Smiles
February 20th, 2008, 12:58
On goes the experiment (as I so coldly declare it) in living long-term with a Thai partner.
We gladly ~ now thankfully ~ eschewed the opportunity to shack up in a gay paradise, but chose instead quiet little Hua Hin, a beach resort on the Gulf of Thailand about 3-4 hours drive, or bus, or train down south from Bangkok.
HH is hardly sleepy, yet does not include the crappy air and traffic congestion of Bangkok, nor the lousy beach and ocean water of Pattaya. It is also within reasonable traveling distance of these places, both of which we enjoy in small doses.
Phuket was considered (long ago) but discarded as just too far away from the rest of Thailand for ease of access.
Hua Hin is fairly 'straight' in character, and the main part of the economy is certainly tourism (mostly northern Europeans with smatterings of Americans & Canadians). Gay life here is centered around 7 or 8 gay venues, all small, and being comprised of host bars and (so-called!) show bars (see an earlier post for names and short review: http://www.sawatdee-gay-thailand.com/fo ... 13998.html (http://www.sawatdee-gay-thailand.com/forum/short-run-down-of-gay-bars-in-hua-hin-t13998.html) ).
The central tourist theme here (by a long shot) is The Beach . . . it goes along the coast from town for miles, and is clean, swimmable clear waters, often deliciously wave-ridden. The constant winds off the Gulf make for relatively cool days under the umbrellas, and the swimming here is as pleasant as one could wish considering this is a town beach, as opposed to some tropical lonely little bay getaway and beach where one can relax in solitude.
Our relationship has traveled apace further, and more telescoped in dynamism than it ever did while on 6 or 8 week holidays as has been the case these last 7 years. 'Reality' kicks in insofar as a million little things are concerned ... and some not so little: like finances (have to watch it, I'm retired, but hardly rich), what-to-do with ones time (an ongoing & sometimes stressful journey), "getting along" (me a minor neurotic tight-ass, him a music-blaring underwear-leaving free spirit) ... and more.
But, "it just gets better" right now seems to be the working phrase. My (and perhaps his) fears that it would be the opposite have largely dissipated and the accumulated anxieties (collected like used plastic bags during the months before departure last year) begin to float pleasantly away like the thinnest of gold leaf in a gentle wind.
Here are a few photos of days in our new Hua Hin home. I hope you can enjoy:
Khun Pot in his cups at the Look Narm Music Bar just outside town.
A very large barn of a place, it's packed to the rafters each and every night (hrs: 7 - 4am ... nothing really gets going until 11) with boozing Thai folks and the odd farang poking his head in with girl or boy friend. Food is very good (try the smoked pork bits with a tomato chili sauce ... to die) and by 1am it's dancing-on-chairs-time.
WE have a half bottle of whiskey sitting with our names on it there right now, so . . . maybe next week.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/Photos%20from%20friends/looknarm31.jpg
Getting snuggly in Look Narm. Finally a decent photo of myself with the old man. Thais are ridiculously photogenic and tend to (unconsciously?) make their farang partners appear like a old 10-pointers unexpectedly caught in the headlights. But this one isn't half bad, so vanity allowed me to include it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/Photos%20from%20friends/dp.1.jpg
Mr Pot has a part time job working at our landlords beach consession up the beach. There's a method to his madness though .... this job allows him to sweet-talk up customers for his tour guide & transport business. He just put a fancy-dancy cover and seat combination on the truck a few weeks ago, and business is good right now during Hua Hin's high season. (He also snagged a 500 baht fine one day for operating without the proper 'tax' for his truck . . . "cost of doing business" in his view).
It helps very much at the beach that his english is very good, and he has a smile that lights up a room (thanks to 'Bob' for that thought!).
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/Photos%20from%20friends/p.1.jpg
A working fishing boat, in a fishing village, just south of town. The road along the ocean south of Hua Hin (all the way to Chumpon ... as far as we have traveled so far) is loaded with tiny little bays, often with quite charming small beaches. We've found a few already, and will start to explore more over the next year.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/Hua%20Hin%20Thailand%201/boat1.jpg
A shot in the beautiful and sweetly minimalist old royal palace just up north almost to Cha Am. This place is worth a visit (and more ... I've been 4 times now and love it every time) and is never over crowded.
Built in the early part of the last century, it was the King(s) of Thailand summer home for some years. It went into complete ruin in the 1930-1950's, but has now been totally restored ... and a terrific job they did of that.
A hauntingly peaceful place built right on the ocean, it's dimensions and scale are of a human proportion (unlike so many palaces), and it's colours (a light blue/turquoise and an ethereal yellow) sooth the mind.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/Hua%20Hin%20Thailand%201/IMG_1109.jpg
Our home. A townhouse located just outside the main part of town .... 6 or 7 minute walk to the beach ... 4 minutes from 3 gay host bars ... 5 minutes from downtown. Scammed a good deal with 2 stories, 2 bath & bed, parking. A little front driveway which does double duty as a nice garden (it's bigger now, this photo was taken in early January) and many an argument as to whether it was meant for my plants, or his car! No winner as yet . . . it's a share.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/Hua%20Hin%20Thailand%201/IMG_1078.jpg
I'll go out and take some photos of each one of the gay places here in the next few days (such is the luxurious time I have)and attach them to the other thread.
Cheers ...
We gladly ~ now thankfully ~ eschewed the opportunity to shack up in a gay paradise, but chose instead quiet little Hua Hin, a beach resort on the Gulf of Thailand about 3-4 hours drive, or bus, or train down south from Bangkok.
HH is hardly sleepy, yet does not include the crappy air and traffic congestion of Bangkok, nor the lousy beach and ocean water of Pattaya. It is also within reasonable traveling distance of these places, both of which we enjoy in small doses.
Phuket was considered (long ago) but discarded as just too far away from the rest of Thailand for ease of access.
Hua Hin is fairly 'straight' in character, and the main part of the economy is certainly tourism (mostly northern Europeans with smatterings of Americans & Canadians). Gay life here is centered around 7 or 8 gay venues, all small, and being comprised of host bars and (so-called!) show bars (see an earlier post for names and short review: http://www.sawatdee-gay-thailand.com/fo ... 13998.html (http://www.sawatdee-gay-thailand.com/forum/short-run-down-of-gay-bars-in-hua-hin-t13998.html) ).
The central tourist theme here (by a long shot) is The Beach . . . it goes along the coast from town for miles, and is clean, swimmable clear waters, often deliciously wave-ridden. The constant winds off the Gulf make for relatively cool days under the umbrellas, and the swimming here is as pleasant as one could wish considering this is a town beach, as opposed to some tropical lonely little bay getaway and beach where one can relax in solitude.
Our relationship has traveled apace further, and more telescoped in dynamism than it ever did while on 6 or 8 week holidays as has been the case these last 7 years. 'Reality' kicks in insofar as a million little things are concerned ... and some not so little: like finances (have to watch it, I'm retired, but hardly rich), what-to-do with ones time (an ongoing & sometimes stressful journey), "getting along" (me a minor neurotic tight-ass, him a music-blaring underwear-leaving free spirit) ... and more.
But, "it just gets better" right now seems to be the working phrase. My (and perhaps his) fears that it would be the opposite have largely dissipated and the accumulated anxieties (collected like used plastic bags during the months before departure last year) begin to float pleasantly away like the thinnest of gold leaf in a gentle wind.
Here are a few photos of days in our new Hua Hin home. I hope you can enjoy:
Khun Pot in his cups at the Look Narm Music Bar just outside town.
A very large barn of a place, it's packed to the rafters each and every night (hrs: 7 - 4am ... nothing really gets going until 11) with boozing Thai folks and the odd farang poking his head in with girl or boy friend. Food is very good (try the smoked pork bits with a tomato chili sauce ... to die) and by 1am it's dancing-on-chairs-time.
WE have a half bottle of whiskey sitting with our names on it there right now, so . . . maybe next week.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/Photos%20from%20friends/looknarm31.jpg
Getting snuggly in Look Narm. Finally a decent photo of myself with the old man. Thais are ridiculously photogenic and tend to (unconsciously?) make their farang partners appear like a old 10-pointers unexpectedly caught in the headlights. But this one isn't half bad, so vanity allowed me to include it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/Photos%20from%20friends/dp.1.jpg
Mr Pot has a part time job working at our landlords beach consession up the beach. There's a method to his madness though .... this job allows him to sweet-talk up customers for his tour guide & transport business. He just put a fancy-dancy cover and seat combination on the truck a few weeks ago, and business is good right now during Hua Hin's high season. (He also snagged a 500 baht fine one day for operating without the proper 'tax' for his truck . . . "cost of doing business" in his view).
It helps very much at the beach that his english is very good, and he has a smile that lights up a room (thanks to 'Bob' for that thought!).
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/Photos%20from%20friends/p.1.jpg
A working fishing boat, in a fishing village, just south of town. The road along the ocean south of Hua Hin (all the way to Chumpon ... as far as we have traveled so far) is loaded with tiny little bays, often with quite charming small beaches. We've found a few already, and will start to explore more over the next year.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/Hua%20Hin%20Thailand%201/boat1.jpg
A shot in the beautiful and sweetly minimalist old royal palace just up north almost to Cha Am. This place is worth a visit (and more ... I've been 4 times now and love it every time) and is never over crowded.
Built in the early part of the last century, it was the King(s) of Thailand summer home for some years. It went into complete ruin in the 1930-1950's, but has now been totally restored ... and a terrific job they did of that.
A hauntingly peaceful place built right on the ocean, it's dimensions and scale are of a human proportion (unlike so many palaces), and it's colours (a light blue/turquoise and an ethereal yellow) sooth the mind.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/Hua%20Hin%20Thailand%201/IMG_1109.jpg
Our home. A townhouse located just outside the main part of town .... 6 or 7 minute walk to the beach ... 4 minutes from 3 gay host bars ... 5 minutes from downtown. Scammed a good deal with 2 stories, 2 bath & bed, parking. A little front driveway which does double duty as a nice garden (it's bigger now, this photo was taken in early January) and many an argument as to whether it was meant for my plants, or his car! No winner as yet . . . it's a share.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/Hua%20Hin%20Thailand%201/IMG_1078.jpg
I'll go out and take some photos of each one of the gay places here in the next few days (such is the luxurious time I have)and attach them to the other thread.
Cheers ...