The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.
–Mark Twain

Yes, that’s correct, I am still alive and well in Bangkok. Sorry if some of you are disappointed to hear the news. I can only say that the past year has been quite an educational experience for me. I have come to terms with things and have overcome something of a funk and plan on coming back (not necessarily with a vengeance, why get greedy). Those of you who are still with me will be glad to know that I will be posting more regularly to amuse and excite, surprise and shock, and possibly even to anger and enrage.

You can now get an inside look at what life is like for a poor Bangkok expat, his wife and daughter…if that interests you. I am also hoping (no promises) to finally put my camera to better use and include more photos here. Plan on reading a more diverse cross section of goings on in Bangkok, opinions and rants regarding all things Thai, and even some light hearted banter. I have taken myself far too seriously in the past and that needs to be rectified.

I know this is a short post, but I am extremely busy as we are moving on Saturday. Packing and trips back and forth have been the norm, but by Saturday evening I will be able to relax once again and Sunday will see me adding content ready to go live Monday. I hope you all have a joyful weekend and I look forward to reconnecting with all of you come Monday morning!

I was never a big soda drinker back in the States. Maybe twice a week or so I would have a soda, preferring water, coffee or beer as my beverage of choice. When I did have soda though my choice was almost always Mountain Dew.

Don’t ask why I was addicted to the Dew. It’s super sweet and loaded with caffeine…not a combination I would normally say I like. But there’s just something about Dew that makes it addictive. And it’s not just me. I thought maybe it’s because I drank it so much when I was a teen and young adult…it’s perfect when you have “cotton mouth”. However I quickly found that you can learn to love it at an older age too, since Golf took to it like a fish to water.

It’s been nearly 3 months since I had a Mountain Dew, it’s just not readily available here in Thailand. It’s even more difficult to find than Beer Lao Dark. Strange when you consider how popular Pepsi is because Dew is a Pepsi product.

Today the dry spell has been broken though as I chanced upon Mountain Dew for sale right here in the heart of Bangkok! Needless to say I am a happy camper and will enjoy my small stock of Mountain Dew immensely. DO THE DEW!

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The website Trip Base has been sponsoring a meme over the past few weeks and Talen over at Thailand Land of Smiles was nice enough to nominate me to participate. The rules are pretty simple:

THE GOAL
To unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again.

THE RULES
1) Blogger is nominated to take part
2) Blogger publishes his/her 7 links on his/her blog – 1 link for each category.
- Your most beautiful post
– Your most popular post
– Your most controversial post
– Your most helpful post
– A post whose success surprised you
– A post you feel didn’t get the attention it deserved
– The post that you are most proud of
3) Blogger nominates up to 5 more bloggers to take part.
4) These bloggers publish their 7 links and nominate another 5 more bloggers
5) And so it goes on!

If you want to see the full list of nominated blogs you can find it here

I hope you enjoy the trip through my seven prior posts and please take the time to visit those I’ve nominated. If you could also share on Facebook and Twitter (#My7Links) to spread the word that would be great. Without further ado here are my seven links.

Your most beautiful post
Starting off with my most beautiful post probably isn’t the easiest as I’ve neglected photography on Thailand Musings for some time. When you consider that some of the most beautiful sites in Thailand are the Wats that are a cornerstone of the religion and culture of Thailand I’ll go with my 3 day guide to the Wats of Bangkok. I think the photos are nice, but even the subject matter could be considered beautiful.

Your most popular post
Thanks to the Popular Post plugin this was an easy category to pick. Overwhelmingly the readers like the post Why Do Thai Girls Marry Older Foreign Guys. The post was written over 3 years ago and still attracts comments today with very strong opinions.

Your most controversial post
I’ve written several controversial posts. I think when you cover the subject of relationships in Thailand this is bound to happen. Looking back through the comments though I have to think the most controversial was my post Good Thai Girls vs Bad Thai Girls. The post was never meant to strike a nerve, but based on the comments it seems I did

Your most helpful post
I hope that many of the posts here have been helpful as that is the underlying purpose of the blog in the first place. Based on emails I’ve received though I would have to say the most helpful post is Thai Love Phrases. Thanks go out to Golf for helping A LOT with that post!

A post whose success surprised you
Working in Thailand for Foreigners is a post I thought might give some readers a few ideas, but I never expected it to become as popular as it is today. As most of you might know, finding employment in the Kingdom is no easy task, so if this post was also helpful to some then it was well worth the time it took to write.

A post you feel didn’t get the attention it deserved
I thought the post Bangkok Cost of Living did a decent job outlining the costs of living in Thailand’s capital, but it never really gained the traction I thought it would. At the time I was still in budgeting mode and more feedback would have been helpful. As it is, it turns out my budget was pretty close to our actual expenses, but I still would have liked the additional feedback. Plus, its always nice to see how the other half lives

The post that you are most proud of
This is the easiest one to answer and a nice way to close. Life Happens is the post I am most proud of…for very personal reasons.

Now it’s time to send the torch to 5 other bloggers.
Thai Pulse – Another Thailand focused blog written by an American expat living in Krabi. Thai Pulse was started roughly the same time as Thailand Musings and Vern is a great friend.

Viper Chill – Glen Allsopp is a young and successful blogger with a very different take on what creates success online. If you’re interested in internet marketing at all this would be one blog I recommend you read.

Eating Thai Food – If you like Thai food you’ll love this fairly new foodie site covering Thai street food and other Thai dining options in Bangkok.

Sober Paddy – Entertaining and inspirational musings from a recovering alcoholic in Ireland. Honestly, just check it out.

Awesome Thai Food – Great authentic Thai recipes.

I get requests for guest posts from time to time here and typically I do my best to let others share their stories here. I think it lends some diversity to the blog and besides its just good karma to do so. Today I have a brief story from Colin at Farang in Thailand about Songkran in Chiang Mai and the return trip to Bangkok. I have to say that after celebrating Songkran in several places around the Kingdom over the years that Chiang Mai was definitely my favorite too. If you have the chance next year I would heartily recommend you take a trip up to Chiang Mai for Songkran.

Violently shaken out of my seat with hard cases of luggage falling on my legs, the screaming of passengers overloaded my senses, flickering lights added to the confusion and a wholly unnatural swaying movement to the surface I was sitting on distorted my thinking . Although this lasted only seconds I can remember every detail and it was my first near death experience in Thailand, but not last. The Valium suddenly had stopped working!

Like many have experienced and many of whom will validate, this is a common tale of the night bus from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. The bus driver had possibly fallen asleep or had avoided an animal and the bus violently swayed back and forth on the road causing the whole bus to panic and blood pressure to sky rocket. The bus driver regained composure and we continued our journey.

The night bus is a very popular service with backpackers traveling between the two cities as it’s cheap and runs every night. Running from 2100hrs it can take up to 10 hrs to reach Bangkok, over 700km away. During this particular trip my girlfriend and I had just spent the last four days celebrating Songkran in Chiang Mai with some friends, the coach was full of very tired people who had celebrated for days with water fights and obscene quantities of alcohol. That brief near death moment woke us all up and we had a long long journey back to Bangkok thinking about the last few days in Chiang Mai. Calling it a near death experience would be bit of an exaggeration, but scary as hell it was.

Songkran is the Buddhist celebration of new year held every April in Thailand involving massive water fights. The city of Chiang Mai is legendary for its Songkran celebrations and they can often go on for 6 days, with locals and farangs both joining in. The throwing of water started many years ago, a way to show respect to your elders, the water was often poured over Buddhas for a blessing, to obtain good luck for the next year. Over the years this turned into one mass water fight that centralizes around the moat the surrounds the old city.

People drive around on Tuk-Tuks, motorbikes and on the back of trucks throwing water at people who in turn target the vehicles driving around the moat. There are Thai entrepreneurs selling buckets and water guns from stalls set up on the side of the road and there are huge barrels of water placed on the streets so people can fill up their water guns and buckets. It’s a water fight on an epic scale and highlight of any trip to Thailand, I’ll definitely be doing it again. April is also the hottest month in Thailand and the water most definitely helps you cool down. Visit Chiang Mai to experience this iconic Thai festival, just be prepared to get very wet.

I’m moving to Chiang Mai in August 2011, I’ve grown a little bored of my life in the UK and I’m ready for a new challenge. I’ve been blogging about my move to Chiang Mai here at Farang in Thailand; the blog contains practical information about moving to Thailand and journals my personal experience of Thai music, Thai food, Thai people and traveling in S.E Asia. Follow me on twitter.

I know I’m a bit behind, but I do want to get you all caught up on what’s been going on in our lives since arriving in Bangkok on June 7th. So far you’ve had the story of the arrival and the first night and that’s it, but I promise I’ll pick up the pace a bit and hopefully by the end of this week I’ll be current once more.

If you’ve made the trip to Thailand recently I’m sure you remember exactly what the jet lag felt like. Combine that with a jet-lagged and grumpy 13 month old in a new city and you’ve got a recipe for stress like you wouldn’t believe. Honestly though, Alivia wasn’t too bad with the exception of thinking that 3:30 in the morning was time to wake up for the day. That pattern lasted for a few days and she gradually started sleeping later. By the following week she was going to bed at a normal time and sleeping until around 7 or 8 in the morning, not bad by all accounts.

During that week of exhaustion we gave ourselves no break though. We had an agenda and wanted (needed?) to find a job for Golf and a place to live as quickly as possible. We gave ourselves 1 week to accomplish both tasks and somehow, even with the lack of sleep and traveling around Bangkok with a baby in a stroller (or our arms) we did what we set out to do.

Even though we only arrived at 17:30 on a Wednesday evening, Golf was out the next day at 9am for her first job interview. That day and the next she had 5 interviews (a task in itself in Bangkok thanks to the traffic) and out of the 5 interviews she had 5 job offers. Pretty damn good if you ask me and nothing like trying to find work in the U.S.

Having the job search in the bag we began our apartment/condo search on the morning of Saturday June 10th, less than 3 days after arriving and still jet lagged. We started out looking on our own from web classifieds to signs noticed down side soi’s throughout Bangkok. We realized by the end of the day on Saturday that this method wouldn’t work for us. We didn’t have enough time to explore the city well enough, Golf’s Thai friends were no help as they really didn’t understand what we were looking for in a decent place to live and moving around for 10 hours a day in the heat of Bangkok with a baby, stroller and diaper bag were just too much. We needed help.

Thankfully help arrived in the form of Justin Taylor from RentCondosBangkok.com as well as Bill from EasyHomes.tv. Both gentlemen went WAY out of their way to help us locate the perfect place very very quickly. By Monday we were signing a contract on a place that had just what we needed; 10-15 minutes from Golf’s workplace (by motocy), 15 minutes walk to the BTS (less than 5 minutes by motocy), central to everything we needed, small garden and pool on the property and large enough for Alivia to have room to roam inside.

Even though the job was found and the contract was signed on the apartment we weren’t even close to settling down. The apartment had just been vacated and they wanted 10 days to renovate and make it perfect for us. And we were ready to head off to Golf’s parents in Tak the following morning. No rest for the weary yet as they say.

\I discovered that the majority of the bars and nightclubs in Bangkok at least are most likely to be closed on Friday, July 15 and Saturday, July 16.

This is due to two important Buddhist holidays, namely Asarnha Bucha Day and Buddhist Lent Day. These are among the biggest Buddhist holidays on the Thai calendar and therefore, they are treated with high reverence.

It is a shame that this month, the government elections have coincided with two Buddhist holidays, because some bars will lose four nights revenue. It’s even more of a shame if you’ve come to Thailand to experience some of the legendary nightlife!

The majority of bars were ordered to close last year and it is thought that this year will be no exception to the rule. So, I thought I should inform you, so you and your friends will be aware of this Buddhist holiday. In particular, these bar closures (usually) apply rigorously to Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket and Koh Samui. The only exception tends to be the Silom area in Bangkok (notably Patpong), which is controlled by Bangrak’s finest. The boys in brown down there are often more lenient than their counterparts in other districts of the Big Mango. Unfortunately, we cannot do anything about the bar closures on Buddhist holidays and government elections. The Thailand nightlife industry just has to learn to absorb it.

My advice is to go out, enjoy yourselves during the week, and consider making Thursday, July 14 your custom-made ‘Friday’ night. I will personally be enjoying the long weekend and may use it as an excuse to head south for some sun, surf and sand. Koh Chang and Koh Samet are both fairly close to Bangkok, cheap weekend excurisions and easy to get to.

Those of you that live in Bangkok or have visited know that getting something to eat here can be a wildly different experience from going out to eat in the U.S. Certainly there are scores of very nice restaurants serving almost any type of cuisine you want. There are also the nice air conditioned sit down Thai restaurants, where you can get anything from pad thai to southern curries or northern specialties like larb which is a dish of chopped meats and spices.

If you’re willing to be more adventurous though and chance some additional assaults on your senses (and occasionally on your digestion) then you should do as Golf and I do and get your food from the Thai street-side restaurants. The food here is simple, cheap and usually quite delicious. The downside is that you eat sitting on a small plastic stool next to the road in the oppressive Thailand heat. Overall though it’s well worth it.

On this night we decided to do just that because we wanted something quick and cheap. There’s almost no part of Bangkok where you can’t simply walk out the street and within a few minutes find a vendor of some sort with a street-side gastronomic wonder. This is a true assault on your senses as you’ll have the heat and humidity, the loud noise of the traffic (some of the worst in the world), the chatter of those at nearby tables and passing by, the smells of the food from the vendor and other vendors nearby and finally the unfamiliar and often unbelievably spicy taste of the food you order.

While rice is a staple in Thailand, noodles are also very popular and there are loads of places serving many different varieties of noodles. You can get thin noodles and thick noodles, noodles made from rice flour or wheat, noodles in broth or dry, served with chicken, pork or beef. Some stands specialize in just one type, but others will make your noodles to order in whatever way you like. Here’s what you might expect:

You order at the “window” and the cart owner gets to work preparing the noodles, vegetables, spices and meat. Everything is freshly prepared while you wait and while I can hear you saying “Wait what about the meat just hanging in the window” I can assure you that it too is fresh and gets replaced quite frequently at any good noodle stall. Here you can see the nice lady who owns this restaurant preparing the pork (moo in Thai) to go into our noodles.

While they are preparing the dish you can have a seat and they will bring water and a very short time later your steaming bowl of noodles. Condiments such as sugar, fish sauce and chili’s are on each table and you can dress up the noodles to your own taste with these.

I know some foreigners would never consider eating at these streetside restaurants because they think that they are unsanitary, but truly they are not. You can see exactly what’s going on in the ‘kitchen’ so you know if the place is clean or not (can you say the same of most restaurants?). And if you choose a restaurant which has a lot of Thai customers your chances of safety and also a delicious meal are greatly enhanced. And if you choose wisely (no fried foods), they are low in fat and calories too. I know because I’ve lost about 10kg since we’ve arrived in Thailand. Granted some of that is from all the walking I’m doing, but part of it is due to the increase in fruits and vegetables in my diet coupled with a decrease in meats. Speaking of fruits, here’s what you can have for dessert and it will only set you back 10 baht ($0.33).

There’s no doubt that Bangkok is an all out assault on your senses, especially if you are a first time visitor. Even Thai’s can be overwhelmed by Bangkok when arriving for the first time. Sure you may know what to expect from reading and seeing pictures of the Thai capital city, but I guarantee that the actual experience will have your senses reeling.

Now I’m not unexperienced when it comes to Bangkok, having visited over a dozen times in the past years, however each time I arrive I am still somewhat taken aback by the sensory overload. This last arrival was no different. It starts almost immediately when I stepped out of Suvarabhumi airport to get a taxi. 6 o’clock in the evening and the heat was full blast. It’s almost like stepping into a sauna with the combination of extreme heat and extreme humidity. Coming from a northern climate I almost immediately began to sweat from every single pore of my body.

Normally I would hop right into an air conditioned taxi for a comfortable ride into the city. Of course this was not a normal arrival since Golf, Alivia and I were returning to Thailand for good. In addition to our numerous bags of luggage, we were also being met by numerous friends at the airport. First we had to locate said friends however!

If you’ve ever made the trip from the U.S. to Thailand you’ll know it’s one of the longest flights possible. For us it was a 21 hour trip (3 hour layover in Hong Kong), which is enough by itself to make one exhausted and jet lagged. Of course we also had a 1 year old traveling with us, so we were triply exhausted after the grueling trip. Trust me when I tell you that it IS NOT a good idea to coop up a small child in an airplane for more than an hour or two.

Off we went with all our bags to the end of the terminal where we were met by several of Golf’s friends. Greetings and then gossip commenced immediately and I was informed that we had about half a dozen more people to wait for. Meanwhile my shirt was soaked with sweat and all I wanted was a cool drink and some air con. After about an hours time all the friends had arrived and the logistics of transporting the baggage had been settled and we were on our way to our first temporary stop, a hotel called the Hope Land Executive Residence located at Sukhumvit Soi 46/1. This would be our temporary home for the next week as Golf searched for employment and we also searched for a permanent place to live.

If you are looking for a place to stay around this area of Sukhumvit I think you could do much worse than the Hope Land. The staff was very friendly (they enjoyed playing with Alivia) and helpful, the rooms were large and clean and the food was as you would expect. They have no restaurant, but they do serve a breakfast buffet, which was filling if a bit bland and devoid of creativity. And the price (booked through Agoda) was under 1500THB/night.

Checking in was quick and soon we were in our room, which although large, was not meant to accommodate 10+ people. Thankfully the friends soon said their goodbyes and left us to unpack and sort everything out while getting Alivia used to her new temporary home.

Up to this point the sensory assault was minor, primarily related to the heat and humidity and the long unheard sound of Thai being spoken all around. That was soon to change though as we were now hungry and it was time to head out to the street to find a place to eat.

Drop back in tomorrow when I will share with you some of the wonders of Thai cuisine!

P.S. Yes we are very happy to be back in Thailand

A new Bollywood movie includes scenes shot in Thailand.

Bangkok and Pattaya witnessed movie mogul Salmon Khan careering around in a classic Thai tuk tuk, hyping the film, ‘Ready’, which comes out on 3rd June. Shot in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Mumbai, ‘Ready’ boasts lavish sets, breathtaking locations and a visual extravaganza. It’s billed as a fun- filled film for the entire family. The story revolves around a couple who fall in love amidst a twisted plot of greedy uncles who want to gulp down a crazy family’s inheritance. Sounds familiar.

If the clip I saw on the box today is anything to go by, it could be fun, with tuk tuks doing battle on a Thai freeway, causing mayhem and carnage. Hmm! Sounds interesting – after a few beers.

But I must confess this Thai woman was a little in shock!!!

So you can imagine my fascination when I  watch some of the shows in the West that reveal absolutely everything.

For example take the UK show Trinny and Susannah. I really do like the way these two women help normal women off the street find pride in themselves with the way they look just by making simple choices in how they dress to suit their body shape. Rather than hide their bodies Trinny and Susannah get them to make the most of their shape and be  proud to show it. But what shocked me when I first watched this program was the way they just strip these women down to almost nothing in the middle of a clothes shop and being viewed by millions of people. Not only that but later they show the woman and her husband naked behind a screen talking about what they like about each others bodies. My God!

But then what really shocked me was one of their programs when they took 300 normal people on top of a hill somewhere in England and got them all to take their clothes off, completely naked with nothing left to the imagination. Lol! I could not believe what I was watching to be honest. Please don’t get me wrong it is not that I am embarrassed about things like this and I think what they are doing is brilliant but it just would not happen in Thailand. For a start you would not get anyone brave enough to be naked on TV and Thai TV would not allow it to be shown either.

Another program I enjoy to watch is Wife Swap USA and UK. Hahaha it is not what it sounds like and is nothing sexual but 2 wives go and live with each others family for 2 weeks. Usually these families will have completely different values on how to raise children and live their lives and this causes a lot of conflict  when they try to change the rules on each other. For me I find it so interesting to see the different way in which Western culture not only raise their children but live a normal life. In some ways so different from my own Thai and Chinese culture. The people in these shows also sometimes get very angry and even have fights which is amazing to watch really.

One more show that I really love is 16 and pregnant, a show that deals with teenage pregnancy and I find this so fascinating with how the parents of these teenagers deal with them. How they talk to them about the responsibility they must face now due to the pregnancy, getting a job and trying to set up home together at such an early age. In comparison to Thailand I do know that in the more country areas girls as young as 16 do often get pregnant  and in many cases the parents will help out a lot, often completely taking responsibility for the children. This program is just so touching sometimes and it has made me realize how fast children grow up in the West and how much they are exposed to very quickly.

So there are a few other programs I have been watching but now I have to be careful because my husband says I will turn into a Reality TV addict…lol. But I do honor and applaud the West for being so brave and open and it is addictive and compelling television to watch especially when like me you have not really had opportunity to see peoples lives in that way.

Well done !

Until next time please be safe and well

No.7. How Not to Handle Girls in Thailand’s Bars

This time I’m sharing with you a tale about a guy who invited me to tell his story. He’s happy to have me write it up because he prefers to lurk in the background. We’ll call him Hank.

The aircraft touched down bumpily at the old Don Muang airport in Bangkok. Unable to contain his excitement, Hank leaped up to retrieve his hand baggage from the overhead locker. He’d planned this first trip to The Land of Smiles a long time ago, and was determined to have the time of his life – after all, his mates who’d been many times had offered him sound advice.

Fighting his way to the line of taxis, he accepted a deal from a shifty character who promised careful, expert and swift conveyance to Pattaya – at a price that sounded reasonable.

The ancient car juddered along the freeway, dodging in and out of lanes at breakneck speed. Hank unbuttoned his shirt to mop up perspiration caused by the malfunctioning air conditioner, and sheer fright on discovering he’d hired a road rage specialist. Arriving in The Extreme City four hours later, after suffering a burst tire – or   tyre, depending on your native spelling – a boiling radiator and a couple of police checks, the surly driver dropped Hank outside the small but friendly hotel recommended by his pals. Handing over a few thousand baht notes, insisting the man keep the change, he marched into his residence, anticipating a warm greeting.

The gloomy interior reeked of stale tobacco smoke, even staler beer, and overpowering perfume wafted from a dozen or so girls lounging about. A Thai man behind the bar – there wasn’t a reception area – instructed one girl to assist with Hank’s bags while he checked in. Following the rather well built lass up the dingy, narrow concrete stairway, he wondered if he’d arrived at the right place. Stepping inside the room, he knew he’d made a bad mistake. Tipping the makeshift porter a thousand baht, he dumped his belongings on the uncomfortable, suspicious looking bed, trying to convince himself it wasn’t really that bad, and may seem more inviting after a beer or two. As the shower delivered no water, he bravely returned to the bar to report the problem, and sampled his first Thai beer. His spirits rose when several attractive girls befriended him, all seemingly thirsty when they suggested, “Little drink for me?” A number of little drinks later, the boss enquired if he’d like to pay now, or have the bill added to his room account. Agreeing to bill it, Hank found himself drawn towards a particularly beautiful young lady who insisted on clipping his fingernails in-between supping little glassfuls of a very heady concoction. Time sped by as his new friendship became more meaningful, with the caring lady enquiring if he happened to be hungry.

Delighted to accompany her to a plush, expensive restaurant, they indulged in all manner of good food before returning to the – er – establishment. Hank ordered two very special drinks in order to consolidate his intimate friendship with the best girl he’d ever met. Unfortunately, the girl’s other farang boyfriend had arrived, and greeted her warmly while Hank sipped his drink alone.

Postscript: Hank decided to rethink his plan of attack before revisiting Thailand. He’s still working on it.

Point taken. Shame on me.

No.6. The Thai Village That Never Sleeps

Only important if you support noise abatement.

Don’t get me wrong, I love living in my Isaan village – most of the time. It’s just that hardly an hour goes by without disturbance, distraction or disaster. Come join in and experience this typical day.

The all-night wedding party across the road is in full swing, and the bass boost on the speaker system purrs out an enchanting lullaby in earsplitting distortion. Even wrapping the pillow around my head fails to sooth. Ah, time for karaoke now; does the young girl think she’s a superstar? Please give it a rest. I must have dropped off for a few minutes because now a man who thinks he’s funny insists on bellowing some witticisms into the microphone. Now it’s time to dance – a war dance judging by the hooting and hollering. Perhaps diving under the bedcover will bring relief.

It’s not daylight yet, but the public address speaker, mounted on a pole a few meters along the road, crackles to life with the village Head Man presenting his personal choice of a chirpy traditional song that’s bound to precede his important announcement. Yes, it’s about how many baht, or how many kilos of rice locals have donated to the temple. Does he need to read out the names of everyone in the village? Oh-oh! He’s now switched on number two and number three speakers located in other areas of the community. I had no idea so many people live here. That’s set the dogs off, yapping and howling like demented wolves. How can my missus sleep through this? Wait a minute – she’s not here. That must be her bashing sticky rice and pulverizing chilies in the kitchen. It seems the disturbance has roused the party revelers over the road.

Now they’re competing by finding out just how much volume the music system can cope with. Even the flapping cock perched outside my window is unable to make his voice heard above the din. Hmm – the neighbor must be having trouble getting his tuk-tuk to run properly. He’ll blow a gasket if he keeps revving it up like that.

I’m suffering with a headache, nervous twitch and indigestion now I’ve mopped up my breakfast. Fresh air should help – a gentle stroll along the lane, and a brisk jog round the peaceful temple grounds. Ouch! Those huge gongs and drums are taking a pounding. Here comes the first in the usual line of trucks announcing a variety of onboard goods for sale via roof-mounted megaphones. Ah! I’ll stop this one – he’s offering painkillers. Oh dear, the young man on the motorbike really shouldn’t be riding with only one hand on the handlebars. Why can’t the phone call wait? Oops! Too late – he has smacked into the back of our brand new refuse collection truck. He’s okay; a headlong catapult into the garbage container broke the fall. Might as well chuck his bike inside too.

Maybe a few of these will brighten things up.

Sawasdee everyone and I hope you are all very well

I haven’t written a post here for a while “Did you miss me“? lol. I was having a bit of a break to be honest with many things in life to do. But I thought I really want to write a new post and say hello to everyone at Thailand Musings.Thaivisa.com

So what I want to share is an interesting conversation I had recently  with a friend from Australia, he is a friend of my husband actually and what he talked to me about made me want to ask all of you Farang readers here a question.

The question is, even though many Western men have had a bad experience with Thai women what is it that still makes them want a Thai woman as a wife or girlfriend.

Now I do know some of you don’t think that way and wouldn’t want another relationship with a Thai and some have had a bad experience but still happy with a Thai woman and that’s what made me curious to ask.

What was interesting with what my friend told me was that he had experience in relationships with Thai woman that had left a bad taste in his mouth. He had not really been scammed for any money but he had been cheated and lied to when they had other boyfriends, usually from different countries. He told me how a girl he had met would not return phone calls and would make very strange excuses for not being able to answer the phone when he would ring her, like she had lost her phone, or it was broken or she was in the shower all the time, yet when you see many Thai women they have their cell phone glued to their ear every minute.

I have heard of this many times also…this is how they behave and is normally a good sign that something is wrong and they are not sincere and usually means they are with another man.

My friend made a good comment that why could they not just love one man and be happy with him. One day they will grow old and probably be alone. But I suppose that does not really enter their mind when they are young and think they have everything they need because they make easy money. I must confess that it does make me wonder too.

So when he told me that one day he hopes to find a good honest Thai woman it just hit me that why would he still want a Thai woman then, what is it about Thai women that make him forget about his bad experiences like that? If Thai women make him worry so much about whether he can trust her or not why bother to look for a Thai woman again. Wouldn’t it just be easier to find a woman in his own country?

What he told me was he loves Thailand, he loves the food, the culture and Thai people and would want to live in Thailand when he retires, he is early 50′s by the way. So this really made me think because I hear this quite a lot about Farang who even though they have a bad experience they still want to find the right Thai woman and live in Thailand.

So that is why I would very much like to hear what you think here because I know there are so many of you with different backgrounds and opinions and experiences.

So the question again is, even though many Western men have had a bad experience with Thai women what is it that still makes them want a Thai woman as a wife or girlfriend?

I look forward to all of your interesting comments in the meantime stay safe and be happy for Easter.

Sawasdee

This is part 6 (final) of the story An Adventure in Thailand.

I returned and met up with this lady, no not a young girl, this lady was in her late 30s and had two children. Now at this point in my life I have given up everything, my family, home and pretty much everything I/we owned including our £160,000 home, however I was as skeptical about Thai ladies as the next Westerner.

Yes I had heard they only want your money or just want a good time on the Westerners money, so it was a little strange that I had met this lady who did not seem to want much from me. Yes the occasional meal, some clothes when we went out shopping and of course gold, but she did not like drinking or even going out to bars or clubs even though she was working in one. We would eat out whenever I came back to Thailand, but nothing would ever cost a lot and she would never ask for anything expensive. This was not the norm of what I had heard from other Westerners or read about in books about Thailand.

Well since those fateful first trips to Thailand we have bought land, built a home, have had two cars and several bikes. Okay so as we all know the land is in the wife or the girlfriends name, but this is where it can all go wrong, or not!! Coming from England I too was focused on money, material aspects of life and that what I bought was mine, just to name a few things. All those years ago I was lucky to have a girlfriend/wife (Thai) who would teach me right from wrong when it came to the Thai culture and the ways of Thai life and living. We have had many problems, but they have been on both sides and due to the cultural differences as well as the game they call Hi-Lo that is played in the northeast (Isaan) and probably other parts of the country. I have probably spent in the region of £60/70,000 in the few years I have been living in Thailand and a big part of that was given to help my Thai wife’s family. I still love life in Thailand, we have a beautiful home, I have a gorgeous Thai wife (same lady) and of course when things don’t go well for us, for whatever reason I get stressed, but I think about where I am, who I am with, how she now loves me unreservedly and I know however many things or people test us and sometimes to the limits I am living in paradise with my Thai angel.