This is The Journal of my Latest Holiday in Thailand
Day 1 Monday 26th
Started off badly, somehow I got my bus times wrong and had to phone Malcolm to ask if he would run me to Cambridge to catch the National Express coach to Gatwick North Terminal. We started out with what seemed like ample time to make the connection, but in the end I only had about 20 mins to walk from where Malcolm dropped me off to the coach pick up point at Parker's Piece in Cambridge, me half dragging, half carrying my 19.7kg case .
Coach trip was uneventful except for some irate gentleman of the coloured variety, at Stanstead Airport who was arguing with our Lady driver about something and as far as I could tell from my seat in the coach, she won.
Arrived at Gatwick pretty much on time. Phoned my hotel for pick up to hotel, another short drag to their pick up point, the car getting to me in about 10mins.
Drive to Gatwick House was 5 or 10mins.Handy Pub nearby, just a short walk through the local Churchyard. After settling into my room I went round to the pub for a pint and to checked the food situation for the evening. Menu seemed reasonable and had several choices.
Walked to the pub about 6 o'clock thinking I would get there in good time to beat the rush only to find the place was heaving with people. It took me a little while to suss out the way of things, apparently you were supposed to find yourself a table then go and get your drinks etc. being on my own was not going to be easy to find a suitable table, but I noticed that everyone was walking passed one table set for two people and wondered why so when I looked it had a notice on it that said it was ok to sit there until 7 o'clock but after that it was reserved for someone called Tezzy, problem solved. Had a nice plate of fish and chips, as I thought that was probably the quickest dish to have seeing that my time at the table was restricted somewhat, along with a pint of Fullers London Pride. I was just putting my jacket on to go and pay my bill when the mysterious Tezzy and partner arrived to claim their table. Went back to hotel watched some television before spending a restless night waiting for the alarm to wake me up early so that I could shave and shower before going down to breakfast.
Day 2 Tuesday 27th
First one down in the morning, tea,coffee and cereals all laid out so I help myself to cereal and make a cup of tea. Someone eventually turns up at 7 o'clock, in the kitchen, then the waitress turns up 10 mins. later. Other guests come down and their cooked breakfast orders taken but for some reason the waitress totally ignores me, I was just getting fed up with being ignored and about to say something when the landlady came through from the kitchen to ask what time I wanted to be taken to the airport and she asked if I had had my cooked breakfast yet and went off to order it for me.
Journey to Gatwick no problems got there in good time to find check in desk and get rid of that blinking case. Sat in lounge waiting for boarding gate to come up, eventually gate number 224 came up, one of the furthest away. I think there must be some sort of conspiracy at London airports, because my flights always seem to go from the furthest gate possible.
Flight eventually loaded, I had one of those seats right at the front with all the leg room, only two others in the same row, one man one lady. The man was sitting next to me and when I spoke to say hello and good morning, he asked if I was from Australia because of my accent, when I told him that I was born and bred in Suffolk he asked if I had spent a long time in Australia, again he was a bit surprised when I told him the nearest I had ever got to there was Thailand and that, that was where I was heading for now. In the meantime the lady on the end of the row had changed her seat with some man, who turned out to be quite obnoxious. He had a half bottle of whiskey which he was half way through before we reached the end of the runway. He started explaining to my neighbour that he was a chain smoker and had to drink whiskey instead during the flight. My neighbour, who happened to have his hair tied in a ponytail, was quietly reading his newspaper and minding his own business, but the other bloke kept on at him about what he was reading and somehow the question of capital punishment came into his questioning, then he accused him of being a terrorist. My neighbour, we hadn't gotten round to exchanging names before the drunk started up his interrogation, said he was not a terrorist but he was a songwriter, well that started a whole new line of questioning, what have you written would he know any of his songs? Sing one now to see if he knows it etc. This went on for some time and I could hear that my neighbour was getting a bit cheesed off, he finally lost a bit of his cool when the drunk started touching him on his shoulder, he told him to stop as his shoulder was still painful after being dislocated. In the end he called for the stewardess to either find him another seat or to remove the drunk, as the flight was only about half full she found my neighbour another seat and a male steward came to talk to the drunk and took his whisky away and told him to behave himself for the rest of the flight.
Everything went smoothly for quite a long time until a woman passenger came down the aisle and started giving the drunk a right old ear bashing, something about she didn't like the way he kept looking at her and to leave her alone, she caused such a racket that the steward came down and took the drunk up the back of the plane out of the way of passengers. All this before we had reached Dubai. During the three hour stopover at Dubai I had a burger and cup of tea at one of the cafés on my way to the boarding gate, so I could take my next lot of pills. Passed the time waiting for the call to start boarding by reading my book. I don't know if it is my hearing that is up the creek or if it's the Tanoy systems at airports, but they never come over clear enough for me to hear who's supposed to be boarding first, anyway I joined the queue and showed my boarding pass and was waved through so I must have got the right seat number for boarding. My seat was in the middle row and I had the whole four seats to myself. After being fed and watching Harry Potter I managed to stretch out and get some sleep in relative comfort, a first time for me on all my previous flights ever.
Day 3 Wednesday 28th
At some point in the flight from Dubai Tuesday became Wednesday 28th September. Finally I have landed for the start of my 3months holiday here in Thailand. Made my way to Immigration, no problems there, visa stamped and valid until December 26th 2011. Went off to collect my case and then go to the fourth floor to check in at Thai Airways. Made connecting flight to Udon Thani without any problems, all set for the final leg of my journey to see Keaw again after 2 years of phone calls. Remembered to phone Keaw that I will be leaving on time (10 o'clock) so that she can leave to get to Udon airport to meet me at 11 o'clock, both journeys should take about 1 hr, Keaw answered on second or third ring and I tell her that I am just getting on the plane so she should leave soon to get to the airport on time. It turns out that she is already at the airport and has been since 10 o'clock because she couldn't stay at home waiting for me to call her any longer, so she drove to Udon airport to wait there instead. After landing checked where bags will be available, our flights bags would be at Bay 17, wouldn't you know the furthest one away in the baggage claim area. Case appeared quite quickly and I made my way through customs out into the arrival hall, looking round all the faces to try and spot Keaw among the crowd of anxious people when I heard the familiar call, “pompoy” ( meaning fat or obese in Thai ) my Thai nickname, and there she was coming towards me waving her hands. Next stop Lotus (Tesco in Thailand) to stock up on food and other goods.
On the way back to the farm Keaw told me that they had had much rain and that there was a lot of flooding, when we got back to the farm I could see what she meant. All the small lakes, that had all but dried up by the time I left 2 yrs ago, were now full and overflowing. The land that had been so hard and dry was now more like quicksand and virtually all of it about 6 inches under water and badly overgrown because it being so wet it was impossible to get on it to do anything.
As we drove up to the small house we were met by geese, ducks and a few chickens, the only ones that had not perished in the floods.Spent the rest of the day unpacking and getting use to being around each other again, normally we both live mostly alone in our separate homes, so having to consider other peoples needs and different ways of doing thing takes a little working at.
Day 4 Thursday 29th
Slept quite well considering having traveled through so many different time zones and the body clock all messed up.
Got up in good time and had a shower and got ready for breakfast, which consisted of fried bacon and eggs.
After eating made a tour of the farm to see what else had suffered in the rain and winds, most obvious was the hut where we used to fish from last time I was here. It apparently was blown over during one of the high winds they had and that particular time it lifted some of the roofing on the small house as well. 
The Banana trees (I suppose they are called trees aren't they?) are now bearing fruits as well, where as before they were just small plants. It rained on and off during the day, sometimes some of it quite heavyDay 5 Friday 30th
Woke up fairly early, we had heavy rain during the night and it sounds rather loud on the corrugated tin roof, flood levels had risen again. Not much to write about for today because everywhere is so wet from the rains.
We seem to have some new friends, this evening during yet more rain a couple of small toads came in to catch some of the mosquito's that always arrive in the evenings as soon as the lights are switched on.
After eating we switched off the lights in the open area and went into the bedroom/TV room for the rest of the night and played Spider Solitaire as well as watching a bit of Thai soaps.More rain during the night with a bit of thunder as well. Slept fairly well last night considering the noise of the thunder and rain on the tin roof, so not up quite so early today. After breakfast we went to Ban Dung to sort out some way that I could get onto the Internet, we had one of my old phones that I had sent to Keaw and were going to put the internet SIM card in it, then we could both keep our phones and not have them tied up on the Internet, that's what we thought before we got to the shop. The phone we were hoping to use needed a new back, so first off Keaw asked for one to be put on it while she asked about SIM's to connect to the Internet, now before we left to go to Ban Dung Keaw had set the Date and Time on the old phone, but at the Phone shop when they put the cards in there seemed to be a problem and the phone was taken to a young man who seemed to be the repair man. After poking and prodding about in the phones inner places he announced that the phone needed to be repaired and it would cost 800 baht to fix it, Keaw said no we would not have it repaired, instead she would have the SIM cards in her phone which they happily did and then took our money, but not before trying to sell us a new phone.
We went from there to M&B Mansion to see Dang and Phorn, we saw Phorn and I asked if Dang was about, but Dang was out. While we were talking Phorn said she was thinking of going to Singapore for a holiday but she wasn't sure what to do because being only one person made everything more expensive and she didn't really want to be on her own, she asked if we would take her to see a Fortune Teller that could tell about your past and tell you about your future then she could decide what to do. Anyway we said ok as we had nothing else planned for the day and it would be a novel way to spend a couple of hours. To get there we have to go along what we Brits know as Salt Road but mention that name to a Thai person and they just look blank, the reason for the name is because there are salt beds all along there, which at the moment are flooded so I presume the salt production has had to stop as it requires that the water evaporates away and leaves the salt behind.
We finally find the place and go in for Phorn to learn her future, before we went, while we were still at M&B, she asked if I believed that this man could tell her what is going to happen in the future, I said that I didn't think that he could know what was going to happen and she said that Buddhists believed in the “soul” and believed that the future could be seen by certain people. After the normal greetings to everyone the fortune teller and Phorn sat facing each other and Phorn passes him a plate with various items on it, I cannot see what they are from where I am sitting. I presume she has had to part with some money for the plate of goodies so she can give a gift to Buddha, this is pure speculation on my part as I didn't actually see money change hands, but if that is the way it goes then it's not a bad way to earn a crust, sell something then take it back again, he took the plate from her then turned his back on her and, again I can only speculate, offered the gift to Buddha, then turning to face her again he started telling her fortune. Obviously I don't know what was said as he was speaking in Thai and I am to much of a gentleman to have asked Phorn what he said, I did ask Keaw when we got home but she said she didn't know. When we got back to Ban Dung we stopped at a roadside “kitchen” and bought a Barbecued fish for eating in the evening with some rice.
As soon as we got back to the farm I was eager to try to connect to the Internet because my e-mails were sure to be building up as I hadn't been able to look at them since leaving March. As hard as I tried to connect everything failed to get me connected. I came to the conclusion that I was never going to get connected using that phone of Keaw's. I either wanted an access code, which Keaw tried to get from her son Matt without much luck or I was asked to put in the disc that came with the phone so that it could Authenticate the make and model, you should not be surprised to learn that no such disc was available, in the end I just gave up trying.
During the evening there was persistent heavy rain, it was so loud that I wanted to take a recording of it so that I could put an audio on this blog.(I am still trying to find out how to get my recording uploaded to here) I am not sure about leaving this particular piece in the final draft because it is so bizarre that I find it hard to understand let alone explain it to anyone else but here goes, please bear in mind that I had not had any alcohol for 2 days so that cannot explain what happened. I took my phone out into the open area to get the loudest sound of the rain on the tin roof, while I was making the recording I could hear, may be it was just in my head I don't know, but I could hear Dean and his friends singing a boozy song, I couldn't make out the words but I recognised the tune. Why on earth I should have Dean on my mind at that time I don't know we had not been talking about him or anything like that and I can't say that I have ever heard Dean sing a single note. Maybe he was on my mind due to having been to the Fortune Teller's place with all the
Buddhist symbols and semi religious trappings I don't know. I did say it was bizarre.
Day 7 Sunday 2nd
More flooding due to the heavy rains during the night, so any work to tidy the place up by cutting down some of the weeds that cover the ground at the moment was out of the question. Having nothing better to do we decided to go to Udon Thani to try and sort out my Internet problems. On the way we passed field after field of rice completely flooded, now I know that the paddy field is generally kept very wet but when the crop is completely submerged it is ruined so there are a lot of Thais going to be short of their yearly quota of rice which they rely on to see them through the year.
To get back to reason for our trip Udon Thani, the first phone shop that we went into showed very little interest in helping us apart from selling us a new, expensive, phone that would solve everything, even if I had believed them I wouldn't have bought anything from them, they didn't deserve to get a sale as they hadn't made any effort to help me. From there we went to what used to be Robinson's, a large shopping mall, when we got there the place was like a building site, well a big part of it was a building site. When it is finished it won't be a big shopping mall, it will be huge and be known as Central Plaza. The first one or two phone outlets we tried couldn't help, but suggested somewhere that might be able to help. We finally found a shop willing to listen while Keaw explained the problem, at first the suggestion was for a new, more expensive model, Nokia phone would solve the problem they were sure, after I pointed out that I had no intention of forking out for an expensive Nokia or any other make of phone we finally got round to the cheaper options for connecting to the internet and finally settled for a USB stick and Internet SIM card, a more reasonable solution. When we got back to the farm I set up everything ready to get stuck into my e-mails, I was soon aware that I was still not going to get connected as all it came up with was “no service” , as a last resort I took it all outside into the open area to try again. Finally I was connected to my e-mail and everything, I could now start sorting out which of the 515 e-mails I wanted and which to delete, this eventually brought the total down to under a dozen that needed attention, the 200 odd in the spam folder took a lot less sorting and I deleted the lot, or I think I have because as soon as I had pressed the delete button I got a message to say I was no longer on the Internet.
The rest of the evening was spent watching Thai soaps and playing Solitaire to see who could get out the quickest, the aim is to do it in Ten minutes or under.
Day 8 Monday 3rd
Woke about 7.30 am, showered and cooked breakfast for both of us today, sometimes Keaw will have Papaya salad that was left over from the previous day. Still raining, no wonder there are floods everywhere. The news is full of it, but I must say that the emergency and government services reacted very quickly and are handing out bags of food and bottled of water to all the people stranded in their homes, I wondered if they had all the small boats and canoes stored up somewhere for use on just such an occasion as this. Thinking about it they have the Monsoon season every year so they know when to expect heavy rains, but this year has been a bit heavier than usual.
Still “no signal” when I try to get on the Internet, I'm beginning to think the farm must be in a blind spot and I will not get a decent reception at all, it's very annoying.
As it didn't look like I was going to get any time on the Internet today we walked round to one Keaw's brothers, he is building a small house for himself and his daughter Nee on the next plot to the farm. It was fine for a change and we were sitting outside, we didn't have much choice when I think about it as there was only the shell of the house built, daughter came out and sat cross legged behind Keaw wielding a pair of tweezers and proceeded to search through Keaw's hair for grey hairs which she duly pulled out. The sun was going down, Nee had run out of grey hairs to pluck out and the mozzies were getting to be a pain so we walked home to have something to eat, just about to start eating when her brother and daughter Nee turned up to eat with us, I thought Keaw had made rather a lot of Papaya salad for herself, as I only have a very small amount to go with my normal salad. When they had finished eating and gone home we went into the bedroom to watch TV and carry on trying to finish Solitaire in 10 mins or less, nobody has made it yet.
Day 9 Tuesday 4th
Strange things happening around here, people keep coming to see Keaw and she gets changed into white robes, she also gives a set of similar white robes to one of the ladies that came with them.
They went into the Shrine, some sitting just outside as there is not a lot of room inside. Then the chanting begins, I think she has found Buddha, I know that Thai's take their religion seriously but I think this behaviour is a little bit more than that, people turn up and there is about 30 – 40 mins of chanting then they sit around talking for another 30 – 40 mins before they leave.
Later on that evening Keaw says that she will be sleeping in the Shrine with Buddha tonight. Her behaviour is getting very weird to say the least. It is now 20.10 hrs, there is chanting coming from the Shrine, whether she is chanting by herself or someone has come for a session I don't know, I would hardly think anyone else is there because I have not heard a motorbike come up the drive and it's pitch black out there now and not the sort of place to be wandering about in the dark.
Day 10 Wednesday 5th
It rained quite heavily during the night and is still raining this morning. I woke up this morning at 06.30hrs to the sound of chanting, finally got out of bed 07.00hrs to take a shower. After my ablutions I went out to cook myself some breakfast and make a cup of tea. I had just finished eating when Keaw emerged from the Shrine. We said good morning and Keaw made herself a Papaya salad to have with rice for her breakfast, she asked me if I would eat some with her, I took a small helping and found to my surprise that it tasted quite good. Keaw didn't seem to be eating hers and when I asked her what was wrong she said that she didn't like it and why was I eating mine, I told her that I thought it tasted OK and had quite enjoyed it.
I was sitting at the platform outside doing some work on my website http://idealhomework.org I was alone as Keaw had gone off on her bicycle, when I became aware of somebody walking about on the drive, she was rather on the large size and was coming inside, I thought that perhaps she had met Keaw and they had come back together so I paid no attention and carried on working. I soon realised that Keaw was not back and that the lady was inside coming towards me, she mumbled something that ended with Keaw so I replied that Keaw was not here at the moment. Obviously not leaving until she had seen Keaw she proceeded to sit herself down on the platform and duly helped herself to some corn fries from an open packet Keaw had left out. About 10.00 mins later Keaw came back with some shopping she had done in the village, she was not at all surprised when she saw the Thai lady sitting cross legged on the platform munching on her corn fries. A few minutes later, when the shopping had been put away Keaw joined the Thai lady on the platform, they were talking when a motorbike came up the drive, I looked at Keaw, who was facing so she was able to see who it was, she said it was her sister, now we have met with several Thai ladies in the village most of whom have been described as “her sister”, I'm pretty sure that Keaw's family was not that large so as to have that many sisters. It turns out that both these ladies were expected because as soon as the second lady turned up they all went into the Shrine and were chanting for about 30 mins, came out and spent another 10 – 20 mins talking before the Thai ladies left.
It was a very hot afternoon and we spent it in the room with the fan on, watching TV and playing Solitaire. About 17.00 hrs, just as it is starting to be less hot Keaw said she wanted to plant the banana plants that we had brought from the house in the village the other day and would I go and start digging the holes ready for planting and that she would be down after she finished feeding the ducks, geese and the few chickens. I picked up my digging implement and asked how big were the holes to be, 50 x 50 x 50 I was told. Although I said the day was starting to cool down it was still quite warm for any physical exercise, like digging holes. I was trying to take things slowly as I'm not used to doing anything to strenuous these days, any way I was half way into the third hole when Keaw turns up with a bottle of water and a chair for me to have a rest on, she'd also brought her own digging implement, I felt quite tired watching her digging her first two holes, she'd taken as long to dig those as I had taken to dig one and I was knackered and my T shirt was sodden wet where as Keaw hadn't even broken sweat. With a little help from Nee we eventually got all ten of them planted.
We had marinated chicken legs, rice and chilli dip for our evening meal, Keaw had papaya salad with hers. After we had finished eating it was nice to get in the shower and put on some dry clothes. Spent the rest of the evening watching TV and trying to play Spider Solitaire which is a bit difficult to do when, instead of dealing one round of new cards when you can't make any more moves it deals two or three and even four rounds making it impossible to finish the game. Maybe I need to Download another copy of it.
Day 11 Thursday 6th
Slept well after the strenuous workout yesterday and it was 09.00 hrs when Keaw said Matt was coming to sort out my Internet connection, quickly got dressed, missed out having a shower.
However all efforts to get a connection using the USB memory stick failed but using an old Nokia phone and his notepad computer he had no problems. We agreed that he should take the USB stick and I would use the Nokia phone.
We had some shopping to do in Ban Dung first but I would try out the phone to get connected when we got back. Finished the shopping and tried to get onto the Internet but however much I tried I could not get connected, I tried all sorts of different ways to get connected but failed miserably and was getting to the end of my tether. Matt came round about 18.00 hrs and after trying for about 30 mins there was eventually a connection and things were looking better, when, believe it or not, Firefox started giving trouble, I was really cheesed off. I eventually got AOL to load and started dealing with the 212 e-mails that had built up while messing about trying to get the connection, most of them would just be deleted as they were, for the most part, impossible to deal with here.
Finished about 23.00 hrs.
Showered and shaved ready for bed. I hope tomorrow is a better day than this one has been.
Day 12 Friday 7th
Body clock must be settled down now because I slept till 09.00 hrs again this morning showered and dressed then went outside, Keaw had the kettle on the hob ready for a cup of tea and offered to cook breakfast this morning. Finished breakfast and started setting up for hopefully a day on the Internet, shouldn't have worried, although it took a while everything went through OK. Later on Matt turns up and without as much as a good morning he started sorting out pots and pans and putting them into the back of the pickup, then it was plates and cutlery, two of everything, can only assume that his girlfriend is moving in with him. Only hope that he doesn't think he can come here and help himself to food to put on those plates.
Keaw was doing her Knitting, I was on my computer when a whole family turns up on a small tractor and trailer, I asked Keaw who they were she said she did not know who they were so I turned to her and said maybe they have come for her to talk to Buddha and she laughed. Turns out I was right, another lot of people turned up in a pickup for the same reason just as I was preparing to cook my evening meal. They finally left about 18.30hrs.Normal evening, cards and TV.
All in all had a good day on the Internet, started another Post for http://idealhomework.org. Never lost connection once using the phone as a modem.
Day 13 Saturday 8th
Got up at a more reasonable time today, showered, then cooked breakfast for both of us. Keaw was playing Spider Solitaire while charging the phone to use as a modem for the Internet.
I made a big mistake by asking about having some music on, meaning that I could put a radio or something on the computer but Keaw said she had CD player in the bedroom and some very good music by Buddhist monks she assured me. I said that I could put on a radio station on my computer, Buddha won, lovely chanting, a whole CD's worth.
We had just about settled in for the night, Keaw was asleep because she had to get up at 23.00hrs to go and do some more chanting with Buddha, when I heard a motorbike come up the drive and stop, I woke Keaw as I thought it could be some more people come to talk with Buddha, when we opened the door it was Matt standing there, apparently he had come to catch frogs for eating, whether they were for him or friends I don't know, he wanted to borrow a torch.
Come 23.00hrs Keaw goes off to chant with Buddha and I go to sleep, after I have sent a condolences e-mail to step sister Wendy Cox, her husband John had just passed away.
Day14 Sunday 9th
Woke early about 07.00 hrs to find I was alone in bed, I assumed Keaw had got up at her usual time of about 05.300hrs, she gets up early to work before the sun gets up, then during the heat of the day she can eat and sleep and take things easy, then as the sun is going down can work some more until it gets dark around 18.00hrs. I get up, have a shower and when I get outside everywhere is quiet and nobody is around, when I go and look in the Shrine Keaw is sound asleep on the floor where she spent the night, I leave her there and cook myself breakfast and make a cup of tea.
Sign on to the Internet to check my e-mails. Keaw finally gets up 09.30hrs.At last she is finally ready to go shopping, and I sign off from the Internet, it's 10.30hrs , we pick up Boa, a school teacher friend of Keaw on the way Ban Dung, where we are going to buy some rockets for the 12th October, which is the end of Buddhist lent. On the evening of the 12th there is, so I'm told, to be a service to celebrate the end of the Buddhist lent that is only attended by women, the rockets are let off by the men of the village. Just what they are celebrating I'm not sure, maybe it's the freedom, for one night, to do their own thing. We get to the shop selling fireworks and the shopkeeper is holding about half a dozen of these fireworks and Keaw says she wants four of them, what we buy are the strangest looking rockets I've seen, they are about 1mtr long and there is no stick, it will be interesting to see how these are to be let off. By the way today I decided that apart from gasoline I'm not paying for anything else and after buying the gasoline I tell Keaw that it is the last of my Thai money, so as she handed me the four fireworks, there is a brief pause before she gets out her purse and pays. It's the same for the rest of the shopping we do, I know she has money because after one of her sessions with a group of people I happened to look into the shrine and there was a load of bank notes on sticks and stuck into the outer skin of a coconut, at a rough count there was about 5000bht, this set me wondering as to how long this Buddha thing has been going on, so, and I know it's not really the done thing, when I knew that I was going to be undisturbed I set about looking for bank books to see what was really her financial position. It didn't take to long to find a small handbag with some bank books in it, the first two had small amounts, 100bht or so in them and hadn't been used for a couple of years or so, the next one had a final total of over 39000bht this had also been dormant for a few years and I was not sure what sort of account it was but the final one was current and had had money taken out this year and left a balance of just over 6000bht, so with the money I saw in the shrine she had at least 11000bht but always made out she had no money so Farang had to pay for everything, not today however. Surprising how quickly we finished shopping when “farang no pay”, there was no face creams, shampoos or other smellies and such stuff that always seem to drop into my shopping trolley. A bit of deja vu I think.
As we were going to go back to Boa's for papaya salad we gave Boa the fireworks to take back to the pickup while Keaw and me went to 7/11 to buy something for me to eat. On the way to Boa's she mentions something about a lake and fishing, when we arrived at Boa's house to one side was a lake with a hut built over it for fishing from. Boa asked if I liked fishing and would I like to do some today while I was here, I said I would love to and she told one of the children that had come to see who had arrived, to go and get a rod and line for me, actually a length of bamboo and line. Keaw and me walked round to the hut after a while Boa brought some feeding pellets for the fish and to use as bait, I threw a small handful of the pellets into the lake and the water “boiled” as the fish came up to gobble up the food I had thrown in. I caught a few fish quite easily by throwing in some pellets and letting the single pellet on my hook to just rest on the surface like the rest I had just thrown in but they soon got wise to this or were just not that hungry because it was getting harder and harder to get them to come up for the pellets until they stopped altogether. In the end I had to do the same as the others that were fishing there and sit and wait for something to come along that was either hungry enough or curious enough to have a bite at the bait on my hook.
I thought that it was just the three of us who were eating, Boa, Keaw and me, but people kept turning up with little bits and pieces of food to add to the menu, it finished up with nearly a dozen women who had turned up and were tucking to the food and laughing and talking all at the same time but Keaw seemed to have the most to say and got the most of the giggling out of them all. I wish I could understand Thai so I could listen to what she was saying as she must have good sense of humour to keep them laughing like she did.
Later on, I assumed, the husbands of the some of the women turned up some had brought their bamboo fishing poles with them, eventually they all moved to the end where I was fishing and started their own discussion about what I had no idea and just carried on fishing, without much luck however.
As I was sitting there fishing and minding my own business the man sitting closest to me touched my arm and as I turned to see what he wanted he was offering me a glass of beer, and very welcome it was to, I took a sip and touched glasses with him and said cheers. I put my glass down and carried on fishing for a while then decided to take another drink of beer, when I reached for my glass it was full to the brim again so I said cheers again and drank some more. I was not catching many fish now, I went to drink some more beer and found I had another full glass. I decided to quit fishing and turn my chair round facing the men to drink the rest of my beer with them. It was 15.30hrs by the time we said our goodbyes.
I had got a taste for the beer now so I asked Keaw to stop on the way home and get some cans for me, up till now I had had very little alcohol since being here. I haven't been to any of the bars in Ban Dung yet.
The rest of the night we spent watching TV, playing spider solitaire and Keaw did some knitting and I was writing up some of my previous days notes.
Day 15 Monday 10th
Got a message on my phone/modem to say that there was only 30mins left on my SIM card, so I didn't sign onto the Internet as I normally would do in the morning, anyway Keaw wants to go and visit someone she calls “Papa”, not her real father but an old man of about 90yrs old, he lives alone in a woodland area near to a Temple but he is not a monk. We have to walk the last bit of the way to his “house” , you can't really call it a house, it is open on all four sides, some of which have a sort of netting crudely strung up to what purpose I've no idea because it will most certainly not keep the weather out or any animal that happens to wander in, it has a high tin roof that sits onto six square concrete pillars. There are two raised platforms about eight by four feet in dimensions one is has a cover over it covering what, is anybody's guess, it might be where he sleeps, I don't know. He is sitting crossed legged wearing a sarong on the other platform which is full of cooking and eating utensils and half a dozen cats of varying sizes, colours and ages looking longingly into the dish that he is eating from. There is a dirt floor strewn with all sorts of clutter and rubbish.It looks as if at some time in the past someone had tried to make it a bit more homely by putting up a load of religious looking posters and a picture of “Papa” dressed in what looks remarkably like a monks habit but these are so dirty and aged now that they only add to the desolate overall feeling of the place. There were two women there who had brought him some food and were making him a drink of some sort, it looked like tea when it was poured into a bowl, I didn't see any cups or mugs around. His food was sticky rice with what looked like Papaya Salad, whatever it was it had the cats interested in it. It would have been nice to have taken some video of the place because I can't describe it well enough in just words but I thought it would not be in good taste to ask, it might seem like turning it into some sort of freak show.
While he was eating Keaw was reading, what I assumed, were Buddhist prayers or something from a book, during this she had an SMS come on her phone which she read after she had finished whatever it was she was reading to “Papa”.
The message was from Boa asking if I was going fishing today as she wanted a big fish for her barbecue, I told Keaw that I wouldn't go today but would like to go another day if possible. It was when we got back to the farm that Keaw asked me again if I wanted to go to Boa's for fishing, I remembered that I only had 30 mins left on my internet card so I said OK we can go to Boa's.
We put something to eat and drink in a bag and I got my fishing gear, we were just about to leave Matt turned up and went straight to the fridge, the first thing he always does when he comes round,
on the scrounge again I thought, he took some left over papaya salad and rice, not quite what he had hoped for I suspect.
When we got to Boa's I could see that there were already four or five young boys already fishing, not what I had expected since Boa had asked us to go there for the day, just another Thai's way of doing things a farang has to get use to, I suppose. While I was unpacking my rods I saw that the bail arm on my reel had got broken in transit, so that was not a good start. I had got my pole with me but it was not the ideal situation for using it as there was a metre high railing all the way round the hut and it was very difficult to stop the end of my pole twitching badly with every small movement. I had been given a small pot containing a foul smelling handful of what smelt like and looked like buffalo dung than soil, after a bit of poking about I did manage to find half a worm to use as bait, I was not enjoying fishing so I packed up my gear for the day. I suspect that that is the difference between why I go fishing and why Thai's go fishing, I do it for pleasure and they do it out of necessity to get the fish to eat. When I had finished packing my gear away I asked Keaw to pass me the can of beer I had packed with the snacks and told her I had had enough fishing and hoped she might take the hint that I wanted to go pretty soon. By this time though the hut was full of women and it didn't look hopeful of leaving just yet. Sitting there on the sidelines drinking my beer, I was surprised to see that some of the women went up to Keaw holding their hands out, palms up, kneeling and sitting on their heels as they do, it was then that I realised that they were wanting their hands read, something else that I didn't know about Keaw's life, there had never been any hint of her being deeply religious or of her having palm reading skills.
At last we were saying our goodbyes and making tracks for home, I was a bit pissed off of having to sit with a load of women, speaking an alien language to me, for what seemed like hours, just waiting for Keaw to decide it was time to go home. While waiting for Keaw to read a few palms and tell a few amusing stories or something because the women were all laughing a lot when she was talking and she was doing that was most of the time, I had decided to cook chicken portions for our evening meal and when we got back to the farm I went to the fridge to get the chicken portions out to thaw ready for cooking, the freezer box looked a bit empty and I realised that a whole loin of pork that Keaw had put in the shopping trolley the last time we went shopping for groceries was now only half a loin, that just about summed up the sort of day it had been. I asked Keaw where the rest of the pork had gone, she went to the fridge and said something about it being cut into small pieces but when she could only find one pork chop in the freezer she didn't know what to say really and picked up the only pork chop and said “you want for cooking tonight”? I answered saying what I wanted to know is why there was only half the piece of pork left and accused her of giving it to Matt. I said for her to tell him if he wanted to eat he should get a job and buy his own food like I have to do and not to keep scrounging of his mother especially when I am putting the food on the table for her and me and not for him to come and help himself to whenever he gets hungry. The chicken portions had been put in the freezer just as they came from the shop and all half dozen of them were frozen solid so I chucked them back in the freezer and stormed off. Keaw came and asked if I wanted her to cook some rice, I told her that I was not cooking anything in case she had promised to give it to somebody else, like Matt.
The rest of the evening was spent mainly with Keaw doing some ironing, only her stuff I noticed but then none of my T shirts had been ironed since I had been here anyway so I was not that bothered and I watched TV and played Spider Solitaire. During the evening the missing half of the pork turned up with Matt telling a cock and bull story about him helping himself to it because he thought “Mama” had bought it he didn't know “Papa” (me) had bought it. I say it was a cock and bull story because I bet he cannot remember “mama” buying a whole loin of pork before in his life.
Day 16 Tuesday 11th
To day started a bit strained after yesterday's episode with food being given away.
I needed to go into Ban Dung for a few top up groceries and to get my internet SIM card topped up with another thirty hours worth. After the first week, when I had given Keaw 5000bht for the weeks shopping etc. and she had run out after a few days I have decided to keep the money myself and make it last longer by only buying what is necessary. There were a few little extras that had got into the shopping trolley by the time we got to the checkout but it was still under 1000bht and should last us until next week. Instead of turning left onto Phen road we kept straight on into Ban Dung town, Keaw explained that she had some of the bags she had crocheted were having zips put in and they should be ready to be picked up. Could I pay for them please? and could we get food for the geese and ducks as they had not got any left.
It was about 1500hrs when Keaw's brother phoned up to say that he had gone to switch on the water pump and it was broken, now tis water pump has been on it's last legs for, I don't know how long, and every now and then it would be brought up in one of our phone conversations and a casual mention of the fact that it cannot be repaired according to whoever has been to look at it and the price of a new one is 7000bht, I usually managed to change the subject and it would not be mentioned any more, until the next time that is. So hearing this news that the water pump was broken was no shock and I paid little attention to it and carried on with what I was doing. A bit later on the local handyman turns up, mends one of the lights in the open area and then we follow him down to where the water pump is to see what is wrong with it and whether it can be repaired. After using his testing meter on several of the connections he tries the main switch and nothing happens he checks the supply cable and finds it has been cut and the cable gone, apparently the day before, Keaw's brother had had his electricity cable stolen so it was assumed that the pumps cable went at the same time but had not been noticed until the pump was need to top up the water tank ( video of the installing of the water tank is on www.youtube.com under two titles “getting it up Thai style” or “health an safety demo” ), so after a bit of joining and taping the joints, Hey Presto the pump is back in commission, all for 100bht.
As this was the day before the ending of Buddhist Lent tonight , for some reason, it was allowed to let off one firework, when it came to letting off one of the “rockets” Keaw had bought it turns out to be big hand held firework similar to what we would call a Roman Candle that lasted about five minutes. Keaw was a bit disappointed and said she had wanted one that went up high and went boom with a big ball of sparkles, she said she wished she could go back to Ban Dung and buy some more proper rockets but tomorrow she had to go to the temple and to take “Papa” some more food, without thinking I said that maybe the village shop might have some left, “good idea” she said “you give me money I'll go on the motorbike to the shop and see if they have”, I could have kicked myself for falling for that, one day I'll learn to keep my bright ideas to myself. The only Thai money I had left was two, one thousand baht notes, so as I gave one of them to Keaw I said a silent goodbye to it. When Keaw got back she hadn't got any rockets, instead she had bought a load of bangers that they use for scaring of birds, dogs or anything else that is not welcome, some small fireworks called Dragons something or other plus two boxes of eighteen inch candles for the shrine, all of which came to two hundred baht, the remaining eight hundred went into her pocket. When I asked her for the change she pulled out a five hundred baht note and asked if she could have the rest for gasoline for the journey to the temple in the morning. After letting off some of the bangers the mosquito's had started to bite so we went into the bedroom for the night I thought but while I was checking my e-mails Keaw showered and then got dressed up in her white robes. She said she was going to the shrine to talk with Buddha, which lasted an hour or so, and she was going to spend the night there. Although it was only 21.00 I was feeling quite tired so I showered and went to bed.
Day 17 Wednesday 12th
Today is the end of Buddhist Lent, maybe things will get back to normal now. I woke about 05.00 hrs and I could hear Keaw busily cooking food for the monks at the temple and for “Papa”, I turned over and went to sleep again. It was about 06.18 when I was woken by the sound of the pickup being started ready for Keaw to go to the temple. I was asked if I wanted to go with her but I had turned the offer down because for one thing I didn't want to go back to “Papa's” humble abode as it made me feel a bit ill seeing the conditions he was living in and those cats climbing over the food and everything, plus if I was there anything that needed paying for would come out of my pocket regardless of how much she really had. Despite her continuous claims that she had no money, if there was something she wanted badly enough she always managed to get it.
I got up about 08.30 had a shower and went outside to put the kettle on for a cup of tea, then I started clearing up what mess Keaw had left after her early morning cooking. Had breakfast, then sorted out my pills for the following week, I had just finished this when Keaw drove up to the gate waiting to be let in to put the pickup out of the sun. Keaw spent the rest of the day getting prepared for some sort of ceremony she was going to that evening, it was to do with the end of Buddhist Lent and was a ladies only thing, the men all stayed at home and let off their fireworks I was told. I kept one of the “Roman Candles” to let off when Keaw got back, hadn't banked on it being 01.00 when she finally got home, she was a bit hyper and said we had to let off the firework tonight because tomorrow was not good, I didn't point out that it was already tomorrow. Fireworks finished it was time to turn in for the night.
Day 18 Thursday 13th
Got up 07.30 showered and then made breakfast. Keaw asked if I wanted to go to Ban Dung as she was going to the bank, she has got a loan dating back three or four years when she had an accident with a boy on a motorbike. Her daughter Fa, who lives in Belgium, sends her the money to pay off this loan every month normally but Keaw says that she is not going to send it while I and staying with Keaw. I had told Keaw that if I came to Thailand, before I had even booked my flights, that there was no way that I was going to be able to pay the monthly loan payments (8,000bht), or any other bills she might have outstanding when I get there. That was why I didn't go with her to the bank because she had already told me she was two thousand baht short of what she had to pay and had asked me for the shortfall. I told her that I could not give her the money because if I kept paying for that sort of thing I would not have enough for food and stuff for us for the rest of the time I was here. I told her that I had already spent more than I should have for the few number of days I had been here. She left, minus the two thousand baht, and was gone three or four hours. When she did get back she said one of the ladies that had been one of the winners that had come to the shrine to say thank you, had phoned while she was out and asked her to go to see her as she had something for her. She had given her a box containing seven Buddha statues, each about nine inches tall, one for each day of the week. A very generous gift I thought as she was unwrapping them and lining them all up in the shrine. Later she mentioned that she had borrowed the two thousand baht she was short from a friend in Ban Dung to pay the bank loan, no more was said about it.
Tomorrow we are going to Kham Chanot to watch a ceremony that takes place once every ten years and has something to do with taking Holy water back for the King. Originally it was Phorn, Keaw and me going but now I find out that a whole lot from the village are coming as well.
Day 19 Friday 14th
Day started much like any other except that I was leaving my shower until the last possible minute so that I don't get all hot and sticky before we go anywhere. The plan was that we were going to leave at 10.40 and pick up Phorn and then go to Kham Chanot as I had understood it but apparently that had got changed somewhere along the line. It now seems we are not leaving until 12.00 and Matt was coming to get the pickup and take it to the village for the people there that were coming to get loaded up and Keaw and me had to walk down to the road to meet them, not a good way to keep cool. Things were changing by the minute, I had hardly finished my shower when Matt and the villages turn up at the farm. A few more people on motorbikes turn up expecting to join us, by now the pickup is getting rather full up. At last we are off down the drive and on our way, half way down we meet some more on motorbikes expecting a ride with us, but with all of them it was not going to be possible to get them all in. Keaw says something to one of them and then she drives on down to the road, pulls out onto the road and stops on the side, she is looking in her wing mirror and starts blowing the horn and waving her arm out of the window, it turns out she is flagging down another pickup that she has recognised and who is going to Kham Chanot and has an empty pickup, she goes to talk to him and sends half a dozen or so to go with him, that's everyone sorted, the front pickup sets off and Keaw gets back in and we are on our way, not quite. Keaw drives about a hundred metres down the road and pulls up opposite her brothers drive to pick up two more along for the ride. Off we go and are making steady progress heading for Ban Dung to pick up Phorn, I can see the junction where we should turn right, before we make that far we pull up outside a friend of Keaw's, Keaw gets out and so the people in the back. I am looking round to see where Keaw has gone, at last I see her and can't believe what I am seeing, she's only having her hair done, having it plaited. Next stop is for gasoline then onto M&B to pick up Phorn. When we get to the hotel Phorn says she cannot come as last night they were full and she has to stop to look after the guests, but there is one more to pick up as Boa is sitting with Phorn, I hardly recognised her all dressed up in a dazzling white uniform, medal ribbons and all. Boa gets in the back seat of the cab and Keaw lets two out of the back get in as well seeing that Phorn is not coming now. Surely we must finally get on our way to Kham Chanot.
After a few bumpy roads we are here, everyone gets out and mill around for a few minutes getting their bearings. There have been a lot of changes since I last came here with Jan. Keaw was talking to the villages, presumably to tell them what time to meet back at the pickup to go home then they all split up and go off. Boa stays with Keaw and me and wants some photo's of her and Keaw all dressed up in white. I forgot to say that Keaw and most of the women that came with us were all dressed in white, this should have been a clue as to what was going on.
After finishing taking photo's we headed for the walkway to the Island, everyone goes barefooted on the island. There are four Temples on the island each with their own particular Buddha in them so that people can go and worship in any or all of them, light a candle and some scented joss sticks.
Off to the left at the end of the walkway there is a pool of “holy water”. This is a very popular place on the island, people are taking bottles full of the water others are anointing themselves and their children with water from the pool. It looks like something is going to happen down here at some time during the day because on the far side of the pool there is a table all set out with offerings or something and some official looking bodies standing around it, now they are moving people from the small pool to a larger pool off to the right. It was about now that Keaw said that she had got to go and see her “Buddha man” her exact words and I should stay with Boa till she got back. Boa and I walked around the different Temples and watched as people tried to make the various gongs vibrate by rubbing their hands over the inside of them, some done it with ease others couldn't make anything happen at all. After about an hour I found myself a seat on a bench at the end of the walkway, I figured that that was as good a place to stay for Keaw to find me when she eventually gets back from “Buddha man”, Boa had gone off on her own.
I don't know how long I had been sitting there when a procession came down the walkway led by none other than “Buddha man” himself and I couldn't help but notice that he was wearing white slip on shoes, as if to prove he was different from everyone else, who were barefoot. Just behind him, there was Keaw dressed all in white like the rest of the people in the procession, she barely acknowledged me sitting on the bench as she went past. The procession turned left and headed for the pool of Holy water. I followed to see what it was all about but got fed up after twenty minutes of watching “Buddha man” posing and preening himself while people took photo's and everyone else had to stand and wait for him to get on with things, I went back to the bench a luckily no one had taken my place on the bench. They eventually finished whatever it was they did at the pool and headed back to the walkway, when Keaw reached were I was sitting she said you can stay there for long time” I said that I was fed up waiting around for her and walked off up the walkway to fetch my boots and have a look around. When I got to the place where I had left my Boots at the start of the walkway, people were just leaving the seats that had been set out in a large open sided marquee,
which is where I suppose the main event of the day had taken place and we had missed what I thought was what we had come to see, not some self appointed leader of whatever it was he was leader of. I'm still not clear what it was actually all about. I was getting thirsty but didn't want to go to any of the drink stalls run by Thais because I only had one thousand baht note and being farang on his own would most likely be ripped off by being over charged, something that has happened to most farang at some time or other I bet.
I went to where we had left the pickup and it was not there, luckily there was an empty table and seats nearby under a tree so I sat and waited for the pickup to return or someone come and tell me where it was parked now. I had been there for twenty minutes or so when who should turn up driving the pickup, I should have known guessed he was the reason the pickup was moved. He did see me and gave me the keys so I could sit in comfort, and he and his girlfriend walked off. I went and sat in the cab, with the windows down there was a little bit of a breeze every now and again. About ten minutes later Matt came and gave me an ice cream, had I got him wrong, I don't think so
Soon people that had come with us started to come back to the pickup and found seats close by in the shade of the trees still no sign of Keaw, everyone else seemed to be there now, including Boa and Matt and his girlfriend. When Keaw did turn up she made no attempt to get people to load up but went and sat at one of the tables chatting to the two ladies that had been at “Papa's” when we went there. I was getting impatient to get going, I'd had a lousy day and if I had been told what the day was really all about I would've stayed at the farm instead. Some of the others must have been getting impatient to get going as well because they started getting in the back of the pickup, others went off to find their alternative transport they had come in. Keaw got the message and she got in after checking everyone was loaded up we set off for home, or did we. We found our way out onto the proper road and soon caught up and passed the others in their alternative transport, I noticed that “papa”was in there as well, shortly after overtaking them we slowed as if Keaw was not sure where we were, then she signalled to turn right taking us onto an unmade road or “red road” as they are referred to here about, I thought maybe it was to drop someone off for one reason or another, instead we ended up outside “Buddha man's” place and everyone gets out, it was if they all knew we were going to come here on the way home, I certainly didn't know and was not to pleased as I'd had a pig of a day. This must have been an arranged stop because the other vehicle turned up little while after we had stopped. The people in that all got out and were standing around waiting for something and then “papa” was half carried half walking brought out and was being guided through the gate, as he passed those standing around they dropped to their knees bowed their heads and put their hands together as in prayer. They must have stayed there about an hour before we could get on our way home at last. We dropped Boa off at the hotel and on to drop the people from the village off, that just left the ones who had motorbikes at the farm to drop off at the bottom of the drive. At last I could have some food and something to drink, that was until the other vehicle turns up and unloads “papa”onto the platform in the cooking area. They all ended up sitting in and around the shrine and started chanting, I went into the bedroom and left them to get on with their chanting.
The chanting eventually stopped and Keaw came into the bedroom to get some mats to put on the floor and announced that “papa” was staying the night with some of the others and she would be sleeping out there as well because “papa” had to go home at 05.00 in the morning.
Day 20 Saturday 15th
Today I was late up after a tiring day yesterday, had a shower and went outside to cook my breakfast, everywhere was quiet and no sign of Keaw and then I remembered she had said that “papa” had to be back at 05.00. Breakfast cooked and eaten I set up my computer outside and typed up some of this journal. I am getting behind with my typing so I spend as long as I can typing before I start making to many mistakes through tiredness. Keaw gets home about lunchtime and I am just about ready to pack up typing and sort out some food.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful.
Day 21 Sunday 16th
Had some rain during the night. This Buddha stuff is getting to be a pain, the chanting CD is playing a lot of the time and Keaw spends most of the day in the shrine chanting or on the phone to people that keep calling about coming to visit and do some chanting, so she says. She does find some time to take me shopping, I have made a list of what we need in the way of food etc. as I have only one thousand eight hundred forty baht left to last until Friday, if possible, I'm trying to buy only stuff that is necessary, I forgot 300bht for gasoline so I have one thousand five hundred forty baht for my shopping. After sticking to my list, plus a few little extras that have somehow managed to fall into the trolley, comes to one thousand two hundred twenty baht, I give Keaw one thousand two hundred and she has to put the odd twenty baht with it as I don't have any change. While we are in Ban Dung Keaw wants to pick up the last of the bags she has made that are having zips put in, that's another one hundred and forty baht, then she remembers that the geese etc. don't have any food left. That costs another one hundred baht, leaving me with one hundred for some cans of beer, that was until Keaw reminded me that I needed to top up my internet SIM card but we had already gone past the phone shop. Keaw said that we could get a top up card at the village shop but they charged one hundred five baht for a one hundred baht card, another five baht from Keaw sealed the deal. When Keaw had added it to my SIM there was a message sent to say that it could not be activated as there was only one hundred four baht credit on the card. I've learnt something new today. Although you pay one hundred baht for the card you only get time allocated valued ninety three baht as the card supplier take seven percent commission. I could use fifty baht worth of my credit but it would only give me six hours of internet time, whereas one hundred baht would give twenty hours of time. I started trying to work out how much it was going to need to get the most amount of time for my money but gave up in the end.
On the way home, on the bad road outside VOA, there was a motorbike coming the opposite way being followed by a pickup close behind it, when all of a sudden the pickup swerved to its right catching the rear wheel of the motorbike, flipping the bike sideways, the rider is tossed into the air and lands on his backside, the pickup carries on without slowing down one bit. Thankfully the rider gets up, seemingly unhurt, his helmet all askew and looks in utter amazement as the pickup sped on towards Ban Dung. Keaw slowed down as we drew opposite the rider and she shouted out to the rider from her open window but she did not stop as there were people from a car that was parked by the roadside already running to help him. Keaw spends the rest of the journey home saying how bad Thai drivers are and I can't help agreeing with her because more than once I have had to breath in when she has overtaken a slower vehicle in front of us while something is coming the other direction. We got home safely and the rest of the day passed without further excitement.
Day 22 Monday 17th
Keaw has decided that she cannot sleep in the bedroom if the fan is on and I cannot sleep if it is not on, the result of this is that she will be sleeping in the shrine from now on with Buddha.
This has all happened since going to Kham Chanot and the goings on that went on there, the chanting has got more intense as well .
Keaw went to the village house to fetch something, when she got back she was so excited because she had heard the result of the numbers game they bet on here, I'm not sure how it works or even if it is strictly legal but it seems that a lot of money can be won, the reason she is so excited is not that she had won anything but that she had predicted the winning number for the second week running and had told a lot of the people that keep coming to see her and they had all placed bets on the winning number. For some reason everyone did not win the same amount, her brother had placed a bet and she said he had won 113200bht and yet her daughter Jak had had a bet in Bangkok and Keaw said she had won 220000bht, I've no way of knowing if these amounts are accurate or not.
Keaw is getting a lot of phone calls from people that she had told the number to and had won money. Keaw does not bet on the numbers as she says that if she places a bet on her prediction it would not win but friends and family are ok to have a go. Keaw comes back from a second trip to the village and says that many people want to come to see her Wednesday evening, they are going to be cooking and eating as well as some chanting no doubt. Basically they are going to have a party, presumably to celebrate their winning and to say thank you to Keaw for telling them the winning number. The prospect of all these people coming to the farm calls for a spring clean and she starts moving stuff around so that there is more space for them to sit down. Finally it was done to her satisfaction and we could start sorting out what to have to eat. Keaw's brother phoned up wanting her to go and check out some workers who had turned up to do some work on his house, why he needed her to go I don't know, so off she goes and I'm left to sort out my own food, something that I normally do anyway. After I have finished eating I spend some time catching up on some typing this journal. It wasn't until my alarm went off that I realised that it was 6 o'clock, time to take my warfarin tablets, Keaw was back and she came into the bedroom as my alarm went off.
When I asked her what had taken so long, she said that some of the workers had been drinking “Whiskey Laos”, a potent rice wine, and were drunk when they turned up and he wanted her to talk with them and tell them if they were going to drink while working to go now and not come back, which all seemed a bit of a feeble reason for being gone over 2 hours.
Day 23 Tuesday 18th
Woke up this morning to the sound of a strimmer working and thought Keaw was cutting down some of the weeds and grasses that had taken over the land while it had been flooded so it could not be worked on, but when I get outside Keaw is sitting on the platform Knitting and says good morning. When I went to see who was using the strimmer, there was a man cutting down the weeds along the drive way, more spring cleaning for the benefit of those coming tomorrow. I wondered just who was going to be paying for this clean up operation?
Later that day, while I was working on my computer, I could hear a commotion outside and went to see what was happening. Walking up the drive was an old lady from the village and following her was a dog, Keaw was looking for the bird scarers she had bought the other day and when she found them she lit the fuse and threw it up in the air and it exploded mid flight, scaring the old lady as well as the dog. The old lady is from the village, her daughter is married to a German and they are living in Germany, so if the old lady wants any help or needs to go to Udon Thani she pays Keaw to take her. Today she has come for a session with Keaw and Buddha. Keaw starts getting some food ready, including cutting up the half loin of pork, I ask her who she is cooking for she nods towards the old lady, who is not short of a bob or two so it is not because she can't afford her own food. I moan at Keaw and I say that I am wasting my breathe when I talk to her about giving our food away to feed other people and she just shrugs her shoulders and carries on cutting slices off the pork.
I had been working outside typing up some more notes so I pick up my computer and move everything into the bedroom and shut the door to get out of the way, because the old lady has not stopped talking since she had got here, she just goes on and on. A few more women turn up, they tuck in to the food and gossip then go into the shrine and the chanting begins, I am well out of the way typing up the notes from previous days. It's dark before they all leave and go home. I have decided on pork chops and chips to cook tonight and want to get it done before to many mosquitoes get flying around the lights and me. Keaw, having eaten earlier, is in the bedroom playing Solitaire.
I eat outside so as not to encourage the small black ants into the bedroom, they can smell a good meal a mile off and turn up by the thousands. When I've finished eating I go back into the bedroom, when I go in Keaw asks if I have finished eating and I tell her I have eaten outside because of the ants and she says I could have eaten inside away from the mosquitoes as long as nothing is dropped and left on the floor it is ok. We turn in about 23.00hrs after supper of half a tub of ice cream between us.
Day 24 Wednesday 19th
The day of the big meeting. I stay in the bedroom keeping well out of the way and working on my computer.
All the action was outside and had started before I had got up. Boa and a couple of other ladies were there preparing food, there was already a very large pot on the gas ring. There was all sorts of food in various stages of preparation. It was like this all day, which is why I stayed in the bedroom working.
There was a steady procession of people coming to say their thank you s for giving them the winning number in the numbers game. The late afternoon was when the most people came and there must have been 30 or more people sitting cross legged on mats on the floor, all winners except for the few children. When things started in earnest in the evening it sounded like Keaw was giving a sermon. They then went onto do some chanting and what sounded like responses, this all took an hour or so before they started on the food and a general party atmosphere took over. At one stage of things I heard a lady really crying out loud and talking in between sobs.
The outcome of this celebration was that they had brought a Money Tree with them and during the course of the evening the tree blossomed with money, it blossomed to the tune of 50000bht, not a bad nights work.
Day 25 Thursday 20th
I asked Keaw what the woman was crying for last night, she said it was because she was so happy because she had won so much money.
Keaw's brother wants to go to Ban Dung to buy some parts for his cultivator and a water pump out of his winnings and I need to get some cash from an ATM. Brother gets a pair of road wheels and an axle plus a few other bits for his cultivator and the water pump and various fittings then we head for home.
In the afternoon Keaw and me go to Nong Han so that she can put her money from the money tree in the bank, she is using it to pay off some of the loan she had to take out about 4yrs ago after she had an accident with a boy on a motorbike, at least I wont be asked to pay the monthly instalments while I'm here. On the way back from Nong Han we stop to visit her younger brother, he owns several one room air conditioned bungalows which he rents out by the hour 24/7 for clandestine meetings. I don't know if business is good but during the half hour we were there at least 2 customers left the site, we also stop by and see “Papa” and she gives him some money for food.
He was laying down on the same platform that he was sitting on eating ,on our previous visit, so he eats and sleeps on the same platform. I could not see any sanitary arrangements any where in the vicinity of the living area so lord knows where or how he manages to have a wash.
Back home in the evening more people turn up for a session of chanting etc. in the shrine, I suspect they were winners too, don't know if they gave any money like the others did but there's a good chance that they did.
Just as we were getting ready to go to sleep there was someone outside banging and shaking the wooden shutters above the bed, Keaw ask who is there but there was no response, it must have been someone familiar with the layout because there is quite a large ditch out the back which is full of water at the moment due to the heavy rainfall recently. We took a tentative look out the front to see if anyone was leaving, they would have to go that way there is no other way they could leave by, but there was nothing. Keaw managed to get to sleep but I kept awake for quite a while just in case they returned, although what I thought I was going to do I have no idea. Rest of the night was quiet.
Day 26 Friday 21st
Pay day.
Keaw has been asked to go to Nong Hai, a small village just down the road from here to do some palm reading and a bit of chanting as well I expect and has spent most of the day getting prepared, ready for the evening.
Me, I've just sorted e-mails, cooked food when I was hungry and generally kept out of the way.
She went off just after five o'clock and said she would be back about six or eight o'clock, I thought more like nine or ten. When she has gone I go and feed the Ducks, Geese and Chickens, then sort out something to eat for myself.
It is getting dark now and the mosquitoes are about so I put one outside light on then go and shut the “window” in the bedroom, shut the door and settle down to a night alone watching TV and playing Solitaire.
It's now ten thirty and I can hear the pickup pulling up outside, she opens the gate and drives in.
Next thing I hear is Keaw unlocking the shrine and going inside, ten minutes later she comes into the bedroom and asks why I'm not sleeping, I said I was waiting for her to get back. She played a game of Solitaire while I had a shower, while I was still in the shower she called out goodnight and said she was sleeping with Buddha tonight, I eventually went to bed around midnight.
Day 27 Saturday 22nd
Woke up about eight o'clock and could hear several voices outside so I turned over and had another half hour or so in bed before I have a shower and by then they will be gone. It was just after nine o'clock when I went outside and there was Matt and Keaw's brother sharing out what must have been last nights haul from the village meeting. Matt was loaded up with bottles of drinks and packets of biscuits, grinning from ear to ear, he took off as soon as I went out but was soon back as he had forgotten some food Keaw had given him, he took it and left. Her brother was still loading his share of the spoils into a large bucket. Keaw asked me if I wanted to put 100bht on her prediction (645) for the next numbers draw, I had already told her that I did, and said if I gave the money to her brother he would sort it out as she cannot do it herself otherwise it would not win.
I gave him 100bht note, goodness knows if he will put the bet on or just pocket the money. To pick 2 weeks winners is lucky, to pick 3 on the trot is unlikely to happen, especially if he puts my money on it, anyway off he goes with his bucket of goodies and my100bht.
Cook myself some breakfast, I've given up asking Keaw if she wants something because on more than one occasion she has asked for 2 eggs, which I've fried for her and she has gone off and completely forgotten about them and they get cold and flies or tiny ants have got there first and they end up feeding the fowls. In my experience, I have found Thais very wasteful with their food.
After I've finished eating I go into the bedroom to try and evict a small frog that spent the night there, as I guide it towards the door it keeps throwing itself against the wall in it's attempts to get out, now it has got itself into a corner and I give up trying to get it and get on with some internet stuff and leave it to find it's own way out.
We had just started preparing ourselves something for lunch, I was having an ordinary salad and Keaw was having papaya salad, when a pickup turns up with about ten people in it, they unload themselves into the open area and sit down on some mats. Keaw goes over and starts talking them, she has forgotten all about her half prepared food by now so I cover it up best I could with some kitchen roll, to keep the insects off. I had just started to eat mine when another pickup is coming up the drive with half a dozen or so in it, they get out and join the rest sitting on mats. Sometime later a third pickup arrived and Keaw comes over and says she is going to see “Papa” with these people.
It was Just coming up to three thirty. It got to five o'clock and the mosquitoes wouldn't be long before they arrived so I started cooking some pork mince and spaghetti for my evening meal,
having no idea when to expect Keaw to be back, I was just about to put the spaghetti on when they all turned up. They never stopped long before they loaded up in their pickups and were gone, so I put enough for spaghetti in for two, so we could both eat at the same time for once instead of me eating alone like I have most mealtimes here for one reason or another. Then came the phone call, Keaw looks up at me and said “people dead in village and she call me” with that she started getting the keys for the pickup saying she would be thirty minutes, I told her that her spaghetti would be ready in ten minutes and she says she will eat it when she gets back. I take and eat mine leaving hers to go cold. This has become the pattern of how things are, anything to do with Buddha takes priority over everything else. She eventually got back and reheated her food and brought it into the bedroom, when she saw that I was playing a game of Solitaire she said she wanted a game, took over and was eating and playing at the same time, before she had finished either her food or her game someone else turns up to see her and she has gone and left her food and the game she so desperately wanted to play. While she was outside I finished her game and a few more besides before she came back, I was in the middle of a game and she said she wanted to play now, I told her she could have a game when I had finished this one, she moaned said goodnight and was gone off to sleep with Buddha in the shrine, where she sleeps every night now.
Day 27 Sunday 23rd
Got up late this morning at eight forty five had a shower got dressed then took my towel out to hang in the sun to dry, Keaw said good morning from inside the shrine. I was cooking my breakfast when the first caller turned up and it was half an hour before the next pair turned up, a woman and her daughter. The woman came into the open area and started picking blossoms off one of the shrubs that was growing in the small unkempt garden, these blooms have some significance to Buddhism.
I'll just add here that I haven't actually seen Keaw this morning and it's now eleven fifteen.
I've just been to the loo and while sitting there the lizard that keeps coming to see us stuck it's head under the toilet door, I shooed it away and now have to search out where it has gone, luckily it was outside. I'm a bit annoyed this morning because the phone I am using as a modem for my internet connection has packed up so I cannot get onto the internet.
Keaw has just told me that she knows who it was knocking and shaking the shutters the other night, it wasn't anybody, it was Buddha knocking because he doesn't want her sleeping with a man. Keaw says now she understands why she has to sleep alone, Buddha must have told her this. This whole situation is getting to be a bit of a farce.
This afternoon is another full house with people cooking and chanting, I was given some food so I can probably get away without cooking tonight and getting attacked by mosquitoes.
About half past five it was all quiet outside so after a few minutes I went out to see what was happening only to find the place was deserted, the pickup was gone. I've no idea where they have all gone Keaw said nothing about where she was going or when she would be back, so I'm on my own again. I am going to seriously think about what I am doing here, I can be alone every day and care for myself back home in March, I don't need to travel 5 or 6ooo kms to do it.
Keaw gets back at ten thirty pokes her head in the doorway, sees me sitting on the bed watching TV and says “you not sleeping” and goes. Later on I can hear her cooking outside, then she comes to ask where the bread is as she wants some toast, I tell that there is no more bread.
Day 28 Monday 24th
Got up seven fifteen had a shower and shaved got dressed and went outside, there was nobody about so I start cooking myself breakfast. I can hear voices coming up the drive then Keaw appears with the old woman from the village, I hope Keaw hasn't asked her to come shopping with us today. I asked Keaw what time we we can go out and she ask me where I want to go and I said that I wanted to go to Udon Thani, she says why do you want to go to Udon Thani and I told her that I wanted to get my phone unlocked and to buy a new watch strap as this one was about to break. She said we could go as soon as her phone had finished charging, she immediately goes outside and tells the old woman that I want to go to Udon, so she had probably said something to her about going to Ban Dung. Keaw comes and says she is tired and is going to have a sleep until her phone is charged upher when it has finished. She doesn't get the chance to get any sleep because Matt turns up, he checks out the fridge like he always does then he goes and wake Keaw up for something probably for a handout as he knows she has money that the people that come to her are giving her money. He leaves just as two women turn up to see Keaw, so much for getting some rest.
It is now twelve thirty they have been here for an hour now, chanting, praying or whatever they call it.
At last we can go to Udon Thani and we go in complete silence until we come to a garage where she pulls in to get gasoline and orders 500bht worth then holds out her hand for the money, I said you want me to pay, yes she said. I give the pump attendant 1000bht and make sure I get the change, then I tell her next time she can pay because I'm fed up with buying gasoline so she can run around all over the place with her Buddha friends, water of a ducks back because she probably hasn't caught have of what I've said. We're getting nearer to Udon when she ask me if I want to go to Lotus or Big C, I had already told her the reason I wanted to go to Udon was to go to Robinsons shopping mall so I can get my phone unlocked so I can use it as a modem for the internet instead of the one I am using at the moment because it was very unreliable and doesn't always work, but I explained it all again for her. I find out, when we get into Udon that it wasn't because I wanted to go it turns out that Matt wanted some hairdressing equipment like clippers, scissors, combs and brushes so he could set to cut hair in the village. She said he had given her the money to buy it, I asked her where did he get the money to buy anything, he hasn't done a stroke of work since I 'd been there except scrounge food and money off his mother, food that I buy for our benefit not his. As you can imagine this didn't go down very well and the day went downhill from there, nobody could unlock my phone, for some reason it had to go to Bangkok to be done. I did get a new watch strap and a nice smile from the girl that changed it for me. The shopping in Lotus didn't go that well either because I had a list of stuff I wanted to feed both of us for the next week at least and was shaking my head at things Keaw was picking up. Because meat kept disappearing from the fridge, either being given away to Matt or being cooked to feed the Buddha crowd, that's why I had decided that I was not going to buy any this week as there was still a little left and I was going to get some cheese instead as that is something that is not likely to be given away and I could have omelets or cheese on toast when the meat ran out, so I deliberately walked straight past the meat counter. What I didn't do was to make sure Keaw followed me past the meat and she turned up with a large portion of pork mince and a bag of chicken livers, which she knows that I don't eat, and as she puts them in the shopping trolley I looked at her and said That I didn't want any meat and she looked at me and said “you not paying for the meat” I said that it looked as if I don't have any choice now since you've had it weighed and priced. After that she kept just a little way away from me as I carried on with my shopping list. Driving home was not much better than when we drove into Udon Thani. We have to go to the house in the village to deliver Matt's stuff, I deliberately stay in the pickup because I have a funny feeling that I know what's coming next and sure enough Keaw is calling me and pointing to a chair, it seems pointless arguing as there are other Thai people standing around watching. I sit down and say that I want a number one guard on for an all over haircut and motion with my hand over my head. I'm sitting there all covered with a cloak to catch the hair as it falls, behind me there seems to be some discussion about what a number one is, finally it is sorted and he starts cutting my hair, when it's finished I ask for a mirror and get a bit of a surprise because he apparently doesn't know what a number one is and has cut my hair with no guard on the clippers at all. There's no point making a scene about it as it's done now and nothing can be done to change it, but I'll let Keaw know later although it's pretty easy to see what he's done wrong. Back at the farm we've just started to unload the shopping when two girls turn up to see Keaw, Keaw turns to me and says that I can finish unloading alone as they want Buddha. I finished putting the food away then went into the bedroom and put the TV on, there was some boxing on. Keaw came in and asked for the SIM card for the internet so she could activate the 300bht internet time I purchased in Udon Thani. She had to do it with the card in her phone as none of the keys worked on the one I was using. I had asked Keaw to sort out the meat we had bought and put it into small portions in plastic bags, but it was still laying out in the sun, I asked her again she said she'd do it later I said later would be to late it would go bad, she said “more people come want Buddha”, I was getting a little bit pissed off with Buddha and I said to her that Buddha comes before everything with you and she just said Buddha first and walked away. She came back a little while later and showed me the message that the phone company had sent after she had activated the SIM, It didn't show anywhere near the amount of time it should have, that was the cue for another disagreement, she said goodnight, as she was going I said I was fed up with her and all this Buddha stuff all the time, she had gone and that's how the night ended.
Day 29 Tuesday 25th
I woke up this morning from a dream about Lesley and I was crying and the more I thought about the dream the worse I felt. Then my thoughts turned to Dean and how they had both died and how very much alone I was feeling. Perhaps I was feeling sorry for myself and the mess I was in at the moment, I miss them both very very much, I must change the subject before I start crying again as I can feel my eyes welling up with more tears.
I have not left the bedroom yet today because there are people outside with Keaw, I can hear them preparing food out there, I sometimes think that some of these people, especially those from the village, are only here for a free meal. It was not so long ago that Keaw was saying that nobody from the village ever came to see her at the farm and that they didn't talk to her, but she felt that they were talking about her now all of a sudden she was the thing since sliced bread and they can't keep away.
It's now midday and they have just left, Keaw comes and tries the bedroom door, I've not unbolted it yet this morning as I haven't been out. I unbolt the door and go back to sitting on the bed, Keaw opens the door but she doesn't come into the bedroom, she asks if I'm going to be cooking this morning I tell her that I wont be cooking this morning and she says you must be hungry I said that I was not hungry but I was fed up being left alone every day, she says OK and shuts the door.
More people turn up later in the day, it's now three thirty and I'm getting a bit peckish, so while Keaw is busy with these people I go outside and cook myself some food, when it is done I go back into the bedroom to eat it, it's quite tasty although I say so myself. I was getting down to the last few spoonfuls n Keaw comes in and asks where I had put the rest of the food and I told her what was in my dish was all that was left. She said that she had smelt it when I was cooking and that it smelt good and it had made her feel hungry and thought we could eat together. I gave her what I had left in my bowl. Later she brings me my packet of chocolate straws and a glass of orange juice, that's the last I see of her, because after she drinks her orange juice she goes back to be with Buddha.
Day 30 Wednesday 26th
Keaw knocks on the bedroom door and wakes me up so she can have a hot shower, it's five thirty in the morning. I must have dozed off again because I am woken up again when I can hear the pickup being driven off. I get up at six thirty, shower and dress, ready for my breakfast, I go outside and sure enough the pickup is gone. I have no idea where Keaw has gone nor how long she will be, what I do know, when I go to get the stuff for my breakfast from the fridge, is that a carton of eggs and 3 portions of mince have been taken from the fridge, my first thought is that she is continuing to take food that I am buying for us and cooking for Matt. If she carries on doing this I am going to be spent out before I am due to fly home, I've told her several times, especially when we are shopping and she keeps putting stuff we don't want in the trolley, that she is spending to much to soon. I had told her before I went out there that I would not have loads of money and that we would have to be careful and not spend it all at once, it's like water off a ducks back she doesn't seem to care.
What riles me is the fact that she has thousands of baht in her purse, that these people are giving her when they win on the lucky numbers draw. I know this is true because once when Keaw had gone off somewhere and left her handbag, I looked in her purse and saw a large wedge of 500bht notes in there. I know that it's not the right thing to do but I'm getting desperate, I don't know how or even if I can change the way things are, I'm beginning to feel like someone who's under house arrest. I can go where I like, but unless someone takes me I can't go anywhere and Keaw is always out or to busy with other people to have the time to go anywhere with me.
It's now nine thirty and she has just come home, she says she has been to the Temple, there was some food left over from the mince and stuff she had cooked that morning and she asked if I wanted any heated up, I declined, because I had left it just how I had found it this morning, it had been out in the open along with everything else that had been used. It has been the same old story when these people come and they cook and eat, everything is left unwashed. From now on I have decided that after I have eaten I will wash up everything I have dirtied and to keep my plate, knife, fork and spoon in the bedroom and leave the rest where it is, so when the next lot turn up, if Keaw hasn't done so, they will have to wash up themselves before they can eat, there are still the pots and pans from yesterdays free meal waiting to be washed.
There were some people turn up in the afternoon for a session with Keaw chanting to Buddha in the small shrine. In the evening, just as I was feeding the geese and other fowls, there were lots more turn up, most dressed all in white, men and women. Keaw tells me that they are all going to the Temple and will be about four hours, it was actually nearer six hours when I heard them all come back. They eventually went their separate ways and were gone, Keaw went straight into the shrine and started chanting, like she does every night before going to sleep in there, she didn't even come to see if I was still awake or still alive even, it's as if I'm not there.
Day 31 Thursday 27th
Got up late today about nine o'clock, go outside to cook breakfast and there is nobody about.
I can hear the running water and can see that the water tank is full so I have to go down to the pump and switch the pump off, there should be an automatic cut out but it has stopped working.
Have cooked and eaten breakfast before Keaw turns up and says that some people are coming and they are going to go to Nong Han to buy some wool so Keaw can knit something on her knitting machine, it is something to do with Buddha as she shows me a piece of white wool when she explains why they are buying wool. She says they will be gone all day and can I take care of the farm, she turned and left. I was stuck here now until she decides to come back, I put the TV on to see what's on and the reception on the channel I want to watch is poor, so with nothing better to do I
have ago at getting a better picture, it was a bit hit and miss as the remote control is in Chinese or something similar and I end up with the TV doing a complete station search. When the search is finished the stations are all on different channel numbers than they were and there seems to be some stations missing but some of the channels now have much better pictures than before. That about sums up how the rest of the day went.
It was getting on for six thirty and I had started to cook my dinner, I wanted some lime juice so I get Keaw's bicycle and go to get a lime from down the drive where there are several limes growing, half way there I see the pickup coming up the drive, I stop to let them pass, they are laughing and pointing as they go by, I carry on to get a lime then ride back but the chain comes off twice before I get back. It was Boa and a friend of hers that had been with Keaw and they were just leaving as I got back, we said goodbye. I carried on cooking and Keaw was busy in the shrine. She comes out after a while and beckons to me to go and look at something in the shrine, it was a new large Buddha, I asked her how much that had cost her she said that she didn't know because Boa had bought it for her saying she could not buy because she had no money, I turned and went back to cooking. She is telling me so many lies and it makes me annoyed that she thinks I believe what she is saying. I forgot to mention that yesterday a man turned up with the electricity bill and Keaw brings it in to me and says it is 738bht and holds out her hand, I get my wallet out and take out 120bht and tell her that it is all I have got then put it back and shut my wallet. I presume she must have paid it with some of the 500bht notes she has in her purse, I know she has at least 6000bht because I have seen it in there and it is possibly more because I didn't take it out and count it but it was quite a thick wad.
Day 32 Friday 28th
Got up seven forty five this morning, showered and went outside to cook breakfast only to find that Keaw and the pickup were gone, how I never heard the pickup start up I'll never know because it was under cover right outside the bedroom. I was cooking breakfast when Nee turns up, we say good morning, she comes in and goes to the fridge, she takes some drinking glasses off the top and then something from out of the fridge, then she took some dishes and got on her motorbike and left.
I assumed that Keaw was at her brothers and had sent Nee to come after this stuff.
Keaw gets back at ten forty and the two woman who had come earlier were with her, they moved the knitting machine and it sounded as if Keaw was telling them how it worked, maybe they were going to do the knitting as Keaw is so busy with Buddha these days.
It's eleven thirty and I'm bored, I make a sandwich for lunch and do some work on the computer. Later on in the afternoon Keaw comes and says she is going to go to the village and did I want to go with her, I said OK because I wanted some cans of beer from the shop. We go to the house first for something, Matt is there cutting a mans hair, Keaw had shown me his certificates for hairdressing earlier so he is qualified. Maybe if he earns some money he will stop scrounging our food.
There was a village party going on with stalls and a stage was being set up ready for the evening, we only just managed to get past in between the stalls to get to the shop to buy my beer with my last 120bht. Back at the farm, after putting my beer in the fridge , I went into the bedroom and started up my computer to do some typing, Keaw went into the shrine.
I had decided to have some mashed carrot and potatoes with cheese and a frankfurter for my meal tonight so I had prepared the carrot and potatoes, cut up into small chunks so they cooked easy and would be easy to mash. I had crated the cheese ready to add when the vegetables were done, I put the frankfurter in with the carrot and potatoes and put them on as low a setting as I could to simmer and get really soft ready for mashing with a small whisk I had found. I went back into the bedroom to do a little more typing while they were cooking, you'll never guess what happened next, I was so busy typing away that I forgot about saucepan on the gas ring and was soon aware of the smell of something burning. I was just seeing to my burnt vegetables when Keaw comes riding up the drive on her bike, I hadn't realised that she had gone out, she came in carrying a large plastic bag of freshwater shrimps. I managed to salvage enough of the vegetables to eat and mixed in the cheese, not one of my best attempts.
Spent the rest of the evening watching TV, I have found two stations that give an English speaking version of the news.
Day 33 Saturday 29th
Got up seven thirty and went straight outside because I could hear several voices and was curious to find out what was going on. Keaw was there dressed in her white Buddha clothes and an old couple, who I had not seen before, they seemed to be at home here as if they had been here before. The woman and Keaw were talking and the old man was making himself a hot drink. They left soon after I went out and started getting my breakfast on the go. Keaw told me she was leaving now. I asked where she was going and she said she didn't know how long she would be as if she hadn't understood my question, this was seven fifty. I had breakfast and then set up my computer outside as there was quite a nice breeze blowing. Managed to get online and was checking e-mails and other stuff until I lost the connection, run out of time I suspect, no chance of topping up SIM card until Keaw decides to come back. When that will be I don't know.
There have been 2 lots of people turn up to see Keaw and have left looking unhappy, Keaw finally gets back at four forty and has 3 or 4 girls with her, all dressed in the same sort of white clothes Keaw is wearing, they all go into the shrine talk amongst themselves. I was on the computer when Keaw came out and said to feed the geese as they were hungry, I told her I would, when I was ready. I asked her about a packet of eggs that were gone from the fridge and she started saying that the people that came today maybe they had come in and took them, I said that didn't happen because I was outside all day, then she goes on to tell me that on day she had made something and put it in the fridge while she went out and people come and take it from fridge, maybe people who work the rice come and take it she don't know, all made up stories I think. I tell her that she knows exactly what happened to the eggs.
This afternoon I had defrosted the half loin of pork and cut it up into small cubes as I thought it was about time it was used up. I was going to use some chicken marinade and try to make a sort of curry without curry power or any spices, the packet said to leave for one hour to marinate, that meant that it wouldn't be ready until six o'clock. Using a wok to cook the pork in a little vegetable oil I was going to add oyster sauce, fish sauce and some coconut milk I had remembered Keaw had slipped into the shopping last time. It was all going well until I overdid the fish sauce and it got a bit to salty, I was going to add only part of the 150ml carton of coconut milk because I didn't want to make it to runny but it all went in in an attempt to counteract the saltiness, it was a little better but still salty. I asked Keaw if there was any rice in the rice maker, she said she could have some ready in thirty minutes. I went out when the time was up and Keaw was sitting on a mat in the open space she turned and said that last night she was very cold when the winds came and that she was cold now and I told her that she didn't have to sit there she could always go in the bedroom, she said she could not go in room Buddha not happy if she goes in room with man. She checked the rice and said it was ready, I got 2 dishes and we served up the rice and pork, it was OK but after eating about half of mine I had to leave the rest as it was to salty, I took it outside and put cling film over it and left it on the platform to cool before I put it in the fridge.
Day 34 Sunday 30th
Woke up to the sound of voices again this morning, it was seven fifteen. As I was getting out of bed I heard a motorbike leave. I showered this morning as I hadn't showered at all yesterday, got dressed and went outside. Keaw was there with a bowl of mince and rice, she pointed to the bowl I had forgotten to put in the fridge last night, the cling film had been ripped open and this bowl was empty. Keaw said that a cat had come in the night and eaten it, it had come back this morning to finish it off. She had cooked some more for me to eat this morning to replace what the cat had eaten I said I wasn't going to eat what I had left it was to salty so it was OK. I tucked into only the second lot of food she has cooked for me since I've been here.
I think what happened to that bowl of food and some of what she had cooked this morning was totally different from the cat story.
People keep arriving on motorbikes and go into the shrine, this morning it was two young girls and now this afternoon there are some older people here.
Cannot connect to the internet, I don't know if I've run out of time or not, Keaw will have to check my SIM card in her phone.
I cooked one pork chop and another of unknown origins, I gave the pork chop to Keaw, she will eat later as she has two young girls with her at the moment, it sounds as if she is teaching them the chants that she uses when people come to visit Buddha, I had chips and baked beans with mine, Keaw will probably have rice or leave them altogether, there's know telling these days what she will do.
Keaw asked me when I am going to Ban Dung I thought she was talking about when I was going to stay at the M&B hotel and I said that they were full up until November and I would have to talk with Phorn to see when she has a room free for me, what Keaw was really asking is when was I going shopping again, in answer to this I said I was not going shopping again, she must think I'm stupid.
She started going on then that if I go to M&B I will have to pay for the room she say it's expensive 400bht for 1 night and you say you have no money, you can stay here you not pay for room here. I tried to explain that I didn't want to stay here because I was fed up with her going off all day leaving me here alone day after day and that I was going to Ban Dung so that I can try to change my flights to go home, she said do you want to talk with Phorn now I said I would talk to her tomorrow as she is probably busy with her customers tonight. About ten minutes later she brings her phone in and says you talk with Phorn now and as a result I am going to the M&B hotel tomorrow sometime somehow. Whether Keaw will take me or I have to find another way of getting there I'll have to see how things are in the morning.
Keaw has just said that she will take me in the morning and that I must phone her when I want to go to the airport and she will take me because Phorn charges 1500bht to take people to the airport, if she takes me I only pay 500bht for gasoline. She says she can't understand how I can pay hotel for rooms because I say I have no money and I tried to explain that what money I had was meant to last 3 months and I have only been here for 1 month so as I am not staying only maybe one or two weeks more that means I have money to pay for room.
Keaw has just brought the two hand bags she has made for my sisters so I don't forget them.
Day 35 Monday31st
Well today I'm leaving the farm, I'm just fed up with being left here all day long to amuse and feed myself. There's also the way that food keeps disappearing, In know I keep on about it but it annoys me that Keaw thinks I don't know that she is taking it and she's either feeding “Papa” or her son Matt, instead she keeps making up stories about people coming while she is out and going to the fridge and taking stuff. The latest to go missing are 3 portions of mince and a carton of ten eggs, any way I won't be paying for her food now so she can feed whoever she likes.
The other day I wrote about Keaw predicting the winning number in the draw that they have here and how I gave her brother 100bht to place on her latest prediction ,t hat I was told was 645, well as I was leaving today I asked Keaw what number he had placed my money on and she brought me a piece of paper with the number 359 50 x 50, which is how the bet is made I'm told, I asked why didn't he put it on 645 she said that they would not sell number 645 because they heard that she had told many people that number, so Buddha gave her the new number of 359 to be the winner,and when we were on the road we stopped at her brothers to say goodbye, Nee gave Keaw 100bht note and a slip of paper and said that he had forgotten to do it, on the slip of paper was 953 50 x 50. Which of these, if any, will be the winner I don't know so I think I'll put 100bht on each one because if one of them wins and I've not taken a chance on her getting it right I'd be really upset. I have asked Phorn about putting a bet on them and she says I will be able to do it tomorrow morning. The draw is held on the first of the month so I shouldn't have long to wait to find out how good her predictions are.
I am settled in at M&B hotel and someone brought me my evening meal instead of me having to cook it and very nice it was too. I think I will call it a day as far as typing goes and go and have beer. One problem is that the wifi here is not working properly at the moment, hope they can sort it out soon.
Day 36 Tuesday 1st
I had a good nights sleep my first night at the M&B hotel. I got up just before seven o'clock had a shower and opened up the curtains the let in some light, when I opened the front curtains I saw Dang, co owner of the hotel with Phorn, sitting at one of the tables outside, I was a bit apprehensive about seeing Dang, I'm not really sure why. I picked up my book and went out, Dang saw me and said good morning and indicated for me to go and sit with her, she asked if I had slept well I told her I had had a good night thank you. She then started telling me not to worry that I had not to worry about food or the room, we will look after you OK and if you want food you go to Phorn.
Dang's English is pretty good but I'm not sure if what she had said to me meant the same as if it had been spoken by English friend, to me it sounded as if she was telling me that they were going to look after everything and I did not have to worry about how long I had to stay before I could change my flights home, we'll have to wait and see when I go to pay for my nights stay. Phorn arrives about half an hour later and says to let her know when I wanted to eat, I said OK and reminded her that I wanted to bet on the lucky numbers. Dang told me that I should help myself to tea or coffee if I wanted some. Dang got up from the table and said again I'm not to worry about anything, she went to do a bit of trimming shrubs and the greenery round the base of the fountain and I opened my book and started reading after I had fetched myself a mug of tea. I could smell something cooking and thought it was for another quests breakfast so next time Phorn came by I said I was ready to eat when she is ready, she turned to me and said she was cooking me some chicken, I was a bit taken a back as I was expecting something like a full English, a few minutes later she turns up with a plate with 4 chicken drumsticks with rice, I closed my book and said thank you very much. It was after I had eaten and got another mug of tea to take my tablets with that I reminded Phorn again about lucky numbers, she stopped and said OK. She came and sat at my table and asked what numbers I wanted and I gave her the 2 slips of paper that Keaw and her brother had given me, she then explained what the numbers meant ( 359= 50 x 50 ), it's like an each way bet, if the whole number comes up then the 50bht pays 20000bht, if the individual numbers come up in any order then that is where the second 50bht comes in and that pays out 4000bht, that's the way I understood what she was telling me, I also tried to bet on 645 when the lady came to take my money and like Keaw had said they were not selling that number because they had heard she had told many people that was the winning number, the lady said that I could not bet on that number because it was full up, whatever that meant. Some of the staff came to place bets as well as Phorn, I noticed that Phorn had also but a bet on 359 and at least one of the staff had money on it as well. When I had asked Keaw about 645 and 359, which one is the correct number she predicts she said that because people could not buy 645 Buddha had given her a new number 359, who am I to doubt her. Just heard the result of the lucky numbers draw, the winning number was 450, so if I had been able to bet on 645 I would have had some return because of the numbers 4 & 5 came up. Keaw's prediction in the first place was 2/3rds correct.
Day 37 Wednesday 2nd
Got up at seven fifteen showered and dressed by eight o'clock, had to sort out next weeks tablets then when out to get mug of tea, to take tablets with, Phorn asks why I don't take them with water instead of tea, she says tea not good should take with water. Phorn cooks me bacon,sausage, two eggs and sliced tomato with two rounds of toast and Jam.
Still no internet connection, don't know what I can do about getting connected.
Phorn lent me her mobile so that I could phone Peter Blackbourn, a farang friend who lives here in Thailand with his Thai lady Nion, Nion works her small farm so Peter spends most days alone at their bungalow that he had built a few years ago. Peter is 70+ I'm not sure how many + is. Twice now Peter has returned to England with the intention of staying there for good and twice he has returned to Thailand and Nion, he says that this time it is for good because being a pensioner with limited funds he cannot afford to live in Nottingham and has resigned himself to spending the rest of his days in Thailand.
I have asked Phorn if she can still order pizza delivery, she says she will order one on her way to her exercise class in Ban Dung, she says that they only do one size and topping. When it came it was a large one with many different toppings including black olives which I don't like but have never eaten so I thought I would give them a go this time, to be quite honest I couldn't taste anything on the pizza that was that bad. The pizza cost me 380bht, it was to big for me to eat in one go, I managed to get it and the box into the small fridge in the room after a bit of cutting and folding of the box. Later on I could hear voices outside and thought that maybe someone would like to finish off the rest of the pizza but when I went out to ask I could see that they were tucking into some food already so I went back into my room to my computer and found that it was connected to the Internet, I went back out to tell Phorn that it was back on as we had just been talking about when the company, TOT, thought they might get the service back again. Cleared my 254 emails and 146 spam emails, then watched TV with a large bottle of Leo.
Day38 Thursday 3rd
Got up and showered late this morning at eight fifteen, it was just after nine when I went outside to get a mug of tea and read a bit before asking Phorn for my breakfast. Dang came to the table and I said good morning she replied good morning and said she was going to the temple to see Mark ( Mark was her husband that died a few days after my son Dean, Mark had just come back from visiting Dean in South Africa when he died). Had my usual breakfast and a second mug of tea, Phorn came and sat down at my table she asked if I had taken my tablets this morning and I said that I had and that I had taken them with water before I came out.
I was in my room at my computer and I could hear people outside and Zero the hotels dog was barking, I went outside to see what it was all about, there was a snake in the flower border and one of the cleaning girls was trying to get it to go away with a broom, I got my phone out to take a photo when she gave me the broom and took two steps backwards. The snake eventually made for the open space of the car parking area and headed for the shrubs on the opposite side of the car park and under a hedge, excitement over.
For my lunch today for a change from cheese and jam sandwiches I finished off the pizza I bought for my evening meal yesterday and couldn't finish.
I came to M&B hotel so that I could change my flights home, but since I have been here I haven't been able to get onto the internet until last night and now I have only got my mobile to make the call to the UK on at some extortionate rate per minute, I have to find a way to change my flights without incurring a huge mobile phone bill if that is possible.
Day 39 Friday 4th
Woke up seven o'clock this morning but didn't get up to shower until seven thirty.
Phorn was not about when I went outside, her daughter said she had a bad headache and was having a lay in. Her daughter was doing the breakfasts today, I let her finish doing breakfasts for those that were checking out today before I ordered mine. I was expecting an e-mail from a company that does cheap international phone calls, but like so many sites that I have come across they promise to get back to you but never do, it gets me so annoyed. There was also an e-mail address on their site and I sent them an e-mail as well, guess what that was returned by Mailer-Daemon, so there's not much chance of getting any help from them.
The snake came back, it was last seen under a low hedge that borders the terrace in front of the rooms, it's as thick as stick of rock and 18 to 24 inches long.
I had a phone call from Keaw in the afternoon, she says that many many people come to see her and they give her 40000bht. In the next breath she says “I cannot take care of you, you understand”? What she meant was that the money, if there was that much, is going straight into her bank.
I feel I should be going out and getting a bit of exercise to get my legs down but it's to far and to hot to walk into town. Maybe I will ask if someone can take me tomorrow, I had hoped Peter might have offered to come and take me out when I phoned him yesterday but no such luck.
Day 40 Saturday 5th
Went outside for a mug of tea and breakfast fairly early this morning and a man who I thought was also staying here said to me “you're about early today then” I said “yeah” and went to get my mug of tea. I got my tea and went and sat at a table and he asked where I was from, I told him I was from England, he said he was from Canada. I asked him if he was working in Thailand, he told me that he was living here with a lady they had a farm, but he came here in the mornings for his breakfast because he didn't like Thai food it was to spicy for him and this was the only place open early in the mornings.
I had an e-mail from info@cheapestinternationalcalls.com but they were not very helpful so I sent them another e-mail telling them so. Also sent an e-mail to Opodo the travel company I booked my flights through, I wanted to know why they needed me to be on the phone while they sorted out new dates for my return flights, they said in their original e-mail that they couldn't do it via e-mails because they work from a live system, whatever that means. I sent them another e-mail asking if they could search for my return flights and then text me so I could phone them with my card number and whatever else they wanted, they replied that it was against company policy but I should make sure that when I called to make the changes that the agent knew that the call was costing me £1.50 per minute. I will make the call tomorrow as there doesn't seem to be any other option but to use my mobile, I just hate paying T Mobile such an exorbitant amount.
Some noisy guests arrived about eight thirty and settled right outside my room, one especially gobby woman was making the most noise, she really liked the sound of her own voice.
Day 41 Sunday 6th
Woke up really early this morning, six forty five, got up at seven o'clock. Switched on my computer so that it could load everything while I was showering, I could hear the gobby woman outside already, they were sitting on the table I sit at for my breakfast and morning mug of tea, hopefully they will be gone before I am ready to go outside.
Showered and dressed I checked my e-mails, one from Bruce but nothing from info@cheapestinternationalcalls.com .
Bruce said that they didn't get to M&B hotel much these days and that he doesn't get out as often nowadays as he used to. He also said that David had bought a bar and it was called Igloos Bar,
apparently David and Eddy (Eddies Sports Bar) had a big falling out and David had been left with nowhere to go drinking so he solved the problem by buying himself a bar. Bruce says he alternates between the two when he goes out.
Opodo is open today from nine until two o'clock so I have some time to spare until I can make my call so I will try and get to Igloo's to see David. Got a ride to ATM, dam machine would not give me any money and my ride had gone because I told her that I was going to go to Igloo's bar, so I couldn't take a ride into town to try another ATM. I walked to Igloo's and David was doing something in the bar when he saw me and just nodded good morning to a farang, he hadn't recognised me yet. It was only when I went into the bar that he put out his hand and asked how I was. I ordered a large Leo and we sat and talked about how things were going and what had happened in the past, it was during our chat that I learned that David was renting the bar he didn't actually own it. We mostly talked about Thai women and how they could screw up a farangs life when they had got either married or the farang had bought and paid for some real estate, which had to be in the Thai's name because farangs could not own property in Thailand, that was the hold over them that the Thai ladies had. We talked about our personal experiences with Thai ladies, it was good to be able to talk to someone that understood what it was like. I had a couple of beers and was about to pay my bill when the first customers came in and I let David serve them first before I asked for my bill. I walked back to the hotel, I had surprisingly made it back without to much pain in my legs, it was the furthest I had walked since I had been here.
One of the people we had talked about was a friend, called Graham,who I had known from the Five Bell Bar days, he was then an international HGV driver, and was coming up to retiring age. Anyway it appears he had gone through one or two bad relationships with Thai ladies one particular where the lady had told him she didn't want him any more and then introduced him to her best friend saying you can have her she look after you. Some time later when the woman who had given her friend to Graham was asked if she missed him she said no but I miss my friend. Graham was not particularly well off and gave this woman what money she said she needed each week leaving himself with very little to feed himself with, he didn't like the spicy Thai food and the woman didn't buy any farang food, consequentially come the latter part of the week he had spent out and had to go without. The upshot was that friends could see that he was seriously losing weight and urged him to go to the hospital which eventually did but because he had no money he was sent to a mission hospital where they found out amongst other things that he needed dialysis and that he was also diabetic, even here because he had no money they sent him home again and before people heard about what was happening and could organise a collection among farangs that knew him he had died, he had literally starved himself to death.
When I got back to the hotel it was time to ring up to change my flights, as soon as I got through to an agent I told him, as I had been advised to by Jessica from customer services, that I was being charged £1.50 per minute for this call and he said he would be as quick as he could and not waste time. He managed to get me flights sorted for the same times as my original ones but on November 9th instead of December 20th . I had to pay £75.00 x 2 for changing my flights and an extra £3.01 tax, in all the call lasted just over 20 minutes, longer than I had hoped for but it had to be done.
I told Phorn about the ATM refusing to give me money and she said that she had once taken a friend to the same ATM and he had a problem there as well. When I told her the date I was leaving she asked if I had phoned Keaw, I told her I hadn't, so she called her to let her know because Keaw said she would take me to the airport when I was going home. It seems that Keaw was at Kham Chanot with her Buddha friends and would call into the Hotel on the way back. It was about an Hour later when she got here and I told her what time and date my new flight was, she asked me to go back to the farm with until the 9th and then we could go from there to Udon Thani airport, I told her I was staying here at the hotel and that I didn't want to go back to the farm to which she said she didn't understand why I didn't want to go back and save two nights payments at the hotel, I insisted that I was staying here and she could pick me up at twelve o'clock on the 9th , for some reason she says she will come to get me at nine o'clock and I thought, whatever. Phorn has done me Pak Pao for my evening meal, it was spicy hot and good.
Day 42 Monday 7th
Got up seven fifteen outside dressed and ready for my morning mug of tea by eight, except there were no tea bags so it had to be coffee instead. Had dried beef and sticky rice for breakfast for a change.
Nothing much to write about today as I was sorting out my stuff and starting to pack my case ready for going home. I was still worrying about getting to an Internet cafe to print my e-tickets.
Day 43 Tuesday 8th
Up in good time this morning for breakfast, I must get into Ban Dung today so I can Print my tickets for tomorrow. Had breakfast then went to finish my packing and checked my e-mails.
I went to find Phorn to see if someone would take me to Ban Dung, she was still washing up from breakfast time and when I asked about getting a lift she said that she wanted to go to town for some stuff and she would knock on my door when she was ready to go. It was about half an hour later when she finally knocked on my door to say she was ready to go and she went to bring the car round to pick me up. When we got to Ban Dung Phorn stopped at the first Internet cafe, I asked if he would speak any English and she said she didn't think so, so I asked if she would come with me to make sure he knew what I wanted before she drove off. Good job she did because he didn't have a printer, but told Phorn where there was a cafe that had printing facilities. It was not far away and Phorn said that he would speak some English because his mother married an English man. Got out of the car and went to the cafe, took my shoes off and went in, the place was very nearly full up, there were a dozen computers there and all but two or three were taken up by kids playing computer games. It was a good job that the boy that was in charge understood what I wanted because Phorn had driven off to do what she came into town for, before I had chance to get signed in and logged into my e-mail Phorn was back to pick me up, I said that I was not finished yet and would get a tuk tuk back when I was ready. Got my tickets printed and paid my 15bht for the computer time and prints.
I decided as I had nothing better to do today, I had all but finished packing and only had to put my toiletries into my case and close it tomorrow morning, that I would walk up to Eddies Sports bar after I had been to the ATM at the Kasikorn Bank for some cash to settle my hotel bill. On my way to the bank I bumped into Bruce, he didn't recognise me at first because of my beard, we talked for a while and he said he was going to Eddies when he was finished in town and would see me later. I was a bit worried that the ATM might still not give me any money, like the one outside the Hospital the other day. It was unusually quiet at the bank you normally have to queue up to wait for an ATM to be free and you have to watch out for Thais pushing in front of you. Only had to wait for someone to finish and I was next to go, no problem got my cash and headed off to Eddies. Bruce was already there and a few others some of who I knew. Had a couple of beers and steak and kidney pie and chips. I said my goodbyes after about 2 hours and set off to go back to the hotel, on the way back I called into Igloo's bar to say goodbye to David, the first thing he asked was if I had managed to get some cash OK, I said yes thanks there was no problem today. I ordered a beer and sat down, David was with some other people, one I knew because he had been in Eddies earlier on.
David came over to me a said that he and his lady were going to a Thai wedding in a few minutes when the relief bar lady turns up. While he was waiting he told me that Nook and her latest had been in that morning and had not been gone long, he said that he never said anything about me having been in the other day. Nook was the friend of Lang that had the bar in Hermanus in South Africa that Lang and Dean went out there to manage for her and her then husband Kevin, what happened with him I'm not sure but I suspect she found out that he was taking cash out of the till to fuel his drug habit and probably other peoples as well and kicked him into touch. I said it was best that way, to leave the past in the past because, although I will always believe that Kevin was some way involved in Deans and Marks deaths there was never going to be any way that I could prove it, so best left alone. David eventually got ready to go to the wedding we had a hug and said goodbye, I left about twenty minutes later and walked back to M&B hotel.
Had pie and chips again for my evening meal and watched TV with a bottle of Leo then went to bed.
Day 44 Wednesday 9th
Today Keaw should be coming to pick me up at nine o'clock, so she said on Monday when she left.
Got up in good time showered and packed up the rest of my stuff and closed my case and put on labels before I went out for breakfast. When Phorn brought me my bacon and eggs she told me that Keaw had phoned and said she would pick me up about half past nine or ten o'clock, I wasn't bothered as long as she was here in time to get me to Udon Thani airport in good time to check in.
She eventually came to pick me up nearer to twelve than half past ten but never mind, I was packed and ready to go I'd paid Phorn my bill all that was left was to get my suitcase and computer loaded on to the pickup, said goodbye to the girls that work at the hotel and we were off.
At first it was a bit strange, but the further we went the more easy the conversation was, more like it used to be, bB(before Buddha). I put 500bht gasoline in for the journey to Udon Thani airport, when we were getting close Keaw said she wanted to go to Lotus so she could put some money into her bank, we were there in good time so I didn't say anything. We were going into the store and Keaw got a shopping trolley, I asked what she was going to buy because I could not pay for anything as I only had a few baht to buy a drink and food while we waited to board my plane, I didn't get an answer. It took quite a while for Keaw to do her banking as there were several others waiting in front of her. When she had finished she came over to where I was waiting, looking a bit puzzled, I asked her what was wrong and she said that she thought that she had been cheated out of 1000bht, she said that she would go to the main branch in Nong Han tomorrow and talk to them about it. We went to get her shopping and ended up at the till with 3 items in the trolley, not like when I was paying, we always seemed to end up with a trolley full.
Checked in with my case in plenty of time then went up the escalator to the cafeteria and ordered some drinks and something to eat. Keaw's food came first while I had to wait quite a long while for mine and when it did it wasn't what I thought it was going to be, it was what I had ordered but not what I was hoping for, anyway I passed it over to Keaw and she ate both lots. She said when she had finished that after today she could not eat anything only drink milk or drink water, it was some Buddha thing, I don't know how long this was supposed to last.
Boarding information came up on the screen, it was time to go, I nearly left without paying the bill, we walked to the boarding gate, kissed and said goodbye, Keaw said to take care of myself, I said and you. After all that had gone on this trip I was still a little bit sad to leave her and to be leaving Thailand, maybe for the last time. Who knows.
