ThailandTony
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Posts posted by ThailandTony
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Shamelessly off topic....Seperated at birth, our own Prince Charles & Prince Vaji'?
see headline pic at http://www.pattayamail.com/
....go on, tell me i'm wrong!
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Today was another great day in Isaan! It all started with me getting larey with the long-haired general before being reminded of my position as the bread-winner, travel agent, tour guide and taxi driver, ie....i'm the doer and she's the thinker. Apology accepted (mine to her) and we could finish breakfast and I get away lightly with a few camel bites to the area formerly known as "triceps".
Now when I say breakfast of course I mean the boonie hotel special, fried eggs with oil, untoasted toast, hot dogs who have the ends cut to resemble the inside of that fly eating plant and of course tea with coffee mate, mate. The food is predictably cold and the tea, well lets just say that a battalion of gnats were out on the raz last night and decided to relieve themselves next to the coffee cups. So after we had skipped repeating yesterdays lesson today it was down the market for some proper food, fish on a stick and sticky rice....yum!
Our first stop was at the school, my wife loves this bit, the kids break up from school in Bahrain for their Christmas or summer holidays and then we come to Thailand, guess what, they get to go back to school! All of their cousins are at school so they want to be there, what great kids! Suitably relieved of their luxuries like iPods and GameBoys, they blend right back in. Back doors shut and were off to the grandparents house round the corner.
Now anyone who knows me knows I love my hammock, in fact I love any hammock! I always have one or more in the pick-up but have been known to selfishly dive in an empty one given half a chance. Anyway, for 2 days I have coveted a particular hammock that I am familiar with after several visits to this locale this year. It is in the centre of the covered porch right next to the water buffalo pen. Why would anybody want to jump in a hammock next to, literally, a shed full of bullshit?.....because its the centre of the household. Nobody comes or goes and nothing is missed from this vantage point. This morning most of the senior family members were going into Ubon to do a bit of bizness and with the kids at school I was in like Flynn.
Peeboo the dog was the first to catch my attention. I've been watching him the last couple of days and he's got it made. I'm partial to a few chicken drummers at tea time and he's partial to anything I don't eat, so the 1st night he's there patiently waiting as I finish one he gets to crunch on the bone. As he eats 4 times faster than I do, there is alot of downtime for him where he's trying to look casual whilst I gnaw at another one. Anyway, 2nd night, chicken drummers come out and theres no sign of Peeboo. Dirty bastard I thought, not only is he into my chicken legs he's out giving some bitch the good news. Well he is a handsome little sod so when he comes trotting in with a "wheres my chicken legs" look on his face and grass hanging from his foreskin I knew he was living la vida loca. Anyway, this morning, i've just gotten horizontal when I see him make an uncharacteristic bolt across the neighbouring field and immediately mount the subject of his affections. It must have been a little to public for her coz she led him round the back of the chicken shed and let him give her a good seeing to.
Next to come in under my radar was yai (another ubiquitous term for any woman old enough to be your grandmother...caution, to be used very carefully, when meeting a woman for the first time who is borderline granny, stick with mer (mother) until her indoors has qualified the right terminology). Yai was sporting her regular polyester/nylon mix camisole, the type that all the old ladies wear when they hit 35, but this one had a particular low cut arm pit so that given the right view (read anything instead of immediately head on) and angle (head bowed or lower), you were immediately transported into the 1960's National geographic special where David Attenborough is trying to look suave whilst a whole village of women crowd around him somewhere in the Amazon basin with the longest tits know to man, until now that is. Unfazed, I had a quiet word with Mrs T along the lines that Yai might want to put on her no. 1 camisole to go into Ubon, the red one with the slightly tighter sleeves.
Fashion disaster averted and pickup to Ubon departed, it was me, granddad and Tae, and as granddad kept giving me the evil eye I decided to relinquish the hammock to him and decamp down to the reservoir edge as per my previous post. Polishing off another few hundred pages and checking my watch, it would be lunch time at the school soon which was more than enough reason to load up on ice creams and head down to the school gates and embarrass the kids.
I noticed on the way that the potholes in the main road from the village to the highway were getting some TLC. It reminded me of our own village road a few years ago. You spend 2 years winding your way around cavernous potholes during the day and axle breaking events by night, only for the district governor to fill in all the holes a week before the election!....only for the shit that they put in there to have all come out by the time the ink on the ballot paper is dry and he's in office for another few years. This is obviously a well rehearsed tactic as that was exactly what they were doing here.
The day closed with us all getting the blessings of the old ladies with lots of string round the wrists and us promising to come back and visit soon, as we head home to Chaiyaphum tomorrow.
Happy days....TT
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Joe, praise indeed, unsought but most welcome...
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Nice 3 week break back in Thailand after my toils in the Gulf since July. We're having a week up in Ubon before returning home to Chaiyaphum for the remaining 2 weeks. Beautiful up here near the Sirindhorn Dam, rellies place is about 300m from the reservoir cross country and the Vigo eats it for breakfast. Then its just me and the grazing water buffalos down by the water. I set up my go-anywhere hammock between 2 suitably distanced trees in a large clump of them so that you’re shaded for most of the day. Then its grass mat down, ice-bucket and Leo expertly positioned and book in hand, work feels like a lifetime ago, instead of just a few days. I did my 1st 300 page book in 24 hours and now realise I need to visit a decent book shop on the way back to Chaiyaphum before reading matter gets critically low. Staying in a new hotel in Phibun Mangsahan this trip as the bungalows we normally stay in on the bank of the Sirindhorn reservoir were fully booked. Nice and clean for 850 Baht per night.
Some of the family live up in the mountains on the Laos border and I heard they were harvesting rubber, so always looking to learn something new we jumped in the pickup and scooted past Chong Mek (Thai-Laos border post) and up into the hills. This was the first time I had visited this family's home, even though I had met them previously at another relatives place. Even so, they made me feel like a visiting prince and I reciprocated with goodies for all the kids. Not a soul asked for a beer or a sniff of rubbing alcohol which was very refreshing. The Vigo then got to work getting us up to where the rubber tree's were planted and the whole way up I was getting all the economics of rubber farming from "papa" in my usual Q&A session, from someone who has more knowledge than me on a subject. He showed me through the whole process from shaving the tree bark, collecting the sap, drying it in the sun and running it through a mangle into 1Kg blankets. Gave me alot of ideas for our farm in Chaiyaphum and we ended our trip with a run round gathering a couple of hundred seed pods and saplings to take back with us. If you've never seen a rubber tree plantation it reminds me of how the army plant trees, in straight lines, shoulder to shoulder, equal distances apart. The trunk grows about 5 metres before it branches and the spacing ensures the canopy is dense enough so that when you are under the trees you are completely shaded with a nice breeze running between the trunks it was idyllic!....perfect hammock slinging territory!
Just before we set-off, papa (ubiquitous term for any male who is older than me) set about a 3-inch thick bamboo stem on a 20+ foot bamboo, cutting it down and then into about 4 foot sections, basically cutting after every second knuckle that you get on bamboo. This was slung in the back of the pickup (did I say how much I love my Vigo....lol) with the explanation from the missus that it was for papa.
After, we negotiated our way back off the mountain we got back to the family home where numbers had tripled and another visit to the local shop was required to stock up on more goodies for the kiddies. My new best friend who runs the shop now knew what was on my shopping list and promptly filled up 3 carrier bags with the required treasures. Back at the family home another cottage industry was in full flow with all of the women weaving the baskets they use to steam sticky rice over the aluminium cauldrons that are everywhere in this part of the world. 5 Baht per basket and 10 baskets per day is the norm! This explained the bamboo in the back of the pickup but when I asked Tae if I should unload it she looked at me as if I had grown a 3rd head and when I reminded her that she said it was for papa, she said yes, more golden silence then the penny dropped, "not this papa, papa!", this was code for the kids grandfather who we were visiting, if only the Germans had let the Thai's programme the Enigma device, we would all be speaking German and Bangkok would have a bullet train link direct to Tokyo! I digress. I had a go at the weaving and it was fun, it must have been coz all the women were wetting themselves! I love being the fool in this part of the world, at 6ft and 280lbs I can be a bit scarry to the average rural Isaanite, but I always let Tae shove me around and tell me off for joking about as this never fails to break the ice, she's 5ft in heels and 100lbs in a soaking wet duffle-coat.
Later we saw the people who buy the baskets visiting most of the houses in this village and driving off with probably a 1000 or so in the back of their pickup. We later saw the pickup at the market in Chong Mek so that was the whole cycle, I felt like i'd just lived a Discovery Channel "How its made" programme from cut bamboo to re-sale.
Anyway that’s about it for my 1st day back. Lots of snakes about at the moment, saw 4 yesterday alone, a python and 3 nasty looking buggers who were all at least 5ft long.
It's great to be back, cheers....TT.
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Hi All
We had the same problems with water and smell when showering and decided on a large filter outside for showered water and a small extra filter in the thai sala kitchen so that it gets a second filtering for drinking. Just to make sure as i'm paranoid about this kind of stuff' I then boiled the water and cooled it off in the fridge. Result... great drinking water every, maybe a bit excessive but safe and tastes fine. No further problems with minerals and smell after that. However the down side is you have to keep cleaning the filters every 6-12 months. We have two bored water wells on our land feeding house and gardens as we do not have mains supply yet in the village/town close by. They talk of it arriving soon but i'm not sure you need it as its just another added cost you can do without i guess.
Jay
Nice bit of lawn Jay, did you turf it or sow it?....Want to get something similar going at our place this winter so we don't have red mud on the bottom of our shoes again next summer.
Cheers.
TT.
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Anyone who's never had a Thai BBQ don't know what they've been missing! Since I have been toing and froing between the village and work in the Middle East for the last couple of years its become a bit of a tradition that I always take out the family group on the last night before going, kind of a send-off dinner (on me of course...lol).
In a nut shell it comprises a table top charcoal burner in an open air restaurant. All of the food is laid out buffet style and you can select a number of ready cooked dishes for a starter whilst the charcoal gets going and the main food cooks. The staff are structured in order of attractiveness it seems, with the poor crooked teeth girl delivering the hot burners whilst the pretty girls with the dazzling smiles serve up the drinks (hmmmm...now where have I seen that played out before?). Basically its all you can eat and the price depends on your height, ala theme park style, where we live if your under 1.20m its 59Bt, and 79Bt for those not vertically challenged! This is great for the Thai's as they are naturally considerate (greng jai) of their hosts (until they get a bellyfull of Khao Lao...lol) but as its all you can eat they can go mad! Also, we are about 20km from the city and alot of our family don't get into the city much so they don their glad rags (usually reserved for temple visits) and its a big night out in the city!
The circular aluminium cooking thingy (can't think of another way to describe it...lol) that goes on top of the charcoal burner has a domed bit with slots in it in the centre for cooking the meat on and a trough around the outside where you cook the soup. Starting with the stock that comes in teapots you fill up the trough and throw in a load of salad and anything you want to boil. On top goes the meat. Alot of the meats are marinated and there is plenty of choice of meat, sea food and veggies/salad. Everyone tends their side of the bbq, normally one between 3-4 persons, and helps themselves to whatever is cooked until your full and theres only space left for fruit, ice cream and one more Leo! TOP TIP, wait until the soup has been re-filled a couple of times, by this time the juices from the bbq have been running into the soup trough and the thickening broth is just to die for!
We normally have 14-16 (6-7 in front of the pick-up, rest in the back!) of us and the whole evening costs about 1500Bt including my beer.....lol. Lots of thank yous as I drop everyone off and everyone goes to bed on a full stomach....Happy Days.
A few happy, and not so happy faces...lol
Mrs TT, the long-haired General! -
Hi Guys
I just realised I forgot to post this "day in the life" that I did for family following our house blessing earlier this year. I apologise for the quality of some of the photo's but I have no excuses, I am just not a good photographer! Sorry if some of the language is simplistic, it was meant to be read by people who havn't experienced Thai life too much.
1st of March 2007, a good Buddah day!!! The house blessing day started at 03:30 when I, my wife, children and a friend went into the city (about 20km from our village) to buy all the food we needed for the ceremony. In the Buddhist tradition all food bought to give to the Buddhist monks is only for them, there is no such thing as sharing the food as that does not “make merit”, the backbone of Buddhist karma. Fully loaded we returned to my wife’s mothers house (about 80m from our new house) to prepare the food. This is a big community thing where a lot of helpers “make merit” by helping to prepare the food even though they didn’t purchase it themselves. This is quite common in the poorer parts of Thailand.
With food preparation well under way, supervised by my wife’s watchful eye, our youngest son Dan and I went off to the local temple at about 06:30 to collect the necessary elements required for the ceremony. Some friends and family were already waiting and we loaded up quickly and only 5 minutes later (a short drive through the village) unloaded at the new house.
This done, it was time to collect the balance of the 9 monks (the best number of monks for any ceremony). 5 had arrived under their own steam and I collected a 6th from our village temple and then drove 10 minutes to the next village to pick up the balance (3 monks).
Whilst I had been doing the ferrying around, food was being transported by hand cart from “mama’s” house to our house and by 08:00 we were ready to go.
Unfortunately I had to stay in the house with the men whilst the ladies went around the house 3 times singing and dancing and scattering the main symbol of Thai country wealth, rice.
That done it was everyone inside, the monks did a good 15-20 minutes of chanting and their was plenty of Wai’ing (a Wai
is when you hold the 2 hands together as if you are praying, there of a number of different positions and additional gestures to go with this but that is for another tale). My wife Tae, myself and our children (Ked & Dan) were then blessed by the monks who were then served the prepared food and were gone by 09:00! (with me doing the dropping off again in reverse order).Back at the house the family and friends then took it in turns to tie a small piece of the white string you often see on Thai wrists (the string is actually blessed by the monks during the chanting process, cut into short lengths and then carried over the ear of the giver as the head is the most sacred part of the Thai body). They give a small amount of money in the hope that it will return to them many times over (preferably via the lottery….haha) and then tie a piece of the string to each persons wrist which is then kept for 3 or more days.
With the formalities over we then had to move furniture into the house and stay overnight. The a/c hadn’t been installed yet so this was a big ask but necessary all the same. The happiest were our 4 dogs that now have 2400m2 to patrol day and night. With Max & Sola around I wouldn’t like to be caught in the “killing ground” too far from the fence. Right now we are only worried about Olympic athletes that have turned to a life of crime and moved to our neighborhood…..haha,
Max
Sola
All in all a very worthwhile visit and my wife and family were thrilled that I could make it home. With a bit of final finishing to do by the builder the family plan to move in full time by the end of the month, just ahead of moving to Bahrain at the end of April! It’s all go in the ThailandTony house!
Thanks for reading.
TT.
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Good to hear from you guys again, hope all is well with your baby and wifes parents Mac?
Have you considered blending the water to reduce the side effects to appliances and bum gun (love this term....lol)? May be a reasonable compromise. I never trusted the tap water for much more than brushing my teeth, probably why they are looking like a row of houses up for demolition these days.....haha!
I also suffered from intermittent availability of water and variable pressure so I installed this tank with a pump. Now have great showers and you could put someones eye out with the bum gun
Also love this pic so wanted to drop it in to
Roll on December when we are back in Thailand, got 2 weeks in Ubon followed by 2 weeks in Chaiyaphum....yeehaaaaa.....maybe catch up with a few of you guys for an early Xmas lunch at the Falang Connection?
Happy Days.
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I was in one of the two groups who made it out; luckily for us, we had an older lady with us who didn't think she'd make it through the cave, so the other three of us and our guide went in as far as the waterfall (maybe a 15 minute trip in over the bit where you have to swim, and then another 15 minutes out), and came back out to meet her, we didn't do the loop.
Earlier we had come across the group who got trapped but they overtook us as we were slower, they may have been about 20 minutes ahead.
We were surprised to see it was raining when we emerged. The river water rose so quickly that as we went to cross, the dry mound I was standing on (maybe 20 cm above water) was submerged in less than 10 seconds and we had to bushcrash about 150 metres further down the river to a narrower, shallower place to cross over to the side on which our boat was moored and even then the current was almost irresistible.
I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. On one hand, I didn't hear (or see) any warnings against going in by any National Park authorities (I speak fluent Thai), they were unconcernedly playing a rather rowdy game of cards, even as we returned, drenched, to the longhouse, where the mother of the little boy sat looking worried. On the other hand, I think it's incumbent upon people to realise that Thailand, and other developing countries, while they may be tourist destinations, are much more dangerous places in general than the west; you can't just call up an ambulance and expect to be all fixed up.
My condolences to the mother of the little boy, for what it's worth, you have been in our thoughts constantly.
Glad to hear your group narrowly escaped this tragedy, if I get your timing right, your group would have been behind the group in the cave but by turning around you managed to avoid the confines of the cave as the water rapidly rose and you only (I am not trivialising the task by any means) had to traverse the rising water in the area outside of the cave? Did any of your group continue or did you all return to the entrance?
My wife (who is Thai) was incredulous when I suggested that the Thai guides ignored warnings...."do you think they (the guides) wanted to die", she proclaimed, no probably not, I replied, but at least they knew what they were getting into, whereas the tourists had no idea.
An altogether tragic tale.
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Anyway, this thread is not about Steve W badmouthing....is it?....no, I do have some info and pics from my own block wall experiences, they can follow.....
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God, I hope he didn't make it to Ubon, i'm on holiday there this Christmas. I think he got his animosity to Isaanites from the guy who suggested he should find accommodation in Ubon by using "those floppy things at the end of your legs"....lmao.
What a muppet, gives Brits a bad name.
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For instance, beach road in Pattaya, one that many are familiar with on this forum. On a weekly basis tourists are mugged walking up and down this road in the early hours of the morning. Everyone who has visited Pattaya more than once knows that it is foolish to travel alone or as a couple on this road at this time and if you are aware and still do it, you are an idiot, to say the least. But it still happens, why, because of apathy and indifference clearly shown by the tourist police and no pro-active measures being taken by the authorities.
What a ridiculous, sensationalist post.
Point me to a news report of a couple being mugged there, in the early hours of the morning.
As I said this is off-topic and therefore should not be debated in this thread, I hope you agree, regardless of how you feel about the post. I will PM details to you if you are that interested......funny you should only focus on the "couples" aspect of the post though, hardly makes it sensationalist or ridiculous!....please PM me if you would like to continue this debate.
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I don't concur with the views of ColPyat in reference to the preparedness of tourists to local Thai attractions, in my opinion, the view is akin to saying that all "caving" is dangerous, which is clearly not the case. For instance, visit any underground attraction of this sort in the UK or Europe and it would have been modified/adapted to suit all but the most disabled of visitors. "Caving" is a specialist sport requiring specialist training, equipment and experience, I would put it in the same category as say scuba diving. Taking a boat ride, walking through the jungle, clambering up and down rock formations and swimming a creek should be something that most 5 year olds can do, supported by an adult, as mine can.
What is not apparent to anyone without local knowledge are the risks & dangers.
For instance, beach road in Pattaya, one that many are familiar with on this forum. On a weekly basis tourists are mugged walking up and down this road in the early hours of the morning. Everyone who has visited Pattaya more than once knows that it is foolish to travel alone or as a couple on this road at this time and if you are aware and still do it, you are an idiot, to say the least. But it still happens, why, because of apathy and indifference clearly shown by the tourist police and no pro-active measures being taken by the authorities.
Now lets get back on topic. It is highly likely that each of those tourists had to pay 400 baht on the day of their visit, in order to enter the park and travel to this local attraction, to the National Parks office before setting foot on the boat. Lets just explore the myriad of methods that "DANGER" was abroad, or that they were at serious risk and how this was communicated to them by all of the people with local knowledge that they encountered from this point on, official or unofficial!.....NONE.....there, didn't take long now did it. "Are you going to XYZ cave, yes, this is forbidden during the wet season, or this is prohibited today as the weather forecast isn't favourable, or its forecast for rain today, we strongly advise against going, or its been raining there for an hour and this route is closed, or here is a piece of paper in English/German/French that outlines the risks based on a number of recent fatalities in this very cave, or can I have a look at your safety equipment please, no the light on your mobile phone doesn't count or feel free to go but we have a local ranger stationed there and you may be refused entry when you get there, etc etc etc.....or just say nothing and collect 400 baht a head, I use that term purposely because that was the price the National Park office placed on the heads of those poor people as they passed them the receipt without saying anything (this is an unqualified statement on my part but one I consider highly likely).
Just as when you are heading north out of walking street at 2:00am and pass the tourist police van stationed at the beginning of beach road every night, or passing the station at the entrance to Soi 9, someone doesn't say to you, please don't walk up/down beach road, there is a very high likelihood you will be mugged, beaten, seriously wounded or all of the above.
Apathy is rife in Thailand and this is the what makes it dangerous to visitors, as nobody accepts the duty of care, it is left up to the individual to inevitably find out the hard way, as has been played out in this tragic scene, may they Rest in Peace.
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Thanks to Galong, Donna and others for insight into professional guiding and the conditions/lack of training that prevail here in Thailand. I believe the press have been getting some of their information by reading this thread as is obvious by the references to warnings passed between tour groups arriving at and leaving the cave, originally posted by Donna. I for one will take more responsibility for ensuring that any tour I go on in future will have to address any awkward questions about safety & equipment and voice any concerns to fellow tourists in order to make informed decisions.
My references to tarring were meant at those posters who started rolling up air crashes, boats capsizing and outright murder with what in this case is more a question of judgment and ability of the tour company(s) & guide(s). I add the plural reference based on the earlier posts suggesting this was the 3rd tour of that day to enter the cave!? I can't help but feel that passing 2 successful groups on their way out would have had an opposite effect to any warnings, verbal or signed, based on the human intuition "hey they were ok, so why won't we be". Without the level of training & experience that Galong & Donna have been able to give us insight on, the fact it had been raining (or not?), would have been outweighed by the exiting tour guides/groups.
I have to say that the Thai political arse covering that is played out in the press after this type of tragedy is particularly distasteful. Saving face and not attributing/accepting blame on behalf of officials is far more important than getting to the truth. But I don't think this is particularly unique to Thailand, just more prevalent at all levels of administration here, whereas in the West, typically, somebody would at the least take responsibility, and at best be prosecuted for their negligence.
Finally, I don't know how it works at this location, but at every National Park I have ever visited, the park relieves every farang tourist of 300-400 baht for entry, is that the case here? They also have uniformed rangers at strategic places around the park, again any ideas here? Unfortunately, in this case, no amount of lamps, batteries, trekking sandals or anything else would have saved these poor souls. Lack of management & training and a fair sprinkling of greed and face saving were probably the biggest contributors.
I hope something good comes of this tragedy, otherwise we have just had another example of how cheap life is in Thailand....RIP
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Tragic news with the consolation that there is a survivor and hopefully the truth will emerge about this tragedy.
Thanks to DONNA for the insight.
This type of tragedy is not limited to Thailand so please do not take out the tar and start spreading it liberally over the whole Nation.
Condolences to the families of the poor lost souls.....may they Rest in Peace.
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Hey Thaksin is the victim here....£81.6m for Man City!......he was robbed......haha!
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Keep us updated Mac....and also watch out for newborns with the name Gai, reincarnated chickens! In the mean time hoping its just rat poison and note bird flu!
Take care!
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righty let me get this straight......
you people wake with sunrise, wander round your vast land then grab a bite to eat. Chill a little and fill the dog bowls with water, then chill a little further til lunch. A light lunch then tuck into a good book on the decking til tea. Couple of hours on the net followed by an early night with your Thai lady...
My question is, will they let me in at the gates?
Sounds like heaven
My village gates are guarded by two psycho killer fighting cocks and an oversexed billy goat. Getting past them is high risk. Sure way to get in unnoticed is to acquire a 1975 Datsun (preferably red), throw a couple of watermelons in the back, mount at least 10 loud speakers on it, pump up the volume to 95db and scream into the mic "ma durrr...". Last but not least, this must be done at 5AM sharp to guarantee you will enter the village completely unnoticed.
This is from a true village dweller.......... hilarious!
I came to realise that as long as you sat on your front porch every day from sun-up to sundown, you could buy anything you would ever want from the passing loud speaker pick-ups, without ever going to town.
Happy days.
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One drawback to village life is the hard floor of the 'sala' at the temple and having to sit on it.
Also those low, table-like benches on which they spread a rush mat for you to sit on ---but there is no backrest.
Three years ago when I was in England, I spotted folding armchairs (canvas with a metal frame) on sale at a motorway shop. I bought one, hauled it to Thailand, and subsequently it has gone everywhere with me in the back of the car.
Now at the temple, after making the initial wai and lighting the incense stick, I am allowed to retreat to the back of the congregation and sit in my armchair.
I suffered this one for some time, and did not like sitting above everyone on a chair, especially at the outdoor concerts, so I ended up cutting the legs off of a plastic garden chair, haha, so I got the back support, and the bum support, without sitting directly on the ground. now its permanently in the back of the pickup!.....2 weeks til my next Thai time...happy days.
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Poor guy, seems the 30 year lease protected him legally (ex PattayaDailyNews) but not from the killers. What a horrible way to go and if he has family in Germany please be mindful of your comments as they will be desperate for info and will likely locate this thread in a web search.
RIP
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Here are a few photo's of the family home from my 1st visits to my wife's village. It was like camping without a tent and no tins of baked beans either!....hahahah.....I'll post a couple of more recent shots from my home computer later.
Happy days....
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Great read AA1, yep we've all been there on the learning curve and I certainly in my case with almost identical issues...hahaha...but its good to put the info. out there for the new recruits to the boonies! I had IPStar in Chaiyaphum until I came back to Bahrain and found it to be fantastic. Same package as Mac's which was very good for the amount of time I would spend on it each day. Once I added the wireless router it was even better! Surfing from the hammock at the end of the garden!
Roll on August til my next trip home. Happy camping to all you guys still looking at the stars through the holes in the corrugated roof and finding your way into the 4ft 6in high crapper for a squat in the middle of the night....hahaha...been there and got the chill blains from the scoop water in the winter.
Take it easy one and all.
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I read some of the moans on page 1 then had to read all the way past post #85....hahahaha....you guys kill me!...if you don't like something, forgetaboutit and move on, if it makes you laugh keep doing it!...now how many blows is that on a whistle!
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The Hilton is on Wireless Road and you should be able to get it for the top end of your range.
Mrs TT, the long-haired General! 
Do You Live In A Thai Village Full Time
in Isaan
Posted
Back at home in Chaiyaphum again, I get to spend only my second night in our new house since the house blessing ceremony on 1st March this year. The plan was to unpack everthing that we moved in and set up home but that proved to be a little to warm for me to do without any a/c. So I quickly went to see a shopkeeper I'd met earlier in the year who has one of those sell anything electronic shops. The plan was to move 2 big a/c units from mama's house to the new house so armed with a few photos on my iPhone I went about explaining what I wanted and got an immediate result. The installation crew weren't installing anything yesterday so they came straight round took a look and set to work. By the end of the day both units (24k & 18k BTU) had been installed in our living/kitchen/dining room (= big room). The cost was 3200 Baht each plus 600 Baht for re-gassing, total cost 7000 Baht, fantastic!
So last night was very comfortable, all doors apart from our en-suite lead off of the main room so by leaving them all open the whole house was suitably chilled this morning and we could set-about the tasks in hand. First job was the cleaning, god those little gecko lizards shit all over the place, and after 8 months there was plently to clean up. Also, all of the sanitary ware still had stickers on, drips from painting had to be razored off of tiles, and general dusting is still going on. We emptied a 4 bedroom house in Dubai a couple of years ago and one of the main reasons to build this house was to have somewhere to store it as the furnishing are worth about the same cost as it was to build the house.
Tomorrow it will be putting curtains, blinds and an outside awning up and I reckon by Sunday we should be ship shape, or the land lubbers equivalent of, as I get sea sick to easy.....I digress.
So, todays news was that next year will not be a good year for my wife Tae, as foretold in many a magazine and reinforced by her mother so it must be true. So I was advised today that our oldest son Ked (11) will be going into the buddhist order from 9 days starting tomorrow. Of course as the last to know I must now be ready to do 101 things over the next 12-18 hours to ensure all goes well or it will of course be my fault. I only started off by saying that I thought he needed a hair cut and he gets 9 days inside our village temple, the "thanks papa" look on his face said it all. I am also informed that Tae will have to go on a strict diet for the same 9 days, certain vegetables, garlic, onions, beef and pork are all off the menu, as is any "hows your father" for yours truly, so I am also on a diet of sorts for 9 days!
Talking of diets, I have decided to take a run down to the Farang Connection on Christmas Day and have a blow out at Martin & Sunee's place. Last year they had 150 so hopefully it will be as busy as ever. I plan to stay overnight so I hope I can catch up with some of my fellow Isaanites from Thai Visa during the course of the day and evening.
Happy days.....TT