January 3rd, 2009, 23:05
As I've explained before my Thai boyfriend is HIV+ so I don't use his name so apologies for the impersonal abbreviation BF.
I got home last night (Friday) following a trip to Thailand over Christmas and the New Year. My first priority was to see my BF who's had a rotten year with frequent stays in hospital the longest being two periods of five weeks. He'd been admitted as an emergency for two nights only a few weeks ago. He insisted that he was going to be well enough for our planned stay at Hua Hin but I'd told him that if I didn't think he was up to it I'd have to arrange something else once I arrived.
So I travelled by taxi from Bangkok to his home in Ratchaburi. Last time I'd seen him was in June when he was rather poorly and hadn't been well enough to leave our Bangkok hotel for more than a few hours at a time. I was anxious to see how he was now and I arrived in Ratchaburi to find him standing by the side of the road with a bunch of flowers and a Christmas card in his hand. He'd lost a little weight but still looked pretty fit except that his complexion wasn't good.
We set off for the short journey to pay respects to his mother who earns a living cooking and selling food in the local market (his father died some years ago and my BF now lives alone in what had been his father's house). Unfortunately she was no where to be seen so we went and inspected the banana crop and cut a bunch for the taxi driver.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c156/Jons_photos/Bananas.jpg
Just as we were leaving a motorcycle taxi turned up with my BF's mother precariously perched on the back and hanging onto a two wheeled trolley that clattered behind with all her pots and pans. My BF is an only child and used to help support his mother when he worked in Bangkok but since his illness he hasn't worked and several attempts at training for some sort of a job have all failed as he's never been well enough to complete anything. So his mother works hard and I really admire her but as she speaks no English at all my Thai really isn't up to telling her. So the usual, awkward, exchange of greetings before my BF and I headed off for Hua Hin.
It's not that far from Ratchaburi but even during the short journey I could see that my BF was not well and he went to bed when we arrived. I went to the chemist to get a dressing for an ulcer on his leg that was refusing to heal. He was soon coughing badly and it seemed fairly obvious to me that he had a temperature.
I was getting really worried about him and he called his doctor in Bangkok. Then I headed off to the chemist again to get some anti-biotics. I don't know if it was the pills but by that evening he was beginning to complain he was hungry which is always a good sign. By 7.00 he insisted on going to the Night Market to get some food. He won't eat Western food or even Thai food cooked in a Western Hotel which he says is "mai aroi" (doesn't taste nice).
The smells in the Night Market are wonderful and although it's still a bit touristy he likes the food.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c156/Jons_photos/Night_Market_01.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c156/Jons_photos/Night_Market_02.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c156/Jons_photos/Night_Market_03.jpg
It never seizes to amaze me the way that Thais can buy all sorts of foods including liquids which they then juggle in plastics bags and never drop or spill anything. My BF will eat and drink as he walks but the majority is eaten sitting crossed legged on the hotel floor. My one concession to a Western Christmas was two pieces of traditional Christmas cake from the UK. I didn't think he eat it and he inspected it very suspiciously. He pulled off the icing and I thought he might eat that as he will eat some sweet things. But after one small nibble he pulled a face and said "urgh, sweeeeet!!" The main part of the fruit cake didn't fair any better and had to thrown away after one mouthful. He obviously regarded it as one of those inexplicable "Farang things" and was in fits of laughter.
He spent most of the following day in bed while I went swimming in the sea which he doesn't really like anyway even if he is fit. But the day after he said he was up to a trip and we went to a beautiful bay called Ao Minao (I might have got the spelling wrong) which was about 90 minutes by taxi further south down the coast. He used to go there as a child when his parents and relatives would stay for a couple of days.
A short walk from the small developed area and there was no body to be seen along a beautiful sweeping beach and I enjoyed a swim in the sea and then a walk along the beach while my BF stayed with the taxi driver and had something to eat.
That was it for such trips though as it took too much out of him and he was tired and feeling ill when we got back.
So another day mostly in bed but without the fever.
He was well enough one afternoon for a hair cut though which ended up a bit like those spiky hairdos that Go Go Boys seem to like but which are rarely seen elsewhere. It was done after a lot of bargaining by a ladyboy and I didn't dare tell my BF about the Go Go Boy look as he would have been horrified.
Eventually I headed off for a few days In Pattaya after dropping my BF back home in Ratchaburi. He was due to see two different specialists in Bangkok last Thursday but no one had told him that following the newly introduced Bank Holiday that they wouldn't be there. So he travelled to Bangkok which he finds boring and tiring only to find no one was there to see him. He now hopes to be able to go again on Tuesday. He's coughing badly again and is obviously not well.
I don't think my time in Pattaya warrants any description except to say it was nice to meet several good Thai friends again (Pon, Poo, Oh, Jai and especially Ton who's still dancing at Wild West Boys). It's a shame that I missed the opportunity to meet some Forum members when I got the day wrong after having found I couldn't get onto the Forum to check the date.
I hope to be back in June but the current finacial situation might well effect that so I will have to wait and see.
I got home last night (Friday) following a trip to Thailand over Christmas and the New Year. My first priority was to see my BF who's had a rotten year with frequent stays in hospital the longest being two periods of five weeks. He'd been admitted as an emergency for two nights only a few weeks ago. He insisted that he was going to be well enough for our planned stay at Hua Hin but I'd told him that if I didn't think he was up to it I'd have to arrange something else once I arrived.
So I travelled by taxi from Bangkok to his home in Ratchaburi. Last time I'd seen him was in June when he was rather poorly and hadn't been well enough to leave our Bangkok hotel for more than a few hours at a time. I was anxious to see how he was now and I arrived in Ratchaburi to find him standing by the side of the road with a bunch of flowers and a Christmas card in his hand. He'd lost a little weight but still looked pretty fit except that his complexion wasn't good.
We set off for the short journey to pay respects to his mother who earns a living cooking and selling food in the local market (his father died some years ago and my BF now lives alone in what had been his father's house). Unfortunately she was no where to be seen so we went and inspected the banana crop and cut a bunch for the taxi driver.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c156/Jons_photos/Bananas.jpg
Just as we were leaving a motorcycle taxi turned up with my BF's mother precariously perched on the back and hanging onto a two wheeled trolley that clattered behind with all her pots and pans. My BF is an only child and used to help support his mother when he worked in Bangkok but since his illness he hasn't worked and several attempts at training for some sort of a job have all failed as he's never been well enough to complete anything. So his mother works hard and I really admire her but as she speaks no English at all my Thai really isn't up to telling her. So the usual, awkward, exchange of greetings before my BF and I headed off for Hua Hin.
It's not that far from Ratchaburi but even during the short journey I could see that my BF was not well and he went to bed when we arrived. I went to the chemist to get a dressing for an ulcer on his leg that was refusing to heal. He was soon coughing badly and it seemed fairly obvious to me that he had a temperature.
I was getting really worried about him and he called his doctor in Bangkok. Then I headed off to the chemist again to get some anti-biotics. I don't know if it was the pills but by that evening he was beginning to complain he was hungry which is always a good sign. By 7.00 he insisted on going to the Night Market to get some food. He won't eat Western food or even Thai food cooked in a Western Hotel which he says is "mai aroi" (doesn't taste nice).
The smells in the Night Market are wonderful and although it's still a bit touristy he likes the food.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c156/Jons_photos/Night_Market_01.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c156/Jons_photos/Night_Market_02.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c156/Jons_photos/Night_Market_03.jpg
It never seizes to amaze me the way that Thais can buy all sorts of foods including liquids which they then juggle in plastics bags and never drop or spill anything. My BF will eat and drink as he walks but the majority is eaten sitting crossed legged on the hotel floor. My one concession to a Western Christmas was two pieces of traditional Christmas cake from the UK. I didn't think he eat it and he inspected it very suspiciously. He pulled off the icing and I thought he might eat that as he will eat some sweet things. But after one small nibble he pulled a face and said "urgh, sweeeeet!!" The main part of the fruit cake didn't fair any better and had to thrown away after one mouthful. He obviously regarded it as one of those inexplicable "Farang things" and was in fits of laughter.
He spent most of the following day in bed while I went swimming in the sea which he doesn't really like anyway even if he is fit. But the day after he said he was up to a trip and we went to a beautiful bay called Ao Minao (I might have got the spelling wrong) which was about 90 minutes by taxi further south down the coast. He used to go there as a child when his parents and relatives would stay for a couple of days.
A short walk from the small developed area and there was no body to be seen along a beautiful sweeping beach and I enjoyed a swim in the sea and then a walk along the beach while my BF stayed with the taxi driver and had something to eat.
That was it for such trips though as it took too much out of him and he was tired and feeling ill when we got back.
So another day mostly in bed but without the fever.
He was well enough one afternoon for a hair cut though which ended up a bit like those spiky hairdos that Go Go Boys seem to like but which are rarely seen elsewhere. It was done after a lot of bargaining by a ladyboy and I didn't dare tell my BF about the Go Go Boy look as he would have been horrified.
Eventually I headed off for a few days In Pattaya after dropping my BF back home in Ratchaburi. He was due to see two different specialists in Bangkok last Thursday but no one had told him that following the newly introduced Bank Holiday that they wouldn't be there. So he travelled to Bangkok which he finds boring and tiring only to find no one was there to see him. He now hopes to be able to go again on Tuesday. He's coughing badly again and is obviously not well.
I don't think my time in Pattaya warrants any description except to say it was nice to meet several good Thai friends again (Pon, Poo, Oh, Jai and especially Ton who's still dancing at Wild West Boys). It's a shame that I missed the opportunity to meet some Forum members when I got the day wrong after having found I couldn't get onto the Forum to check the date.
I hope to be back in June but the current finacial situation might well effect that so I will have to wait and see.