Page 30
WEDNESDAY 27th NOVEMBER 2013 (cont'd):
After Charlie, our driver, dropped us off at The Omni Tower Residences in Nana, Bangkok, we quickly settled into our room on the 33rd floor. We'd even been upgraded from the single room, kitchen and bathroom booked to a full studio with separate lounge. I reckon it's the management's response to an earlier complaint I made
Great to have wi-fi back again after living with Aircard access only for near 3 months.
37ºC when we arrived and the air-co was swiftly switched on in our room.
Above: Two similar photos to the one on Page 1. The only difference is one is looking East and the other South-East taken from the 33rd floor of our apartment at the Omni Tower Residences.
An hour or two's rest, shower and change of clothes we wandered down Soi 4 into Sukhumvit and ate in a restaurant we've used several times before. I had a modest Thai meal and madam had an enormous fish to herself [photo]
Stopped off at a bar for ONE beer (yes one) and then headed back to the apartment. Aom was not feeling too good anyway and I just wanted to get her back asap.
Below is Aom's dinner; a rather large fish and lots of trimmings and a huge portion of rice.
TOP LEFT:
Going....
TOP RIGHT: .....going....
BOTTOM ...GONE!!
LEFT: Aom and her friend from Surin, Em. No shortage of pretty girls in Thailand.
RIGHT: Aom hard at work Facebooking and munching (my) pistachios.
THURSDAY 28th:
A day spent by Aom visiting and saying her farewells to some friends she has in Bangkok. I stayed in the apartment until well into the afternoon to keep away from the heat; 38ºC today. Later, I went for a walk down Sukhumvit Road, met Aom and went with her for a late lunch at a friend of hers, called EM, apartment. Em. is another very attractive Thai lady. [photo above]
Out 'til late in the evening. Last night in Thailand. Got back for some shut-eye around 4:30am.
FRIDAY 29th:
A morning of re-packing suitcases after a decent breakfast.
Plan is to vacate the apartment around 16:30 when we get a taxi to Suvarnabhumi Airport for a check-in at around 17:30.
It's probably a good time to be leaving Bangkok as large numbers of anti-government protesters are causing considerable disruption, especially to public buildings. The main Police HQ has had its has had its power and water supplies cut off; would you believe by dick-heads with a long pole with a metal end reaching up and shorting out 440v power-lines. There's no sign of problems around Nana district but there are concerns that the airport could be affected at some stage. Some governments are already advising against travel to Thailand whilst the unrest is happening.
Back from lunch around 14:00 and final stuffing and attempts made at zipping up the cases and hope to God they're within the 30kgs limit.
16:30 bags down from floor 33 to a waiting taxi the 40 minutes to Suvarnabhumi Airport.
The Airport run was smooth once the cab had cleared the crazy BKK traffic and got onto the "motorway". Check-in with Etihad a cinch and away from BKK a touch late at 20:40 and after a horrible 6-hour flight to Abu Dhabi we transferred to The Manchester flight of over 7 hours to arrive at said airport on time at 07:05. Friend, Pete, on-hand to give us a lift home and that's where we are now; me on a stiff coffee or two, Aom tucking into one of her contraband noodle packets.
But it's bloody chilly here!.. I wanna get back to the 30's!
That’s the end of this journal or blog. Aom & I are back in England after spending 3 months in Thailand.
The blog has been written truthfully; all the incidents and occurrences happened although, on occasion, there’s been a slight “glorification” of events; i.e. I have emphasised and I daresay, exaggerated any glamorous and the nicer side of things. This may have resulted in the pair of us appearing to be living a sort of Playboy or constant holiday lifestyle when in truth life there, particularly in Pattaya, was quite ordinary and day-to-day. We were living as we would have done at home, undertaking ordinary and mundane tasks like laundry, cooking, cleaning, going to the supermarket for food, going to the bank and paying bills, paying rent, etc, etc.
Yes, we occasionally went down to the beach or went to the cinema and had some great long nights out, but we had only one quite short true holiday in the 3 months which was to Koh Wai.
To remind the reader, the prime reason for staying in Thailand for this long was to await the outcome of Aom’s application for a UK Settlement Visa and this was achieved. We had to be somewhere a reasonable distance from Bangkok and the British Embassy in case she was contacted for interview and Pattaya fitted the bill. It was fortunate that the support documentation was so detailed and thorough that it was flushed through the Embassy vetting and processing system so much quicker than probably any other application; our groundwork and preparation had been so thorough. Anyone happening to read these pages and wishing to apply for Settlement to the UK would be well advised to dot every “i” and cross every “t” and then go through it another 10 times to give yourself a chance of success.
Importantly, DO NOT go through an Agency; it’s simply a waste of money, it also gives out negative waves to Embassy officials. Agency charges are exorbitant and their initial quote ALWAYS ends up with lots more additional charges. You can do everything an agency does only better; it just takes a bit more time and trouble but it’s well worth it.
Visits to Surin and to Aom’s family home were welcome breaks away from the rowdy cities of Pattaya and Bangkok. In spending time in the REAL Thailand away from the big cities and tourist areas, I’ve learnt a lot about Thai culture and ordinary Thai people over the total of 12 months in total I have lived in the country. I've lived the "simple" village life with village people in a farming community who genuinely do live off the land and what that land produces. I've eaten their food and happily accepted their hospitality. It's not been easy at times because my Thai is rather limited and their English likewise but it hasn't lessened the experience. I've really endured the other side of Thailand; the one that gives the outside world a seedy image with its sex-industry. Of course this Thailand does exist but it's isolated. Thailand's a very large country and the likes of Pattaya, Phuket and parts of Bangkok are minute by comparison. In reality, every major city in the world has its seedy side but it's usually tucked away behind closed doors whereas in Thailand it's more open and 'available'.
Believe me, it's very easy to lose this seedy side... just go out into the countryside and smaller towns and villages. Any male wishing to find a nice young Thai girl is better by far to go look here.
Yes, by Western standards, Thailand's way behind, almost third-world, it certainly has its problems of corruption in high places and police that take bribes but it is beginning to deal with these problems, slowly. It still, however, in spite of all its problems, remains to be a gorgeous country with thoroughly charming and smiling people., but stay away from the likes of Pattaya, Phuket and downtown Bangkok if you want to experience REAL Thailand.
Go see it for yourself sometime.
Tony Tollitt
December 2013
Feedback? ...email me at [email protected]
© Tony Tollitt
If, perchance, you enjoyed reading this blog, you just might wish to take a look at my second one written in 2015 which details, amongst other things, taking our baby son to visit and stay with the Thai side of his family; in particular his Grandparents. If so, take a look at our next 2-month visit around Thailand which can be viewed at:-
www.tony-tollitt.com/Thailand-2015/index.html
Also, later in 2015:
www.tony-tollitt.com/Thailand-September 2015
But, there's even more:
Visits and lengthy stays in Thailand were made in September 2015:
www.tony-tollitt.com/Thailand-2015/Thailand-2015-2
and in 2017, 2018, 2022, 2024 and 2025 at:
www.tony-tollitt.com/Thailand-2017
www.tony-tollitt.com/Thailand-2018
www.tony-tollitt.com/Thailand-2022
www.tony-tollitt.com/Thailand-2024
www.tony-tollitt.com/Thailand-2025
All photographs and contents
© Tony Tollitt
April 2018
