Ronan I didn't know until tonight that colmx would be in Pattaya for his birthday on the 15th. You guys want to meet up for a few drinks?
Matt would you mind if I came a couple of days earlier, or later than the 15th:
Ronan I didn't know until tonight that colmx would be in Pattaya for his birthday on the 15th. You guys want to meet up for a few drinks?
Matt would you mind if I came a couple of days earlier, or later than the 15th:
Hitchhiking's more of a challenge on the road less travelled.
Well, it's fine with me. I'm just hanging out with my dogs like a blind idiot, so no worries on my end.
However, again, confirm your dates. I need to ensure Leo is here, because I'm not going into town by myself, and I'm not showing you where I live.
Joe - we can meet earlier than the 15th... Ronan will be there from the 13th, so we can go out that night and you can then go to meet Matt!
I will even see if I can try to locate Martin911 for a few drinks
(I believe that NIrishGuy will be in the canaries at the time... Buying up property in Tenerife... so he can be your Rigsby type landlord once you move there!
Buffalo me die! Send Money!
Didn't know Nirsh was buying up property in Tenerife. I'd be happy to have him as a landlord - seems like a nice guy.
colm it's your choice. I can't do another 10 pages like this. Set a time and place, and Ronan and I will show up. Ronan, do you have a BF in Pattaya?
Hitchhiking's more of a challenge on the road less travelled.
I am fancy free, no boyfriend....
Just aim to be in Pattaya for at least one night between the 13th and the 16th, Joe.
WE can arrange the venue close to the time.
Only kidding about NIGuy being a landlord in the Canaries... but he is going there this Christmas... instead of Thailand (Boo & hiss @ NIGuy!)Originally Posted by joe552
As per Ronan's post above... life is too short to make firm plans this early, but for sure lets meet between the 13th-16th
Buffalo me die! Send Money!
joe552 (November 20th, 2017)
That reminds me of another stay at friend's place in a village in Seka, Bueng Gan province. They had a nice house, but on the afternoon my friend proclaimed "I'm going to have a nap now, enjoy yourself the afternoon!" And there I was, left alone, with nothing to do! (Nowadays I always have a book for such occasions.) So I took his bicycle and cycled around village, and the villagers were shouting across the road, over my head: "There is a Farang on a bicycle!" "There is a Farang on a bicycle!" "There is a Farang on a bicycle!" ... It was sunny, and I got sunburn on my knees (hurts when you put on or take off your trousers!).
Staying in a Thai village is well worth doing for the experience but I found it very stressful. The one I went to many years ago was outside Udon Thani and fairly primitive. I was the first farang visitor in living memory and felt like an exhibit the whole time. On arrival I had no sooner settled into a corner of the family house than a bunch of old ladies turned up and just sat staring at me. I became very self-conscious and in the end just lay down to sleep. In the West this would have been considered rude behaviour but the old ladies grunted with approval and promptly left. My first lesson: different rules apply here.
On my first full day I went for a walk round the village on my own and had soon acquired a small following army of young kids. I wished I had brought some sweets to hand out. The compacted earth path was very slippery after rain and all my concentration went into ensuring that I didn't go arse over tit, which would no doubt have amused the kids but instilled a most unsatisfactory image of farangkind in their minds for all time. Later that day an elderly miserable-looking monk came to visit me at the house and the usual crowd of old crones gathered to watch. Embarrassment hardly conveys what I was feeling. With no more than a handful of words in common we just sat and looked at each other. Somehow or other it eventually came to an end. I slipped the monk a 500 baht note before he left. The boy I was with tut-tutted as at an inappropriate act but I noticed that the monk slipped the note into his robes readily enough.
Sleeping in the family home was extremely uncomfortable even though I was granted the honour of a slim and grubby mattress. I was constantly changing position during the night and the rain dripping through the corrugated metal roof didn't help. Terrible backache in the morning. Toilet arrangements - well, there was a mosquito-infested pool at the back of the house, one sight of which caused my bowels to seize up for the remainder of the stay. I ate enough of the food to keep hunger at bay and no more.
You won't be surprised to know that I was mightily relieved when we left after two days. I wouldn't care to repeat the experience but some pleasant memories have lingered. The boy I was with pouring jugs of cold water over himself for his morning shower, the constant affection given by all and sundry to a baby in its hammock, the happy, excited faces of those young kids following me, the hospitality on offer despite the meagre means. You'd have to be very hard-hearted not to feel humbled. But. yes, I was glad to get away!
bobsaigon2 (November 20th, 2017), christianpfc (November 20th, 2017), joe552 (November 20th, 2017), llz (November 20th, 2017), RonanTheBarbarian (November 20th, 2017), Tintin (November 20th, 2017)
Same for all my trips. Old and young in large numbers, but where are the 18-25?
Monks don't make house-calls without invitation (and for no reason) and rarely leave the temple after 12 noon. Exceptions would be if they were invited to bless a wedding, a new house or chant during a funeral in which case they would come in a group (I can't remember the exact numbers).
The above post reminds me very much of the "trip report" that frequent made here:
https://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showt...saan-adventure
You don't know frequent, snotface. He left shortly before you appeared.
Last edited by sglad; November 20th, 2017 at 10:34.
christianpfc (November 21st, 2017)
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