First up was putting the house back together after a week away in Laos. I exaggerate a bit, but leaving a teenager to look after all the cats and dogs, washing and cleaning etc meant there was a fair bit of remedial work to do on our return.
Sasipa went in search of the various animals, ticking them off her mental list once they had been seen. One cat however was not to be found, which was particularly worrying as it was one of her favourites.
Skip forward a day to dinner and I’m sure I can faintly hear a cat mewing. Sasipa can hear nothing, but it seems that my hearing is still good, although nothing like my daughters, who seem to be able to hear a pin drop from next door!
The mewing was coming from in the ceiling so with a bit of listening and bit of tapping (until I didn’t get a hollow sound back) I found where it was and broke the tile next to it. Sure enough the cat was in the ceiling space. It was super dehydrated and nearly dead. I think it was ill anyway as it could have easily got out of the ceiling space if it was well.
Anyway we lifted it down and I mixed up some home made electrolytes suitable for a cat, having chucked Sasipa’s gung-ho version down the sink. You only need a tiny bit of salt and sugar in the water Sasipa!
Next day we took it to the vets where it stayed on a drip for several days, but although it perked up a bit it wouldn’t eat and ultimately didn’t recover. Quite a few cats have died of distemper recently so it would have had that anyway. So home it came to be buried along with all the other animals in the pet cemetery that is Sasipa’s garden.
It’s getting hotter and so the number of fans I am being asked to repair has been growing steadily. Only two have defeated me so far. Both issues with the motor, detached fine wires on the magnets etc that are too complicated or impossible to repair.
Then I had to turn my hand to the front brake on the Honda Click motorbike. The brake fluid reservoir was empty apart from a bit of sludge so I cleaned it and bought some brake fluid, but try as I might I could not bleed the system and get it working again. In the end I decided it must be the master cylinder and bought a new one including the brake lever and reservoir for the princely sum of £1.80. Thanks Lazada! It arrived after a day or two and within a few minutes all was working again.
The travelling vets are having another neuter your pet day and this time it’s only down the road. We took the cat Salid – he of the attack on my arm – down there in the car, but passed people on the way balancing cages on their motorbikes. One person was riding along with a big cage under one arm and was steering with the other. Another day the vets dropped by the house and gave Sasipa 15 syringes and bottles of rabies jabs from their ice box, which I then stored in the fridge.
I have been busy turning this website into something more commercial as well with guides, tips, advice plus consultations, offers and hopefully an ebook guide in the works! It’s a work in progress, but if you got here via a direct link and haven’t seen it, have a look at the home page and let me know what you think.
The garden is looking decidedly overgrown in places and I have decided to prune the Banana trees and take out a couple of dead ones.
I need the step ladders and the ground is uneven as well, This is also an area with several pet graves, but it looks messy, so I put on my wide brimmed hat and get to it, but wow it’s hot. I have taken a couple of trees out and removed dozens of dead ‘fronds’ for want of a better word. It is easy to cut through a Banana tree and as Thailand is nothing if not good at improvising, I repurposed my plasterboard saw to good effect.
There is a very large pile of Banana related debris to get rid of, but as a cousin is sadly very sick just across the road, we will wait to burn it in case the smoke wafts their way and causes her any further discomfort.
Then my friend John turned up with his phone, the screen was just ‘white noise’ and he was panicking a bit as lots of important stuff is on there. Naturally no back up existed, but I was able to ascertain that the phone itself wasn’t dead, just the screen. So it was back to trusty Lazada for a new screen, which arrived a few days later. It’s been about 5 years since I stopped repairing phones on a semi commercial basis, so I am a bit rusty. Fortunately I had a few specialist tools with me that I left here last year and blowing the dust off them I got to work. Apart from a slightly over generous application of glue on the new screen (I hope it doesn’t need replacing again) it started up and is as good a new. Phew! It’s always a worry working with something so delicate that you don’t damage the electronics and ruin the phone.
I have decided to head down to Pattaya again for a week, but this business in Iran has me concerned about fuel, so I took the car to Satuek in search of a petrol station with diesel. After several empty forecourts, I came across a PTT station, one of the largest suppliers in Thailand. The queue was about half an hour, but the prices are partly controlled in times of need via the Thai government’s oil fuel fund, so the price was the same as normal and I put in 1000baht (the maximum allowed at the moment).
This price control isn’t a totally rigid thing at all and is still susceptible to price fluctuations, but it is cushioned to a certain extent. Some independent and other retailers have put their prices up, but then again they don’t seem to have any fuel! The government has allowed the control to move up several times. So the next 1000baht I bought was at 33baht a litre (up from 30) and then 37baht a few days later, but I now have enough to get there and back as it is nearly 500km each way. It is currently 48 baht a litre as of 8 April!
Before heading off to Pattaya, I noticed that the tax disc expires a few days before I leave. As I am bound to pass at least a couple of checkpoints I want to sort it out before I go, otherwise it could be a 500 baht fine.
We drove down to Buriram and the department of transport office, where they have a drive through to renew your car tax (how civilized!) Unfortunately the lady in the booth told us we had to have an MOT as the car is now over a certain age. Thinking that this would mean I’d have to come back to Buriram on another day, book an MOT and use up more of that precious diesel that is earmarked for Pattaya, I found myself pleasantly surprised when that wasn’t the case at all.
The nearest MOT place was only about 400m away, so we just turned up. No appointment, no problem and only one car ahead of us, which was already being tested. As any of you not lucky enough to always have a new or nearly new car will know, passing an MOT in the UK can be a yearly torture. Especially when you were young and skint.
None of that worry here, they checked the emissions and exhaust volume (lots of Thai’s like to have noisy exhausts). They checked the headlight direction and the brakes/lights and that was about it. They didn’t look under the car nor did they check the tyres or bodywork, although they may have given them a cursory glance while walking past. The cost was 200 baht (less than £5) and was done including paperwork in about 15 minutes. We headed straight back to the drive through and this time, having handed over the pass certificate, I paid the annual fee of 1050 baht(£24) and new tax disc in hand, off we went to Mel’s restaurant, the Swan bar, for a proper full English breakfast. Well I did anyway, Sasipa had Pad Krapow Moo!
Sasipa is still having problems with her knee and foot and so I took her to the local hospital, the same one where I had my rabies jabs. As it was for her this time she expected to be waiting a long time, but as they are very proud of their hospital, I suspected/hoped that they might want to show off how efficient they are to a ‘farang’ (foreigner). So I made sure that I was very visible next to her and sure enough we whizzed through all the different stages. From initial tests to seeing the nurse, then x-rays and then a long visit with the doctor who spent quite a lot of time talking to me in English, we were in and out in about an hour. Sasipa started worrying about the speed she was being seen at and was concerned that she would be charged foreigner prices instead of the usual 30 baht for a Thai person. I wasn’t worried and sure enough the bill was indeed 30 baht. Unfortunately she has some osteoarthritis, but is too young for any surgery. So it’s exercises, medicine and perhaps knee injections if it gets worse.
Pattaya was it’s usual chaotic self and is hotter than last time. I’m staying at the same place although a different apartment and block. It’s a really good deal at £125 for 6 nights.
I decided to drive around the lakes in the Darkside and was amazed at the amount of building and property/land for sale. There are numerous gated developments already constructed and villas in these are going for many millions of baht. There are also many other planned developments that haven’t been started yet, just a billboard with an artists impression of what it will look like. Then there are individual properties that have been there a while and individual smaller plots of land for sale. Having said that the vast majority of the land around the lakes has not been built on yet, so there must be tremendous opportunities if you have deep pockets. I saw international schools, shops, supermarkets and gyms dotted around as well as a water park.
Most days I wander around the town, having lunch, visiting markets and enjoying the vibe of the city. I had a haircut (150 baht) and bought a couple more t-shirts. I try to walk everywhere and manage around 20,000 steps a day, but it is very hot indeed, so I occasionally book a grab motorbike taxi.
Evenings are usually spent watching live music and my most frequented venue is the Rock Factory. I have become friendly with the the resident band there and they wave to me when I arrive and come and say hello during the interval. I also met some other customers. From Derek, a long haired Swiss rocker, who gets up and sings with them sometimes, to a guy who looks like Jesus and plays a mean Gibson guitar. Another character is an English guy who, although here on holiday, has been to Thailand 92 times in the last 30 years! I asked him about his holidays and he said he gets 10 weeks holiday a year! Guess what he does for a living…. Yep he’s a civil servant! One last character was a Russian guy, whose name now escapes me. He was also here on holiday and flew back to Moscow the day before I headed back up north.
Even though it is hot, a cold shower in the morning isn’t ideal and after two days I start to wonder where the hot water is. Apparently they have been doing some work on the water systems so I thought that might be the issue. Actually though it was only to do with the supply, so I contacted the owners who asked me to check the lights on the shower water heater. It was hidden in a cupboard, so I hadn’t realised there was one, just thinking that the hot water was centrally supplied. Sure enough the on light flickered and wasn’t working properly, so they sent round a technician. He diagnosed a loose capacitor and said in the short term it can be fixed by tapping the capacitor with a glass or even your toothbrush if it stops working. Sure enough it did the job, but I doubt health and safety would be impressed! They sent me some beers as well by way of apology.
The owners have been very good actually. When I stayed at their other apartment I bought quite a lot of stuff with me, kitchen stuff mostly, plates, frying pan, knives glasses etc. However it was actually well equipped and I hardly needed any of it, so I bought much less with me this time only to find that this apartment was much less well equipped. I mentioned it to them and the same day there was a parcel with glasses, knives, teaspoons, mugs etc, waiting for me at security.
Soon it was time to head back and the long journey passed smoothly enough and I got back with fuel to spare as planned.
Next day it was off to Praew’s school where it is what we used to call ‘Speech day’. The last day of term and all the older students, including Praew, were getting flowers and money for passing their exams. I wish I could have taken some more photos, so you could see the ostentatiousness of it.
Some kids were walking around wearing wings stuffed full of money, other’s had long plastic sheets filled with 100 baht notes hanging around their necks or bunches of flowers with money entwined in the stems. I did manage one or two photos so you can get the idea.
Drinks at John’s house on a Friday night has become a bit of a fixture and I have met a few new friends there. John has invested in a pool table and despite using a laser level (yes I know that’s not how you do it) it is impossible to get it straight and true. Soft shots can be tricky!
In addition to regulars Steve and Philip there is Darren an English guy, who lives not far away and Brian, an Irishman who splits his time between his girlfriend’s house a few miles away and the west coast of Ireland. We hope to meet up for a few beers in Ireland, when I visit there later in the year. He used to have restaurants in Ireland and is a decent chef. He invited us to a BBQ at his place one evening and apart from the usual burgers and hot dogs there were some tasty ribs together with a lovely piece of lamb and a great mixed salad.
John bought him some Guinness, so he was a happy Irishman and promptly started dancing to a bit of Barry White!
There is also Jeremy, an American from North Carolina who has lived here for 2 or 3 years now. He invited me round to his place to drink some French wine with him that he picked up in big Lotus and very nice it was too, together with a plate of grapes, cheese and nuts. Very civilized here don’t you know! We sat by his new pool and had a good chat and an interesting tour around his house, which is still in progress. There are 3 houses all next to each other on the land, one inhabited by his girlfriends sister and another by her parents, but this is quite usual in Thailand. Brian’s girfriend’s parents also live in another part of the house where he lives! Jeremy goes everywhere by electric bike of which he has several and you will often see him whizzing along the road to Satuek, which is about 12km away.
Sasipa complained earlier in the year that the rain was coming through the ceiling in heavy downpours, which there are continuously from about June to October. She thought the wind was forcing it in the side, so I planned to board up the edges so that that wouldn’t happen. However my inspection revealed that a more likely cause was a hole in the roof as well as the windows up there not being firmly shut.
Although I am quite used to scrambling about roofs, I decide it would be impossible to get onto that part of the roof. It is corrugated iron and old. I’m fairly sure that I would fall through it, so I had to repair it from inside.
It was sweltering working just below the roof and the hot metal reflecting the heat was really intense. I cut a patch of corrugated iron to cover the hole and coated it with a resin then screwed up though it with special screws that have rubber washers to stop water coming in. It should hold well enough, but I think at some point that part of the roof will need replacing.
Sasipa’s Uncle died, but he was 94 and he had a long life. As usual it’s all hands on deck, with 5 days or so of monks chanting (Abhidhamma) and preparing food for visitors from all over, coming to pay their respects. Sasipa is up at the crack of dawn or before helping cook and prepare food with her cousins and other close relatives. I pop over a few times to help out, bringing with me my trusty potato peeler from home, which is far superior to the ones here. The aunts look covertously at it as I peel two papaya’s in the time they can peel one and I soon have a number of orders for peelers to bring back next time!
It’s quite tiring and after a few days I’m feeling a bit bored eating the same thing every day. Eventually it’s time for the funeral and we go up to the temple following the monks and the coffin, which is inside an ornate outer coffin called a heep sop (หีบศพ). It takes at least two hours at the temple and young people circulate regularly with chilled water and sometimes ice cream as well. At the end you go up the steps with everyone else and deposit your paper flower in a dish and give whatever blessing or words you wish to the departed. Then the monks throw loads of sweets and money into the crowd and there is a mad scramble to pick up as much as you can. I did quite well and felt a little cheated when Sasipa suggested I give it all to a poor aunt! Then there are various photos of different families taken and I am in the one with Sasipa, two of her children, a brother and daughter in law.
Following the cremation there are several more days of loud music, monks chanting and eating and drinking at the home of the deceased. It’s only in the next street so we can hear it clearly. At least they don’t finish too late as I have heard some that go on nearly all night.
Not one day after this finished Sasipa is woken up by a call at 4am telling her that her cousin has finally succumbed to cancer. This relative lives directly opposite us and so we have to do it all again. There are some small differences, no group photo’s for example and the funeral party all wore white, but it’s mostly the same, including the food, although thankfully there was one different dish! She was only in her 60’s, so it is perhaps a sadder occasion, but the Thai people have an amazing acceptance of life and death, that stems from their Buddhist faith.
This spiritual acceptance was much in need as we came home to find Sasipa’s favourite cat, Tortek, all but dead. The dogs had attacked it in a gang and it died in my arms. Sasipa was very upset and the dogs got a good hiding. Life is hard here sometimes and I am feeling the weight of all these deaths of people and pets.
We had the aircon serviced, which has made a good difference and I finally got around to varnishing the doors in preparation for the rainy season. I just need to build a protective shelter for the water pump pipes and and electronic pump management system as the sun has already bleached everything in the year since it was installed and the pipes may well become brittle and damaged in another year or two.
Once that’s done, there is Songkran to get through. Songkran is the traditional Thai new year festival, celebrated with massive nationwide water fights. Last year I was in Bangkok and it was pretty awful. It took me an hour to walk down a street that normally takes 5 minutes and I was soaked and painted liberally with some clay type substance. There also is a current outbreak of Melioidosis (“Soil Fever”), which has killed 23 people so far. Unfortunately one of the key ways it can be spread is through contaminated water, so not ideal timing.
This year I am in the north and although the kids lie in wait along the sides of the road and in villages with buckets of water, hosepipes or XXXL sized water pistols to soak unsuspecting passers by, I have a cunning plan. I dug out my rain cape from the bottom of the cupboard, that stood me in such good stead during my time on the Kinabatangan river in Borneo and I put it on whenever I go out to lunch or to the shops. I must admit it’s very hot underneath it, but it does the job perfectly as well as having Sasipa in stitches.
It’s too hot to work outside during the day, although we did finally get around to burning all the banana tree debris. That was extremely hot work and we had to keep beating out flames as the fire tried to creep across the grass in an ever expanding circle.
I want to buy a new chain for the bicycle I fixed up last year as the old one snapped. In the hope Sasipa might ride it around the village instead of her motorbike, The doc said that it’s good exercise for the knees, but I am not very hopeful that she will use it. I put the bike in the back of the pickup and drove up to Satuek, finding a space right outside the bicycle shop.
One of the staff, not only put on a new chain for me, but also adjusted the brakes, oiled all the moving parts and pumped up the tyres. I could hardly believe it when he told me that total was 90 baht (around £2). The bike rides well now and is actually being used by Sasipa. I rode it up to the village shop one day to buy some ice, much to the amusement of the locals.
We headed into Buriram for a meal with Sasipa’s children and their wives/partners. We ate here a couple of years ago and it is a lovely restaurant, set in an artificial lake. Drinks and food arrives by golf cart and you can choose to either sit at a normal height table or a low Thai style one. A comfortable netting that you can sit on stretches out over the water for each little dining area. We had several beautiful curries, fish platters and other dishes.
I’m heading to Bangkok in a day or two, so I am finishing up some last jobs and doing the rounds of goodbyes. Then that will be it again until later this year, the months have flown by yet again.
I packed away my wash bag, making homeless the gecko that has lived under it for the last few months and head to the bus station in Buriram. I always use Nakhonchai Air, which is the best and most reliable service in Thailand. I am a member of their frequent traveller program and have a 10% discount on tickets. The first class bus, of which there is one a day, is only 498 baht for me to go all the way to Bangkok. You have your own individual seat, which reclines a long way and also massages you if you so wish. No one is right next to you and you are served lunch, snacks and water. The gold class service is still very good too and runs much more often as well as being cheaper.
My bags are quite heavy, but I make it across the road to the local bus stop, once I arrive in Bangkok, for my journey to the part of the city where I am staying. The number 3 bus turns up and I hop on. They still have conductors here and the fare is only 8 baht. This one is not air conditioned and all the windows are open letting in the early evening sights and sounds of Bangkok and I settle in at the back by the window as the suspension bounces me around and take it all in.
Things are looking quite downbeat here, the bars and restaurants are very quiet. The streets are not heaving with people, although not empty either. It feels a bit off in my opinion and I know this area very well. I want to feel sorry for them, but I am quite annoyed at the profiteering currently going on in my favourite part of town. It’s not everywhere, but the price of a beer in many establishments is taking the piss, to put it bluntly. Another trick that is becoming more prevalent is displaying the prices without VAT included and then springing the extra on you at the end when you pay.
Apart from that I enjoyed wandering around and went up to visit Chatuchak market. This is where the earthquake last year collapsed a building, but there is no sign of that now and it is business as usual, although still quieter than normal here too.
I went to one of my new favourite markets again at Klong Thom, which is much more for locals and the deals to be had are much better than Chatuchak or the MBK centre. It’s more interesting as well as it’s authentic rather than touristy.
One last bit of live music wrapped up my stay. An excellent blues/jazz bar that I know near one of the canals. The singer was very good and I look forward to seeing them again next time.
That’s about it for this trip, my flight is via Istanbul and so I have fortunately managed to avoid the middle east completely by chance! Until next time….