One or two days ago I received an e-mail from a dutch friend of mine about a dissaster that had struck him. Now this email was send to his whole list of friends and just people he knew... and for obvious reasons.
He had lost his stack of pills while travelling on a bus trough India.
Now this friend of mine is hiv+ and everybody knows, if correct that is, that one needs to swallow these little bastards on the dot every day. Now he still has a pile of pills, but the amount lost resembles a good month, so what to do?
Well, one doesn't panick because one goes to hospital or docter nearby and simply request prescription and voila, with help of ones medical insurance the pils will reappear like magic.
Well, thats at least how things should be!
But not in India.... and thats why I relate this story here, because there are more countries like India and when one is hiv+ and likes to travell, one should be able to improvise or deal with such eventualities.
He could get all his pills, but except one... seems like India has same 'conflict' going as some other countries have with other pharmaceutical companies and ergo, never for that particular pill an application for approval has been made and so that pill is not available in that country!
Now he asked his friends, etc.... that if anyone came to India within the next couple of weeks, he or she could collect that specific pill at his hospital and bring it with them and that he or she would get a statement in which it said for whom and why....
in short it was a general cry for help, otherwise, so he wrote, he had to fly back to The Netherlands in time so not to miss swallowing these little bastards/friends ;-)
I for one send him a reply & advice:
A. One can also use DHL or an equivalent parcelservice like FedExs, and they deliver to where ever the front door might be, and just within a couple of days at that!!;
B. Check if neighbouring countries can provide the pills you need, saves a lot of money compared with having to fly back to the netherlands;
C. Ask people, or NGO's in the country you are, or neighbouring countries if they can help you out with an emergency supply (and often they can do just that!!, and definitly after a handsome donation which they really can use very well)
D. Those organisations can also provide assitance for receiving pills send from abroad;
E. IN a real emergency, just fly out to the nearest 'western' style country and get your medication or treatment you need with all the proper fascilities.
As a (former) activist one can get creative and at least it prevents outright pannick if one spells out a series of options one has in case of emrgency.
Now I happened to have a customer in my bar at precent who talked to me about his ailments and medication, and he uses same pills as my dutch friend travelling trough India, so then one plus one is two I thought. because this customer of mine has plenty with him and allready said he was prepared to leave his surplus behind in case I could make someone happy with them in case of need.... and well, my dutch friend turns out to be just such a case!
So, now my dutch friend gets help from all the way from Phuket/Thailand, and I will use DHL and the pills will be dropped at where ever he stays, hotel , guesthouse, B&B or whatever. and if all goes to plan, for minimal cost of 2000 baht, between 40 and 50 euro's.
Now only thing we ned is a flawless excecution and my dutch friend can continue his travells trough India.... thanks to the modern wonders of..... internet ;-)
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Where were you on Obama's inauguration?
< right: one off Simons bosses, mr Oei, or Neet with in the back the big screen which had Mr Obama on it...though sadly the flash of the camera made the image of him fade away... but he was on it!!! LOL)
Thats a question I am sometimes curious about. People like to ask me: where were you on Obama's inauguration? And then they expect me to say: IN front of the TV in my house, or hotelroom..... because most farang (= non thai) where!! And that in itself is not so special because 12 midday Washington DC is midnight here in Thailand and 6 pm in Holland.
Well, I was not in front of the TV, at least not planning to, though I dearly wanted to hear his speech.... but then realising that CNN would undoubtedly broadcast enough repititions of it during the rest of the(ir) day .... Instead we, Kik and I, celebrated at a Thai BBQ restaurant the birthday of Mr. Rang by the way (the Thai pronounce the R as an L, so I am caled here Lob in stead of Rob, haha) who is one of the star performers at Simon Cabaret. And it was a big happy fun affair with plenty of food.
At these BBQ places one can eat as much as one can for 119 bath, which is roughly 2,50 euro's...and for that one can eat beef, chicken, pork, shrimps, clams, sausages, friend rice, noodles, eggs, the whole works actually.. and then they also have deserts ;-)
The ideal place for some people I know, haha
BUT when we arrived there, because to my dissapointment we had to be there at.... midnight!, so I was unable to watch the actual inauguration and here the speech life......, the big screen outdoors of the BBQ hall had the broadcasting on it of the Inauguration. So while we enjoyed the BBQ party, at least I could enjoy a view on the ceremony as it took place in Washington, though without sound, we could also celebrate properly mr Rangs birthday!
By the way, this celebration went so out of hand that a rehersal of Simons, scheduled for the next day at 3 PM had to be cancelled because too many staff suffered from all kinds of problems, like nausea, headachs, and all those little ailments one sometimes get when one parties & drink too much, haha .....
and yours truly? Well, as a god boy I went home relative early, while Kik stayed behind to continue party with his friends and collegues, watched the remainder of the inauguration broadcast from washington and had a peacefull sleep.
So, where was I on Obama's inauguration: at Mr Rangs birthday BBQ Party around the corner of the house Kik and I now live in ;-)
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
On the backseat of a motorbike and in a Deux Chevaux trough France
Mostly when I drive by motorbike in and around Patong Kik drives or takes care that some Thai friend of him, or staff of our bar, drives me where I want to go. Sometimes he let me drive myself but then shows allways a lot of care and worry and asks/pleads with me to be safe, to drive safe and make sure I arive back unharmed.
Now, nothing to be scared about, specially when driving myself, because indeed I am carefull, because motorbike drivers here are like wasps, musquito's or flies, however you want to describe them, haha
Motordrivers are like the mentioned musquito's, they are irritating, generally irrseponsible drivers and often think they can do anything and are invincible or indistructable.... often when I drive the bike here, or sit in the back seat I hum or even sing the song "suicide is painless".. so one can gues how I feel when I have to take part in the traffic that way!
But its also a lot of fun driving a bike here... the wind trough onces hair, because in the backseat one doesn't ned to wear a helmet, another strange rule of the Thai law, you also see more, and its generally cooler, meaning more wind that keeps you from getting too warm..and thats maybe the mainreason why so many 'farang', like me, enjoy these contraptions so much, specially at night!
Alcohol controls they never heard of here and Thai and farang a like just get on a bike with every amount of drinks in their bosy, as easily as they could step in a car or walk on the street. So when I leave the bar at night and drive home I am allways carefull to keep my distance from the other bikes, to take extra care looking to what tarffic comes from where and in general one can say I truly try to anticipate as much as is possible.... and sofar so good, touch wood!!
Bikes also come in all different sizes, mainly the amount of cc thhhat drives them forward. And tonight I sat on the back of Pongs motorbike, a guy, who is a dancer at Simon Cabaret and works in our bar after 11 pm till closing time.
First of all, my legs had to be placed allmost next of him and second when we came to the road that leads up to Kiks and my house, the bike really had a hard time getting us up... and that made me think of my brother and sister and me in the back of my mothers Deux Chevaux (Citroen) while she drove us to a destination in the south of France and she needed to climb a hill, with us and the car totally filled up with campingmaterial, foodsupplies, cloaths etc. One can these days hardly imagine how she did all that, stuff everything in the little car and managed to get us in there and then drive 1000 km or more to our destination, but okay she did. But when we were most wondeirng if we would ever arrive was when the car needed to get uphill, which happend a lot on our way trough France. At times we even got out of the car and sometimes even had to push. Well those days are over for those driving our modern cars.....
BUt today I got a deja vu when sitting on Pongs motorbike..... halfway up our little hill he needed to use his feet to keep us going up the hill... and happy to say, I arrived safe and sound at the top and hence I am able now to write this little entry again. Happy, safe at my table in my home here in patong!
And also happy that last year I bought a strong motorbike for Kik, so we never experience that situation, haha
But it brought back some memories, which, over the time past, are now only nostalgic, good memories... but at the time I know we sometimes had big urges to curse and most likely one or al of did at times, even knowing that our mother did her best to give us a holiday we would not easily forget..... adn in that she succeded most of the time!
Now, nothing to be scared about, specially when driving myself, because indeed I am carefull, because motorbike drivers here are like wasps, musquito's or flies, however you want to describe them, haha
Motordrivers are like the mentioned musquito's, they are irritating, generally irrseponsible drivers and often think they can do anything and are invincible or indistructable.... often when I drive the bike here, or sit in the back seat I hum or even sing the song "suicide is painless".. so one can gues how I feel when I have to take part in the traffic that way!
But its also a lot of fun driving a bike here... the wind trough onces hair, because in the backseat one doesn't ned to wear a helmet, another strange rule of the Thai law, you also see more, and its generally cooler, meaning more wind that keeps you from getting too warm..and thats maybe the mainreason why so many 'farang', like me, enjoy these contraptions so much, specially at night!
Alcohol controls they never heard of here and Thai and farang a like just get on a bike with every amount of drinks in their bosy, as easily as they could step in a car or walk on the street. So when I leave the bar at night and drive home I am allways carefull to keep my distance from the other bikes, to take extra care looking to what tarffic comes from where and in general one can say I truly try to anticipate as much as is possible.... and sofar so good, touch wood!!
Bikes also come in all different sizes, mainly the amount of cc thhhat drives them forward. And tonight I sat on the back of Pongs motorbike, a guy, who is a dancer at Simon Cabaret and works in our bar after 11 pm till closing time.
First of all, my legs had to be placed allmost next of him and second when we came to the road that leads up to Kiks and my house, the bike really had a hard time getting us up... and that made me think of my brother and sister and me in the back of my mothers Deux Chevaux (Citroen) while she drove us to a destination in the south of France and she needed to climb a hill, with us and the car totally filled up with campingmaterial, foodsupplies, cloaths etc. One can these days hardly imagine how she did all that, stuff everything in the little car and managed to get us in there and then drive 1000 km or more to our destination, but okay she did. But when we were most wondeirng if we would ever arrive was when the car needed to get uphill, which happend a lot on our way trough France. At times we even got out of the car and sometimes even had to push. Well those days are over for those driving our modern cars.....
BUt today I got a deja vu when sitting on Pongs motorbike..... halfway up our little hill he needed to use his feet to keep us going up the hill... and happy to say, I arrived safe and sound at the top and hence I am able now to write this little entry again. Happy, safe at my table in my home here in patong!
And also happy that last year I bought a strong motorbike for Kik, so we never experience that situation, haha
But it brought back some memories, which, over the time past, are now only nostalgic, good memories... but at the time I know we sometimes had big urges to curse and most likely one or al of did at times, even knowing that our mother did her best to give us a holiday we would not easily forget..... adn in that she succeded most of the time!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Het is weer eens zover plus....
Zit nu op het terrasje van 'mijn' bar, in de lounge-area achter mijn laptop. De internetverbinding in het huis ligt er weer eens uit en dat blokkeert het normalere werk wat ik bij tijd en wijlen achter de PC tracht te doen, zoals entries voor mijn weblog, beantwoorden e-mails, e.d. Sedert gisteren ga ik nu maar gewoon met computer naar de bar toe.
Gisteren werd ik voorgesteld aan en nieuwe kracht die hier mogelijk in de bar komt werken. Een paar dagen ervoor was ik aan "O" voorgesteld, die ook in de bar wilde komen werken. de nieuwe kracht, uit Ubon, luistert naar de voor ons zeer ongebruikelijke naam van "Homo". Naturlijk roept dat bij een deel van de bezoekers een glimlach op, die echter dor hem niet wordt begrepen. Uitleggen heeft geen zin, want de goede knul, net als O, verstat geen engels!
ja, je leest het goed, geen engels!! Nu had ik expliciet gevraagd dat nieuwe jongens in ieder geval enig basis engels machtig zijn, maar dat mag blijkbaar niet baten, haha
Maar goed, aan de andere kant het zijn beide lieve en bereid tot werken zijnde jongens en wij zitten erg omhoog voor wat betreft handjes in de bar, tja, en wat doe je dan he?
Het zorgt er in ieder geval voor datik nog meer vastgepint zit bij de bar, want ik kan wel verstan wat de klanten willen en kan dat dan proberen uit te leggen aan de jongens, resp. ervoor zorgen dat er niets misgaat wat de klanten geergerd kan doen raken ;-)
Ach, je vervelt je zo in iede rgeval niet zo snel, denk ik dan mar :-)
Gelukkig is het nu mooi weer en zijn de memnsen op stap resp. liggen ze aan het strand te bakken en te braden. De meeste klanten komen dan ook pas rond ene uur of 6 resp. na het eten, rond 7/8 uur. Alleen als je iets echt aantrekkelijks weet te organiseren willen ze mischien ietsje eerder komen........... maar dat, zo heb ik ook tijdens de afgelopen festdagen gemerkt, is hel erg lastig en uitzonderlijk. Heb toen gezien dat zeer gerenommeerde hotels en organisaties prachtige festen met vermaak organiseerde maar ondanks dat er maar weinig gasten op afkwamen. Wij waren met onze simpele activiteiten nog gelukkig wat delname betreft. Het blijft, ook voor een kleine tent zoals de onze, zoeken naar wat de tourist resp. de lokalen, wel beroerd om te komen..... en we zijn niet bepaald de enig zoekende !!
Zeker nu met de relatief lage touristen aantallen, wordt en is het moeilijk.
Ben benieuwd naar de toekomst, maar goed, wie is dat haast niet?
Misschien de Thai zelf, want die lijken zich er niet zo mee bezig te houden, althans de 'gewone man/vrouw' .
Morgen de inaugeratie van Obama als 44e president van de Verenigde Staten. IK hoop dat de mensen niet te grote verwachtingen van hem hebben.... de man staat voor een haast onmogeijke opgave. We gan het allemaal merken.
Een nieuwe Roosevelt of Lincoln, of 'gewoon' Obama. Ik hop dat hij enige succes zal boeken al was het aleen maar vanwege de wereld economie. En vervolgens hoop ik dat er een gezondere economische wereld verhouding komt, zonder enige doorslaggevende economische wereldmacht, maar een meerstabiele situatie waarin mensen ook niet meer op hol slaan als een kudde dieren bij oververhitte reportages van journalisten over wat er in een bepaald land gebeurd waardoor ook veel gezondere economien in het slob worden meegetrokken omdat de kudde nu eenmaal op hol slaat.
Zal ongetwijfrld van alles mis zijn met die gedachte, maar kan er niets aan doen dat ik nu al de hele tijd denk dat het grooste deel van deze economisch/financiele crises tussen de oren zit van in de eerste plaats journalisten en in de tweede plaats de mensen zelf.
Zelf ben ik er inmiddels ook 'uitgebreid' slachtoffer van doordat de verkoop van mijn huis in november niet is doorgegaan vanwege juist die berichtgeving.
De huizenmarkt cijfers in Nederland en in Delft, bevestigen ook dat beeld.
Ik zelf raak niet in paniek van al die berichten, maar wel kan ik het soms benauwd krijgen van een kudde die op hol slaat en dat het niet eenvoudig is die weer tot rust te krijgen en terug naar normaliteit. Die kudde trouwens, zijn niet alleen de gewone man in de straat, maar beslist ook al de bankdirecteuren en CEO's die zelf aan de wortel van de problemen heben gestaan en nu ineens als gekken compleet de andere kant op rennen. Je zou juist van deze gasten verwachten dat ze een breedere visie heben en minder paniekerig zouden reageren op wat er alemaal gebeurd. Maar goed, deels is het denk ik schuldgevoel met betrekking tot hun eigen stommiteiten ;-)
Maar goed, mogelijk ben ik zo'n typisch geval van stuurman die aan wal staat en het beter weet. Dat laatste weet ik niet, maar ben wel iemand die gelooft dat vaak de aanval beter is dan de verdediging, maar goed, dat is gevoel.
Obama, sterkte en wijsheid, zeker vanaf morgen!
Thai, eveneens terkte en wijsheid maar ook beter inzicht in elkaar en begrip en acceptatie, liefst met terugwerkende kracht!
En ik? ook k sterkte en wijsheid, en een beetje geluk en ene niet in paniekrakende bank, LOL, en dat eveneens vanaf heden!!
Het gaat namenlijk allemaal goed komen, en als we collectief er ook van leren, dan is het allemaal ook misschien nog de moeite waard geweest en komen we weer in een ietsje beter functionerende wereld terecht!!
knuffels, R
ps en let niet op die typefoutjes aub, haha
Gisteren werd ik voorgesteld aan en nieuwe kracht die hier mogelijk in de bar komt werken. Een paar dagen ervoor was ik aan "O" voorgesteld, die ook in de bar wilde komen werken. de nieuwe kracht, uit Ubon, luistert naar de voor ons zeer ongebruikelijke naam van "Homo". Naturlijk roept dat bij een deel van de bezoekers een glimlach op, die echter dor hem niet wordt begrepen. Uitleggen heeft geen zin, want de goede knul, net als O, verstat geen engels!
ja, je leest het goed, geen engels!! Nu had ik expliciet gevraagd dat nieuwe jongens in ieder geval enig basis engels machtig zijn, maar dat mag blijkbaar niet baten, haha
Maar goed, aan de andere kant het zijn beide lieve en bereid tot werken zijnde jongens en wij zitten erg omhoog voor wat betreft handjes in de bar, tja, en wat doe je dan he?
Het zorgt er in ieder geval voor datik nog meer vastgepint zit bij de bar, want ik kan wel verstan wat de klanten willen en kan dat dan proberen uit te leggen aan de jongens, resp. ervoor zorgen dat er niets misgaat wat de klanten geergerd kan doen raken ;-)
Ach, je vervelt je zo in iede rgeval niet zo snel, denk ik dan mar :-)
Gelukkig is het nu mooi weer en zijn de memnsen op stap resp. liggen ze aan het strand te bakken en te braden. De meeste klanten komen dan ook pas rond ene uur of 6 resp. na het eten, rond 7/8 uur. Alleen als je iets echt aantrekkelijks weet te organiseren willen ze mischien ietsje eerder komen........... maar dat, zo heb ik ook tijdens de afgelopen festdagen gemerkt, is hel erg lastig en uitzonderlijk. Heb toen gezien dat zeer gerenommeerde hotels en organisaties prachtige festen met vermaak organiseerde maar ondanks dat er maar weinig gasten op afkwamen. Wij waren met onze simpele activiteiten nog gelukkig wat delname betreft. Het blijft, ook voor een kleine tent zoals de onze, zoeken naar wat de tourist resp. de lokalen, wel beroerd om te komen..... en we zijn niet bepaald de enig zoekende !!
Zeker nu met de relatief lage touristen aantallen, wordt en is het moeilijk.
Ben benieuwd naar de toekomst, maar goed, wie is dat haast niet?
Misschien de Thai zelf, want die lijken zich er niet zo mee bezig te houden, althans de 'gewone man/vrouw' .
Morgen de inaugeratie van Obama als 44e president van de Verenigde Staten. IK hoop dat de mensen niet te grote verwachtingen van hem hebben.... de man staat voor een haast onmogeijke opgave. We gan het allemaal merken.
Een nieuwe Roosevelt of Lincoln, of 'gewoon' Obama. Ik hop dat hij enige succes zal boeken al was het aleen maar vanwege de wereld economie. En vervolgens hoop ik dat er een gezondere economische wereld verhouding komt, zonder enige doorslaggevende economische wereldmacht, maar een meerstabiele situatie waarin mensen ook niet meer op hol slaan als een kudde dieren bij oververhitte reportages van journalisten over wat er in een bepaald land gebeurd waardoor ook veel gezondere economien in het slob worden meegetrokken omdat de kudde nu eenmaal op hol slaat.
Zal ongetwijfrld van alles mis zijn met die gedachte, maar kan er niets aan doen dat ik nu al de hele tijd denk dat het grooste deel van deze economisch/financiele crises tussen de oren zit van in de eerste plaats journalisten en in de tweede plaats de mensen zelf.
Zelf ben ik er inmiddels ook 'uitgebreid' slachtoffer van doordat de verkoop van mijn huis in november niet is doorgegaan vanwege juist die berichtgeving.
De huizenmarkt cijfers in Nederland en in Delft, bevestigen ook dat beeld.
Ik zelf raak niet in paniek van al die berichten, maar wel kan ik het soms benauwd krijgen van een kudde die op hol slaat en dat het niet eenvoudig is die weer tot rust te krijgen en terug naar normaliteit. Die kudde trouwens, zijn niet alleen de gewone man in de straat, maar beslist ook al de bankdirecteuren en CEO's die zelf aan de wortel van de problemen heben gestaan en nu ineens als gekken compleet de andere kant op rennen. Je zou juist van deze gasten verwachten dat ze een breedere visie heben en minder paniekerig zouden reageren op wat er alemaal gebeurd. Maar goed, deels is het denk ik schuldgevoel met betrekking tot hun eigen stommiteiten ;-)
Maar goed, mogelijk ben ik zo'n typisch geval van stuurman die aan wal staat en het beter weet. Dat laatste weet ik niet, maar ben wel iemand die gelooft dat vaak de aanval beter is dan de verdediging, maar goed, dat is gevoel.
Obama, sterkte en wijsheid, zeker vanaf morgen!
Thai, eveneens terkte en wijsheid maar ook beter inzicht in elkaar en begrip en acceptatie, liefst met terugwerkende kracht!
En ik? ook k sterkte en wijsheid, en een beetje geluk en ene niet in paniekrakende bank, LOL, en dat eveneens vanaf heden!!
Het gaat namenlijk allemaal goed komen, en als we collectief er ook van leren, dan is het allemaal ook misschien nog de moeite waard geweest en komen we weer in een ietsje beter functionerende wereld terecht!!
knuffels, R
ps en let niet op die typefoutjes aub, haha
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Nieuwe weblog in de lucht/ New weblog in the air....
Well, our little bar has gone virtual with its own website, BUT because its operator isn't that handy, we decided to make a link from the website to a weblog, on which I can keep everybody a little bit up to date and people, customers, can react as well.
the adress is www.jbbarpatongphuket.blogspot.com . I know, its a long name but O well....
In it I hope to keep everybody posted on developments in our bar area, next to the www.thaidutchmarriage.blogspot.com, which tries to follow the married life between a thai and a dutch guy (now all about after THE event ofcourse)
ANd the only thing you should hope for is, that the writer/filler of these 3 weblogs doesn't get fet up with it all....and stops entering his contributions, in which case I would say: stirr him up then. Like Walace and Frans did earlier this week. They made me feel quilty and realise that I quickly send long e-mails home in reply but forgot all the time to put news or interesting gossip or whatever here on these weblogs....
well, hope to become better, uhum, for as long as it lasts ofcourse, haha
the adress is www.jbbarpatongphuket.blogspot.com . I know, its a long name but O well....
In it I hope to keep everybody posted on developments in our bar area, next to the www.thaidutchmarriage.blogspot.com, which tries to follow the married life between a thai and a dutch guy (now all about after THE event ofcourse)
ANd the only thing you should hope for is, that the writer/filler of these 3 weblogs doesn't get fet up with it all....and stops entering his contributions, in which case I would say: stirr him up then. Like Walace and Frans did earlier this week. They made me feel quilty and realise that I quickly send long e-mails home in reply but forgot all the time to put news or interesting gossip or whatever here on these weblogs....
well, hope to become better, uhum, for as long as it lasts ofcourse, haha
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
9th of January!
2005, a day I never forget!
It was the day of my mother departing to the 'other side' as one can say in nice covered up words ;-)
This year, like last year, my brother and sister, and me, remembered that occasion together! How> you might ask yourself, while being so far apart from each other... because they were not here with me in Patong Phuket. Simply: we send simultaniously sms to each other at the exact time when my mother passed away, 5.58 pm, or in Thai time 11.58 pm! And we bring out a toast to her same time.I can assure you, it makes one feel very close to once brother and sister, even while 10.000 km apart!!
This year I made my toast in a very unusual way, but very symbolically in the Thai way: by letting up in the air a hot air lampoon, on which I had written a message to my mother.
I did that at he exact time, and while letting the lampoon go and watch it go up in the night air at the Beach of Patong, it went directly to the almost full moon, my phone gave sounds of coming in sms... from my brother and sister! They must have received mine at around the same time.
It was, like last year, highly emotional for me and though Kik joined me at the beach for this little personal ceremony, one can not help feel alone for a moment, very alone... kowing the one and only unconditional love one has in once live was again gone forever.... but same time I felt joy, because my Mom felt so near, so close..........
I hope one year we might exprience this ritual together.
So this year my glass was not a real glass with a drink in it, but this lampoon. The drink and additional extra toast I made afterwards when I returned with Kik at my bar.......
and then we started celebrating Life again, like last year :-)
And the year before, directly after my mothers death and again after her funeral on the 16th.......... a tradition I cherish and hope the three of us can enjoy doing it for a long time. And maybe one day again we can do it together again as well ;-)
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Running a Bar in Patong is something different allright -1-
When I arrived in Patong on the 10th of October I quickly got involved in J&B Bar, which lies outside the main gay soi (=street) in Paradise Complex, the gay quarter of Phuket's Patong Beach. The be more exact, J&B lies on the other end of what, all in all is a very small area and it takes not more then 20/30 seconds to get from one end to the other..... but being lasy tourist (not to mention the Thai themselves, its rather out of the mainstream.
Due to circumstances, which have to do with trying to rescue as much as we could from a loan given by Kik to the (previous)owner, that I decided to take over the bar by the 1st of November. All ofcourse in close contact and cooperation with Kik.
For me it was a low investment and a big learning opportunity about what it is to do business here in Thailand and in a gay setting at that!
People who I know in Bangkok adviced me last year to start small before going for bigger fish, just to learn with minimum risk involved. Well, this take over was the ideal opportunity for just that!
Location not ideal, neighbouring bars and restaurants not ideal... all in all one would not so easily step in a place like that BUT there's also the challenge.. and more then plenty for that there!
The Location.
As I said before, not ideal, out of the mainstream.... so why considering it at all? Because it gives the opportunity to try out things/formula's etc without too big a chance on loosing (too much) face by accepting the challenge at all and easier to put it down as a learning opportunity and experience.
The Neighbours.
The neighbours are all Thai owned bars and as such same kind of management. Meaning, not very consequential, changing minds an attitudes by the day, very hard to get to work together and what they do not understand they fight.. let alone the language problems.... hardly any of them speak decent english. Surprising yes because of the industry they work in, which is entertaining mainly foreigners who speak english, german, french or whatever but in general all understand and speak english.... except then most of their hosts ;-) Ergo communication without misunderstandings is rather a big challenge1 Maybe also because sometimes they simply don't like to understand you! And they do not easily admit when they do not understand you, so when one hears "yes, I understand" its allmost becomming an artform for a farang (= caucasian foreigner, like me) to determine if they do or don't... and then still you can be very wrong, haha
The busines itself.
J&B Bar, at the time I took over was a moneyboy bar, as they call it here. In other words, the staf was for rent/hire to go with the customer for his pleasure and entertainment. Next to that ofcourse they work in the bar and make it all functioning. I will not go into details but I suddenly found myself heading a 'rent-a-friend' busines, for a couple of hours, a day, week or longer!
NOw that was not what I would call an original bar for Paradise Complex, practically all the bars and restaurants within that complex are such locations where one can take off bar members of staff!
As I told Kik, I didn't mind all these challenges but I wouldn't like to run boys as a kind of pimp or madam. That simply isn't me and I don't like it though I respect all who do, as long as its done with honesty!
I decided that the first 5 weeks I would only observe and see what happened in and around the bar before choosing with Kik the way to turn the place in something we could relate to.
The bar at the time of take over was not running wel anymore due to tirednes of the owner, who also was a dear friend of Kik.
When I took over he stayed on, as all the the rest off the staff........ so for a while at least I had to be also, as they call it here, a kind of Mamma San.......... O, and before you think or ask it: No, I did not testdrive my workers in that specific area of their work, haha
Due to circumstances, which have to do with trying to rescue as much as we could from a loan given by Kik to the (previous)owner, that I decided to take over the bar by the 1st of November. All ofcourse in close contact and cooperation with Kik.
For me it was a low investment and a big learning opportunity about what it is to do business here in Thailand and in a gay setting at that!
People who I know in Bangkok adviced me last year to start small before going for bigger fish, just to learn with minimum risk involved. Well, this take over was the ideal opportunity for just that!
Location not ideal, neighbouring bars and restaurants not ideal... all in all one would not so easily step in a place like that BUT there's also the challenge.. and more then plenty for that there!
The Location.
As I said before, not ideal, out of the mainstream.... so why considering it at all? Because it gives the opportunity to try out things/formula's etc without too big a chance on loosing (too much) face by accepting the challenge at all and easier to put it down as a learning opportunity and experience.
The Neighbours.
The neighbours are all Thai owned bars and as such same kind of management. Meaning, not very consequential, changing minds an attitudes by the day, very hard to get to work together and what they do not understand they fight.. let alone the language problems.... hardly any of them speak decent english. Surprising yes because of the industry they work in, which is entertaining mainly foreigners who speak english, german, french or whatever but in general all understand and speak english.... except then most of their hosts ;-) Ergo communication without misunderstandings is rather a big challenge1 Maybe also because sometimes they simply don't like to understand you! And they do not easily admit when they do not understand you, so when one hears "yes, I understand" its allmost becomming an artform for a farang (= caucasian foreigner, like me) to determine if they do or don't... and then still you can be very wrong, haha
The busines itself.
J&B Bar, at the time I took over was a moneyboy bar, as they call it here. In other words, the staf was for rent/hire to go with the customer for his pleasure and entertainment. Next to that ofcourse they work in the bar and make it all functioning. I will not go into details but I suddenly found myself heading a 'rent-a-friend' busines, for a couple of hours, a day, week or longer!
NOw that was not what I would call an original bar for Paradise Complex, practically all the bars and restaurants within that complex are such locations where one can take off bar members of staff!
As I told Kik, I didn't mind all these challenges but I wouldn't like to run boys as a kind of pimp or madam. That simply isn't me and I don't like it though I respect all who do, as long as its done with honesty!
I decided that the first 5 weeks I would only observe and see what happened in and around the bar before choosing with Kik the way to turn the place in something we could relate to.
The bar at the time of take over was not running wel anymore due to tirednes of the owner, who also was a dear friend of Kik.
When I took over he stayed on, as all the the rest off the staff........ so for a while at least I had to be also, as they call it here, a kind of Mamma San.......... O, and before you think or ask it: No, I did not testdrive my workers in that specific area of their work, haha
Glasses lost and found... and a pool
This morning I started working on my weblogs again. I finshed the little story about my Thai wedding on my "thaidutchwedding" blogsite and my good intentions for the new year.when I discoverd on Kik's return from prayer in temple, that I could not find my glasses anymore.
Where did I leave them???
Now I suddenly remembered I must have had them on my head when I jumped into our little swimmingpol in the back of our house here in Patong Phuket, which I manage to rent officially since the 1st of december last year.
I asked Kik if he could see them... at least I was unable to! But also Kik could not see the glasses... but then they are mainly glass anyway, lol, and glass in water is hard to find!
I again searched al the house but when nothing turned up I asked Kik to look again in the pool while I jumped in to search on the bottom with my hands........
and so it happened: I jumped in, submerched and while Kik was shouting to be carefull, I went down and searched with my hands and half opened eyes on the bottom of our pool......and gues what? They were down under on the bottom allright!
Now I have again, well cleaned and clear glasses again and a big relief as well... would have hated to have to buy new ones. Not that they are nearly as expensive as in Holland, but noentheles it would have been quite unnecessary.
Where did I leave them???
Now I suddenly remembered I must have had them on my head when I jumped into our little swimmingpol in the back of our house here in Patong Phuket, which I manage to rent officially since the 1st of december last year.
I asked Kik if he could see them... at least I was unable to! But also Kik could not see the glasses... but then they are mainly glass anyway, lol, and glass in water is hard to find!
I again searched al the house but when nothing turned up I asked Kik to look again in the pool while I jumped in to search on the bottom with my hands........
and so it happened: I jumped in, submerched and while Kik was shouting to be carefull, I went down and searched with my hands and half opened eyes on the bottom of our pool......and gues what? They were down under on the bottom allright!
Now I have again, well cleaned and clear glasses again and a big relief as well... would have hated to have to buy new ones. Not that they are nearly as expensive as in Holland, but noentheles it would have been quite unnecessary.
Better reporter in 2009?????
OK, some friends from al over our little planet start complaining why I do not keep up the reporting on my two weblogs...... and well, in a way they are right. Simply because I have been silent for too long now.
Why? Simple: too busy, too occupied (lousy excuses, true) but also lousy internet connections, been very very tired and so allways the so called more important things got done first.......
My intention for 2009 is to better myself, to get more time for myself and time to rst and sit down also to learn Thai and type some reports about what's happening here and in Holland and how I look at some events taking place!
One day it will be mostly flash backs over the period not reported yet, parts will be about present "trials and tribulations" of a dutch guy in SE Asia & Europe/The Netherlands.
Lets see if I an keep up my promise to better myself... but don't crucify me if I am not allways able to. Then think that I might also sufer from periods of tiredness, or simply being to pre occupied with all kinds of stuff because starting a new life with Kik, is not easy... one foot in Thailand and the other in Holland.... not to mention the credit crises with all its consequences, also for me! BUT happy to say, its maybe easier in Thailand to ride out that particular storm then in Europe/Holland, specially when there's a real winter going on for the first time in years! ;-)
Why? Simple: too busy, too occupied (lousy excuses, true) but also lousy internet connections, been very very tired and so allways the so called more important things got done first.......
My intention for 2009 is to better myself, to get more time for myself and time to rst and sit down also to learn Thai and type some reports about what's happening here and in Holland and how I look at some events taking place!
One day it will be mostly flash backs over the period not reported yet, parts will be about present "trials and tribulations" of a dutch guy in SE Asia & Europe/The Netherlands.
Lets see if I an keep up my promise to better myself... but don't crucify me if I am not allways able to. Then think that I might also sufer from periods of tiredness, or simply being to pre occupied with all kinds of stuff because starting a new life with Kik, is not easy... one foot in Thailand and the other in Holland.... not to mention the credit crises with all its consequences, also for me! BUT happy to say, its maybe easier in Thailand to ride out that particular storm then in Europe/Holland, specially when there's a real winter going on for the first time in years! ;-)
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