Five is OK .. Short Term Only :-)

Today's song is: Love Me Like You Do .. Ellie Goulding

Yippie, I am back to 3 children, Thavorn and I in our now quiet one bedroom apartment  :-)

There is not much happening these days. The Canadian dollar is down, because the Thai dollar is up. Go figure, the intellectually-lazy Thais are outperforming my fellow Canucks back home. The major talent most Thai boys have is riding a motorbike at speed, while smoking and texting at the same time. Joking, but the reality is closer than you think.  :-)

T has surfaced back at Shark bar and seems to be adjusting back to her role as a gogo dancer. I hope she stays away from jabba (ICE) although she abuses alcohol just as much. Long term prognosis is gogo dancer for 5 more years and then back to bar girl. T is not looking for Mr Right Farong which is probably the only salvation in sight for her.

Many bar girls have their children visiting them as school is out for a month. Other bar girls take the month off and head back to their village to spend time with their family. It is after all, low season and the bars are not busy so the owners are more than happy to see some of their employees disappear for the month to make their payroll more manageable.

It is starting to rain a little bit as we start to approach the rainy season. Just means you often have to carry an umbrella and be ready for a 30 minute cloud burst. Very seldom do you get a longer lasting rain.

I know many bar girls and I can't believe the bull shit some farongs feed the girls. The girls seem unable to tell a lo-so faraong from a hi-so faromg when I can in less than a minute if the farong is present or in a 5 minute talk with the girl and asking her a few questions. It is no wonder the girls become a little jaded.

Speaking of jaded, I was out bar hopping with a buddy and decided to stop off at Mew Mews, a beer bar in Queen's Park. I have known the owner for over 5 years and she was present and we chatted and played pool a bit. She had a new girl in the bar who caught my attention so I asked her to play pool and bought her a drink. Turns out she has been in the bar industry for a week, or so she told me. I played along and asked her how she managed to save enough money to fund her nose job and silicone boobs. Without hesitation she told m her mother financed her cosmetic surgery. I may have bought into that, if she was 18 or 20 but she was 23. The really weird part of this was her English was not all that good which reinforced her claim at being new to the bar scene. But, then again the two tattoos on her back reinforced more long term.  I am still puzzled, but intrigued and will follow up  ..
If mom did finance the young lady then mom must have been a bar girl herself, but the girl denied that.

TTYL

Eight is Too Many!

Today's song is:  Bang Bang

I now have 8 people living in my 1 bedroom condo. It is busy!  Some pics:

Thavorn's children - the one with the hat lives with her Poppa's family

Thavorn's sister

Crab for Lunch

Thavorn and I got out on the town 2 nights ago and I got hauled up on the stage to do a rendtion of YMCA.

We had a great night out but yesterday in the gym  .. not so much fun :-(

Meanwhile back in Canada, my boy Jordan was enjoying the March weather.

But here in Bangkok the weather has turned hot, a little bit earlier.  However, no humidity yet!

TYYL

Thavorn is Back :-)

Today's song is: A couple of late St. Paddy's Day songs by the Irish Rovers

Whisky in the Jar

What Do You Do with a Drunken Sailor? - Put her in bed with the Captain's Daughter!

Thavorn took the early bus to Kok Som Lan yesterday (Monday) morning to bring her two oldest children to Bangkok for their school holidays and Songkran. She arrived back this afternoon, completing the 11 hour round trip. It is hard enough without Jaidan so I looked after Jaidan over the past two days. Last night we stopped in at Crazy Girls bar to chat with my friend Phai.

We decided to stop in at 7/11 for some junk food (chips) and Jaidan noticed a new truck at the toy counter which he makes a beeline to every time we go there.

Here is a pic with him playing with his new truck and cars last night.

Now that Tai and Dun are here you are more likely to see:

Tai is the darkest, followed by Dun and Jaidan who is as white as I am. However, Jaidan does have Thai skin. He can be out in the sun for 8 hours straight and never burns, but will tan slightly, about the same as me. However, unlike him, I will burn initially until I get my tan.

Tai and Dun like visiting us as they get fed well, with a larger variety of food and have less work. Definitely a holiday for them. They do have their chores here but much less than in the village and they don't have to forage for themselves.

The three of them get along well despite the age difference with Jaidan. It is also good as Jaidan learns to share!

Still no news on Thavorn's visa application. I will send another query at the 60 day mark. It is a good thing we are not planning on travelling until Aug 1st. However, the price of air tickets rise the closer we get to departure.

Now that Tai and Dun are here, Thavorn and I get to go out at night. Not tonight though, Thavorn is tired after the round trip and Tuesday night is not a fun night.

TTYL

No News

Today's song is: Show Me Love ... Clean Bandit

A couple of posts ago I mentioned that Thavorn's friend T was down and out.  We have not heard anything from her in quite some time and she is not answering her phone. It could be she has no money and her phone plan has lapsed. It could be she is strung out on ICE and is unable to answer. In this case, no news is probably bad news.

There is still no news on Thavorn's visa application.  Thavorn heads off to the village to bring her two older children back to Bangkok during their school break. I will be looking after Jaidan this time around so hopefully she will be back in a couple of days. I am looking at Tai and Dun visiting as they play great with Jaidan and also look after Jaidan at night so Thavorn and I can go out and play some pool and, dance, and listen to some music.

Thavorn made contact with her inlaws from her frist marriage which gave birth to Tai and Dun. Her husband died in a motorcycle accident when he was struck by a drunk driver in a pickup. Her inlaws live on the outskirts of Bangkok near Rama 2. It tunrs out they were really nice people and we ended up visiting for 7 hours. They drove us home in their pickup truck.

Some pics:

Jaidan and Poppa

Thavorn and Grandmother who is 90

Cousins

I always find visits are a little stilted until the beer or Thai whisky starts flowing and then things liven up. Thais never know how to act around farangs unless farangs dictate the action. Then they realize we have more in common than they think.  Everyone really just wants to have fun.

TTYL

Down and Out

Today's post is: Nobody Knows You When You Are Down and Out  .. Clapton

I see two types of down and out people in Thailand. I see the burned out farang punter, low on funds and self esteem, barely hanging in there. I also see the depressed bar girl, too long in the industry, zoned out on jabba (ICE) or alcohol. Both are equally depressing.

Last night, Thavorn went out after the birthday party to meet with friends for a beer and some food. Her best and longest friend in Bangkok, whom I shall call T showed up with one of her previous young Thai bfs in tow. T prefers much younger Thai bfs for many reasons, that I can and cannot fathom. This particular one was involved in a previous baby dumpster situation and had also ditched T for a younger girl about 6 months ago. T took it hard and bounced from one young Thai boy to another and also ditched her long time farang bf supporter.

It turns out P was back in town because he needed his braces adjusted (which T had paid for out of her bar earnings, along with his laptop, and many other toys). The really depressing part of the story (aside from T being used again) was that T is now smoking and using jabba (ICE) (crystal meth) which is highly addictive and will destroy you eventually. Thavorn told me that she barely recognized T as did most of her friends. I fear that T's days are numbered.

Now, some of you may be thinking that it is time for an intervention, but I think not. That time is long past. The problem is that T is used to the fast life but can no longer stand working in the bar industry so is abusing herself with stimulants to get by. However, she seldom makes it into the bar these days and has run out of money. If she is lucky, she will fall into the hospital system that may be able to intervene somewhat. There is no support for her in the village as she seldom sent money home over the last 5 years. She is between a rock and a hard place.

She could not move back to a minimum wage job, which other than the bar industry, is all that she is qualified for. Farangs in this situation usually end up jumping off the 4th floor of Suvarnabhumi Airport or their apartment balcony.

Burned out bar girls usually end up back in the village that began their journey. If not, they end up as a freelancer (hooker) on the street, the lowest of the low. T has had many farang men who have loved her and wanted 'To take care of her' but she always ditched them for young Thai boys with no future prospects. I think the farang men asked the tough questions of T whereas the young Thai boys just enjoyed the ride.

This is the dark underbelly of Thailand and the Bar business.

Meanwhile, back in North America we are preoccupied with stupidity such as:

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/world/a-maine-politician-proposed-a-seat-belt-law-for-dogs-you-could-hear-the-howls?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NP_Top_Stories+%28National+Post+-+Top+Stories%29

and

http://news.nationalpost.com/life/carleton-university-ditches-scales-at-fitness-centre?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NP_Top_Stories+%28National+Post+-+Top+Stories%29

TTYL

Words of Wisdom

Today's song is: by Ed Sheeran  ..

My favorite bar in Bangkok is Hillary 2 a music/dance/beer bar on Soi 4 (Nana). By coincidence, my favorite Road House bar in Ottawa when I was in my 30's was called Hurleys. It was a favorite place for friends to hangout after school on a Friday evening.

One Friday evening when I was out with some friends, a good friend of mine named Larry saw me reach for my cell phone (yes, they had cell phones back then) and asked me who I was calling.  It was about 11 pm if I recall correctly.  I told Larry that I was calling home to tell my wife I would be late. Larry exclaimed 'why the f..k would you want to do that.  Now you are going to get shit twice, once when you call and later when you get home!'

Life is hard, you have to minimize the pain. Wisdom comes with age and I understand the point Larry was trying to make  :-)

Tonight was another birthday party at one of the bars that the NOOB found work at.  We stopped by to wish the owner's husband 'Happy Birthday' and asked the owner how P was doing and she said great and that she was very happy with her latest addition. Sometimes things do surprise me. Over the last 2 years we have passed 4 girls of various ages (23 - 40) on to this owner and only one girl, P has stuck it out past 2 nights. It is not for everyone.

Birthday Party Girls  ..

As I type this, I am chatting with a friend working in another bar who I would have thought snapped up by some farang by now. She says she is not lucky. Maybe lucky = not too picky :-) She is 27 and most guys under 50 are just visiting Thailand on a holiday and may or may not come back a 6 months to a year later. One guy wanted to take her to Canada but she did not get a visa.  He came back 6 months later but she no longer found him of interest for a variety of reasons.

She is correct about one thing, you have to be lucky!

TTYL

NOOB no More

Today's song is: The A Team  .. Ed Sheeran

Well, I must admit I was wrong about NOOB. She hit the bar running and adapted very quickly. She was bar fined long term the first night and spent that evening and most of the next day with a black guy that liked chubby girls. Go big or go away must be P's new motto. I was out last night with 3 male friends and I stopped by P's bar and she seems to have been readily accepted by the other girls, which sometimes does not work out. I am happy for P as she was in a rut and who knows, she just may land a farang and make her poppa happy  :-)

Still no word on Thavorn's visa and my request for info just received an auto reply, but we did get a message stating the application was still being processed. So much for the 6-7 day turnaround time. We are well over a month now. It is a good thing we are not planning to visit Canada until Aug 1st.

Jaidan managed to break the screen on one of our phones when he dropped it because he was angry we forgot to let him close the taxi door. He likes to assert his independence at times :-) The phone he broke was an Asus Zenfone 2 that we bought for 9,900 baht. Our other phone is a Samsumg Note 5 that we bought for 22,000 baht.  I am a big believer that you should not buy the flagship phones but the midrange phones that are half the price but have almost 90% of the features and about the same performance.

We purchased a Huawei GR5 2017 edition for 8,900 baht and the store threw in a screen protector, protective case, and a 32 GB SD card.  This phone is simply awesome and easily competes with Note 5.  Seriously, you have to be a bit crazy to spend double the price to get a really hot (pun intended) phone

and, unlike the Samsung phones, it does not come loaded with junk software that you can't uninstall.

It is starting to warm up in Thailand and it will soon be Songkran which is the official start to summer and the wet season here in Bangkok. It officially run April 13 - 15th but usually lasts another 2 days, especially in Pattaya. It is a crazy week and be prepared to get wet and crazy.

Ttyl

Noob Continued ...

Today's song is:  Thinking Out Loud .. Ed Sheeran

Thavorn managed to get an interview for noob P with T who owns 3 bars and a restaurant. P proved to be quite a normal Thai girl and ate, slept, and watched TV as well as play with her phone. At 5 pm the 4 of us (Jaidan as well) walked up the soi to meet with T.

It was interesting to sit in on the interview (more of a feeling out) and Thavorn seemed convinced that P would be able to handle the bar scene, whereas P's mother could not. Thavorn lent P a couple of dresses and now P is on her own. P starts work tonight and will sleep in a room above one of the bars that T keeps available for noobs.

T's major request was that P should tell her that it was not working out and that she was heading back to where ever. There is no pressure on P to go with customers. That is entirely up to her. Her job is to get customer's to buy drinks for them self as well as herself. Everything else if optional and up to P. P is there to meet a farang who would hopefully look after her and I presume poppa who initiated this career move.

I teased P as various farangs walked by our table with, 'You like this farang?', What about this one?, 'Too fat, too old, what you like?' I managed to get a few smiles out of her.

T asked her some personal questions.  Answers were first sex at 14, first baby at 16, 2 children by 19, and BF in jail for 3 years because he was selling jabba.  Not all that unusual story in bar girl land.

If P makes it through the weekend then she is probably good to go in her new career. Number 1 goal is to learn some Tinglish. 'Hello handsome man. You want drink? You buy me drink?' She already plays pool, although she says not so good, so that will help somewhat. Most farangs like to play pool as a starter in the bar.

I am out Saturday night bar hopping with a friend so I will stop buy and check out how she is doing?

On a side note, a friend of Tacky stopped bye and asked after her. She knew Thavorn from before but had never seen Jaidan before and asked Thavorn why she did not have another child as Jaidan was so cute. She was surprised to find out that Jaidan is number 4 and exclaimed, "How are you so skinny?' It is quite simple, lots of hard work with exercise, especially Thavorn's weighted hoop!  Most of the good outcomes in life require hard work. Bummer  :-)

TTYL

The Noob

Today's song is: New Kid in Town  .. Eagles

Thavorn had a call from the father who had a daughter with one of Thavorn's cousins. He basically wants his daughter who is 23 to find a farang so he no longer has to worry (support) about her. It turns out P (not real name) has been busy and already has 2 children by the same or perhaps not BF. Apparently these relationships are done, which is probably a good thing. A NOOB she definitely is!

BTW, almost all NOOB images on the net have only men in them  .. go figure  ..

So P took a taxi (after clearing it with Thavorn) to our place from Rama II. The reason P had to clear it is because P does not have any money to pay for the taxi.  The really interesting part of this story is about a year ago, P's mom, N also tried to find a farang working the bars of Bangkok and found she was not suited to it.  Perhaps her daughter may succeed, but I doubt it.

So far, P has been in our apartment for an hour and is occupying space and playing with her smart phone. I tried to engage her in some Tinglish but she is apparently too shy or uninterested in try to accommodate my attempts to get her used to a farang (has never met or talked with one) and learning some basic terms in Tinglish.

Now, P's face is pretty enough but like many lazy Thai girls with 2 children by the age of 23, she is chubby and needs to lose 5-10 kilos before most farangs would consider boinking her for 3,000 baht. It amazes me how many Thai women view themselves.

Thavorn has arranged for Trey to look her over and test her out in one of her bars. She will fit well in Trey's group of girls as they all tend to be a bit chubby and she will be one of the younger ones. However, it is my guess she will be back with papa within a week. I offered her a drink and she declined and it is hard to get into the bar scene if you are not willing to get a little blasted to loosen up.

Most successful bar girls are outgoing and fun. That or being gorgeous is the key.  After all, they are in the entertainment industry.

I will let you know how this all plays out over the next few days.

TTYL

Visa Inquiry Submitted

Today's song is: As Tears go by  .. Stones

Thavorn's visa application was submitted on Feb 7 2017 and it is now March 5th. The normal processing time is now listed on the web site as 6 days so I decided to submit an inquiry online to see if the application is actively being processed. Apparently the CIC had some problems with volume early in the new year, so it appropriate to check on the application.

Thavorn and Jaidan are still in the village helping Thavorn's mom and waiting on her mother's cataract operation.  Thavorn was cooking up some rat this morning ...

Rat  .. yummy

Jaidan checking out the rats

Jaidan opts for mango and fried chicken legs  .. smart boy!

Jaidan having an afternoon nap with his half sister

It is starting to warm up now and we are starting to see temperatures in the high 30's in the afternoon.  It seems to me it is a little bit early for those temperatures. Usually it gets hooter in the May - Sept time frame.

TTYL

No Visa News :-(

Today's song is: Thinking Out Loud  .. Ed Sheeran

23 days and counting and still no news on Thavorn's visa application. Hopefully we will hear soon. You certainly would want to leave yourself a month or probably best, 2 months if you were planning on travelling in the near future. Maybe they look at your travel date when deciding on the priority of the application. We are not planning on travelling until August 1st.

Thavorn is in the village with Jaidan, waiting on news of when her mom's cataract operation will happen. It may be that she  returns back to Bangkok and then goes back to the village when she has a firm date. There is some delay because of a blood issue. It would not surprise me that her mom is diabetic.

When Thavorn returns it will be with Tai and Dun, her two oldest children and of course Jaidan. Tai, being 10 can babysit sit Jaidan and that enables Thavorn and I to go out and enjoy a dinner, a movie, and some music.  It has been quite awhile apart from a couple of nights when Sveta and Shaun looked after Jaidan for us.  :-)

My gym membership is paying off. Today I moved my bench press training weight to 270 pounds with 2 sets of 8 reps. That means I can probably lift 300 pounds. I have not been able to do that since I played university football in my early 20's. The running is also getting somewhat easier now as well.

Today, I renewed Thavorn's life and health insurance which is about 28,000 baht a year. I was able to use my amazon.ca visa card which gives me the best rate on currency exchange as well as points that I can put to use on Amazon.ca to buy books or merchandise.

I was also eyeing a new phone as Jaidan dropped my Asus Zenfone 2 and cracked the screen so it no longer makes me smile when I turn it on. I bought if for 9,900 baht about 18 months ago and at that time it was outperforming Samsung's Note 5 which was selling for 23,000 baht. It was agreat purchase.

However, I think today's best buy is Huawei's GR5 2017 which sells for 8,900 and has dual camera's as well a finger print reader and a great screen, especially in bright sunlight which was a problem with my Asus Zenfone 2 but the Zenfone 3 at 14,900 solves that problem but we are looking at a 6,000 baht difference in price.  Performance comparisons show that the difference in speed between the Huawei and a Samsung S7 is negligible, but the price differential is about 22,000 baht. THe GR5 2017 is also sold online as the Honor 6.

I personally think that anyone who is spending over 10,000 baht on a phone today is doing it for snob appeal!

TTYL

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