Thailand’s Colors…and Red Shirts and Watermelon Soldiers

Posted on by Laughingnomad

Taken from an article in Time

In Thailand, people literally wear their politics on their sleeves. The nation has been locked for years in a paralyzing political showdown between two camps. There are the red shirts, who support former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup and later convicted in absentia of abuse of power. And there are the establishment yellow shirts, who back current Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. On March 12, around 100,000 red shirts, whose numbers are drawn largely from Thailand’s poor rural regions, began descending on Bangkok by bus, truck, boat and tractor for what they deemed their final stand: a massive march to force the yellow-backed government to hold elections, which the reds believe will favor them. “Relinquish power and return it to the people,” went the rally cry from protest leader Veera Musikapong. (See pictures from Thailand’s April 2009 protests.)

The protests are the latest in a years-running to-and-fro between the groups. In 2008, the yellows occupied Government House, the nation’s seat of power, for three months. Later they hijacked Bangkok’s two airports for a week, a disaster for a tourism-dependent economy. Last year, after a yellow-supported government took office, the reds swarmed an international summit at a seaside resort, forcing the emergency airlift of foreign leaders. That was followed by a scarlet siege of Government House, a takeover that culminated in Thailand’s worst political violence in nearly two decades.

Thailand’s color obsession extends beyond politics. Every day of the week has a shade. Born on a Wednesday? Your lucky color is green. Saturday is ruled by the color purple. Thailand’s beloved King Bhumibol Adulyadej entered the world on mellow-yellow Monday, which is why for years millions of his loyal subjects have voluntarily worn that hue to begin their week. But since the yellow shirts, who made support for the monarch a cornerstone of their activism, have chosen that color for political purposes, the number of Thais donning it on Mondays has declined dramatically.

So what’s safe to wear in Thailand these days? Pink — and the hue gets to the heart of a color conundrum. The Thai King may have been born on a Monday, but he was born in Massachusetts, which is half a day behind Thailand’s time zone. Technically, he was born on Tuesday, Bangkok time, which means he should be honored by the color pink. In late 2007, King Bhumibol wore a carnation-pink blazer and shirt following a hospital stay, apparently because an astrologer had judged the shade as auspicious for his health. The monarch’s fashion statement galvanized a run on all things pink, with tens of thousands of shirts selling in a matter of days. Last September, the 82-year old King, the world’s longest-reigning monarch, was readmitted to hospital. In late February, during a rare public appearance, he was again pictured wearing a pink shirt, prompting millions of Thais to pull similarly hued clothes out of their closets.

Now, with the current popular uprising in Bangkok, Thai soldiers sympathetic toward the anti-government “red shirts” are called Watermelon Soldiers.

Commenting on the continuing protests of Thailand’s red shirts, Wassana Nanuam wrote in The Bangkok Post:

Among the rapidly expanding glossary born of this prolonged political conflict, the term “watermelon army” or “watermelon soldier” is one of the most catchy. It means soldiers who may be wearing a green uniform but are actually rooting for the red shirts: green outside and red inside, just like a watermelon.

According to Nanuam, the red shirts have been keen to publicize the “watermelon factor,”  claiming it shows that only the army’s top commanders support the government.

[Thailand’s Army chief] Gen Anupong has admitted that there are indeed “watermelon soldiers” but he could not estimate their numbers. “No matter what colour your heart is or what doctrine you subscribe to, you do your duty as a soldier when you are deployed. Do not bring the colour in your heart into your duty. Bear in mind that a soldier must have no colour. We serve the country and the King,” Gen Anupong said.

Nanuam noted that some watermelon soldiers are suspected of having leaked information to the red shirts, something the top brass is keen to halt:

Even though the military has tried to emphasise the need for soldiers to be professional and colourless in their line of duty by coining a new term – “mango soldier,” which is green both within and without (the popular unripe variety, of course) – they have been unable to curtail the popularity of the watermelon trend. …

For now, the hunt for the watermelon is on at the army. Those who are found to have “red flesh” will be moved out of important positions. This includes those who happen to have a watermelon wife – whose spouse is supportive of the red shirts – as well.

The hunt for the red watermelon, however, is causing discomfort among professional soldiers who may truly be colourless but are being watched with suspicion anyway.

I came to Thailand this year with three tops…red, yellow…and grey.  No one has mentioned grey yet…somehow I doubt if grey will get me into trouble but I’m tired of wearing it.

Does The Government Do Anything Right?

Posted on by Laughingnomad

I think the folks that argue that the the government can’t do anything right  should voluntarily give up all their tax supported services. I found this on a personal blog on the web:

This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the U.S. Department of Energy.
I then took a shower in the clean water provided by The Municipal Water Utility.
After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. I watched this while eating my breakfast of U.S. Department of Agriculture inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the Food and Drug Administration.

At the appropriate time as regulated by the U.S. Congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration approved automobile and set out to work on the roads built by the local, State, and Federal Departments of Transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency. On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the U.S. Postal Service and drop the kids off at the Public School.


After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, I enjoy another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, and I am not electrocuted by my toaster thanks to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. I drive my NHTSA car back home on the Dept of Transportation roads, through stop lights federally, state or municipally funded to my house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local Building Codes and Fire Marshal’s inspection, and which has not been plundered of all it’s valuables thanks to the local Police Department.


I then log on to the internet which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration and look up some information for my next summer vacation I am planning for my family in one of our National Parks. 

And I’d like to add that every time I nearly kill myself on sidewalks when I travel in foreign countries…or hang myself on straggling electrical wires…I think of the Accident and Preventive Division of federally mandated state government regulations in the U.S.

While connected to the internet, I read the latest grants by the U.S. National Laboratories, where any scientist in the world can have his experiment done on U.S. government equipment, some of the most advanced and unique in the world, by U.S. government employed scientists, FOR FREE, for only the promise that whatever he/she publishes out of that work be published openly for the sake of international science.

Then I read on freerepublic.com and fox news forums about how SOCIALISM is BAD because the government can’t do anything right.  So I look up SOCIALISM in Wikipedia to find out what it really means.   Hmmmm. 

Away From The “Reds” In Bang Phra Fishing Village

Posted on by Laughingnomad

The “Reds” are trying to force the fall of the government in Bangkok by bringing in a promised half a million or a million of rural folks in pickups to paralyze the city.  The government is threatening to impose a state of emergency.

Ordinarily a groundswell of rural people would illicit some kind of sympathy but in Thailand nothing is ordinary.  They are supporting the return of a very corrupt  former Prime Minister who bilked the country out of a couple billion dollars, was convicted by a court of corruption and who lives abroad to avoid a three year jail term. The premier has rejected the crowd’s demands to dissolve parliament and call elections which are scheduled for next year anyway.  It is generally thought that Thaksin, who issued $25 loans plus interest to the farmers before he was deposed, is using them to gain reentry to the country so he can appeal the court’s decision and reclaim his money.  Go figure.

At a press conference held by the Reds at the Thai Foreign Correspondent’s Club that I attended last week, they wouldn’t admit to the Christian Science Monitor to paying people. “Most of them are volunteers” was all they would say.  But a YouTube video shows them handing out two 1000 baht bills (about $60) and their pickups are nice and new.  Their strategy, they say, is to peacefully paralyze the city…forcing the government to either fall or [get baited] into a fierce bloody repression.Well, today is March 14, the day of the big Bangkok rally and the Bangkok Post claims 80,000 people…others estimate 100,000…but the week is not over. 

Ex Prime Minister Thaksin has been in Dubai and rumored earlier to have flown to Siem Reap Cambodia where he has struck up an odd alliance with President Han Sen…no friend of the people there.  Today the Bangkok Post reports that Thaksin claims to be joining his family in Berlin.  Who knows where he is. But one thing is sure…he wants back into Thailand where he can appeal the Supreme Court’s decision to freeze much of his assets. I watch the news on Thai TV but of course cannot understand any of it. I just watch the video and photo parts.In the meantime, many people in Thailand are just shrugging their shoulders.  They’ve seen 16 military coups in the last 30 years…the most recent when the elected Thaksin was toppled in a 2006 military coup. 

Oxford educated Prime Minister Abhisit came to power in December 2008 after a controversial court decision removed Thaksin’s allies from government following an airport blockade by the Royalist Yellow Shirts. Yeah, I’m confused too.

So I decided it was a good time to explore a fishing village about an hour and a half NE of Bangkok. I am here in a separate room in a family compound. They are spoiling me rotten…bringing me breakfast, lunch and dinner…all of which I cannot hope to eat… and all manner of other things like water, coffee, beer and daily copies of the Bangkok Post. Music and announcements wafts over the village from the nearby Wat.  Thai hospitality at it’s finest!A brother has retired here after 30 years living in Texas so his English comes in handy.  A niece works as a Health Prevention manager. The sister wants me to stay here in April while her husband spends the month as a monk in a monastery.  I have no idea what he does…or did. But this is an educated and accomplished family.

The room I am in is a big dorm room…usually used for students at the university near here. But when my friend Jiraporn, who is a professor of fisheries at Kasetsart University in Bangkok, and has some of her students working on a fishingcrab study here, brought me here the family happily consented to rent the room to me.My room has aircon but the family set up a table outside…with a fan…where I can fiddle with my WiFi-linked computer set up by a nephew who is a computer programmer…after taking early morning walks to the sea…actually the Gulf of Thailand…where I can watch the fishing and crabbing boats come in with their catch.  The families boil the tiny fishingcrab, used in soups, in big pots fired by propane.  Little children run around unattended…happy and at home on the entire beach.How long will you be here, the family asks.  Maybe I stay forever, I say. We all laugh. Sigh.

A Day In Bangkok

Posted on by Laughingnomad

Nice to be back and settled again in Bangkok. After two months in my serviced apartment before going to Samui, the doorman welcomed me back like an old friend….clicking his heels together and saluting (an odd custom here) and the receptionist greeted me with a big Thai smile. The doorman is trying to teach me Thai…just if I could only remember any of it!

Exhausted, I fell asleep early and of course woke up at 4am…hungry and wanting coffee so I ventured out in the warm dark morning in search of water and something to eat.  As I walked down my little soi, squeezing past the endless stream of taxis even at that early hour,  to Sukhumvit 22, the bored doorman at a nearby hotel waved furiously and offered a big “good morning.”  Twice!

A sweating vendor had stopped her charcoal grill cart in front of the ubiquitous 7-11 so I couldn’t resist the sweetly marinated hot pork and chicken satay on a stick. In the dark,  I handed her what I thought was two 20 baht bills.  “Oh, no,” she says as she handed me back one 1000 baht bill (about $30).

Later, I joined the male regulars sitting in front of the Parrot Cafe…a few Dutch guys, an Aussie businessman currently working via his computer on development projects in Saudi Arabia and Mozambique, a Norwegian who had walked all the way from the Ekamai skytrain station…waiting to meet a friend.  We read the Bangkok Post for entertainment and comment on the bizarre political goings-on in Thailand.  The Red Shirts, supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin convicted for corruption and now in exile, are planning a million man march in front of the government house…claiming they want a return to democracy!! :)) Ask the Yellow Shirts, one of whom is among us and who was arrested with 83 others when they took over the airport a few months ago, whether they think Thaksin wants democracy in Thailand.  Thailand is no democracy…just infighting among the ministers, parliament members, the military and the protestors of whatever side. Anyway, we trade comments and hope there is no violence and that Thailand can avoid yet another in a long line of military coups.

They all drift away and I am left with U2 on my iPod on my iPhone where also I catch up on my email with the free cafe WiFi… over another cup of coffee.  A couple approach me.  “Are you the laughingnomad,” they ask? I am furiously trying to remember where I met them before when they said they had found my blog on the web and had been following it.  They reminded me that my picture is on the home page of the blog and that I probably mentioned the Parrot Cafe in a post.  I was dumb-founded!  Americans from New Hampshire, they travel often and, like me, are in Bangkok for medical care.  He is an engineer and they have lived for years in places like Bangladesh and Manila. We trade stories. She shares a lovely children’s book she has written and illustrated. The last of four, the book nearly wrote itself, she says, as she composed it in her head on a serendipitous long bus trip in the company of an origami artist.  I love it! We exchanged cards and I invited them to Oaxaca. I do hope they take me up on my offer.  I really liked these two friendly people.

It was getting hot by this time so I retreated to my air-conditioned room…buying some fruit on the street on my way. I tip the waitresses well at this cafe.  There is no service charge and I appreciate the fact that these girls are not “working” in the bars or on the street.

Back in my room, I get an email from a “friend” I met on Couchsurfing, from Turkey, who says she will be arriving in Bangkok soon and wants to meet for coffee. I call Bumrungrad and make an appointment for another pap with my lovely Thai gynecologist and the dental clinic for an appointment to get the two crowns placed on my implants.

Then up popped my Thai protestor friend on Skype chat.  We talk politics. He tells me he has to fly to Australia to visit a “sick” mother.  This is the 4th year in a row that she has gotten “sick” on her birthday. I tell him my kids would never let me get away with this.  “This is the culture,” he says.  “I have to go.”  After four hours of this chat I notice the time. OMG!

Then I get a call from one of my husband’s friends in Pattaya who is temporarily in Bangkok for medical care.  He wants to see a movie.  I tell him I want to see George Clooney!  So tuesday we will. Goodie!

I call a Thai friend who is a professor of fisheries in a local university to let her know I am back in Bangkok.  She wants to take me to the fishing village again where she has some of her students  conducting a small-crab fishing study.  She is concerned about sustainable fishing practices in Thailand where the fish are fast disappearing.

Well, a few other things happened this day but this is pretty much what my days are like in Bangkok.  I have been here 3 months now and my psyche has adjusted to this culture. Now if I can just remember what little Spanish I have when I get back to Oaxaca…where my internal cultural clock will change back again!

Malaysia Visa Run

Posted on by Laughingnomad

Sunday (probably your Saturday) I spent 12 hours ferrying onto the mainland and going in a van 400km to Malaysia and back for new visa stamp. I have a multi-entry year long visa that cost me $120 ($54US) but they still make me leave every three months! Three caravaned vans with 10-12 people in each…and there are companies all over Samui that offer the same runs.  I thought I would get 3 more months but they gave me only 2 because it is all up to the particular border office what they will give you!  Now if I wanted to stay a third month I would have to go to the local Samui immigration office and pay 1800 baht ($54US) for 1 more month! Imagine how many expats all over Thailand or people on long-term stays who are doing the same thing!  Way to bring money into Thailand!  I think if I had flown out and back in I would have gotten 3 months.  But I’m leaving before the third month anyway.

The run was quite an experience as my son Doug who lives here warned me.  I think the Austrian trip leader belonged to the gestapo in another life! Maybe even a cousin of Hitler’s! :)) Driving 150km an hour (90mph) with only a half dozen near misses, we got only two 5-minute potty stops on the way and on the way back.  And at the border there was a HUGE local week-end market where we were told by the gestapo NO TIME FOR SHOPPING!  But some of the guys (and they were ALL guys) sneaked some food. And on the way back at the last stop we only got 2 minutes because the gestapo wanted to make the 3pm ferry to Samui instead of waiting until 4pm.  At the border office we got yelled at because we were standing as a group, as we had been told NOT to do, and not lined up one after the other like the SS. Wonder what would happen if he tried to do this in China! :)) Oh well…it was all quite organized.  He knew all the border guards and did a good job greasing the whole thing for us.  And wonder of wonders he pronounced my last name (Goetz) right!  I told him it was the first time ever!  Usually people who don’t know me say Go-etz or Goats instead of Gets! Ha!  But had never been on the Thai side of the Thai/Malaysia border so it was nice to see how tropical it was.  Southern Thailand has been racked in recent years by a Muslim separatist movement but like with all the negative media attention in Oaxaca…no bombers were seen! Ha!

The pony-tailed gestapo trip leader had visited most of the States and worked for two years in Florida as a tour guide. “Did you know Central Florida is the second largest beef cattle producer in the States?”  No! I exclaimed.  This is an interesting phenomenon.  Often foreign tourists know more about the sights than the local people.

I was tucked into the very back seat (seats were assigned by the gestapo) with a young guy from The Netherlands who at one time had a band in NYC…writing the lyrics and producing the music and who now was writing a book about Thai culture and the law to be entitled “RESPECT” targeted to all the young Western guys who are here for “Happy.”  Since he was married to a Thai,  I asked how long he had been living here. “16 months,” he says.  Oh, good, I thought!  And you are writing about Thai culture!  Guys don’t realize how dangerous it can be here, he says. Give a Thai the middle finger, he said, and you will be killed.  And of course everyone should know what happens if you are caught with drugs of any kind.  And 8 people are killed every week on the sandy ring road around Samui. Well, it will be better for young guys than reading “Bangkok 8” so it may do some good.  I hope.

A Month On Koh Samui Thailand

Posted on by Laughingnomad

Wow.  A lot of work setting up a restaurant!  My son leased one on the beach and since he is temporarily in the States it is up to Luk (his wife) her mother and I to run all the errands and get this thing going.  Now to get internet service and WiFi set up and figure out why the water is stopping up under the sink! Stinks!  But Luk got the curtains up by herself this morning! It will be lovely when we finish. Am so glad I have Doug’s pickup to do all this running around.  But now all we need are customers!Name Western and Thai FoodAmerican and British BreakfastCocktail BarBeach Water SportsAnyone with an idea of what to name the restaurant please comment!! :))My idea was

    “My Thai Luk”

(play on luck and and my daughter-in-law’s name Luk (pronounced like luck);  luk means blessed in Thai for the Thai) But when I told Luk about this name she says “What mean?”  I tried to explain to no avail.  Guess that name is out.

    Names Found on the internet:

Thai LotusThai DyeZoomFan Thai SticJust Thai Me!Thai Me Up!The Thai BreakerHeavenly Thai RestaurantCozy Thai HideawayAroi DeeOk, I’ll keep trying…Doug is not sure when he will be returning to Thailand.  His rental house in Oregon had extensive fire damage. Of all the luck! At least he had insurance.I do my visa run on the 7th…all the way to Malaysia in a van and back in one day!  :((  Then I fly back to Bangkok the evening of the 8th for more medical and dental care.  And have to start searching for a return airline ticket to the States the end of April.  I’ll probably fly to Hong Kong to see my son Josh one more time and then fly over the pole  to Vancouver and then Oregon.  Then Las Vegas to pick up my son Greg’s car.  Then drive down to Oaxaca. I’m thinking I’m getting too old for this!I will miss the clear blue ocean and cool breezes.

Trang Thailand

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Took the ferry from Koh Samui, with the pickup, to Suratthani and then 400km on down south to Trang Town, in the Province of Trang, where Luk (my son’s Thai wife) grew up and where her grandmother still lives.  Great roads and good speed but thank goodness Luk and her mother, Simone, were with me or I would probably still be out there somewhere trying to find my way!  Ting Tong, Doug and Luk’s dog, was no help at all…got sick…and then slept most of the way.

In the two days we were there we visited “Gamma,” we picked up Luk’s mom’s motorcycle, had our hair done and had a few good Thai meals along the way.

Trang is real Thailand. Tourists who come to Thailand are missing out…there are very few tourists here. Prices are very low.  Unabashed praise comes from Trang itself on http://www.trangonline.com. I’ll give the people in Trang a little promotion by using their own words:

Island Life

Scattered along the 119 km coast are houses on both banks. The people here are generous and kind. The sand is delicated and the clear water of the sea reflect the white clouds in the beautiful sky. On the beaches, the forests are fertile and there is a good source of fish.

The 47 islands in the north are under the responsibility of the Chao Mai National Park office and the islands in the south belong to the Petra Island National Park. The delicate, white sandy beaches, blue clear water, attractive caves and the range of corals both in the shallow and deep water, are heaven for all tourists. Above all, it is a very good educational sea resource.

Mountain Life

Mountain Life has also created various culture and traditions. Para Rubber, fruits. vegetables are grown well because of good weather and moisture from forest and waterfalls. These products play a large part in the economy of Trang. The charms in Trang Kao (Mountain) tempt visitors because of its forests streams and waterfalls even though the noise from the water becomes less (because of natural destructions). Teenagers in Trang Kao still wade through the streams catching fish in the falls and are proud of themselves, instead of walking around town in jeans and listening to music. Old kind men and women still carry typical tools to hunt in the forests. “Sakai”, a tribe in Trang Kao still finds products from the forests to exchange for rice with villagers.

 Trekking

Laying across Trang is Banthad, the big mountain in the south. Plentiful forest, wildlife, and more than twenty waterfalls make Banthad a challanging but charming destination for trekker. Trang Trekking Club, founded by Khun Pratheep Jongthong, have compiled five selected routes for trekkers around the world to enjoy Trang wildlife. Guiding by villagers, tourists will learned the right trekking practice for preventing and not disturbing the forest.

  • Tontok Waterfall-Sakai Village-Klongtok Waterfall (moderately)
  • Sairung Waterfall-Nanmuang-Khao Rutu (difficult)
  • Tontok Waterfall-Bantra Ranger Center (moderately)
  • Huaysom-Sahaipakao Camp-Chedchan Waterfall  (difficult)
  • Tonte Waterfall to Khao Chedyod (very difficult)
    Trekking

Diving

DivingFrom Choamai National Park to Pakmeng Beach, around 20 kms in length, locating one of the best diving venue in the world. Among 40 islands in Trang, Koh Kradan is the most beatiful one. Its charms are delicate, white sandy beaches and clear water – so clear that the coral under the sea can be seen. Koh Chueak, Koh Ma, and Koh Ngai are other choices for diving also. If you plan for diving in Trang sea, check our tour packages pages for agencies who provide diving package services.

Trang Town Life

TrangMarketMajority of Trang people in town are chinese. These chinese are group of merchants from mainland China settled down in Trang. After two or three generations, these Chinese have converted themselves completely into local Thai people. Although they still practice traditional Chinese cultures, they also adopted local Trang’s agricultural cultures and mixed them together into a new culture, Trang Town Culture. 

Walking Through The Clean Markets
The two markets, Ta Klang Market and Municipal Market, selling fresh products are not far away from each other. People do not have to worry about dirty water which may be found in the markets in the other provinces here. Trang has been awarded as the cleanest town in Thailand for many years in a row. And its markets are considered to be the cleanest fresh market in Thailand. If you stay in town, it must be a good experience to walk through one of them to see how local people’s daily life is.

Bangkok To Ko Samui

Posted on by Laughingnomad

All in one day on my street in Bangkok I saw a very good-looking farang (foreigner), who was old enough to know better, in a big wide straw hat…wearing no shirt…showing off his severely “cut” abs…attracting the stares of the Thai women and the rest of us who are not use to seeing shirtless farangs who forget they are not on the beach anymore! :))  But much better viewing, however, than the overweight European women in shorts and bra in the City of Angels where those things should never be seen!

The same day I saw a father and his 2 year old boy walking by one of those paid women beggars who sit at the foot of the stairs to the skytrain holding a borrowed infant. The little boy had been eating chips out of a small bag and he held out his bag to the infant as he passed by with no prompting from the father…so heart-warming to see his natural generosity!  I saw a young Thai guy wearing a T-shirt that said in English “Merry Clitormas” instead of Merry Christmas!  And I visited for hours with some newly-made friends at the sidewalk tables at the Parrot Cafe run by a Dutch guy and where you can get good brewed coffee.

Now I am on the island of  breezy Samui where I am helping my daughter-in-law and her mother set up a small tasteful Thai-style “restaurant” on the beach in Lamai that Doug leased before he temporarily returned to the States last month.  There is a water trench that winds through the restaurant that Luk wants to fill with fish. Yesterday we bought a side-by-side refrigerator/freezer and a wicker table and chairs.  This is great fun! Luk’s mother is gregarious and an excellent cook so we hope for success! I am suggesting to Doug that he offer good American and British breakfasts that are difficult to come by on this part of the beach. They will have a juice bar and Luk will go to Bangkok to learn how to operate and make coffee with one of those nice Bon Cafe machines.  She is all excited to make artsy fartsy designs in the foam. :))

Luk and I stopped by the Thai immigration office on Samui to check on my visa regulations.  You have to leave Thailand the young good-looking officer says.  Aren’t there any other options for me…I don’t want to leave Thailand!  You can marry, he says.  Can I marry you, I ask?  Yes, he says.  But I already marry!  Me too, I say. And we laughed!  Anything I can do for you, you come see me, he says!  So much for those mean immigration guys!  As we were leaving, I wanted to tell the young waiting backpackers in dreadlocks to SMILE! :))  It might help them a bit!

The A/C doesn’t work in Doug’s bungalow where I was originally going to stay, so I am in a lovely artsy beach hotel with an ocean view and so close to the water you can hear the waves through the sliding glass doors!  I’m walking distance half way between the bungalow and the restaurant. Luk’s mom has been bringing morning rice and pork soup to my room in the hotel and cooking the late afternoon meals for us in the restaurant-to-be. The other evening a farang from Hungary and his Thai girlfriend were walking the beach so Luk’s mom invited them to finish off our generous meal.  Talk talk, talk!

I’m driving Doug’s pickup on these narrow ring roads around the island which is much better than renting one of those little jeeps that are hard to shift.  I just have to remember to stay on the left side of the road and watch for cars and motorcycles who want to pass on both the right and left of me…sometimes on both sides at the same time!

Today we are taking time off to rest.  Luk is sore from working on the restaurant and will not be grilling pork sticks out in front of the restaurant by the road. Wednesday, Luk and her mom and I will take the ferry with Doug’s pickup to Suratani and on to Trang Province south of here where we will see grandma and pick up Luk’s mom’s motorcycle and a few household items.  Doug and Luk will be giving up their beach bungalow in February and moving into a walled off section of the restaurant to save money. Hmmm.  We’ll see how that works out! :))

I would love to take the ferry to the diving island of Koh Tao where there are no cars and where I haven’t been yet.  Or Koh Pha Nang famous for the full-moon parties…only pure white sandy beaches with restaurants jutting out into the water.  But no full-moon party for me!

So now I need to figure out how I am going to get out of Thailand before February 9th and where/when to come back in.  A van to Panang Malaysia? Or a flight to Singapore? Maybe a week on the beaches of Krabi before hitting Bangkok again?  I get the crowns on my implants in March in Bangkok before flying back to the states.  Whew!  I’m tired already!

And that, so far, with the exception of watching the heart-wrenching devastation in Haiti on my hotel TV, is my time on Koh Samui.

An Italian Night Out

Posted on by Laughingnomad

I had been walking past this nice (nice is when there are table cloths and the waiter puts the napkin in your lap) Italian restaurant on Sukhumvit 20 for two months now…with Osso Bucco (lamb shank) advertised on an outdoor sign.  I remembered how good it tasted when I had it in New york in 2005, so tonight I decided to treat myself.  It didn’t taste as I remembered it, however, as the sauce was much stronger and more dense than the one I had eaten before. So that hankering is satisfied and done with anyway!

In Mexico, when patrons get up from their table to leave a restaurant, it is considered polite to say “provecho,” (much like bon apetit) to the people at the nearest table. So this time as I was leaving my table I nodded and automatically said “provecho” to this German family who looked at me like I was nuts.  Got to remember where I am!

And now that my dental work is almost finished I’ve got to figure out where and when I am going next…

Christmas In Pattaya 2009

Posted on by Laughingnomad

I set out for the bus station at the Bangkok Ekamai skytrain exit at 9am to spend Christmas Day with Bob at his home in Pattaya.  The trip should have taken about an hour and a half, however the bus I was put on proceeded down Sukhumvit at about 40mph stopping every hundred yards to pick up passengers.  So I bailed and picked up a taxi for the rest of the trip.  Oh, sorry, Bob says, I didn’t tell you which window to buy your tickets…!

So anyway, Bob met my taxi at a Tesco Lotus market in Pattaya and drove me to his home for crockpot beef stew and gift exchange…although his gift quite outmeasured mine!

The next evening he “treated” me to a night out on the “walking street”  which partly gives Pattaya it’s reputation and which turned out to be quite a zoo with Thai bar girls dressed in short red skirts for Christmas and farangs (foreigners) looking for each other among various and sundry other colorful figures.  Two up-country Isaan grandmothers escorted two small children down the street. What in the world are they doing here, I asked Bob.  Oh, they are probably just as curious as you, he said. Whoever said I was curious, I thought.  It’s a daily scene in Bangkok on Patong.  The most interesting thing I saw was crowds of  broadly smiling Thais looking up at a second story window…with a young blond woman…probably Russian since there are a lot of them in Pattaya.. gyrating quite sensuously around a pole to thumping music.  Much better than any of the Thai girls, I thought, and quite entertaining for the Thais that were watching this unusual scene in Thailand.

It was really hot so the next day I was glad to get on the right air-conditioned bus for the return trip to Bangkok.  And that was Christmas 2009.