After Adam had his dinner we settled down to a couple of games of chess. Modesty forbids me from reporting who won both games.
I have started another book called ‘Under the Banner of Heaven’ written by Jan Krakauer, it is a true story about some murders committed ‘in the name of God’ by two Moron brothers called Lafferty. Oops sorry about the slip Mormon brothers. The scariest thing is that it is true and happened in July 1984.
3rd August 2006
Really not much to report for today very much a same old same old: I went for a walk to Suanplu to post a couple of cards and get some stamps, bought my paper wandered back through the ‘wet’ market and via the supermarket to get some rolls for lunch.
As I was staggering back down the soi one of the security guards from the apartment opposite, stopped his motorbike and offered me a lift which I gladly accepted.
I was a little taken aback when he addressed me as Khun John, but Rosalind tells us that anything and anyone is known to everyone else.
All of the dogs seemed very pleased to see me and were again head butting each other out of the way trying and get they head scruffed.
I spent the afternoon finishing the interpretation of a Thai book, I hasten to add that it was not an attempt at translation as I of course do not read Thai but I thought that it might benefit from some interpretation and the Thai author seems happy to take me up on my offer.
This picture from the book shows the original Thai and the English translation
My interpretation was:
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS
Winners are not naive about international politics,
And quietly take advantage of all opportunities,
Losers get lost on international issues,
Any opportunity they may have had, is used by others and they are discarded
Sheila and I fly to Chiang Mai in the morning so it will be a few days before I add to this journal. It also might be a few more than we anticipate as Sheila was reading a report, about the flooding in and around Chiang Mai. I of course made light of it as I am by nature a little more of a risk taker than Sheila.
Dinner was a prawn ratatouille, which I call a ‘rata-one-e’; it does not raise a laugh except from me.
Friday 5th August 2006
We had a leisurely breakfast and finished packing for our trip to Chiang Mai. A car and driver had been booked to take Sheila and I to the airport as Khun Boon Chuay was bust with Adam and one of his major clients. The car was due at 1100 so Sheila and I went down at 1059 to the foyer to wait fro him. While we were waiting Sheila mentioned that it was quite sunny and perhaps I should go back up to the apartment and get my sunglasses if I did not already have them in our case. I did not so I took the lift back up to the apartment and placed my spectacles case on top of the bedside drawers while I rifled the drawers looking for my sunglasses. “Voila” my ‘man-search’ yielded success and flushed with triumph I went back down to the lobby to find the car and driver had arrived and the driver was just putting our case into the boot of the car.
I quickly formed the opinion that our driver had forgotten that he was from Thailand not Nippon as he drove like the ‘Divine Wind’- Kamikaze; perhaps he thought that we had not allowed enough time for the trip to the airport and as he was a little late he needed to make up time on his way so that we would catch our flight. But as usual Sheila and I had allowed plenty of time our flight was not until 1330, so we had at least a hour to get through all the ‘booking in’ and boarding arrangements.
The violence of our trip diminished as our driver took the ‘toll-way’ and because of the fee there is less traffic to be negotiated. But this did not mean less speed and in fact the ‘divine wind’ had become a ‘howling gale’. Sheila however had started to ‘nod off’ which I think was a good thing for her.
We were then low level flying in the right hand lane and I noticed a sign indicating that in ‘400 metres’ there was an exit ramp to the domestic terminal, our departure point, I hoped! I reasoned that he would soon merge to the left and start to ease off on the accelerator. No my supposition was not correct, ‘200 metres’ to the exit ramp and closing fast.
I coughed politely and urgently declared, “domestic, domestic.”
“Oh so sorry, yes domestic” he bleated as he wrenched the steering wheel to the left and we dived across the lane of fast moving traffic, that has the misnomer of the ‘slow lane’; at the same time hitting the brakes producing a cloud of smoke as he tried to both slow up enough and steer onto the exit ramp.
When this strategy was obviously going to fail the wrenched the steering wheel back to the right pulling the ca back onto the main toll-way just missing the concrete barrier that separated the exit ramp from the ‘toll-way’. We stopped about twenty metres past the exit ramp in a shower of gravel and bit of burning tyre rubber.
“Oh so sorry, domestic, thank you so sorry” pleaded the driver.
“It’s ok, don’t worry, mai pen rai,” I grated through my clenched teeth in a conciliatory tone, but my instinct was to bat him around the ears, but we still had a little way to go.
“So sorry” he repeated, then he changed into reverse and we started back along the ‘toll-way’ towards a very large coach that was fast approaching in the same lane.
Our driver’s foot did not move from the accelerator and the gap between us and the coach was fast disappearing, with its horn blaring very loudly the coach swerved around us and across into the fast lane just missing our wing mirror. I was still catching my breath when we stopped and then accelerated forward on to the exit ramp.
Sheila looked a little quizzical until I said, “Nearly missed the exit ramp for the domestic terminal.”
“Sorry I fell asleep” replied Sheila.
“I don’t think so Sheila” I thought as I said “No worries we are back on track,” I declared, relieved that we were not on a ‘Highway to heaven’.
If the driver was shaken by the experience he tried to reassure himself and regain our respect by driving faster and even more frenetically for the last few hundred metres until we stopped at the departures part of the domestic terminal; which is about a three minute walk along the pavement from the departures part of the international terminal. I do wish they would not call them ‘terminals’. We were in such a hurry to decamp from the car that I was sure, later in the day that I had left my spectacles in the car.
We were travelling with ‘Air Asia’ to Chiang Mai and booking ourselves and our case in was very quick and without incident. We just presented our passports at the book-in counter as confirmation of our identities and our ‘on-line’ booking.
The boarding passes were just small pieces of very thin paper that were just like large bus tickets, but the significance was lost on me until later.
Of course our boarding gate was furtherest away and down in the basement, Gate 63; but the seating was plentiful and clean, with the air-conditioning working very well.
As we waited we started people watching and noticed about five different couples. They were old ugly European men pawing their very young ugly Thai ‘girlfriends’. It was a pathetic sight, seeing them fondling young girls, paying the girls to pretend to like them and the girls condemned by economic circumstances to endure these ‘old farts’. It was easy to see the barely disguised disgust in the girls faces especially when their ‘client’ was not looking at them.
As soon as the airline ground crew arrived at their booth by the boarding gate there was a rush of passengers to form a line up to the boarding gate. I said to Sheila that I could not see the point in queuing up as we all had to go by bus to the aeroplane and as we all had tickets we all would get on.
When the third bus had departed to take people to the plane we ambled over to the end of what was left of the line and casually boarded our bus to the plane. As the bus stopped I stood to one side to allow the remaining passengers to get off before me. Sheila was about five people in front of me as I climbed the stairs to the aircraft. When I entered the cabin I offered by ‘boarding pass’ to one of the cabin crew, but she just waved me into the cabin. I then found out why the ‘boarding passes’ are like bus tickets and why the number is nothing to do with seat allocation it is just a ticket number. There was no seat allocation; first on gets nearest the front. The plane is then filled up as people get on from front to back with the only variation being if some want two or more seats together and then it is a bit of a scramble.
Sheila was seated in the back row of the plane next to the aisle with an old Italian ‘groper’ next to Sheila with his young Thai ‘bride’ next to the window. Sheila had managed to save me a seat also in the back row but across the aisle from Sheila. If Sheila had not managed to save me that seat I feel sure that I would have been travelling in the ‘dunny’.
A smooth flight and landing in Chiang Mai about a hour and ten minutes later and ‘on-time’. Sheila had booked a car and driver to meet us at the airport so that we were not concerned about a mad rush for the taxis. Also baggage retrieval is always something of a ‘lotto’ you hope that you are in the game, as you think you bought a ticket, but most often you don’t win by getting your bags off first. This time there was a delay as the first baggage carrousel to which we were directed had broken down and there was a fifteen minute delay after which we were directed to another carrousel nearby. ‘Jackpot’ ours was the first case on the carrousel and it was with more than a little smugness, I declared “excuse me”, and I reached through the scrum around the carrousel to claim our case. Flushed with success we walked to the exit looking for a sign, any sign, indicating a person who was waiting to take us to our hotel the Chiang Mai Sheraton.
I spotted a large sign being held up by a little chap just over the other side of a barrier separating the throng from arrivals. It read:
‘LUNN SHAILA DAPHAN’
That was close enough for me so I hailed him and we were soon ensconced in our car that was booked to take us to our hotel for 600 baht, about twenty Australian dollars.
It was about a twenty minute trip and we were surprised how small Chiang Mai seemed when compared with Bangkok. Chiang Mai is Thailand’s second biggest city and the two are worlds apart. Chiang Mai seemed to us to be very much like Phuket, but without the beaches.
The staff at the Sheraton was very friendly and welcoming, the room was a corner suite on the 24th floor, large and well furnished even though it is probably looking a little tired. I or more importantly Sheila found nothing to be concerned about.
After unpacking we went down to the ground floor for a late lunch in the ‘Riverside Terrace’ Restaurant. It has pleasant views of the muddy Ping River, and although not very hungry we selected a Sheraton ‘club sandwich that proved to be huge. I of course managed all of mine but Sheila was defeated by hers. Feeling replete we decided to have a siesta before deciding what to do in the evening.
The next four pictures were taken from our bedroom window showing our views of Chiang Mai. The mountain is the location of Wat Doi Suthep one of the places we intended to visit.
Upon waking Sheila thought that the best plan for her was more sleeping while it was suggested that I take the hotel shuttle bus into town at 2000 and see what was there.
The trip into Chiang Mai took about twelve minutes and we stopped in a petrol station opposite the ‘Pantip’ Plaza an electronics shopping complex. As I emerged from the people mover I thought I heard the driver say, “Night bazaar opposite Pantip Plaza be back in fifteen minutes.”
A couple of girls from Wollongong, a lady from Birmingham and her daughter said “fifteen minutes, that’s not long for shopping.” I was not aware that the purpose of the shuttle bus was a visit to the night bazaar for shopping, but hey 15 minutes for shopping is fine for me and then we could get on wit the rest of the trip.
I walked along the pavement where the stalls are set up and spotted a stall on which were displayed some rubber sandals called ‘crocodiles’. Sheila had expressed an interest in them a few times but said that they were very expensive for what they were. I asked his price he quoted “1,600 baht”, I said “no” he asked “how much you prepared to pay?” I said “450 baht”, he said “no” and I walked away. Time was ticking so I walked back and repeated my offer of “450 baht”, he said “500 baht” and I agreed.
I was a little concerned that the size might not be correct, but at least the pink I thought would be ok. “If size not right you bring back tomorrow” he reassured me.
I glanced at my watch and saw that it was getting on for the fifteen minutes and I hurried back for the bus. I need not have hurried as there was no-one else there; in fact there was no-one else for another two hours as it turned out that the drive had asked us to be back at ten fifteen but again something had been lost in the translation. I sat on a little plastic stool on the forecourt of the petrol station and had plenty of time for people watching until the other passengers wandered back and the bus arrived to take us back to the hotel.
“Where do we go now?” I enquired of my fellow passengers. “Back to the hotel “was the unanimous reply. Any thoughts of a nice Thai dinner disappeared and I was pleased that I had bought a cold ‘snickers’ at the petrol station. Sheila was still a bit sleepy when I got back to our room at about 2230, but pleased with both the size and colour of her ‘crocodiles’.
Saturday 6th August
We woke late and made our entrance to the ‘Riverside Terrace’ buffet breakfast just before the nominal opening time had elapsed. The range of items on offer was large and I felt obliged to sample the cereals, yoghurt, eggs, French toast, baked beans, bacon, croissants, Danish pastries and just one Blueberry muffin. I thought it best to have a reasonable breakfast as we were not sure what we would be doing for the day and I did not know when or what my next meal might be. Sheila of course showed a little more restraint, but not by much.
Sheila and I decided that we would go into town and just walk around exploring Chiang Mai. On the steps of the hotel we had a debate about the merits of a taxi compared with a ‘tuk tuk’ But when the staff of the hotel pointed out that taxis would have to come from the airport Sheila conceded and we took a ‘tuk tuk’ into town asking to be dropped at Pantip plaza, corner of Sridonchai and Changklan roads, as we had seen from a map that it was on the edge of the ‘old’ city. We went into the Pantip Plaza complex, but as soon as Sheila realised that it was all about electronic gadgetry we moved on to shops that sold sun-glasses looking for a replacement pair for the ones that had been in her stolen bag.
Unfortunately all the current fashion frames are curved and this makes them unsuitable for the necessary prescription lens. We wandered in and out of optical shops gradually working our way along Changklan Rd on which the night bazaar is set up. Turning left along Loikroh Rd we began to find many ‘barouses,’ this is my word to describe the plethora of small single room bars with the house on the second floor. From the advertising and the decor it would appear that alcohol is only part of the range of merchandise that one can purchase or hire for a ‘short’ or ‘long-time’. Men looking for boys are ‘well’ catered for and supplied, and also any that are in between genders or taste. It looked seedy enough during the day so we had no inclination to visit the area at night. Of more interest to me were the many hundreds of sandbags that obviously had been used to combat recent floods and the work being done to prepare for more expected flooding. On many roadsides were very large diesel driven pumps for emptying the storm water drains down large bore hose pipes and back into the Ping River. Of particular interest to me was the temporary wall being built around a number of shop doorways. I thought the principle was sound as the filling and placing of sandbags is a logistical nightmare. I think many flood prone areas in Australia to benefit from the concept but install permanent grooved pillars into which rigid panels could be slotted prior to any flood and removed easily when the waters have receded.
An example of the ‘permanent’ wall being erected to keep out floodwaters. The sandbags were to facilitate the ingress and egress of customers.
I found some interesting statues on a bridge over a small stream and discovered later in the day other bridges also had other statues, this all adds to the interest.
Not far past the bridge we were approached by a Thai policeman who asked what we were looking for. When we explained he suggested that we go to a particular Wat, or temple as this was the one day in a year that the boys who were to become monks went to the Wat to get there heads shaved. He told us that there were no problems taking photographs as the families were very proud of their sons becoming monks for a while. We were told that it would be good to get there about 1300, so having about half an hour up our sleeve we went for coffee in a nearby ‘Starbucks’. Sheila ordered “a cappuccino and a double espresso not Americano and with extra water”. The later was for me and what Rosalind said was the most likely to achieve the ‘long black’ that I desired. My understanding of ‘long black’ was never provided to me at any time in Thailand, “Mae pen rai”. We bargained for a ‘tuk tuk’ to take us to the Wat we wanted for the ceremony and were happy with the price agreed of 40 baht. As we strode into the grounds looking for the site another Thai approached us and asked if he could help. His English was impeccable and he said that he was a stockbroker working in Singapore, but was in Chiang mai for a conference. However we were sad to hear that we had missed the ceremony by three hours and all of the boy monks had left. He then suggested that we might enjoy seeing the Thai Government sponsored handicraft centre.
We were happy with this idea and he walked along with us to the next intersection and indicated the road down which we would find the centre. We passed a couple of interesting buildings including a old style Thai house and a car rental firm offering to rent out ‘car bombs’. In the current international climate we thought it was an interesting to be selling.
Bomb car rental
We walked for a couple of hours and did not find the handicrafts centre and after getting very warm we bought a couple of bottles of water and hired another ‘tuk tuk’ to take us back to the hotel. We were pleased with the negotiated price of 50 baht as we thought we were a long way away from our hotel. It was little wonder he smiled at our success as a couple of hundred metres later and around one corner we were back at the Sheraton.
Sheila had half dozen spring rolls and I had the club sandwich again, but this time even I could not finish them. We staggered off for a siesta and resolved to visit the night bazaar later.
The next few pictures are of the Chiang Mai Sheraton Hotel.
River Terrace restaurant Chiang Mai with the Ping River next to the terrace
Sheila asked the hotel staff where the best place to go for shopping and we were directed to the ‘Central’ shopping plaza which is near the airport. I was of course not all that keen but it is nice to do something together and we went by ‘tuk tuk’.
It is very modern and very large and quite new. It is like any very large shopping centre in any city except we saw very few Europeans. It is the haunt of the local people especially kids who want to hang out in the mall. There was a ‘hip-hop’ dance competition on one floor with groups of teenagers competing with each other and very very loud music; I of course am using the term music very loosely.
I was best amused by a large aquarium that filled a couple of levels of one area near the ‘hip-hop’ stage, one large fish in particular capturing my attention.
The fashion show was also interesting I thought that many of the ladies fashions were wearable, making a change from much of the usual stuff that gets paraded.
We got an attack of the munchies and hunted though a few food courts, but Sheila was not game to try the food. We were accosted by a young Canadian couple who asked, “Excuse me sir would you happen to know where I could buy a proper beef burger”.
I glanced around and my reply “sorry mate I think a Thai pizza joint is about as close as you are going to get”, did not fill him with great enthusiasm. We resumed our search for ‘Sheila acceptable ‘ food but in the end we found the exit to the shopping centre and went back to the hotel and had a sea food basket each and prepared for our night-time excursion.
We hired another ‘tuk-tuk’ from in front of the hotel where there is a rank of them waiting, and arrived at the bazaar about 1800 as I was told that it starts about that time. A few of the stall holders were still setting up but many of them are exactly the same and the variety is not really that significant. It really is for tourists with definite tourist prices as none of the local people shop there. I was surprised at how minimal Sheila’s perusal of the merchandise was, though I suspect that part of the reason was Sheila’s aversion to the smells coming from the food stalls and the sewerage system. We did investigate a few handbag stalls/shops but Sheila has a keen eye for the workmanship on handbags and they were all found wanting. One chap was particularly keen and said that he had a lot more stock in a shop nearby. We followed him into a basement where he lead us into a small room filled with bags and then he slid back another door and took us into a large ‘cupboard’. Sheila felt a little nervous about being locked into this area and we soon left.
One thing I spotted that interested me was a huge candle that had been made for a ceremony; it included many large figures and makes our exotic candles very pale by comparison.
The candle in the night bazaar with Ganesh at the front, Buddha at the back and other figures in the middle.
We thought that if we went to the petrol station at 2015 we might be able to catch the hotel bus back and save on a fare. However on the way I was waylaid by a tout offering cheap DVD’s and I bought three: ‘Pirates of the Caribbean Dead man’s Chest’, ‘Da Vinci Code’ and ‘Bride and Prejudice’. The couple of minutes that he took to go and make them meant that we just missed the bus and had to take a ‘tuk-tuk’.
All the window shopping was a bit tiring so we had an early night with the knowledge that we were getting up fairly early for a half-day trip we had booked.
6th August 2006
We were up and dressed by 0700 and commenced refuelling in the restaurant by 0730, I had again decided that it was a good idea to stock up as we were not sure when and where we might get lunch.
We were waiting in the foyer at 0815 and our guide for the day soon appeared. Khun Ai was very petite and Sheila found it quite odd to be towering over someone else for a change. We were escorted to the mini-bus where there were two other guys or I should say gays waiting on the bus. They were from England and turned out to be very nice chaps especially since one of them was from Southampton, and it was interesting for me to hear about my old home town.
It took about twenty minutes to get to the bottom of the mountain and another twenty to drive up the winding road up to the temple Wat Doi Suthep. On the way we passed many cyclists and a large group of school children (boys) who were walking from Chang Mai to the Wat to gain merit for their pilgrimage. Sheila and I thought that the narrow tree-lined roads reminded us very much of the trip up Mt Wellington in Hobart and the Blue Mountains near Bilpin in New South Wales.
We drove past the Wat as our guide explained that we would go over the mountain to a Hmong village first and then visit the Wat on the way back. I had thought we were going to a Meo village, but our guide said that it was Hmong and they did not like to be called Meo even though some Thai call them by that name. It all became a bit confusing but I think the answer is there are a number of ethnic tribes scattered across Thailand, Laos, Burma, and these tribes include some called Karen, Hmong, Meo and others. The Thai tend not to worry about which group they call what but of course the tribes themselves are jealous of their own particular identity.
I thought the village reminded me very much of a collection of stalls that we saw at the base of the Great Wall in China and we were not all that keen to buy anything though Sheila bought a little embroidered bag for 100 baht, but was a little taken aback when the seller insisted that for the 100 baht Sheila had to take four.
I took a few photos of the village and some of the people also one of their cockerels whose colours I liked.
Sheila and our guide Khun Ai
Some Jack fruit
The ‘corner’ shop
It did not take long to get back to the temple and I was pleased when our guide bought tickets for us to get up to the Wat via a lift. I was very impressed with Wat Doi Suthep and took too many photos but I think they speak very eloquently about the site.
Sheila and Khun Ai
Chiang Mai airport in the valley
The trip back to the hotel was uneventful but as we were tired out we had a quick bit to eat and went to bed. We slept straight through until Monday morning and as we did not have a car booked until1200 to take us to the airport we had a very late lazy breakfast and took our time in packing. That reminds me of my ‘lost’ spectacles; we telephoned Rosalind on our first afternoon asking if she would retrieve my spectacles from the hire car that took us to Bangkok airport. Rosalind rang back a little later in the afternoon, she had retrieved them from the bedside drawers next to my bed. It is only when you don’t have your spectacles that you realise how much you depend on them.
The cost of the hire car and driver back to Chiang Mai airport from the hotel was 300 baht half of what it cost to get from the airport to the hotel. Adam has since told me that this is often the case and it is best to book a car both ways it is always cheaper that way.
The flight was uneventful except that we knew to join the queue at the boarding door as soon as the staff appeared and we got seats towards the front. Baggage retrieval etc was a breeze and we quickly found our driver and were back at the apartment for about 1700 just before the night-time crush on the roads. Dinner was chicken cashew prawns with green stuff and was most appreciated.
Tuesday 8th/Wednesday 9th August 2006
Feeling a bit off colour I have at last got Sheila’s bug and my nose, chest are alternating between feeling very clogged or very runny. I also suspect it might have been a legacy of our flights to and from Chiang Mai. If anyone has a bug on a plane everyone will get it by the end of the flight as the air is recirculated through everyone’s lungs. Not a pretty thought!
I went for a walk to get a paper and on the way back bought some pork spare ribs for the dogs as they were very affectionate when I saw them on my way to the shops, especially ‘Fang’ who now rolls over to get his tummy tickled. On my way back down the Soi one of the guards gave me a lift on his motor-bike; apparently Thai people do not walk at all if there is another alternative, and think it a bit weird if people walk to the shops etc.
As I spread my bag of pork spare ribs in front of the dogs I expected there to be a rush, I never ceased to be surprised, they sniffed them a few times, looked at me with very quizzical eyes and walked around them and sat looking at me. One of the other guards, who speaks a little English came over and said “cooked”. I could not believe my ears “cooked?” I responded. “Yes cooked” was the reply. I gathered up my bag of spare ribs and took them up to the apartment, where much to Rosalind and Sheila’s amusement I cooked the spare ribs for the dogs. They did not hesitate to take them when the ‘cooked’ spare ribs were spread before them.
I also cooked an ‘orange’ cake to keep myself amused and also satisfy a sweet craving. Sheila went to get the handbag that she had made for her to replace the one that was stolen and we were all very impressed with the result. Rosalind also went and picked up a pair of prescription sunglasses that she had ordered and then was surprised how similar they were to the pair that she already has. “Women” still I suppose it confirms that is the style that she likes.
Sheila did a lot of work in the late afternoon and evening on the Bangkok Guide. I finished watching the DVD ‘Da Vinci Code’ and then Sheila and I watched ‘Bride and Prejudice’.
The ‘Da Vinci Code’ was better than I feared it might be, though I agree with the critical reviews of the female lead part. She was very ‘wooden’, no ‘on-screen’ presence. ‘Bride and Prejudice’ is a ‘Bollywood’ chick flick that is meant to be in the romantic genre, but it works a lot better in the comedy genre. Adam and Rosalind went out to dinner with a couple of ‘Managing Partners’ from his firm who are up from Sydney and Melbourne. Part of the purpose of the trip was a ‘review’ for Adam which was spectacular. They went out for drinks after dinner and got home about 0130 and felt a little seedy in the morning. Dinner was red snapper and other fish in tempura batter with carrots onions also in a tempura batter very nice or I should say “Aloi Mahk”
Thursday 10th August 2006
I was still a bit ‘hors de combat’ and feeling very sorry for myself. For the non-French speaking it just means I am a casualty not that I have been having a fight with a ‘lady of the night’.
Adam left quite early on his way to Hanoi for a couple of days, if he was able to get a visa.
Sheila and Rosalind went all ‘girly’ and were going through Rosalind’s wardrobe and cupboards looking at clothing, hats, jewellery etc. It was a source of great amusement for them; for me it remains ‘secret women’s business and so it will ever remain.
Rosalind went to the gym for a Pilates lesson while I worked to bring my journal up-to-date.
