Mommy Died

 It has been 15 days since the last post and I have been ill the last 10 days with some awful bug. I tried to fight it off for the first 5 days  but eventually went to the local pharmacy with Thavorn and got a round of amoxocillin and I started to heal. I believe it is that RSV thingy.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)

Respiratory syncytial (sin-SISH-uhl) virus, or RSV, is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms. Most people recover in a week or two, but RSV can be serious. Infants and older adults are more likely to develop severe RSV and need hospitalization.

It was exacerbated by not being able to rest as I was busy with Jaidan as well as relocating from Bangkok to Phuket. However, definetly on the mend as that is good because I fly to Phnom Penh on the the first for a visa run.

We arrived at the Marriott Beach Club Resort in Phuket on Friday, the 25th and Thavorn's mother passed away on the Monday the 28th. Thavorn and Jaidan immediately joined the sister's family in the 12 hour pickup drive to the village. I stayed behind due to my illness (mainly the hourly diarhea).

Thavorn and Jaidan should arrive back in Phuket on Monday sometime and we fly out Tuesday back to Canada. I fly back from Cambodia on Sunday and have booked an airport hotel for the 3rd and 4th. It has not been an easy trip due to many things. 

Thavorn is happy to be there for her mom as well as see her family that she has not seen for over 4 years. She wore a joyous smile on her face as she held her 4 year old grandchild for the first time :-)

Mission accomplished.

TTYL

Saturday Night in BKK

 It is low season in Bangkok but you could not tell last night. I started off as usual at Country Road for a couple of happy hour vodka and red bulls. Then it was off to Dollhouse, one of my favorite Cowboy bars where I met an Aussie who had recently discovered Thailand. Kind of reminded me of myself about 13 years ago.

The Aussie was enamoured of a recent addition to the bar scene who was very shy and needed a little encouragement. I suggested he invite her down for a drink and I would do the same with another lady so she would have some Thai company. That turned out to be a good idea and the 4 of us decide to go party at Nana for the evening. We decided to walk from Cowboy to Nana which is always a good test of how much fun the ladies will be.

Nana (soi 4) was busy as usual as we threaded our way to Nana Plaza. First stop should always be Billboard and it was superb as usual, especially the suds tub. After Billboard we hit her sister bar Butterflies and it was also very busy. The pole dancer was good and turned out to be a friend of the girl I was with so we shared some conversaation over a few drinks and then headed off to Hillary 2 for some dancing, drinking, and songs.

I was dismayed I no longer knew any band members but that changed when the bands changed and one of the band member recornized me and gave me a big hug. I stayed at Hillariy's until 2 am when I baled on a motorcycle taxi back to my hotel where Thavorn and jaidan were sound asleep.

The next morning my new Aussie friend texted me stating he had a very enjoyable night.

All in all a great night in the City of Angels.

TTYL

Back in the City of Angels

 Thavorn, Jaidan and I are in Bangkok for the next week or more. Thavorn's mom is still alive, if you can call incubated and  tied to the bed, alive. She seems to have stabilized so Thavorn made the decision to come to Bangkok to stay with Jaidan and I in a hotel. She can taxi back to the village in 4 hours if her mom's situation changes.

Unfortunately, Thavorn has come down with a fever and a sore throat. If you spend enough time in a hospital, you are bound to get sick.

I had a night out in BKK with my freind Arthur on Wednesday night and then again on Thursday night by myself. I much prefer being out with a friend as it is much more fun. Both nights, I was home by 9:30 as Jaidan was alone in the hotel by himself.

Today, my friend Shauna arived and I met her for lunch. Tonight we are going out for a few drinks and explore what has changed over the past 3.5 years.

Should be fun :-)

TTYL

Back in the Land if Smiles

 It has been a busy week as Thavorn's mom ended up in the ICU of the Wichian Buri Hospital due to complications with her diabetes and the superbug. The family is congregating to decide on a course of treatment, if any.

I booked a one way flight from Toronto to BKK for Thavorn, Jaidan, and I as we could not be sure of the outcome although I suspect she will be taken off life support.

We flew to Toronto on my airmiles, Toronto to Icheon South Korea with Air Canada, and Icheon to Bangkok visa Jeuju Air. We then stayed at an Airport hotel in Bangkok and took a taxi the next morning to the village at a cost of 3,000 baht.

We spent the first night in the heat under a mosquito net on a hard yet saggy mattress. Jaidan and I bailed to a local hotel for last night bur we will change locations for tonight as their are no grocery stores or restaurents near by.

Last night, Thavorn's sister arrived about 8 pm and Thavorn got to see her new nephew and neice for the first time as well as her son Dun and daughter Tai for the first time in over 4 years.

Yesterday afternoon, Thavorn and I went with her two aunts to the hospital and saw her mom. She is on her last legs and I believe there is a family meeting today with the head nurse for next steps.

Not much has changed in the village except for more dogs roaming around and more vegetation than I remember last night was also a huge rainstorm last about 3 hours. Very humid.

I am getting used to my laptop once again and will post some pics

TTYL

Update from Farangland

 Long time with no post. Why, not much to talk about, other than my friend John and I both agree we should be back in Thailand asap. The reason why is that costs are out of control in Canada due to the Liberal government bungling the economy leading to inflation.

Housing is beyond the reach of middle class Canadians and those that managed to actually buy a house may soon lose it if they can't make their mortgage payments due to increasing mortgage interest rates.

Meanwhile Canada is chasing after over a million immigrants per year! I really don't know where they are going to live or how they will afford food and gas. However that said, an immigrant family with 5 children, mom not working, and dad with a minimum wage job will be middle class due to the Canada Child benefit paying over $700 a month for each child. They do not get taxed on the benefit. However my taxes are paying for that benefit. Jaidan gets under $200 because it is mostly clawed back because I make too much which is all taxable.

John is staying in Canada until his wife earns enough money to build a house back in Thailand. Thavorn and I probably have another 3 years in Canada as we want Jaidan to stay in his current school for another 3 years. He is mostly a B+ student except for an A+ in Mathematics.

However we hope to visit Thailand (John's aim as well) each year for the next 3 years. However airfares are exremely expensive as airlines try to recoup their Covid losses. Airfare is currently $3000 plus so that may not happen.

So life is boring as we don't do much as we are saving for airfares. Life goes on but it is pretty boring.

I yearn for my walks on the wild side :-)

TTYL

Farang Pee Bah

 Today's song is ... I would do anything for love ... Meatloaf (RIP)

Forest Gump's mom said, 'Stupid is as stupid does'. Thavorn's village is abuzz with the gossip that one of the Thai women in the village has landed a Swedish Farang and he is staying in the village at her family's house.

The last Swede to hook up with a Thai girl in the village built her a house to live in and was quite amazed to visit, unannounced, to find her living with her Thai boyfriend and hosting parties frequently on his dime. Needless to say, he bailed and was out well over a million baht in less than a year.

Farang pee bah means 'stupid farang'. Apparently the latest Swede met with his Thai Lady online and arrived in the village to meet her face to face or perhaps genitalia to genitalia :-) This is not going to end well! The Thai lady is in her mid forties and her husband recently left her due to the debts she accrued due to het gambling problem. No problem for a farang to cover but significant for future happiness. The only good news is she only has one child although she lives with her mother.

The Thai lady had previously contacted Thavorn's mom to ask Thavorn if she could find a farang for her. That kind of thinking reflects on how Thais view farangs. They are hanging on trees, waiting to be picked.  Now sometimes, they are low hanging fruit, but more often they are lonely men looking for love.

Little does the Swede know that the whole village is watching to see how this plays out.

On another note, we have booked our air tickets for our first visit back to Thailand in about 4 years. We will be there for a month this coming January. Thavorn has saved enough money to build her house and will visit her village to start discussion with builders on costs, timelines, etc. She will also visit her sister and kids in Phang Nga who she has not seen for far too long. Myself, I plan a deep dive into Bangkok and Pattaya night life :-)

I am thinking there should be enough material to write about that I can start filling this blog with some interesting posts in the coming months.

I managed to secure 3 air tickets (Air Canada) for about $3,600 by booking on this past Good Friday. Perhaps it was divine intervention. The next couple of days the price was over $6,000!

TTYL

Thunder

Today's song is Thunder ... Imagine Dragons

A great song:

Just a young gun with a quick fuse

I was uptight, wanna let loose

I was dreaming of bigger things and

Wanna leave my own life behind

Not a "Yes, sir", not a follower

Fit the box, fit the mold, have a seat

In the foyer, take a number

I was lightning before the thunder

Problem was it took me 60 years to figure it out. My Mom saw it in me early as she called me her 'Walter Mitty'. Should more people take a leap and embrace something different, perhaps, but be warned that your mileage may differ. 'Here be Dragons'.

"Here be dragons" means dangerous or unexplored territories, 

in imitation of a medieval practice of putting illustrations 

of dragons, sea monsters and other mythological creatures on 

uncharted areas of maps where potential dangers were thought to exist.

Thailand has dragon mythology especially the river dragon Naga:

Here is a pic of a Naga float on the Mekong river. Interesting is the family on a motorbike passing by. The most people on a motorbike, that I have seen, is 7!

To me, Thailand was the edge of the map. It was so different from the life I had led for 60 years. In particular, Thai women were so different from farang women. I could write a book on the differences. It lends much meaning to the nature/nurture argument in human development. I would argument the economics play a much different role in Thai development.

My buddy John and I took a day long trip up the Mekong river and we did not see any dragons but we did see the ongoing deforestation due to Agent Orange used in the Vietnam war. Of particular note, was the young girl sitting in the river fishing. We saw her about 9 am and she was still there on the return journey about 5 pm. I hope she had a break at some point during her day.  I would think her world outlook is quite different from a farang woman.

For you Walter Mitty's out there, take a walk on the wild side at some moment in your life.

TTYL