billythehat

aye, that was it, dosed by the teaspoon to naughty kids!

Introduction of drinkable coffee. There was a liquid substitute coffee liquid that came in a bottle (can’t remember the name) that tasted awful. No ‘alternative’ teas. Cocoa powder with hot creamy milk and sugar was a treat. My hardworking mum having 3 jobs. I didn’t personally appreciate the sacrifices she made when we were kids until became an adult with responsibilities. My dad introducing us to curry powder leading to a lifetime addiction to spicy food. His wardrobe smelling of Old Spice after shave lotion and Brylcreem hair cream. He never used anything else. A constipated Uncle Ron not reading the label on a bottle of Syrup of Figs and chugging the whole bottle down – we laughed like drains for a week after the outcome! Riding old pedal petrol mopeds on the nearby disused railway line (the tracks long removed), again leading to a lifetime of riding motorcycles. Having a paper round, a Saturday job, being a golf caddy and dragging wet coal sacks up the steep hill to where we lived….eeeee it were tuff but seemed quite normal, you just got on with it. Collecting early Marvel comics – probably worth a few shillings now. Living with neighbours that knew it each other and looked out for them. Everyone knew everyone. Yer mates from school and what mischief we got up to. The local chippy that didn’t cost an arm and a leg for a meal. Always a big queue on a Friday and I loved the onion vinegar supplied from the giant glass jar of pickled onions. Never got the gherkins thing though… Collecting old stamps (later stolen by some scumbag) and an interest in astronomy. I remember the wonder of viewing the heavens through a proper telescope. Keeping pets although my dad never liked or wanted a dog in the house. Secondary school teachers with anger management issues, especially after they’d had a few scoops in the pub opposite the school at dinnertime. The kindness of most adults when we were young. Mum taking us to her Bingo club on a Thursday night – no problem for us boys as it meant plenty of crisps and coke all evening! Disco/activity clubs for young lads and lasses to meet up and socialize and then a skateboard race home after. You could buy a packet of 5 Park Drive cigarettes. Party 7 beer cans, Old English Cider, milk stout and packets and packets of real crisps. The one Chinese takeaway in town. Sports day at school. Walking for miles to get somewhere where there was no local transport in town. Never a problem. Visits from the local chimney sweep. He kept champion winning sheep dogs and out-lived his wife and son. He never complained and had many interesting stories of his youth, one of which was riding speedway bikes at the Wimbledon Speedway. Checking out the female babysitters. Having jabs for various diseases. My dad’s sister married a Canadian pilot (she was a WAAF in WW2) and emigrated to Canada after the war. She would send the occasional parcel of a round of extra strong mature Canadian cheese. It was delicious and until this day, I cannot eat mild cheeses. My immediate neighbour was a Scottish man. We understood (my dad’s fault entirely) that his name was Jock and we called him that. Later, we kids discovered his real name was John although he or his wife never corrected us! His mum lived with them and used to feed Hedgehogs in the evening. I haven’t seen one for years now. The trauma of my parent’s divorce and its affect later in life. Searching for crabs amongst the mussel beds under the white chalk cliffs where folk sold cockles, mussels, large crabs and lobsters. Mum liked jellied Ells. Our opinion was that she was welcome to them and no, we didn’t want any! A wee bit later, the importance of education and learning a trade. Having proper seasons; it pretty much always snowed at Christmas and the other seasons followed their course. Watching the first moon landing on an old black and white telly and loved watching Star Trek. Dad always had his radio on somewhere in the house. He used to play piano at the local pub near his air-base during WW2. The one coal fire in the house to huddle around during the cold winter. You could have hung meat for keeping in the other rooms. Going to bed with hot water bottles. And so much more but I’ll leave it there for now. I had an operation yesterday and feeling a bit sore and groggy from the anesthetic this morning. All those moments lost in time…pass me that tissue box would you please?

Sir, may I suggest fitting one of these to your trusty steed to deal with those pesky wandering in the street folk?

message sent

The trusty Suzi still going strong I see! To the topic under discussion and my own 2 Baht as an Engineer: The soil is mainly a sandy loam (sand & clay) with free drainage characteristics. From the photos shown so far, the removal of the road appears to show shear failure of the road metal where the movement of the underlying soil tends to slide due to the overbearing pressure/loading on the soil. The friction of the road foundation is unable to resist the shear force of the moving soil and fails. The movement does not ‘wash away’ foundations but alters the way one structure movement affects another structure (soil friction/angle.) If, after some deliberation and cost analysis, the road is to be retained, the stabilization of the existing soil would be a priority before any works are undertaken. The use of piling/other systems would incur, due to the soil type, to be of some considerable depth for an effective retaining structure. Long term, the slope in this location will continue to fail due to several factors; the removal of trees etc. and the current road alignment abandoned and a new road alignment built. The soil report, post failure, and its’ recommendations should reveal the mystery…

Sir, pray allow me to suggest a suitable identity to soothe your doubt in this area. I suggest Handsome Man a most agreeable moniker.

Sir, you missed an equally valid reason; Staff Attitude.

Not necessarily in the gym…about 7 quid on Ebay...

Sure, go for it; what could possibly go wrong? If she’s as minted as you say, I’m sure she’ll have no problems financing the return tickets for the trip herself. I strongly advise you buy a lucky-amulet as soon as you can. Do bear in mind that the immigration mob here has heard every tale before and can sniff BS as quickly as any trained drug pooch. My own observations have been that relationships between the two cultures tend to last longer if you are there. Should she jump all the hurdles and get here, keep her away from other Thai women. You’ll learn the hard way the reasons why. Finally, give it time and really get to know her. If there is a snake hiding in the grass, it will show itself and should it appear, run Sir, run like the wind.

just make sure you carry one of these in ya back pocket and ask her to wear it...you can't be too careful now.

On that subject, I had noticed a decline in the last 5 years or so (pre-covid) in the quality of service given in said shops and trouble finding persons to deliver what it says on the tin. Laziness and ineptitude seemed to be the norm in many (too many) massage shops in Patong. I guess many lasses would not even bother with a days graft anywhere and just gravitate to selling their bumpy bits in Bangla, many forgetting that being even moderately pretty is a pre-requisite of the game. Meanwhile, it’s an uncharacteristically mild 10 degrees here in outer earth, and a very quiet town as the folks get ready for the Christmas dinner, endure relatives they haven’t seen since last year, watch the excited faces of the kids as they unwrap their prezzies, the inevitable pointless arguments after too much booze, watch the same repeats on the telly, grandma and grandpa are already asleep on the couch still wearing crumpled paper party hats from the crackers, the Queen’s speech, the dog is very old now and cannot control its predilection for passing wind with monotonous regularity etc. Occasionally, some wizened harpy will quip to me “What do you men go to Thailand at Christmas for? Is it the women?” “No, says I, nothing special about the women, it’s just that I rather not be here listening to you.” Happy Christmas.

I've seen this quote translated in a UK travel brochure as "Bustling with Character." ???? Those grid frames on Nanai do look a wee bit slippy when wet and on a motosai...

This item was covered in a previous topic regarding the drainage in Patong and subsequent work on the existing drainage works along the main pipework routing, appears to have done little to alleviate the poorly designed and constructed network in the town. Having a combined network of open foul water and surface water, with open grate covers over pipework laid to level inverts and upstream flows from new construction work silting up the manhole chambers, what could possibly go wrong? The existing treatment works capacity to deal with the additional flows into the works was exceeded and untreated sewage would have been by-passed into the sea; Patong bay in this case. With the reduction of tourists, there’ll have been a substantial reduction in peak foul water flows from hotels etc. but this would not have the same effect on the existing flows through an already overburdened and poorly design system. A tourist (from Germany) mentioned to me once about the ‘aromatics’ coming from the sewers. I said ‘Sir, please remember, in any other country in the world you'd have to pay to get into the zoo. Here, it’s all entirely free!'

Sir, I suggest you made her lose face amongst her university graduate friends and I refer you to page 66 of the ‘Manual of Guidance Notes for Expats, Mongers and Newbe’s in Thailand’. Section 2.1 specifically refers to the vagaries of ‘Misunderstandings’ between the cultures. In this instance, a ‘misunderstanding’ has occurred: You thought she was indicating a cut-throat and visit to the local prawn farm for you. How she would explain this, to a BIB for example, was that she was simply indicating you needed a shave and was just telling her boss that. The manual advises that you remain calm, pull your stomach in, look the other way and under no circumstances wobble over to her bar and bar-fine one of her mates. Simples really.

Still touring, new tour starting in Ireland next year. ????

Comparing the old photo with the current 2021 view. Note the similar roof shape of the structure to the right of Bangla Road (old with green tiles and dormer) and current image (brown tiles and same dormer construction) – Location of grounds to Patong Beach Hotel.

Probably on the money there, Chief. This photo was taken looking up Bangla, circa mid to late 70’s.

Yep, definitely a dead-end! Aeriel photo circa late 1970’s ??

Posted a couple of days ago on YouTube; Sansabai from about 8 minutes on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVjMYW_oZfE Yes, I remember the ICC (Indian Curry Club) in Sansabai. I would often fuel up in there before heading off for the night. Not a bad curry either. The soi looks very different at the top end now as the usual cash-cows/investors are absent. Wonder where they’re storing all those unused tuk-tuks?

A few notes on Soi Sansabai. When I used to stay in Patong, I would always stay in the Alexander Hotel in Soi Sai Kor, run by American Dave and his missus, Pim. When leaving the hotel in the evening heading and for Bangla (as in more recent years, other options for the party trail had either disappeared or had gone forever), I would wobble down Sansabai on-route to the local Circus Maximus known as Bangla Road. During its halcyon days, Sansabai had quite a life of its own with cheap digs for the cheap Charlies, massage shops, lots of eateries, 7/11’s and wot not. There were side soi’s lined with bars full of lasses too old for Bangla and mainly built for comfort, leading to the car park which had a few open bars and was the location for a very friendly live music bar (XP, remind us of the name please). I spent many a night here when I got bored of Bangla and it was only a short stagger back to the hotel, often at 3 or 4 in the morning. Lovely non-hassling staff, no lady boys and very popular with bikers too. Further down the soi, were the eateries, mainly Pizza or curry houses of varying ambience and quality, some soi facing bars where ancient gentlemen that had forgotten to go home, sat nailed to bar stools, sipping from a bottle of cheap brew. These stools were always fully occupied as they would have offered the perfect seat for people watching and letching at the painted bar lasses going to work in Bangla. Then, motosai parking was a free-for-all, park wherever you can affair, and with vehicles going up or down plus the evening foot traffic, there was always a bottle neck at the bottom end. The buzz was hustle and never pushy, indeed a good place to fuel up, steady the tiller and head over the road to a totally different type of temple. So, apart from The Yorkshire Hotel, what is left there now? XP may have some updates on the subject. I can only go back to circa 2001 and know nowt of what that area was like before that time. We need somebody little more, ahem sage, to embroider the story of Sansabai. I believe LIK (as he is mentioned in the Domesday Book) may have some notes to impart on the subject. Others, feel free to chime in with your memories.

74? C’mon XP, fess up (again), I have it from a very reliable source, Joy from the ‘Clown’s Pocket Bar’, that you told her you were a totally believable 61 years young. “their rendition of a couple of "Queen" songs was brilliant. I couldn't match them in that department,” Indeed, prancing around the stage wearing Freddy’s trademark tight black leggings and luxuriant moustache may have bought in the BIB who would have closed the bar in such an event. I understand that after your applauded renditions, knickers were thrown onto the stage? Well done Sir. Happy Birthday.

This reminded me that I hadn’t heard from Phet for many years. I assume he’s now retired and tapping out his memoirs somewhere in the west midlands of England. This link shows he was still scribbling tales of Lalaland after we met up in Bangkok in 2011 for a pizza and a few scoops of ale. https://brokenmanrepaired.wordpress.com/page/2/

“It turns out one of the guys was born in Sussex, as was I, and had also played football for Hastings United,” Okay, XP, fess up, which one is you? ????

“So from what you said our Ambassador is an upper-class homosexual?” I said nothing of the sort. That CV was taken from the gov.uk website.

I’m confused….which one is “His Excellency”?