"Hua Hin"

I’m always intrigued by the name of the seaside resort “Hua Hin”. The first word of the name, “Hua” is the Thai word for “Head”. The second word of the name, “Hin” is the Thai word for “Stone” or “Rock”. Literal translations are always unwise, but nonetheless the idea that “Hua Hin” might mean “Headstone” or “Stone Head” often amuses me. In reality I suspect that it probably means “Headland” or something similar. I’d be grateful if any reader can enlighten me as to the exact meaning of Hua Hin.

But what really fascinates me about the name Hua Hin is the way its pronounced. “Hua” is pronounced quickly and has a sound a little like a shortened version of “Hoo-werr”. “Hin” is pronounced almost as it’s written but the vowel sound of the “i” falls about halfway between the “i” in “hit” and the “ee” in “seen”. But the two words when pronounced together have a melody, a flow, and a rhythm which makes the name Hua Hin sound most enchanting.

A Coffee and a Pronunciation Lesson
During our recent visit to Hua Hin we popped in to the fast food outlet pictured below. I ordered a coffee for myself. I didn’t order anything for Her@Home because we’re economising.

The young lady who took my order is extremely attractive, and I have to confess that almost as soon as I saw her I started to cherish the hope that I might cultivate a little conversation with her. And then I had a most brilliant idea:
“I’ll ask her to help me with my pronunciation”, thought I. “I’ll initiate a conversation by practising the pronunciation of Hua Hin with her”.

She handed me my freshly poured coffee. I took it from her and then started to speak.

“Excuse me”, I said, whilst simultaneously displaying one of my I-used–to-be-your-age-a-long-time-ago smiles. “I’m something of a student of the Thai language and I’m trying to improve my listening and pronunciation skills. I wonder if you’d be so kind as to oblige me by slowly, deliberately, and with adequate volume saying the name of this place we’re in”.

She looked at me as if I was the daftest old fool that she’d ever seen. She leaned forward towards me, and then slowly, deliberately, fairly loudly, and with more than a smidgen of disdain in her voice she said, “Berr-gerr King”.

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The Old School Tie Resurfaces in Hua Hin

We visited Hua Hin last week. Hua Hin is a seaside resort situated on the western coast of the Gulf of Thailand. It’s approximately two hundred kilometres by road from Bangkok. The journey from Bangkok to Hua Hin takes between two and three hours by car.

I took a few photos of Hua Hin for you. I hope that you like them. You can click on the photos to enlarge them.

The first photo shows Damnoen Kasem Road. It’s one of the larger roads in Hua Hin, and leads from the main road that runs north to south through Hua Hin (the Phetkasem Road) to the beach.

The second photo shows taxis, Hua Hin style, waiting at one of the local taxi ranks - or the Hua Hin Cab-Array as we readers of the Uxbridge English Dictionary (as featured in Cabbage) prefer to call it.

The third photo shows people fishing and a child playing on the beach at the northern end of Hua Hin. You can see Hua Hin Town in the background. It was high tide in Hua Hin for most of the time that we were out and about there, so I wasn’t able to take any good pictures of the beach for you. But that aside, I’m still very sorry that this photo is of such pathetically poor quality. Mind you, regular readers of Doodee’s Thailand ought to be becoming accustomed to my photographic incompetence by now…..

The Barbecue
I was in Hua Hin to languish in the delightfully lazy lifestyle that I seem to be carving out for myself. But others in our party had made the journey to Hua Hin to attend a barbecue that was being hosted by some English friends of theirs. It seems that my credentials as a friend of a friend, of a friend of a friend, were sufficient for me, and Her@Home too, to be invited to the barbecue. And what an excellent barbecue it turned out to be.

For those who enjoy eating such things there was rack after rack of ribs of pork. And there were kilos upon kilos of huge, juicy, succulent king prawns. And there was fish, and more fish, and more fish, and more fish too. Our hosts entertained us with a most delicious spread. They’re very generous people.

Being vegetarian I declined to sample the more exclusive end of the range of foods available, but instead gorged my way through several consecutive platefuls of potato salad and green salad. I washed this feast down with as much of the free beer as I could drink without appearing to be a man who takes unfair advantage of the generosity of others.

About midway through the evening, and whilst I was furtively downing yet another bottle of Leo Beer, our host sat near me and we began to chat.

You could have knocked me down with a feather
Our host showed a polite interest in where I’d lived in England. And as we chatted more, so he began to ask me more specific questions about the town where I’d spent the first thirty five years of my life. He even asked me which district of the town I’d lived in.

“You seem to know the area well”, I observed. “Have you lived there in the past?”

“I went to school there,” he revealed. “I went to the Boys’ Grammar School”.

I could hardly believe what I was hearing. I was a pupil at the Boys’ Grammar School too. Wow!

I would never have imagined that forty years after leaving the school and ten thousand kilometres east of the old place I’d bump into one of the school’s Old Boys, let alone be enjoying a barbecue at his home. I was completely taken aback. You could have knocked me down with a feather.

The Old School Tie
Immediately there was an affinity between us. We reminisced at some length about our memories of the old school. During this reminiscence it became apparent that he was a pupil at the old place several years after I was there. He enrolled at the same time that I left, but who’s counting….

We remembered a few of the same teachers, some of the same features of the school, and much of its traditions. As we indulged in this feast of reminiscence I began to understand what it must feel like to appear on the TV Show, “This is Your Life”. It was fun, but a little strange too.

I asked our host what he’s doing now in Hua Hin. He told me that he’s the managing director of a car and pick-up truck rental business (M & M Cars).

I don’t give recommendations for businesses here on Doodee’s Thailand, but in deference to The Old School Tie I will give you contact details for M & M Cars. Their prices look competitive (cheap by western standards) and our host told me that their vehicles are meticulously maintained.

The telephone number for M & M Cars is 0840 900 568 (+66 840 900 568 from outside of Thailand).
You can Email M & M Cars by clicking on this link.

Long live The Old School Tie, uh.

I wonder who from my past I’ll bump in to next week?

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Cabbage

According to my Uxbridge English Dictionary, “Cabbage” is, “The nonsense spoken by taxi drivers”. I’ve listened to loads of Cabbage since I’ve been in Bangkok. The following are five pieces of Bangkok Cabbage that I’ve endured recently. I hope that you enjoy reading about them.

The first one is oh-so-typical
It was a Sunday morning. We were whizzing along dual carriageway after dual carriageway. Motorcyclists were scattering to either side of the carriageway as we approached, like tenpins slammed into by a bowling ball.
I suggested to our driver that he drive a little more slowly. I explained that we weren’t in a hurry.
And then came the Cabbage: “I know you’d like me to drive more slowly,” he said, “but I’m in a hurry”.


A couple of less than reassuring quotes
We were being driven by a most charming, middle-aged driver. He was driving slowly and cautiously, almost too cautiously.
And then he took us into his confidence. This was scary Cabbage: “I only work in the daytimes,” he said, and then he continued, “because I have very, very poor eyesight. I can’t see a thing a night. I don’t see too well during the day either”.

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On our next Cabbage collecting occasion we were hurtling along in the fast lane of a busy dual carriageway. It was about five o’clock in the evening. The driver’s mobile phone rang. He of course answered it. I readied myself to grab the steering wheel whilst he was distracted, but fortunately it didn’t become necessary.

It was his wife who had called. He spoke to her in warm, soft, affectionate tones.
He enthralled her with this disturbing piece of Cabbage: “I’ve been working since four o’clock this morning without a break,” he said. “I’ve had nothing to eat all day. I’m hungry. I’m exhausted. I can hardly keep my eyes open. All I want to do right now is sleep. I’m nearly dozing off at the wheel.”

Whilst he complained to his wife of his overwhelming fatigue I looked at the speedometer. We were travelling at one hundred and twenty kilometres per hour, and we were close enough to the car in front for me to have been able to shove a potato up its exhaust pipe.


Indignant Cabbage
We were on our way to Don Muang Airport. We were driving through Minburi. We could see the aeroplanes making their descent into the airport which stood approximately eight kilometres ahead of us.
And then our driver enquired, “Which way should I go?”

I responded with, “Whichever way you think is best”.

“But I don’t know which way to go,” he confessed.

This was not the reply that I’d anticipated, and so I decided it would be pertinent to review our options. I concluded that we had three plausible options:-
1. I could invite him to sit in the back of the vehicle and I would drive him and us to the airport. I knew the way.
2. I could help him to navigate his way to the airport.
Or,
3. I could tell him to follow the aeroplanes.

The aeroplanes fly over roof tops at three hundred kilometres per hour. Therefore I felt that Option 3 might be tempting providence.
I had no enthusiasm for Option 1.
So I decided to explore Option 2. I knew that the first step in this process would be to discover the extent of his present knowledge.

“Do you know where the airport is?” I enquired.

He replied indignantly: “Of course I know where it is. I just don’t know how to get to it from here”.
CABBAGE, CABBAGE, CABBAGE!
Or perhaps he meant that he knew where the airport was, but he didn’t know where he was….


My Most Favourite Ever Taxi Ride
This story isn’t really Cabbage at all, but even so I’d like to share it with you.

A few weeks ago we were sat in a taxi. It was driven by a guy who told us that he’s sixty eight years old. He also told us that he’s a retired bank employee and that he receives a very adequate pension. He has no need to work. But he added that he becomes lonely if he stays at home alone all day. So in order to avoid loneliness he goes out, rents a taxi, and drives people around the city.

He said, “I like to meet people. I like people”.
And it showed. He was a joy to be with. He was excellent company. He drove very, very sensibly. He was very, very polite and helpful. He was very obviously a man who enjoyed his work.

I was so impressed that I asked him if he would be prepared to drive us to Isaan in the future.

“Oh no,” he said. “I couldn’t do that. I like to be at home when my wife returns from work. She gets home at five in the evening. We’ve been married for forty eight years. I love my wife very much”.

What a nice guy!


Do you have any cabbage that you’d like to share?
If so I’d be pleased to hear it. You can contact me to leave a message or a comment by clicking on the Comments Link below.


And Finally, A Brainteaser for You
Look at the picture below. According to my Uxbridge English Dictionary what is it that you can see in the picture?

A Bangkok Cabaret of course!
(The Uxbridge English Dictionary defines “A Cabaret” as, “A wide range of available taxis”)

The Uxbridge English Dictionary is published by Harper Collins Entertainment, London. It really is a most amusing little book.

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Readers' Feedback

I’d like to thank you for all your comments, messages and Emails. And thanks for visiting Doodee’s Thailand too.

Re The Mall, Bangkapi as featured in Bangkapi by Day:
I’m astonished that so many men have written to me to agree with my statement “I find the expression ‘Recreational Shopping’ to be a contradiction in terms”. It seems that a large proportion of us men look upon prolonged root canal treatment without anaesthetic as being preferable to an afternoon around the shops. And I thought that I was the only one….

I’ve always felt that the main hall in the mall is cylindrically shaped and described it as so. But it has been pointed out to me that you could see it as being triangular in shape. It depends where you focus your attention. When I last visited there:-
“My eyes were dim I could not see,
I did not take my specs with me….”


Re The Bangkok Underground Railway as featured in It Runs Beneath the Bangkok Streets:
A valued reader wrote to tell me that he’d been thumped by the automatic barrier after dropping his token in the slot as he left the station.

These automatic barriers are set at hip height and they do seem to close very quickly. They’re very unforgiving when they nobble you. I know, because I’ve been thumped by them too.
You do have to be quick. Please do be careful.

Because I walk rather slowly, and I prefer not to take the risk of sustaining permanent damage to the family jewels, I’ve now taken to asking the station staff to open the pushchair/wheelchair/trolley gate for me. They’re always very polite, helpful, and obliging.


A gentleman of senior years wrote to me to express his frustration concerning using the lifts particularly at the Silom Road and Hua Lamphong stations. Apparently the lifts, which it seems are principally provided for people who have difficulty using the escalators and stairs, are during rush hours crammed to bursting with apparently able bodied folk. As a result he’s had great difficulty using these stations.


The above two issues reveal that this underground system is not perfect. But it’s loads better than the London Underground, and infinitely preferable to travelling by taxi.


The amount of salary paid to Thai construction workers was raised in Readers’ Emails, Useful Info:
I’ve since been informed that the Thai national average salary is approximately 15,000 Baht per month.

A taxi driver could expect to earn between 10,000 and 20,000 Baht per month after paying all of his expenses i.e. car hire and petrol.

Waitresses and Maids earn between 3,000 and 7,000 Baht per month.

Factory workers’ wages seem to start at around 4,000 Baht per month. A line supervisor often receives a wage of about twice that amount.

Sales persons, supervisors, and lower management wages vary between 6,000 and 25,000 Baht per month.

The above figures are only a very rough guide, and reflect wages in the Bangkok area only.

Forestry workers in Isaan are employed on a daily basis and earn between 100 and 200 baht per day.

Do any readers have any additions or corrections to make to the above list?
It’s not really my area of knowledge. I stopped work years ago. I just wasn’t cut out for it.


Following discussion of Fun Places to Visit (see Info and Readers' Emails), a regular reader sent me this Email about the Joe Louis Puppet Theatre at Suan Lum Night Bazaar:-

“If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend. When I first heard about that place, I thought, ‘Just another tourist trap.’ But I kept reading more and more about it, so tonight we went. What a great show! Extremely well done in every way. Exquisite costumes, magnificent set design and direction, and continually engaging. Even the one bit of Thai-style humor was fun.”

He was less enthusiastic about Suan Lumpini Night Bazaar.

He also gave a couple of most useful pieces of information:-
1. “The website for the puppet show at Joe Louis Theatre is

http://www.joelouis-theater.com/eng/index.htm.”
2. “You can get a 30% discount on admission, if you have a credit card from American Express. Since admission is a bit costly, that's worth something: 900 baht for Farang (Westerners), 400 for Thais”.


Thanks for that Regular Reader.
I’m always interested in fun places to go. If any of you know of any places that you think might interest me please let me know.


A reader asked me from which song the title for the Doodee’s Thailand entry For Every Drop of Rain That Falls was taken.

The song was called, “I believe”. It sounded very much like a contemporary hymn. It was a huge hit in the 1960s for an Irish male harmony group called the Bachelors. Those were the days when the word “Bachelor” had a real meaning and was a lifestyle statement. Nowadays The Bachelors would be called “The Lads” and we’d classify them as a Boy Band. But at the time Sir Clifford of Richard was, “Happy to bee-ee a Bachelor Boy”, and Robbie Williams was still a twinkle in his mother’s eye.

As I remember the lyric to “I Believe” went:-
“I believe for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows,
I believe that somewhere in the darkest night, a candle glows….”
And so on. Very uplifting.

And my recollections of the song are that it was a very simple, catchy, rousing, but largely superficial anthem. I think that’s why I liked it so much then, and why I still sing it to myself now, over forty years later.

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These are a Few of My Favourite Signs

I’ve sorted out a few photos of some of my favourite signs for you today. You can click on the photos to enlarge them. I hope that you like them.
So here goes….

The above sign always amuses me. The sign clearly forbids dogs from entering the park. This is fine for humans, but how’s a dog supposed to understand it? This sign is widely ignored, especially by dogs.

I’m still pondering over the meaning of this, the second sign. It’s an information sign, not a prohibition sign. So, does it mean, “The bicycle path goes up the stairs”? Or maybe, “Unattended bicycles may use the stairs”? I really don’t know. I’ve never looked upon stairs and bicycles as being compatible. What’s your opinion?


The next two signs are road signs aimed, I would guess, at motorists. The first of these two signs is a speed limit sign. Just in case you’re unable to read it, please let me inform you that it used to have a red border and the lettering can just about be seen to indicate twenty kilometres per hour.

Please note that this speed limit sign is very discreetly positioned behind a lamppost where it cannot easily be seen from the road, and it’s been allowed to corrode to the extent that it is virtually unreadable. Well, at least speeding motorists won’t be distracted by it….

Today’s final sign is fairly commonly seen in central Bangkok. By the way, I’m sorry that it’s such a rotten picture. I took it from a moving taxi. Anyway, this is a sign which I’d never seen before I arrived in this country.

When I first saw this sign I was a little puzzled as to its meaning. I played with the possibilities of “No Bugles,” and “No Boy Scout Bands,” before the penny eventually dropped, and I realised that it meant “Don’t Blow Your Horn”. Or perhaps I should rephrase that to, “No Hooting”.

Anyway, whatever the correct terminology may be for the exact meaning of this sign it nonetheless does seem to strive towards an admirable objective in a city where the hooter is almost always used in preference to the brake pedal.

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For Every Drop of Rain That Falls

It has rained, and rained, and rained here in Bangkok for several days now. All of Thailand has been besieged by the most torrential rainstorms. It is being reported that two million people are suffering in Thailand as a result of flooding.

The TV has been constantly showing us pictures of families wading away from their flooded homes. There have been pictures too of entire families being rescued from their homes by boat, taking what few possessions they can with them.
The media news coverage last week also showed a huge live snake being removed from a tall building where it had sought refuge. The bushes and burrows that these creatures live in are now underwater.

My own friends have been affected too. Those who live in Bangkok have had floodwaters lapping at their doors. The roads through and to the estates and villages in which they live have been completely submerged by the floods.

Many of my friends have been forced to dash back to their family homes in Isaan to assist their families, whose rice harvest this year is being devastated by these floods.

The consequences of this perpetual deluge are potentially enormous.

“For Every Drop of Rain That Falls”, the title of today’s entry on Doodee’s Thailand is a part of a 1960s song lyric. The lyric continues, “a flower grows”. This optimistic cliché appears inappropriate and unfeeling right now. But in fact it has never been more appropriate.

There are many flowers that are growing and blossoming here in Thailand despite this latest nightmare of nature’s fury. The most noble and distinguished of these blooms is the Spirit of the Thai People, which once again remains stable, steadfast, and resilient in the face of awful adversity. I’ve seen this quality before during the terrible tsunami which struck this region almost two years ago. Then, as now, the very worst of nature’s treachery brought out the very best, noblest, and strongest qualities from within the Thai character.

But the most beautiful flower that has been nourished by these rainstorms and floods is the Flower of Selfless Kindness.

Selfless Kindness: A few days ago I read that King Bhumibol Adulyadej and villagers in Ayutthaya Province had agreed that their lands should be allowed to be flooded in order to alleviate the burden on the Chao Phraya River which runs through the centre of Bangkok, and thus minimise the likelihood of the capital flooding.
It can be assumed that by and large the villagers involved in this act of selfless kindness are not rich people. They are agricultural people. The flooding of their farmlands is potentially devastating for them. The sacrifice that they are making for the people of Bangkok is enormous. I feel very honoured to live amongst a people who are prepared to risk extreme hardship for no other reason than to protect their neighbours. Selfless kindness indeed.

Thai People have a word for “Selfless Kindness”: The Thai word for “selfless kindness” is “nam-jie”. There is no one equivalent word in English. As with many Thai words it is constructed from the fusing together of two apparently unrelated words. In this case those two words are “nam” (meaning “water”) and “jie” (meaning “the heart”). So nam-jie is literally “Water of the Heart”. What a very poetic way of describing selfless kindness, don’t you think.

And isn’t it interesting that Thais have a word for this concept and we English speakers don’t. This makes me suspect that “nam-jie” is a concept and pattern of behaviour that is much more important in Thai culture than it is in English speaking Western culture. Now there’s an interesting thought.

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Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit

We bumped into one of our Thai friends the other day. She’s a lovely lady. She’s happy and jolly, and oozes warmth and personality. She’s a joy to be with.

We immediately struck up a conversation with her, in Thai, and I was almost able to keep up with it. I heard our friend tell Her@Home about a gentleman friend that she’s known for some time. She said that he’s an Englishman. She said that as is the case with all Englishmen he’s witty, charming and very, very classy. The more that I listened to her the more I liked what I was hearing.

But then the tone of her voice dropped, and she began to scowl. She continued by informing us, with more than a hint of venom in her voice, that this charming Englishman with whom she’d been very chummy in the past, had recently visited Bangkok for four days, but had only allocated two hours of those four days to spend with her. She was most miffed.

And then she started to talk about rabbits.

“Excuse me,” I interjected. “I thought we were talking about your gentleman friend. What’s all this talk of rabbits?”

“I am talking about him,” she replied. “I said ‘He’s a rabbit who stands on one leg’.”

Now I was really confused.

“Cow yeurn grataiy kar dee-oh” is Thai for, “He’s a rabbit who stands on one leg,” and, I have since learned, is an expression used to describe plausible liars, con-men, and tricksters who refuse to acknowledge that they’ve ever done anything wrong. You know, the kind of person who says, “It wasn’t me, I didn’t do it,” when clearly it was them and they did do it, but even so you’re tempted to and you’d like to believe their protestations of innocence.

What a delightful expression, uh?

Her@Home reliably informs me that you can’t trust a rabbit that stands on one leg. I don’t feel qualified to dispute her obviously superior knowledge in this matter.

The poor old rabbit is not viewed with unlimited respect in Thailand. The only other Thai expression that I’ve commonly heard that involves rabbits is, “Cow pen khon grataiy teurn toom,” which means, “He’s a panicking rabbit”, and is fairly close in its meaning to the English expression, “He’s running around like a headless chicken”.

We Brits and the Word “Rabbit”
I’m amused by the Thai language expressions involving rabbits, but we Brits have a skeleton in this cupboard too. I refer of course to the London Cockney use of the word Rabbit. Cockney Rhyming Slang defines “Rabbit” as “talk” or “idle chatter” (from “Rabbit and Pork” which rhymes with “Talk” – clever uh?). As a result even the Oxford English Dictionary now lists “Rabbit” as meaning, amongst other things, “Conversation”. That’s progress for you.

This Cockney use of the word “Rabbit” was immortalised for we Brits in the late 1970s by those two gifted cockney minstrels Chas & Dave who enriched our culture with such noble compositions as Gertcha, Snooker Loopy, The Sideboard Song, and the already mentioned melodic masterpiece, “Rabbit”. Oh how I wish the seventies were here again.

Anyway, that’s enough rabbit from me for now.
Thanks for visiting Doodee’s Thailand.

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A Most Reassuring Incident

An English friend of mine came to Thailand recently for a short holiday. We went for a long, leisurely drink together. We commenced our alcohol imbibing session in Sukhumvit Road Soi 7, and then we continued on to Soi 7/1. We were having a great time. We laughed. We chatted. We joked. The evening was panning out marvellously. And so we decided to move on to Soi 4.

I was feeling a little fatigued, so we chose to make the short journey from Soi 7/1 to Soi 4 by tuk-tuk. We soon came upon a tuk-tuk with a most charming driver and speedily negotiated a very fair price for our very short journey. My friend climbed aboard the tuk-tuk ahead of me. I handed him my shoulder bag, and clambered in after him.

The Journey
I expected that our driver would initially turn right in to Sukuhumvit Road, and then zigzag through Sois 3/1 and 3 to reach Soi 4. But he didn’t. He took us via the scenic route, the route that I would expect a taxi to take. If I’d known that he was going to do that I would have travelled by taxi. Taxis are much more comfortable than tuk-tuks, their passengers are not exposed to the exhaust fumes of other vehicles as they sit in them, and taxi fares are very similar to tuk-tuk prices. In fact taxi fares are often cheaper than those of tuk-tuks.

Anyway, our driver turned left in to Sukhumvit Road. Then he turned left again in to Soi 13, and from there we weaved our way through the back doubles towards Soi 3.

The Disappointment
As we reached Soi 3 I asked my friend, “Where’s my shoulder bag?” I couldn’t see where he’d put it. He looked, I looked, and even our driver became involved in the search. It took us no time at all to establish that my bag was no longer with us in the tuk-tuk.

I was very disappointed. The bag contained a few essentials i.e. a collapsible umbrella, a hat, some dental floss, and a karaoke CD. There was also an old 35mm camera and a little money in it. But more importantly than that, it had been bought for me by Her@Home as a birthday present. The thought of it being lost filled me with great sorrow.

Retracing Our Steps
Our driver drove us back to Sois 7 and 7/1, where we made enquiries, but my bag was nowhere to be found. And so we restarted our journey back to Soi 4, but now our excursion was feeling to be a lot less fun. The cynic within me was telling me that some swift, light fingered, lowlife crook had stealthily stolen my bag as we’d cautiously joined the Sukhumvit Road at the beginning of our journey. And the wiser part of my psyche was heavily chastising me for having gone out drinking on an empty head.

And so we turned left in to the Sukhumvit Road, again. And then we turned left in to Soi 13, again. And then we began to weave our way through the back roads towards Soi 3, again. As we turned a particularly sharp corner in these back doubles I looked across the road, and there stood three westerners (two men, and one lady), and the lady was holding in her hands at breast height (but not width!) my shoulder bag. Our driver immediately performed one of the most dangerous U-turns that I ever remember seeing, and within moments I was reunited with my trusty bag.

What Wonderful People!
This group of three explained to me that they’d seen my bag fall from the tuk-tuk as we rounded the tight corner some twenty or so minutes previously. They’d retrieved it from the road and then waited in a conspicuous place with it just in case I came back looking for it.

I expressed my gratitude enthusiastically and in a most southern European fashion by kissing the lady repeatedly on the cheek. I suspect that this was much more fun for me than for her. I thanked all three people most profusely. I even offered to buy them a beer (three beers actually – one each), but they declined. Phew! They informed me that they had to go to the airport to catch the aircraft home in only a couple of hours’ time, and therefore had no available time to share with us. They also told me that they came from Finland.

The Finnish
If everybody in Finland is as honest, altruistic, and decent as them, then it must be a great place to live. They reaffirmed my faith in human nature. What excellent ambassadors they are for their country. People as good as them are Finn on the ground!

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Bangkapi by Day

Just recently we visited Bangkapi. I like Bangkapi. It’s situated to the north-east of central Bangkok, near to the outskirts of the city. Although Bangkapi covers a relatively small area it does nonetheless contain all the amenities associated with the central metropolis. There are plenty of places to go, and things to do.

We were in Bangkapi to visit a few dear and valued friends. We passed a very enjoyable few hours with our friends, and then we ventured on to what must be the central feature of Bangkapi, the Mall.

The Mall
I’m not usually very impressed by shopping malls. I find the expression “Recreational Shopping” to be a contradiction in terms. But even so, I find a trip to the Mall at Bangkapi to be most pleasant.

The Mall is well provided with every retail outlet, snack bar, restaurant, bank, and internet café that you could possibly want. There are also a couple of bars where you can sit and drink beer (they’re on the upper floors), and there’s a cinema there too. There are even some car showrooms in the complex. There’s a great selection of local, national, and international stores. But what fascinates me most about the Mall at Bangkapi is the very imaginative way that it’s been decorated.

Waterfalls, Water Features
If you enter the Mall from the western entrance (the IT City end of the building) you will walk along a short corridor that opens out to reveal a cylindrically shaped, very tall hall. This hall often contains promotional exhibitions, but most impressively it’s home to a couple of huge palm trees, and a four storey waterfall. I took a photo of it for you. You can click on the photo to enlarge it.

If you continue along the right hand side of this hall (the side furthest away from the Ladprao Road) you will then commence to amble alongside some very creatively designed water features. These water features are set amongst the main thoroughfare between the retail outlets. They give the Mall an ambience of verve and vitality, but also foster feelings of calmness and serenity in the observer. The following two photos show a couple of these water features.

In the latter of these two photos you will have noticed a number of parrots on a small island. They are not the only creatures on display. There are also some enormous catfish swimming in these man made ponds.
By the way, the parrots are not for sale. I know that parrots can be very expensive. If they were for sale you’d probably have to buy them on higher perches.

The Only Good Reason To Go Shopping
The final photo on today’s entry shows my favourite shop. It’s Swensen’s Ice Cream Parlour. There are two Swensen’s outlets in the Mall at Bangkapi, which I guess makes this mall twice as good as most shopping malls with which I’m familiar. The Swensen’s featured in this photo is in the food hall.

Swensen’s provide a marvellous range of ice cream specialities for the connoisseur. I can personally recommend Ebony and Ivory, Celebrity Brownies, Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup, all of the Super Sundaes, the Banana Split, and twenty or thirty other dishes.
I haven’t yet sampled all of the dishes on the menu, but I will.

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I hope that you’ve enjoyed today’s entry on Doodee’s Thailand.

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Skiing in Pattaya

On our second day in Pattaya we visited Wat Khao Phra Bat. It’s a temple set high upon a hilltop at the southern end of Pattaya Bay. There are several observation decks near the temple which offer excellent views of Pattaya and the surrounding area. I took a photo of Pattaya from one of these observation decks for you. You can click on the photo to enlarge it.

During our visit to the hilltop temple Her@Home took the opportunity to practise a little Buddhist reverence, whilst I enjoyed the sensory pleasures of a bottle of chilled water. Then we passed a little time admiring the view. We rattled off a few photos, and then returned to the car to commence our descent in to Pattaya.

The first part of the descent is made via a steep, narrow, winding lane, and it was as we drove down this lane that I first spotted him: The skier!
And before you ask, no, I hadn’t been smoking any of those funny smelling cigarettes. I never do.

We of course pursued him, although he was travelling at quite a pace, but we eventually caught up with him and I was able to take this photo of him for you. I hope that you like it.

I have to say that I was a bit surprised to see someone skiing in Pattaya. I’d never before thought of Pattaya as a ski resort. I don’t know why, but I’d always thought that the climate in Pattaya isn’t particularly conducive to skiing. But this guy proved me wrong.

He rendered us a friendly smile as we overtook him. He was having a good time. And why not?

Whenever I see people doing what they want to do, having a good time, and bringing a little joy and amusement in to the lives of others, I know that all is well in the world. Isn’t that how things should be all the time?

All’s well for me right now. I wish the same for you.

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Pattaya: I’m Impressed

Pattaya is all things to all people. Western tourists often refer to Pattaya as Fun Town. Thai people seem ambivalent about the town. On the one hand they appear to revel in Pattaya’s many merits, and on the other hand they seem a little uncomfortable with its mixed reputation. The western press are often very disparaging in their references to Pattaya. They often focus their attention on the seedier side of Pattaya’s activities.

But for me Pattaya’s much more simple than the above paragraph implies. I see Pattaya as just a fun coastal resort within easy travelling distance of Bangkok. But during my recent visit I saw something that impressed me a great deal in Pattaya, and I’d like to tell you about it.

What impressed me most during my recent visit to Pattaya was the significant number of wheelchair users that I saw making their way around the town independently, and by the looks of things enjoying themselves too. It’s unusual to see unaccompanied wheelchair users in Thailand. I think that it’s great to see the disabled community included in everyday life, especially holidays. It’s great to see them not having to relentlessly rely on other people to help them. That’s how things ought to be.

But does the presence of a small number of wheelchair users mean that Pattaya is wheelchair friendly? I would like to think so but I fear not, at least not quite yet. I expect that the presence of wheelchair users enjoying their holidays independently in Pattaya is as much a testament to their determination and tenacity as it is an endorsement of the facilities for the disabled in Pattaya. But nonetheless Pattaya must be doing something right in the area of disabled awareness, or else these people wouldn’t, in fact couldn’t, be there.

Incidentally I’ve never seen a wheelchair user in Bangkok without one or more attendants. It seems to me that Bangkok is just too challenging for an unaccompanied wheelchair user.

I look forward to the day when we see an enlightened view of disabled issues and disabled people in Thailand. It’s happening slowly, but it hasn’t happened yet. But seeing unaccompanied wheelchair users on the streets of Pattaya seems to indicate that the much maligned Pattaya is leading the way in this area. Full marks to Pattaya. I’m impressed.

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I hope that you’ve enjoyed today’s entry on Doodee’s Thailand.
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