The main form of transport for the average Thai is a scooter or motorbike.
Every one sems to drive one of these two wheel muscito's as I like to call them.
They are needed but are also a pest.
Now everyone can easily attain a scooter/motorbike....I went out looking for one because we live in the hills and living their requires simply a car or a scooter (=ergo motorbike) simply because of the heights one has to cover before one gets to our home, hehe
So, I discovered that I could without a blink of an eye purchase a bike of more then 200CC, 250 even. A big honda motorbike for one, allmost looking like a Harly!! It gives a kick I have to assure you when driving one...and I must say I have here!
I allways refused to get myself on a deathmachine like that, but here one has no real choice. BUT I prefer the automatic, which we call scooters...they go up till 160/180CC !!
When driving trough Patongs traffic one gets overhauled by others left and right, they are like a group of muscito's around you!
Flies is maybe a better word, haha
One need eyes left and right, front and back...because next to al these bikes one also has the tuctucs here, who allmost drive as crazy as the bikers...only in a car you seem to be relativly safe...and you go way les fast because it seems you are easily in trafficjams here...even on a bike!!
Now do not confuse my use of 'bike' with our bike, the manpowered one, I still talk about the motorised bikes here!
And do you know they have a full taxi service of scooters/bikes here...a driver can take up to 3 pasengers, depending on their size and weight ofcourse and they wisk you trough the traffic to your destination. You find them everywhere, and they are avordable at that, also for the common Thai. An ordinary taxi simply takes too long, and if you own a car, you better have a driver because it is rarely that you will be able to find a parkingspot near your destination...often one has to park the car allmost at the other side of the city, ergo, you could just as well have left it home. Sometimes I hear people came by car, and from the place they parked it they needed a motorbiketaxi or a tuctuc to get them to their actual destination.
Sounds familiar?
Hence if you own a car better have a driver in your service as well..they are not too expensive, roughly 10 til 12000 bath I heard last, which is200-250 euro's per month for allmost non stop working...though one has to negotiate carefuly workinghours and such..but for that money one has almost a ful time driver for 6/7 days a week!
Back to the bike story.
I now have to think about buying a scooter of sorts, and Honda is the best buy here at that. Because living on a hill I prefer a sturdy and strong one ofcourse who can easily carry two people, hehe, one of which me ofcourse.
Now I went to a showroom to see what choices one has.
Wel, if one is Thai or one buys for a Thai, one not tonly gets the bike but they trow in 3 years insurrance, free helmet and some other goodies.
When you buy as foreigner you get nothing of the sorts and will have to pay exra for the necessary insurrance, helmet etc AND one gets only one year guarantee instead of 3 years for Thai on the purchsed bike.
O, and didn't I tell you, contrary to our system, all bikes are sold against fixed prices...you can negotiate about allmost everything in this country, except about new motorbikes or cars...so different from Holland/Europe!
Well, the prices differ and in general run between 42 and 55.000 bath, and some big ones, from other brands, and more heavy run up to 70.000 bath, all automatics!
Now the bath is roughly, or was roughly 49 for one euro (but sadly for me the euro seems to weaken against the bath) so I calculate for ease of use 1 euro = 50 bath and then I give a small correction.
so prices differ from 850 up to 1150 euro and for that last one, one can buy the strongest and newest scooter from Honda of around 150/160CC. As far as I know one sure does need a special driverslicense for that in Holland. But not here, haha
Well, Xmas is coming and most likely I buy a new scooter for Kik.....I prefer to know he will drive as safe as one can up and down the mountain when to his work or mother in kamala..rain or sunshine. Because rain is tricky here because when it rains it poors!! And we know ice and snow, they know sand, and sand with water makes a slippery road!
Ergo, I look for a scooter, bike (I seem unable to make up my mind for what name I'll use for these machines, hehe) with as broad tires as possble, enough storage space under the seath so one can bring the most necessary things dry from A to B, etc.
At same time I hate these things as I love them because they are so handy.
When I was with Anad in the Emergencyroom of Patong Hospital (see story below) I saw several scooter accident victims being brought in, brrrrrr
So when I drive I drive safely, quietly and not like crazy flies !!
Well, guess thats it for now folks, till next time, won't be too long I hope ;-)
PS I hope no one minds all the typing errors due to fast typing and being to lazy to re read it all before publishing it on the net ;-)
bye bye
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Gaybashing in Thailand....
Yep, dear readers, even here in Thailand shit like that happens, appologise the expression!
Yesterday I was sitting down to make a new entry in my weblog about a fantastic book I read, but then I was called by Kik and he asked me to drop everything and hurry home into the hil straight away. Because such a message was very unusual I left al my stuff and asked the manager of Club OneSeven to keep an eye on it, and I took the motorbike annec scooter up in the hills to our house there!
Arrived I found a lot of household gods amongst of which a large television and such things, clothes and name it.\
At the table was Kik with his friend Anad (I write it wrong but its the way you pronounce it at least). Anad was beaten up.....by his brother! Because his brother and so also the rest of his family had discovered Anad was gay and could not stand that. Anad and his family, except his mother, are muslims!
And as we all know Muslims can be quite intolerant about being gay.....and so he was trown out of the house (!!) by his brother while his father and mother did nothing.
A short while later, Kik had to go and perform in the two shows of Simon Cabaret, I took Anad to hospital where they took an Xray of his nose, which was not broken, luckily! But he got treated for the wounds inflicted by his brother.
I was appaled learning about what had happened, this very nice and decent and caring guy, how he got beaten up for only one reason only, and by his own blood at that, just for being gay!!
Thai families, boehdist that is do not mind gay sons, simply they see it as an extra daughter who can and wil take care of the parents when they are not able to care for themselves anymore, and or support them before they reach that state. Sons are the one who will have to start help caring for the parents of their wives when the time comes, so its simple. And thailand knows no old peoples care, no unemployment money, no social securities, no healthinsurrance for the poor...except that certain medical care is for free here.
BUT when you are from different faith or stock, so to speak, then also different way of how one gets treated it seems. And Anads family comes from Nepal.... and to my surprise are here illigal, as I found out are a lot of people, mainly from Birma!
They are very dependent on those who are wiling to employ them!
Anad, unable to advance in the shoolsystem because of his illigal status, caused by his parents as it seems, can not find ordinary jobs which brings in enough money to support his family...so what does a young 20 year old do in that case in Thailand...you guessed it right: he enters the 'entertainment' industry, and well on the side of the escort, companionship, rent-a boyfriend- for the holiday, and that kind of thing...I met him first when he was playing host at my regular bar....but he thought he didn't earn enough so he switched to another in the mainstreet and indeed started to earn more by way of receiving tips from the customers...which can run up to sometimes 1000 bath a day for spending the time with them, including bedtime, uhum...O how well disguarded I try to write this all down.. BUT also he ran the risk of getting exposed to his , muslim, family, with whom, he was warned it would not fall well. (Kik actually warned for it several times, pointing out that he was not a budhist like the other guys Anad knew, but a muslim, so a different set of reactions would come his way then the tollerant way the budhist families react on gay sons......and sadly that was exactly the way it went...sorry to say!!
Now Anad stays with us till he has found rooms to live in, but they are expensive in patong, so maybe he has to look elsewhere.
Also last night was the muslim new year, they told me, and Anad wanted to go to the mosk....but he didn't dare to go to his regular mosk in Kamala...so he went to the one in patong....for how long? Till the news reaches from kamala that he's gay then he will not be able to go there as well.....
Faith is something beautifull, but not if it starts to run people into the ground just because of sexual orientation one can not help of having!! The Lord created men to his immage, women and men, and as such also all other natural variations of our species, like gays !!
Why is it that people have so much problems with people being different, be he or she gay, invalid, or whatever, we are all creatures of the same creator!! and as such are equal.
MMM, when I write this I get angry again...such a warm, friendly, caring guy, beaten up by his brother while the parents didn't do anything or didn't dare to (!!)
Hope to take him tomorrow to the men2men clinic for a suportgroup or councilling...though we have to be carefull because of his iligal status and we do not want him to get deeper involved in the 'entertainment' industry he was slowly getting involved in........l
BUT decent rooms are so expensibe here, even when shared with other guys...
and we try to prevent him entering accomodations of one of the clubs here because that means he can only get out of it when a customer, or someone else is prepared to buy him free for 30.000 bath (roughly 600 euro's) which is way to much for guys like him.
Well, we'll see what happens!
Yesterday I was sitting down to make a new entry in my weblog about a fantastic book I read, but then I was called by Kik and he asked me to drop everything and hurry home into the hil straight away. Because such a message was very unusual I left al my stuff and asked the manager of Club OneSeven to keep an eye on it, and I took the motorbike annec scooter up in the hills to our house there!
Arrived I found a lot of household gods amongst of which a large television and such things, clothes and name it.\
At the table was Kik with his friend Anad (I write it wrong but its the way you pronounce it at least). Anad was beaten up.....by his brother! Because his brother and so also the rest of his family had discovered Anad was gay and could not stand that. Anad and his family, except his mother, are muslims!
And as we all know Muslims can be quite intolerant about being gay.....and so he was trown out of the house (!!) by his brother while his father and mother did nothing.
A short while later, Kik had to go and perform in the two shows of Simon Cabaret, I took Anad to hospital where they took an Xray of his nose, which was not broken, luckily! But he got treated for the wounds inflicted by his brother.
I was appaled learning about what had happened, this very nice and decent and caring guy, how he got beaten up for only one reason only, and by his own blood at that, just for being gay!!
Thai families, boehdist that is do not mind gay sons, simply they see it as an extra daughter who can and wil take care of the parents when they are not able to care for themselves anymore, and or support them before they reach that state. Sons are the one who will have to start help caring for the parents of their wives when the time comes, so its simple. And thailand knows no old peoples care, no unemployment money, no social securities, no healthinsurrance for the poor...except that certain medical care is for free here.
BUT when you are from different faith or stock, so to speak, then also different way of how one gets treated it seems. And Anads family comes from Nepal.... and to my surprise are here illigal, as I found out are a lot of people, mainly from Birma!
They are very dependent on those who are wiling to employ them!
Anad, unable to advance in the shoolsystem because of his illigal status, caused by his parents as it seems, can not find ordinary jobs which brings in enough money to support his family...so what does a young 20 year old do in that case in Thailand...you guessed it right: he enters the 'entertainment' industry, and well on the side of the escort, companionship, rent-a boyfriend- for the holiday, and that kind of thing...I met him first when he was playing host at my regular bar....but he thought he didn't earn enough so he switched to another in the mainstreet and indeed started to earn more by way of receiving tips from the customers...which can run up to sometimes 1000 bath a day for spending the time with them, including bedtime, uhum...O how well disguarded I try to write this all down.. BUT also he ran the risk of getting exposed to his , muslim, family, with whom, he was warned it would not fall well. (Kik actually warned for it several times, pointing out that he was not a budhist like the other guys Anad knew, but a muslim, so a different set of reactions would come his way then the tollerant way the budhist families react on gay sons......and sadly that was exactly the way it went...sorry to say!!
Now Anad stays with us till he has found rooms to live in, but they are expensive in patong, so maybe he has to look elsewhere.
Also last night was the muslim new year, they told me, and Anad wanted to go to the mosk....but he didn't dare to go to his regular mosk in Kamala...so he went to the one in patong....for how long? Till the news reaches from kamala that he's gay then he will not be able to go there as well.....
Faith is something beautifull, but not if it starts to run people into the ground just because of sexual orientation one can not help of having!! The Lord created men to his immage, women and men, and as such also all other natural variations of our species, like gays !!
Why is it that people have so much problems with people being different, be he or she gay, invalid, or whatever, we are all creatures of the same creator!! and as such are equal.
MMM, when I write this I get angry again...such a warm, friendly, caring guy, beaten up by his brother while the parents didn't do anything or didn't dare to (!!)
Hope to take him tomorrow to the men2men clinic for a suportgroup or councilling...though we have to be carefull because of his iligal status and we do not want him to get deeper involved in the 'entertainment' industry he was slowly getting involved in........l
BUT decent rooms are so expensibe here, even when shared with other guys...
and we try to prevent him entering accomodations of one of the clubs here because that means he can only get out of it when a customer, or someone else is prepared to buy him free for 30.000 bath (roughly 600 euro's) which is way to much for guys like him.
Well, we'll see what happens!
Saturday, December 15, 2007
14th of December, what a day!
Yesterday it was the 14th of December...nothing special you would say, it is a day which comes back every year.
But for me it was special allright.
It started that I wanted to call Simon, my brother-in-law via Skype to congratulate him with his birthday but was unsuccesfull doing so because I could not go to a wifi-spot with my Macbook because Kik took way too long for his visit to hospital (docters check-up on a face job he had done!) and his mother in nearby Kamala.
When he returned I felt it had no use anymore because in Holland it was allready getting too late in the day, haha, so I sent Simon an sms instead.
The rest of the day we labored in the garden of our rented house and planted all the plants we had bought the previous day in Phuket Town.....and I can assure you: Thats a hell of a job with the warmth here.
Luckily friends of ours (actually ofcourse first of al Kiks) came down, or should I say up to our house in the hills around Patong, to help us out and advice ofcourse where everything should go. Quick enough I was only allowed to veto some of the spots for certain plants.all in god spirits by the way! Nonetheles we were all swetting like ....well, you imagine, haha
Around 6.30 Kik and I had to hurry down to the theater to drop Kik off for his two performances of the day and I could continue to Club OneSeven to take my daily shot of internetconnection with the outside world, ergo the Netherlands mostly ;-)
When I switched on my comp I saw that my godson, and cousin, Jeroen, was online so I messaged him on skype to congratulate him with the birthday of his father. he replied and son asked if I could be reached...he had something to tell me.
Immidiatly I got nervous, because when relatives start to say things like that one immidiatly start to assume the worst.
So, he called me very quickly after I messaged him my Thai mobile phonenumber. Instead of bad news though he was dying to tell me that he and his girlfriend had decided the wanted to marry!! And the even better news was that they wanted to ask me if I was willing to officiate their wedding as special registra (having done so, so many times before but never ofcourse of close family!).
I can now write quietly that I was very trilled by him asking me this and felt very very honored and proud of the question so naturally I was delighted to accept.
Later, when he had finished the phoneconversation and we also stopped messaging via Skype, I had to talk to someone, simply to share my happines and emotions.so I called my sister, first on her mobile, because Simon had sms-ed me back to thank for my wishes and same time announcing that he and my sister had spend that night at my house in Delft. But no respons, as happens more often, so I tried the housephone of my sisters and Simons residence..and yes, she answered.
Preparing for Simon to get home from work in Delft ;-)!
After exchanging congratulations on Simons birthday I immidiatly switched to the big news from Jeroen, en she replied " A, he asked you allready, good!".
For whatever reasons but Jeroen and I seem to share a special bond, don't ask me from where it originates but I believe most of my family feels the same, and certainly Jeroen does.
My sister Cuny and I joked that I better stay in the best of health so I could perform the oficial duties around Jeroens wedding....which , and now I could surprise my sister, jeroen annouced would take place, for now, on the 30th of may 2009!
Explaining that Bibi, Jeroens girlsfriend wanted at least one year of preparations!! Good for her, its still a once in a life time excercise and would stick in their minds and their close family and friends for the rest of their lives. So a good preparation is sooo important...and fun!
Except sharing our emotions on this very happy news together and our shared believe that Jeroen made a very wise decision, and so has Bibi ofcourse, hehe, we also exchanged the latest news in and around my family.
Seems my brtoher sms-ed her the same warning as I had received for Kik and me while on our trip to Bangkok.
I told her what had happened a couple of days before when celebrating Kiks 27th birthday (28/11/2007) and that a couple of hours later allready Kik visited his Bangok orakel asking him about my brothers news.
Boedhists give great value to such people and very often folow their advice if they want to fight off possible bad 'karma' (if I may use that word here).
According to 'mother' , as Kik called this man, I had nothing to fear, but he had received some warnings indeed and got instructions how to fight them off...and so afterwards and back in Patong we folowed most of 'mothers' advice.
Well, also an incident on Kiks birthday which involved the breaking of his lucky Boedha and what had to be done to fight of the bad luck of that one, made it clear to me that Thai are very aware of signs of bad luck and such omens and when the realise whats happening or expect to happen the y do their utmost to please Boedha and the gods in such a way that the bad omens will pass and bad luck passes by without causing any further troubles.
Well, and to make the day complete, being a special day that is, the governement announced that that day, the 14th, as well as today the 15th, all bars etc. should stay closed and no alcohol could be drank by the Thai....because they needed to cast their vote by proxy if not living in the district of their birth!
This meant 2 days of no drinking, etc...specialy in tourist areas where a lot of Thai work from all parts of the country......only curious how many used the opportunity to vote by proxy for the 23d of December elections, when a non aclohol policy is into effect as well ;-)
For me it means a chance on a couple of nights of relative quiete and no parties and such things, haha
Well, a lot of words just to transfer my feeling of this special 14th of december: My Godson Jeroen and Bibi are getting married, and if all goes well, by me! WOW, still very impressed and happy by that news!
I pray that jeroen en Bibi will be happy and fortunate in their lives and that all will go down well and smoothly towards the 30th of may 2009 and ofcourse long there after!!
But for me it was special allright.
It started that I wanted to call Simon, my brother-in-law via Skype to congratulate him with his birthday but was unsuccesfull doing so because I could not go to a wifi-spot with my Macbook because Kik took way too long for his visit to hospital (docters check-up on a face job he had done!) and his mother in nearby Kamala.
When he returned I felt it had no use anymore because in Holland it was allready getting too late in the day, haha, so I sent Simon an sms instead.
The rest of the day we labored in the garden of our rented house and planted all the plants we had bought the previous day in Phuket Town.....and I can assure you: Thats a hell of a job with the warmth here.
Luckily friends of ours (actually ofcourse first of al Kiks) came down, or should I say up to our house in the hills around Patong, to help us out and advice ofcourse where everything should go. Quick enough I was only allowed to veto some of the spots for certain plants.all in god spirits by the way! Nonetheles we were all swetting like ....well, you imagine, haha
Around 6.30 Kik and I had to hurry down to the theater to drop Kik off for his two performances of the day and I could continue to Club OneSeven to take my daily shot of internetconnection with the outside world, ergo the Netherlands mostly ;-)
When I switched on my comp I saw that my godson, and cousin, Jeroen, was online so I messaged him on skype to congratulate him with the birthday of his father. he replied and son asked if I could be reached...he had something to tell me.
Immidiatly I got nervous, because when relatives start to say things like that one immidiatly start to assume the worst.
So, he called me very quickly after I messaged him my Thai mobile phonenumber. Instead of bad news though he was dying to tell me that he and his girlfriend had decided the wanted to marry!! And the even better news was that they wanted to ask me if I was willing to officiate their wedding as special registra (having done so, so many times before but never ofcourse of close family!).
I can now write quietly that I was very trilled by him asking me this and felt very very honored and proud of the question so naturally I was delighted to accept.
Later, when he had finished the phoneconversation and we also stopped messaging via Skype, I had to talk to someone, simply to share my happines and emotions.so I called my sister, first on her mobile, because Simon had sms-ed me back to thank for my wishes and same time announcing that he and my sister had spend that night at my house in Delft. But no respons, as happens more often, so I tried the housephone of my sisters and Simons residence..and yes, she answered.
Preparing for Simon to get home from work in Delft ;-)!
After exchanging congratulations on Simons birthday I immidiatly switched to the big news from Jeroen, en she replied " A, he asked you allready, good!".
For whatever reasons but Jeroen and I seem to share a special bond, don't ask me from where it originates but I believe most of my family feels the same, and certainly Jeroen does.
My sister Cuny and I joked that I better stay in the best of health so I could perform the oficial duties around Jeroens wedding....which , and now I could surprise my sister, jeroen annouced would take place, for now, on the 30th of may 2009!
Explaining that Bibi, Jeroens girlsfriend wanted at least one year of preparations!! Good for her, its still a once in a life time excercise and would stick in their minds and their close family and friends for the rest of their lives. So a good preparation is sooo important...and fun!
Except sharing our emotions on this very happy news together and our shared believe that Jeroen made a very wise decision, and so has Bibi ofcourse, hehe, we also exchanged the latest news in and around my family.
Seems my brtoher sms-ed her the same warning as I had received for Kik and me while on our trip to Bangkok.
I told her what had happened a couple of days before when celebrating Kiks 27th birthday (28/11/2007) and that a couple of hours later allready Kik visited his Bangok orakel asking him about my brothers news.
Boedhists give great value to such people and very often folow their advice if they want to fight off possible bad 'karma' (if I may use that word here).
According to 'mother' , as Kik called this man, I had nothing to fear, but he had received some warnings indeed and got instructions how to fight them off...and so afterwards and back in Patong we folowed most of 'mothers' advice.
Well, also an incident on Kiks birthday which involved the breaking of his lucky Boedha and what had to be done to fight of the bad luck of that one, made it clear to me that Thai are very aware of signs of bad luck and such omens and when the realise whats happening or expect to happen the y do their utmost to please Boedha and the gods in such a way that the bad omens will pass and bad luck passes by without causing any further troubles.
Well, and to make the day complete, being a special day that is, the governement announced that that day, the 14th, as well as today the 15th, all bars etc. should stay closed and no alcohol could be drank by the Thai....because they needed to cast their vote by proxy if not living in the district of their birth!
This meant 2 days of no drinking, etc...specialy in tourist areas where a lot of Thai work from all parts of the country......only curious how many used the opportunity to vote by proxy for the 23d of December elections, when a non aclohol policy is into effect as well ;-)
For me it means a chance on a couple of nights of relative quiete and no parties and such things, haha
Well, a lot of words just to transfer my feeling of this special 14th of december: My Godson Jeroen and Bibi are getting married, and if all goes well, by me! WOW, still very impressed and happy by that news!
I pray that jeroen en Bibi will be happy and fortunate in their lives and that all will go down well and smoothly towards the 30th of may 2009 and ofcourse long there after!!
Friday, December 14, 2007
Aankleden tuin
na het bezoek na het immigratiekantoor, gan Kik en ik, met onze taxichauffeur, Oem geheten, op weg terug. Echter, we hebben al vaak gesproken over het aankleden van de tuin met planten met bloemen en dus vraag ik een 'tuincentrum' op te snorren. Al gauw belt Kik met zijn vriend & ladyboy Sandy (Cleopatra in Simons Cabaret) en die stuurt ons regelrecht naar ene bekende van haar waar we alles moeten kopen...tja, zo gaat dat hier...iedereen kent wel iemand ergens voor en dan wordt al gauw de klandizie die kant op gestuurd, als die zich aandient.
OP die plek aangekomen, is het niet het enige op de plantenmarkt die er gevestigd is.
We lopen door het hele assortiment heen en maken keuzes, tevens ben ik lekker eigenwijs en wandel ook langs de anderen en snor daar een paar hele mooie kleine boompjes op die geweldig mooi bloeien en bloemen hebben die werkelijk heerlijk geuren.
Die boompjes zijn best op leeftijd dus dat gaat wel at kosten, maar goed, dan heb je ook wel wat staan, zo denk ik dan maar...hehe....zie ook nog wat andere prachtige bloeiers en de deal is snel gesloten na wat pingelen...krijg uiteindelijk 600 bath korting vor elkaar en reken 2000 bath af, zeg rond de 40 euro ;-)
Kik is trouwens na het inslaan geslagen bij de relatie van Sandy en voordat ik het weet staan er 5 gele rozenstruiken, 5 roze rozenstruiken en 10 rode rozenstruiken op de stoep, daarnaast nog een hele serie bloeiende planten in mooie potten, ook 10 en nog wat anders spul, 10 zakken potaarde, nog een partij lege potten, een bonzai boompje, en hangplant en dergelijke...alleen voor onderhandelen krijg ik hier geen ruimte. Moet dat toch een keertje georganiseerd krijgen, want als je bij 'relaties' koopt is onderhandelen echt een probleem.
Want tja, dat kletst allemaal met elkaar en men ziet het als 'minder' als er dan afgedongen wordt, want dat verlaagt de status van , in dit geval mij en daardoor Kik. Nou geven wij in Nederland en Europa geen snars om zulk ene status maar hier is indruk en houding op zelfs dat vlak belangrijk. Vandaar: moet toch eens zien hoe ik dat zo georganiseer krijg dat het ene zonder problemen met het andere te combineren valt.
Want ook in andere situaties merk ik, dat als ik een betrokkene soms 500 bath of 100 bath geef voor bewezen diensten, Kik daar dan nog een schepje bovenop doet, omdat het anders te krenterig overkomt, en dat is een echte zonde hier, als je dat vermijden kan, moet je dat dus ook doen. Terwijl wij naar iets kijken als geleverde prestaties etc. En, Kik doet dat alleen als het mensen betreft die hij kent, of die mensen kennen die hij kent. Zijn het totaal onbekenden vor hem, dan kan ik gewoon mijn zalige gang gaan en vindt ie het al lang best. Rare mensen die Thai..... zo maken ze het zich trouwens soms af en toe zelf ook knap lastig!
Maar goed...inmiddels heeft Oem, onze taxichauffeur al geconcludeerd dat e.e.a. niet in zijn Sedan kan en kondigt aan van auto te gaan wisselen en met een pick up truck terug te komen....een klein uur later rijdt die dan ook voor en wordt alles door de medewerkers van de resp. tuincentra ingeladen en rijden wij voorzichtig huiswaarts.
Vandaag zijn we met een aantal vrienden druk in de weer geweest alles ene plek in de tuin te geven...en het moet gezegd: het fleurt er echt heel erg van op, en geeft een herlijk gevoel.en het ruikt nu ook anders, heerlijk aangenaam zelfs!
Een dezer dagen ga ik de foto's van dit bloeiende festijn online zetten, kunne jullie het zelf allemaaa zien!
OP die plek aangekomen, is het niet het enige op de plantenmarkt die er gevestigd is.
We lopen door het hele assortiment heen en maken keuzes, tevens ben ik lekker eigenwijs en wandel ook langs de anderen en snor daar een paar hele mooie kleine boompjes op die geweldig mooi bloeien en bloemen hebben die werkelijk heerlijk geuren.
Die boompjes zijn best op leeftijd dus dat gaat wel at kosten, maar goed, dan heb je ook wel wat staan, zo denk ik dan maar...hehe....zie ook nog wat andere prachtige bloeiers en de deal is snel gesloten na wat pingelen...krijg uiteindelijk 600 bath korting vor elkaar en reken 2000 bath af, zeg rond de 40 euro ;-)
Kik is trouwens na het inslaan geslagen bij de relatie van Sandy en voordat ik het weet staan er 5 gele rozenstruiken, 5 roze rozenstruiken en 10 rode rozenstruiken op de stoep, daarnaast nog een hele serie bloeiende planten in mooie potten, ook 10 en nog wat anders spul, 10 zakken potaarde, nog een partij lege potten, een bonzai boompje, en hangplant en dergelijke...alleen voor onderhandelen krijg ik hier geen ruimte. Moet dat toch een keertje georganiseerd krijgen, want als je bij 'relaties' koopt is onderhandelen echt een probleem.
Want tja, dat kletst allemaal met elkaar en men ziet het als 'minder' als er dan afgedongen wordt, want dat verlaagt de status van , in dit geval mij en daardoor Kik. Nou geven wij in Nederland en Europa geen snars om zulk ene status maar hier is indruk en houding op zelfs dat vlak belangrijk. Vandaar: moet toch eens zien hoe ik dat zo georganiseer krijg dat het ene zonder problemen met het andere te combineren valt.
Want ook in andere situaties merk ik, dat als ik een betrokkene soms 500 bath of 100 bath geef voor bewezen diensten, Kik daar dan nog een schepje bovenop doet, omdat het anders te krenterig overkomt, en dat is een echte zonde hier, als je dat vermijden kan, moet je dat dus ook doen. Terwijl wij naar iets kijken als geleverde prestaties etc. En, Kik doet dat alleen als het mensen betreft die hij kent, of die mensen kennen die hij kent. Zijn het totaal onbekenden vor hem, dan kan ik gewoon mijn zalige gang gaan en vindt ie het al lang best. Rare mensen die Thai..... zo maken ze het zich trouwens soms af en toe zelf ook knap lastig!
Maar goed...inmiddels heeft Oem, onze taxichauffeur al geconcludeerd dat e.e.a. niet in zijn Sedan kan en kondigt aan van auto te gaan wisselen en met een pick up truck terug te komen....een klein uur later rijdt die dan ook voor en wordt alles door de medewerkers van de resp. tuincentra ingeladen en rijden wij voorzichtig huiswaarts.
Vandaag zijn we met een aantal vrienden druk in de weer geweest alles ene plek in de tuin te geven...en het moet gezegd: het fleurt er echt heel erg van op, en geeft een herlijk gevoel.en het ruikt nu ook anders, heerlijk aangenaam zelfs!
Een dezer dagen ga ik de foto's van dit bloeiende festijn online zetten, kunne jullie het zelf allemaaa zien!
Visumverlenging
Nu eens weer een kertje in het Nederlands, hehe.
Gisteren ben ik met Kik naar Phuket Town geweest om bij het immigratiekantoor het tweede deel van mijn visum te verkrijgen zodat ik uiteindelijk 90 dagen in Thailand kan blijven.
De Thaise overheid kent bij een toeristenvisum van 60 dagen, die je voor vertrek in je eigen land moet aanvragen, of elders buiten Thailand, de mogelijkheid deze met 30 dagen te verlengen, eenmalig! Daarna zal je Thailand uit moeten.
Toen wij bij het immigratiekantoor aankwamen, op een plek in de stad die ik nooit gevonden had op mijn eentje omdat de Thai niet scheutig zijn met engelstalige aanduidingen en hun schrift voor niet-Thai-kenners gewoon onbegrijpeijk is, gelijk Chinees en Russisch dat ook is voor buitenstaanders, viel me meteen de bureaucratische opzet van het kantoor mij op.
Heel modern trek je een nummertje zoals je dat ook doet, met een zelfde systeem, als op het stadhuis van Delft of bijvoorbeeld Rijswijk. Maar als je dan op je nummer wacht, ontdek je dat die niet werkt.....het is wie het eerst komt wie het eerst maalt. Op het nummerweergave bord zie ik 619 staan en zelf heeft het apparaat mij nummer 660 gegeven, dus denk ik even buiten te kunnen gaan om wat te verpozen...maar nee hoor, hoor ik daar dus hoe het er echt aan toe gaat en loop ik dus maar direct weer naar binnen om inderdaad meteen aan de beurt te zijn!
Het formulier dat ik ingevuld heb, overhandig ik aan de ambtenaar, die en passant van alles en nog wat uitwisselt met collega's om hem heen. Hij controleert of ik alles heb ingevuld, althans dat denk ik dan maar...en vervolgens zegt hij dat ik 3 fotokopien moet maken van drie bladzijden uit mijn paspoort en stuurt mij weg om die te gana halen bij een bureautje elders op het terrein die 'partikulier' gerund wordt en 6 bath armer met 3 kopien kom ik even later weer terug bij de man ana zijn bureau. Ik ga weer zitten en vervolgens constateert hij dat er nog een pasfoto bijmoet. Waar doe ik dat, zo vraag ik hem? En hij wijst weer naar de zelfde plek, de fotokopieplek...want een winkeltje wil ik het niet noemen, kan je het niet noemen!
O, mopper ik in nerderlands, zeg dat dan meteen de eerste keer.....hehe...en vervolgens ben ik wer weg. Kom bij dat 'winkeltje' en ja hoor, werd al verwacht. Kon op een stoel voor de deur plaatsnemen en floep, een camera, polaroid, werd gepakt en een opname gemaakt, 4 stuks...en 140 bath armer liep ik weer terug naar het immigratiekantoor om de hoek.
Kan meteen weer bij de ambtenaar in kwestie terecht, dus dat scheelt in ieder geval.
(trouwens de bath schommelt dezer dagen tussen de 48,5 en bijna 50 per euro)
HIJ bevestigd de pasfot en de kopien aan het formulier, vervolgens vraagt hij aan mij 1900 bath en na betaald te hebben, plaatst hij wat stempels her en der over het formulier en de foto en dropt het formulier op het bureau naast hem en zegt tegen mij dat ik nu moet wachten.
Even later gaat een jongere ambtenaar naar dat tot dan toe lege bureau, gaat zitten en bekijkt het formulier...corrigeert en controleert de inhoud, zet ene stempel, plaatst vervolgens in mijn bijgevoegde paspoort ook stempels en zegt dan tegen mij, goedendag.
En toen stond ik buiten, met een visum tot 28 januari op zak...simpel maar O zo bureaucratisch.
BIj het invullen van het betreffende formulier geen melding dat er fotokopien van het paspoort gevoegd moeten worden, resp. die pasfoto...uberhaupt geen nadere info in het engels...wel in Thai! haha
Daarnaast, 4 ambtenaren die zich in totaal bezig hielden met mijn aanvraag. Geen computercontroles trouwens, dus hoe dat allemaal in zijn werk gaat, geen idee, maar blijkbaar makkelijk.
Het kantoor uitlopend denk ik "wat een kansen" als ik terugdenk aan al dat gereorganiseer wat ik in het verleden gedaan heb.
Zo'n immigratiekantoor is of erg winstgevend te maken of de visumprijs kan stukken naar beneden, als je je bedenkt dat alle visumverleningen en 90 dagen controles voor hen die langer blijven, zo veel eenvoudiger en effectiever kunnen.
Van de 9 a 10 medewerkers die ik er telde, rekende ik snel uit dat er minimaal7 overbodig waren om hun systeem, wat je er ook van vindt, effectief uit te kunen voeren en dan hoeven de medewerkers nog steeds niet hard te werken.
Maar goed, ze hebben werk en als ambtenaar heb je ook status in Thailand en aanzien........dus op zo'n organisatorisch betwetertje zitten ze hier dus echt niet te wachten ;-)
O, en alles met die Thaise glimlach en vriendelijkheid, ook al weet je dat het deels onverschilligheid afdekt, je pruimt gewoon zo ontzettend veel meer van deze mensen dan je elders in de wereld zou doen!
En dat is ook weer wat waard, nietwaar?
Gisteren ben ik met Kik naar Phuket Town geweest om bij het immigratiekantoor het tweede deel van mijn visum te verkrijgen zodat ik uiteindelijk 90 dagen in Thailand kan blijven.
De Thaise overheid kent bij een toeristenvisum van 60 dagen, die je voor vertrek in je eigen land moet aanvragen, of elders buiten Thailand, de mogelijkheid deze met 30 dagen te verlengen, eenmalig! Daarna zal je Thailand uit moeten.
Toen wij bij het immigratiekantoor aankwamen, op een plek in de stad die ik nooit gevonden had op mijn eentje omdat de Thai niet scheutig zijn met engelstalige aanduidingen en hun schrift voor niet-Thai-kenners gewoon onbegrijpeijk is, gelijk Chinees en Russisch dat ook is voor buitenstaanders, viel me meteen de bureaucratische opzet van het kantoor mij op.
Heel modern trek je een nummertje zoals je dat ook doet, met een zelfde systeem, als op het stadhuis van Delft of bijvoorbeeld Rijswijk. Maar als je dan op je nummer wacht, ontdek je dat die niet werkt.....het is wie het eerst komt wie het eerst maalt. Op het nummerweergave bord zie ik 619 staan en zelf heeft het apparaat mij nummer 660 gegeven, dus denk ik even buiten te kunnen gaan om wat te verpozen...maar nee hoor, hoor ik daar dus hoe het er echt aan toe gaat en loop ik dus maar direct weer naar binnen om inderdaad meteen aan de beurt te zijn!
Het formulier dat ik ingevuld heb, overhandig ik aan de ambtenaar, die en passant van alles en nog wat uitwisselt met collega's om hem heen. Hij controleert of ik alles heb ingevuld, althans dat denk ik dan maar...en vervolgens zegt hij dat ik 3 fotokopien moet maken van drie bladzijden uit mijn paspoort en stuurt mij weg om die te gana halen bij een bureautje elders op het terrein die 'partikulier' gerund wordt en 6 bath armer met 3 kopien kom ik even later weer terug bij de man ana zijn bureau. Ik ga weer zitten en vervolgens constateert hij dat er nog een pasfoto bijmoet. Waar doe ik dat, zo vraag ik hem? En hij wijst weer naar de zelfde plek, de fotokopieplek...want een winkeltje wil ik het niet noemen, kan je het niet noemen!
O, mopper ik in nerderlands, zeg dat dan meteen de eerste keer.....hehe...en vervolgens ben ik wer weg. Kom bij dat 'winkeltje' en ja hoor, werd al verwacht. Kon op een stoel voor de deur plaatsnemen en floep, een camera, polaroid, werd gepakt en een opname gemaakt, 4 stuks...en 140 bath armer liep ik weer terug naar het immigratiekantoor om de hoek.
Kan meteen weer bij de ambtenaar in kwestie terecht, dus dat scheelt in ieder geval.
(trouwens de bath schommelt dezer dagen tussen de 48,5 en bijna 50 per euro)
HIJ bevestigd de pasfot en de kopien aan het formulier, vervolgens vraagt hij aan mij 1900 bath en na betaald te hebben, plaatst hij wat stempels her en der over het formulier en de foto en dropt het formulier op het bureau naast hem en zegt tegen mij dat ik nu moet wachten.
Even later gaat een jongere ambtenaar naar dat tot dan toe lege bureau, gaat zitten en bekijkt het formulier...corrigeert en controleert de inhoud, zet ene stempel, plaatst vervolgens in mijn bijgevoegde paspoort ook stempels en zegt dan tegen mij, goedendag.
En toen stond ik buiten, met een visum tot 28 januari op zak...simpel maar O zo bureaucratisch.
BIj het invullen van het betreffende formulier geen melding dat er fotokopien van het paspoort gevoegd moeten worden, resp. die pasfoto...uberhaupt geen nadere info in het engels...wel in Thai! haha
Daarnaast, 4 ambtenaren die zich in totaal bezig hielden met mijn aanvraag. Geen computercontroles trouwens, dus hoe dat allemaal in zijn werk gaat, geen idee, maar blijkbaar makkelijk.
Het kantoor uitlopend denk ik "wat een kansen" als ik terugdenk aan al dat gereorganiseer wat ik in het verleden gedaan heb.
Zo'n immigratiekantoor is of erg winstgevend te maken of de visumprijs kan stukken naar beneden, als je je bedenkt dat alle visumverleningen en 90 dagen controles voor hen die langer blijven, zo veel eenvoudiger en effectiever kunnen.
Van de 9 a 10 medewerkers die ik er telde, rekende ik snel uit dat er minimaal7 overbodig waren om hun systeem, wat je er ook van vindt, effectief uit te kunen voeren en dan hoeven de medewerkers nog steeds niet hard te werken.
Maar goed, ze hebben werk en als ambtenaar heb je ook status in Thailand en aanzien........dus op zo'n organisatorisch betwetertje zitten ze hier dus echt niet te wachten ;-)
O, en alles met die Thaise glimlach en vriendelijkheid, ook al weet je dat het deels onverschilligheid afdekt, je pruimt gewoon zo ontzettend veel meer van deze mensen dan je elders in de wereld zou doen!
En dat is ook weer wat waard, nietwaar?
Monday, December 10, 2007
Nog meer foto's, More pics!
Zojuist de foto's op de mac site geplaatst van de hieronder beschreven bbq en kaartspel, alsmede nog foto's van mijn andere toestel, die ik nu pas kon downloaden omdat ik de batterijcharger thuis had laten liggen en het nogal een moeite koste om hier een nieuwe te pakken te krijgen...ken gebeuren he? ;-)
En die zijn van de housewarming op de 14e november jl....waarna de batterij van het toestel leeg was en ik dus ontdekte dat de charger niet in mijn bagage zat...
enjoy the fun of watching the pics ladies en gentlemen, Kings Birthday BBQ and cardgame as well as some of the Housewarming from my small pocketcamera ;-)
En die zijn van de housewarming op de 14e november jl....waarna de batterij van het toestel leeg was en ik dus ontdekte dat de charger niet in mijn bagage zat...
enjoy the fun of watching the pics ladies en gentlemen, Kings Birthday BBQ and cardgame as well as some of the Housewarming from my small pocketcamera ;-)
5yh December: The Kings Birthday..a BBQ party with a tail ;-)
The birthday of the King is celebrated somewhat different as we are used to in Holland when we celebrate our Queens birthday on the 30th of april.
As I wrote before, in Thailand all sale of alcohol on that day is forbidden, though I discovered that that rule is applied lightly but nonetheles taken seriously and so al restaurants, bras, etc. closed for the day or served only non alcoholic drinks.
Result of al this is that specially those working in the entertainnmentindustry have a day off and so time to socialize among eachother...for which they normally have no 'normal' time, except in the middle of the nights.
So, Kik suggested we organise a BBQ party at the house, and so we did. No problems surving alcohol there on such a day I discovered.....but because Simon Cabaret is no bar or restaurant but a thetercompany, they were not closed for that evening and the non alcoholrule is at al not a problem for them, they hardly serve it anyway before a show starts, or afterwards.
So, preparations of the BBQ was done with during daytime and from 23.30 onwards.......
The guests arrived from midnight onwards.
The whole evening there was not much to do in the city centre of Patong, because most was shut down for the day......very weird, but the celebration of the Kings birthday is mainly a family affair here, blood family or chosen family, but its the families who get together and create a party of some sorts.
So after midnight the next bbq party started off and everybody being in good spirits. With some owners of some bars present, I gave a toast to the King of Thailand, and afterwards, ofcourse, as a dutch guy, also to our Queen...and then the attack on the food started which lasted several hours....
when the were all done eating, Kik's boss sugested a cardgame. Not knowing, I thought it fun to have them do just that.
My mother allways loved cardgames, so I enjoyed watching them playing their game "8 & 9", don't ask me how it goes, but ofcourse they needed to gamble a little bit so stakes were settled on 5, max 10 bath per person per game (roughly 50 bath in one euro).
Around 4/4.30 am I took the opportunity to withdraw upstairs for half an hour or so to take a bit of rest and enjoy some peace....after a while Kik came up to see how I was doing (he played in the game but left it for a moment to check up on me!) when we heard commotion outside.
Kik had a look, and rather quickly was back in the room again telling me the police just raided the downfloor area of our house and all the people who were playing cards were arrested.
Very surprised and rather upset and angry why something innocent as this cardgame warranted such action I went outide, were I tried to ask the police what was happening and why.
I was politly ignored by them. They simply tried their best to "not seeing me". Later I heard that if they aknowledged my presence the whole operation of them would have become far more complicated and les easy, as me being a 'farang' so insteas they just acted as if I didn't excist.
I must tell you that such is a rather weird experience...but with hinsight I was also rather happy the went about it that way!
To make a long story short. The ones who stayed behind were all laughing and thinking it all a big joke and said to me that they al would eturn within the hour and we should keep the BBQ going because they all would be hungry again after being released.......
nothing happened and in the end lot of people did not get any sleep that night and following day...Even the intervention of the big boss of Simon Cabaret could not get them released!
IN the end they had to pay a 12.000 bath fine. Kik's boss made a statement which took us from the hook, so the speak, as hosts. They also got a warning that if any of them would be arrested for the same in the next year, he or she would go to jail, they call it here the monkeyhouse, for 3 months.
And those of us who have gheard about the reputation of Thai jail, know that thats no fun at all...and hence it works a a beautiful warning which is taking very seriously by Thai.
Well, I placed some pics of the Kings birthday party on the website for pics from Mac, as you can find in the message about PICTURES written somewhat earlier ;-)
All in all it has been quite an experience and am happy that in the end all turned out relativly well and all took it in the best way possible without grudges to anyboy.
As I found out cardgames, for money at that, are specially a no go on the birthday of the King, more so then drinking alcohol, for which no punishments were given at all.....strange huh?
But who knows what they really wanted and howcome the happened to drop in on us so late at night at such a remote location......maybe an unknown person or persons hold a grudge against one or more of our guests, because it was not the first strange event happening to some of my new friends here in the past year.
Curious if that story will continue...I hope not, but it seems Thai can hold grudges like no other.
So more lesson learned here!
Cherio, and enjoy the winter or summer, depending on where you are staying :-))
Rob
As I wrote before, in Thailand all sale of alcohol on that day is forbidden, though I discovered that that rule is applied lightly but nonetheles taken seriously and so al restaurants, bras, etc. closed for the day or served only non alcoholic drinks.
Result of al this is that specially those working in the entertainnmentindustry have a day off and so time to socialize among eachother...for which they normally have no 'normal' time, except in the middle of the nights.
So, Kik suggested we organise a BBQ party at the house, and so we did. No problems surving alcohol there on such a day I discovered.....but because Simon Cabaret is no bar or restaurant but a thetercompany, they were not closed for that evening and the non alcoholrule is at al not a problem for them, they hardly serve it anyway before a show starts, or afterwards.
So, preparations of the BBQ was done with during daytime and from 23.30 onwards.......
The guests arrived from midnight onwards.
The whole evening there was not much to do in the city centre of Patong, because most was shut down for the day......very weird, but the celebration of the Kings birthday is mainly a family affair here, blood family or chosen family, but its the families who get together and create a party of some sorts.
So after midnight the next bbq party started off and everybody being in good spirits. With some owners of some bars present, I gave a toast to the King of Thailand, and afterwards, ofcourse, as a dutch guy, also to our Queen...and then the attack on the food started which lasted several hours....
when the were all done eating, Kik's boss sugested a cardgame. Not knowing, I thought it fun to have them do just that.
My mother allways loved cardgames, so I enjoyed watching them playing their game "8 & 9", don't ask me how it goes, but ofcourse they needed to gamble a little bit so stakes were settled on 5, max 10 bath per person per game (roughly 50 bath in one euro).
Around 4/4.30 am I took the opportunity to withdraw upstairs for half an hour or so to take a bit of rest and enjoy some peace....after a while Kik came up to see how I was doing (he played in the game but left it for a moment to check up on me!) when we heard commotion outside.
Kik had a look, and rather quickly was back in the room again telling me the police just raided the downfloor area of our house and all the people who were playing cards were arrested.
Very surprised and rather upset and angry why something innocent as this cardgame warranted such action I went outide, were I tried to ask the police what was happening and why.
I was politly ignored by them. They simply tried their best to "not seeing me". Later I heard that if they aknowledged my presence the whole operation of them would have become far more complicated and les easy, as me being a 'farang' so insteas they just acted as if I didn't excist.
I must tell you that such is a rather weird experience...but with hinsight I was also rather happy the went about it that way!
To make a long story short. The ones who stayed behind were all laughing and thinking it all a big joke and said to me that they al would eturn within the hour and we should keep the BBQ going because they all would be hungry again after being released.......
nothing happened and in the end lot of people did not get any sleep that night and following day...Even the intervention of the big boss of Simon Cabaret could not get them released!
IN the end they had to pay a 12.000 bath fine. Kik's boss made a statement which took us from the hook, so the speak, as hosts. They also got a warning that if any of them would be arrested for the same in the next year, he or she would go to jail, they call it here the monkeyhouse, for 3 months.
And those of us who have gheard about the reputation of Thai jail, know that thats no fun at all...and hence it works a a beautiful warning which is taking very seriously by Thai.
Well, I placed some pics of the Kings birthday party on the website for pics from Mac, as you can find in the message about PICTURES written somewhat earlier ;-)
All in all it has been quite an experience and am happy that in the end all turned out relativly well and all took it in the best way possible without grudges to anyboy.
As I found out cardgames, for money at that, are specially a no go on the birthday of the King, more so then drinking alcohol, for which no punishments were given at all.....strange huh?
But who knows what they really wanted and howcome the happened to drop in on us so late at night at such a remote location......maybe an unknown person or persons hold a grudge against one or more of our guests, because it was not the first strange event happening to some of my new friends here in the past year.
Curious if that story will continue...I hope not, but it seems Thai can hold grudges like no other.
So more lesson learned here!
Cherio, and enjoy the winter or summer, depending on where you are staying :-))
Rob
Friday, December 7, 2007
3 Days in Bangkok and on the way to the 5th of December ;-)
So, it has been a good week since I last wrote into my weblog, but here we are again!
The last week I have spend 3 days in Bangkok, visiting my dutch freemasonlodge Erasmus. Its allways a great joy to pay them a visit simply because they are a great bunch of guys. Hospitable, liberal in allmost every sense of the word, and allways make me most welcome to participate. They are also a great help in discovering how to go about once way here in Thailand.
But ofcourse meeting them only took one day, the other 2 days I spend with Kik in Bangkok.
It had been quite a while since he, and I for that matter, visited Bangkok and to my surprise Bangkok was a village for him.....
In the quarter of Bangkok, where we stayed, Silom area, he seemed to know people in allmost every place we passed.
He had told me he used to work for Japanese in Bangkok and also showed them around Bangkok a lot....so the first day it ment for me a lot of waiting when he met again some person or persons he knew. And as soon as the word spread he arrived in Bangkok his phone seemed to keep ringing all the time..and Thai people call 24/7 I can asure you as much!
Being addicted to thai massage by now, I had a massage every day and have to admit, sometimes even two on one day, just to keep myself going, haha.
Its the Thai way of life which attracts me sofar but also their general attitude. Though I have to admit, also the Thai have their downside ofcourse. It can not all be sunshine, as one knows all too well! But sofar I still have to say that all in all Thaiand still holds a very big attraction to me, so I keep on looking for opportunities to organise a long stay here ;-)
The city of Bangkok was in preparation of the Kings birthday, who has his birthday on the 5th of december....in my country Holland also known as Sint Nicolaas day. But contrary to our Queensday, when all restaurants and bars are open and most retailshops closed, in THailand its the other way round, all retaishops are open and most restaurants and all the bars are closed. On the Kings Birthday its not allowed to poor alcohol !!
This leads to the general attitude that Thai celebrate the Kings birthday in their family surroundings, be it chosen or blood family.. for the tourists its an evening/day on which they have to think of other things to do then just drink and have fun, haha......for a lot of them thats rather difficult I noticed later ;-)
Okay, my next entry wil tell you some of what happened on Kings Day, if I may it call it that......
The last week I have spend 3 days in Bangkok, visiting my dutch freemasonlodge Erasmus. Its allways a great joy to pay them a visit simply because they are a great bunch of guys. Hospitable, liberal in allmost every sense of the word, and allways make me most welcome to participate. They are also a great help in discovering how to go about once way here in Thailand.
But ofcourse meeting them only took one day, the other 2 days I spend with Kik in Bangkok.
It had been quite a while since he, and I for that matter, visited Bangkok and to my surprise Bangkok was a village for him.....
In the quarter of Bangkok, where we stayed, Silom area, he seemed to know people in allmost every place we passed.
He had told me he used to work for Japanese in Bangkok and also showed them around Bangkok a lot....so the first day it ment for me a lot of waiting when he met again some person or persons he knew. And as soon as the word spread he arrived in Bangkok his phone seemed to keep ringing all the time..and Thai people call 24/7 I can asure you as much!
Being addicted to thai massage by now, I had a massage every day and have to admit, sometimes even two on one day, just to keep myself going, haha.
Its the Thai way of life which attracts me sofar but also their general attitude. Though I have to admit, also the Thai have their downside ofcourse. It can not all be sunshine, as one knows all too well! But sofar I still have to say that all in all Thaiand still holds a very big attraction to me, so I keep on looking for opportunities to organise a long stay here ;-)
The city of Bangkok was in preparation of the Kings birthday, who has his birthday on the 5th of december....in my country Holland also known as Sint Nicolaas day. But contrary to our Queensday, when all restaurants and bars are open and most retailshops closed, in THailand its the other way round, all retaishops are open and most restaurants and all the bars are closed. On the Kings Birthday its not allowed to poor alcohol !!
This leads to the general attitude that Thai celebrate the Kings birthday in their family surroundings, be it chosen or blood family.. for the tourists its an evening/day on which they have to think of other things to do then just drink and have fun, haha......for a lot of them thats rather difficult I noticed later ;-)
Okay, my next entry wil tell you some of what happened on Kings Day, if I may it call it that......
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