Stickman Readers' Submissions January 9th, 2015

Thailand No Way Part 2





Introduction To The Village


Picking up from my Thailand No Way Part 1 article.

He Clinic Bangkok


So here I am back in Patong 1 month later and seeing if there are any sparks between me and the Thai lady I met there.


One thing I had learnt from my first trip was not to promise the Thais anything if you plan not to go through with it.

On my first trip we played a game of hit the nail in the ring of wood. If she won I had to take her to Phi Phi Island as I had been talking of going the next day. She won. Of course I didn’t take her and went with mates instead.

CBD bangkok


She reminded me of the promise I had made to her on my first trip. So of course the 2nd time in Patong we had to go over there. It was good, but I wouldn’t do the day trip like my first trip, and so we stayed a few nights on phi Phi Island instead. It was great, we found a straw type cabin with air-con, en suite etc. We took a long boat ride around the islands early evening, easy shopping, good restaurants, bars and most of all no one hassling me saying, “Do you want tuktuk, DVD or massage?"


Back on the mainland she asked if I would build a roof over her kitchen back in Udon.


Now, like I said in my first article I worked in Oz. There I have a lot of friends who have a Thai wife, girlfriend or just spend a lot of time up there. So I had been given a lot of advice on what situations I could expect. So I was prepared for almost any questions.


She was shocked when I said No!

wonderland clinic

Why? she said.

I told her we are new in our relationship; I have never been to your village and never seen your house, so why would I hand over money to you?

Now I know she’s not stupid and after a little silence she said “Ok. You come look first."

At the time I didn’t realise but what I had done was set a precedent of how she would ask for things, “You come look first.”


While down in Patong she told me of a big party in her village.

What for I asked?

Remember my dad of 10 years?

So I worked out that her dad had passed away 10 years ago. It was decided that we would fly back to the village in Udon for this party as I felt it would be a very important time for her. We also decided that she should move back up to the village.


Once back up in Udon we stayed in the city and taxied each day out to the village. I was to find out later that we stayed at one of the most expensive places in Udon and we could have travelled to and from the village cheaper. Like I said, for first-timers you get scammed but not a lot of dollars involved.


The introduction into the village was amazing. It wasn’t like any other party I had ever been too. Just close off a street and set up stalls cooking food etc. and away you go!

I was welcomed into the village and got to meet so many people in one night. We drank beer which was strange as I paid for it. 1 box was 1,000 baht. I wonder why no one brought me beer. {tell you later on buying beer in the village} By the way I now only pay 660 baht for beer.

The food was amazing but very spicy. One lady offered me dog.

No thanks.

I found out later that it is her joke when a new farang comes to the village.

In one corner was a small temple with a photo of my girlfriend’s dad. So I gave respect to him. This made the family very happy. And more than likely, happy they overcharged me for beer. We partied on to about midnight.


The next day I got to see her house and now understood why I was staying in the city. My first thought was, I wouldn’t even let my pigs live there! Mum and grandma slept in the only bedroom and the two boys and nephew slept in the main room, all on the floor, but everyone seemed happy. I did end up building a roof from the house to the kitchen and toilet and tidied the place up a little.


I was lucky enough to be there when the timber was bought. So I went along to make sure {or hope anyway} I was getting a good deal. I was shown the account and made out I could read Thai.


As it turned out, a year or so latter we built two more rooms, extended the front of house and shed. Each time when I was working away she would ask about doing work to the house and say “You come look first”. I couldn’t believe that a woman would ask first, {not like my ex who just tells me this is what is going to happen}. Then when I got back in the village they always made sure I was to go when timber etc. was being brought. One time a cousin went and as fast as the timber was going on to the truck it was coming off. No good I would be told. I gave him some money of course for his effort.


It took me a while to come to terms with the standard of workmanship. But I decided that all we were doing was improving what was always there and if I build from the ground up I would look for better builders.

Not family?


The village life has been good to me {most of the time}


I'll will leave you at this point to return with article 3 later.


Signed,


A lost but a happy soul


nana plaza