a tear wells in my eyes and trickles slowly my cheek. I do not look forward to my life back in SA having lived this and wish deeply that I can find a way for my loved ones to experience this!
My views of SA are starkly mirrored in the news that Des has been robbed of her cell phone.
Early to bed, after two helpings of instant noodles……….. and I sleep poorly, tossing and turning……..
It is now time to go home!
The Thais have a saying when something sad happens and it rains.......
"The sky cries for you...."
