Heaven Or Hell Part 2

Well here we go with the second part, many thanks for the e-mails regarding part one.

January 10th 2005 finally comes round, and it’s off to The Land of Smiles once more.

I arrive at BKK airport at 7am in the morning, collect my luggage and make my way to the exit.

Nid sees me and comes running towards me, places a garland of flowers around my neck and welcomes me back to Thailand, with her are her sister and a friend called Pom.

We grab a taxi and head for the Manhattan Hotel, the room will be ready at 9am so we sit and have breakfast and a good talk about different things.

The room is ready so Nid and I say goodbye to her sister and Pom, and we make our way up to the room, Nid says she is a bit tired as she was up early, and I could do with a shower and a bit of shuteye as well.

Around 3pm we get up shower and go out, our first stop is Gulliver's for a couple of drinks and something to eat. During this time she asked me if I had the application form for her visa, I said I had and also pay slips, bank statements etc.

We returned to the hotel, and together we filled out the visa form, this is where I had the first surprise, Nid is not 28 as she had previously told me, but is actually 40 (but does not look it). I asked her why she had not told me her true age last time,
and she said that she thought I would not like her if I knew her age. I told her not to be so stupid.

The next day it’s off to the British Embassy, waiting in the queue for about an hour, finally hand the paperwork in, and the woman says I will let you see an officer this morning. So it’s into the next building, take a number, and wait again.
Finally our turn comes round, I go up to the window with Nid, and am told if I am required they would call me. About 10 minutes later Nid appears, and tells me to go to the next window and pay 2,700 baht for the visa, which will be available for
collection in 3 days. (How easy was that?).

Later that day she says we are going to meet her sister, have a drink and something to eat. While we waiting for her sister, I have surprise number 2, she tells me that Patti is not her sister but her daughter!!!!, ok it was a bit of a shock, and I asked
her is there anything else I should know, she assures me there is not.

In the evening I take her and the extended family to a BBQ on Soi 22 where you cook your food at the table, and I must admit it was very good.

The next few days were spent looking around Bangkok, having a few drinks in the evenings, and just having a relaxing time. No mention of money…yet.

After we collect the visa, we decide to go to Pattaya for a week or so, as I have never been there.

We book into the hotel, unpack then go for something to eat. While we are eating she starts talking about her daughter, and how she wants to make sure Patti is ok in Thailand, while she is with me in England, and yes you have guessed she wants money,
how much? 300,000 baht, I nearly choked on my squid. However this time I said no (at last he has got some balls I can hear you all say). A rather heated discussion followed, with her storming off saying that if I would not take care of Patti,
then she would not come to England with me. I did not chase after her, instead I went and found a quiet bar, to have a few drinks and watch the footie, as my team were playing. I got back to the hotel around 2am, she was there and said she had
gone straight back to the hotel after storming out of the restaurant, she wanted to talk about things, but I said no wait until the morning.

In the morning over breakfast we spoke about things, and I told her I did not have an endless supply of money for her and her family. Reluctantly she seemed to accept this. The next few days were rather uneventful, until I purchased a book called “money
still number one”. This caused her to start shouting at me saying that not all Thai ladies are the same????? And it is my heart, not my money, she wants.

We head back to Bangkok for a few days to pick up her daughter and two friends, then it’s off to Hua Hin for 5 days. Nothing much happened there, just a few days spent relaxing in a fairly quiet resort.

So it’s back to Bangkok for the last 9 days of my visit. She suggests that one day we go and visit her papa, he lives in a small village somewhere near Sattahip.

Two days later we are on our way to see papa, we stop on the way to buy food, and it looked like it was enough to feed an army. After about a 4 mile drive along a dirt track we finally arrive at the village, I was quite shocked, her papa is a mango farmer
and lives in nothing more than a three roomed wooden shack.

I was made very welcome, and papa even thanked me for the money I had sent (previously primed by Nid no doubt). Then it became clear why she had bought so much food, every man and his dog in the village had come to see the “farang”.

It was a very enjoyable day, and an experience to meet real Thai people.

The next day back in Bangkok we are talking about the future, and marriage is mentioned, and after a few trips to the British Embassy, and a trip to the Thai Consular services in Chang Wattana, we go to the Amphur in Bang Rak, and get wed.

The next day I buy her ticket to England, only one way as we do not know when she will be coming back.

The last night in BKK I take the extended family to Tawan Daeng for the evening, and have a great time.

The following morning it’s off to the airport, with her daughter, sister and a couple of friends in tow. At the check in we encounter a problem, as Nid has only got a visitor's visa for England they said she should have a return ticket. It
finally gets sorted, when I sign an indemnity stating that I would not hold the airline responsible if the authorities would not let her into the country. We arrive at Gatwick, I go through the EEC passport control and wait for her at the foreign
national’s passport control. I have a chat to the immigration officer at the desk, he stamps her passport and says welcome to England.

Nid finds it very cold here, but likes England very much. We have filled in all the forms for a settlement visa in this country, and getting all the relevant paperwork together, and at the end of April we are going back to Thailand and hopefully get her
a visa so she can stay here.

Part three will follow in a couple of months.

Stickman's thoughts:

The words 300,000 would have sent me packing. The cheek of it!