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Having moved to Bangsaen mid-April I have been feeling slightly lost and lonely. I had a few days in Bangkok with my friend and then another weekend in Bangkok with some other friends and each time I had a fantastic time- but then I return to my new place and still feel a little deflated. Deflation- what’s all that about? One definition is “brought low in spirit” and that is definitely how I am feeling at the moment. I am not generally an unhappy person, nothing gets me down, I am always cheerful but I can’t muster any enthusiasm for anything at the moment.
However, I know myself and I know that in a few weeks once I start work and start to meet new people I will become excited about Thailand again and love living here but that’s in a few weeks. Although my friend did say to me that I am lucky to have the choices I have-not everyone has that. And this is very true.

It was the same when I started to live in Surin, although I had a Thai friend with me, it took me a while to meet people and get to know people and in the end I loved living there. At least in Bangsaen I already have a couple of friends who I have seen over the past few days and who helped me to celebrate my birthday.
But when you live in a foreign country away from your loved ones all your feelings seem heightened. As my mother told me it is my choice to come and live here (and you know your mother is always right) and it would be a knee-jerk reaction to go home. This is not an option for me but it has crossed my mind.

So the best thing I can do is get a new plan and one of my friends, Doyle, told me that one of the things he loves about me is that I always have a plan.

So my plan is: –
1. To get fit- and I mean really fit which means cutting out the booze and cigarettes (cutting out seems so extreme so it’ll just be cutting down for now).
2. To save loads of money- I still want to travel and see other countries so while I am teaching in Thailand it gives me the opportunity to save. Plus as I will be getting fit I won’t be going out and spending loads of money.
3. To learn languages- since I finished my Open University degree I have been lost without it so before I left the UK I started to improve my Thai and start learning Hindi. I need to speak Thai better than I do because I live in Thailand and Hindi is just for fun, although I plan to visit India at some point so that will come in handy. And I may throw a bit of Arabic in there as well. One never knows when languages will come in handy.

Whether these plans come to fruition time will tell but plans are good- they keep you focused and determined, instead of knee-jerk reactions. So after my contract finishes (or before) I can re-assess things and go from there.
I started to write this over a week ago and today I am feeling better about things already. Mostly I have my head screwed on and know what I want to do (although that awareness never came to me until only a few years ago) but sometimes, just sometimes I get confused and thrown about how I feel about things- but like I said I know myself and I know that I will be excited again about living in the place that I love and who knows what the future will bring.

Having been in Thailand since February and bagging myself a job as a primary school teacher, starting in May 2014, I am making the move to a little town called Bang Saen.

I went to Surin to stay with my friend Mark, who generously let me stay at his house until I got myself sorted, and so after my trip to Kuala Lumpur, and a couple of weekends in Bangkok, I was on the job hunt.
My friends, Chris and his wife Na, have lived in Bang Saen for a good few years and I went to visit them to have a look around. As soon as I got there and had a couple of days and nights out I realised that this was the place for me.

It is a beautiful little place on the coast along Thailand’s eastern seaboard, right on the beach and about an hour and a half bus ride to Bangkok- just the things I wanted when I lived in Surin (from Surin it takes 7 hours on the bus to Bangkok and it is about 9 hours from any beach). I just had visions of myself on a Sunday afternoon on the beach reading my book.

Bang Saen is a favourite for Thais as a weekend getaway resort and, as such, busy at the weekend and holidays but during the week it is like a ghost town and no hordes of tourists anywhere- something that may change in the future- but for now it feels like the perfect place for me. Plus I already have two friends there who have been showing me around, for which I am eternally grateful.

So I went there for a second visit with CVs in hand and Chris took me round to the different faculties at the university there and to a few schools and basically asked for a job. (This is such the best way to gain employment here, rather than emailing CVs and most of the time getting no response-the Thais are very much about appearance and if you go in person they can see that you look professional and it also saves them the bother of advertising the job). However, the one I eventually got was actually advertised on the main teaching website, Ajarn.com, so I went to see them and arranged an interview for the following day.

Interviews in Thailand are not like they are back home- they are, shall we say, less formal. Yes, you have to dress smart and yes, you have to sell yourself but they asked me strange questions which were actually quite amusing because, Thais being Thais, they like know what’s going on with you- Are you single?; Do you have a boyfriend?; Where are you going to live? And statements like “the guys are sexier in Bang Saen than in Surin”; “oh you can live there (I told her I was going to live in a particular apartment) you’re single”; “give her the job she’s single”. Questions and statements that would not be heard in your own country (not in an interview environment anyway) but I took it in jest and thought it was pretty funny.

So having completed the interview, which included showing them how I would teach young kids- question: what’s an animal beginning with A?-answer: Ant; question: how do you spell it?-answer A-N-T….., and answering their unusual questions, with a smile on my face, I got the job.

I have never taught little ones before, the previous teaching job I had in Thailand was teaching 12-15 year olds. But I think it will be fun and it will be less serious- learning through fun activities. I think I will have to brush up on my football and singing skills (not that I have any skills in those areas).

I was wondering how I was going to get all my stuff from Surin to Bang Saen and since leaving the UK I have acquired more of it. I looked into hiring a car with a driver but this is very expensive for me- 5500 baht (about 100 GBP), so am getting the bus. Nachon Chai Air is the best way to travel in Thailand. Gold class is the best actually but they were sold out-it being Thai New Year here- so silver class it is. NCA have stewards and overhead compartments just like on a plane and as the bus leaves the station the steward or stewardess stands at the front and lets you know how long it will take and what time it will arrive at the destination. Plus you can put your luggage underneath. The thing they don’t know yet is I have a very large, heavy suitcase, a smaller case and a big box (I did have two boxes which I had in storage, at my friend Patrick’s house, for the two years I was away) but I have been ruthless and got rid of a load of books and DVDs. But I have been reliably informed I should (should being the operative word) be able to put everything underneath the bus for free. The cost of the journey? About 376 baht (7 GBP). Much better than 5500 baht.

The bus should get to Bang Saen around 6.30pm but as it is Thai New Year it might take a while to get to my final destination because, although it starts around 12th April in Bangkok, in that area in gets staggered so Bang Saen will celebrate it on 16th-17th. I don’t half make things difficult for myself because the 17th is the date I travel, but I will just have to take it in my stride and put up with the potential 2 hour + journey from Chonburi to Bang Saen- normally about 15 minutes. Although I shouldn’t say that in the first place I might just jinx it!

ON THE THRESHOLD OF :-   😉

 

Having been to Pattaya before I have never been to any tourist attractions there, so with my map and camera in hand I decided to walk to Wat Khao Phrabat.

Walking down South Pattaya Road and along Walking Street is NOT the way to go, because I found myself walking back the way I had come, albeit on a road that runs parallel to South Pattaya Road. That was ok because I got to see the pier and jetty, which I had never seen before, and also the somewhat ostentatious “Pattaya City” sign which adorns the hillside. I eventually found the way and proceeded to walk very slowly up the very steep hill. If you don’t like walking better take a motorcycle taxi or 10 baht bus (literally 10 baht anywhere you want to go) because, it being a viewpoint, it is at the top of the hill, so you need to take water.

But the effort is worth it because, at the top, you get magnificent views over Pattaya City sprawling into the distance.

It was the lookout point I wanted to see and although I visited the temple, which is fairly small, I was more interested in a statue of, what looks like a soldier, but underneath there is a small replica of the larger statue covered in gold leaf and locals making offerings, of roses and garlands of jasmine. I wondered why they would be doing this, rather than making offerings to their normal deities.
My friend told me that this man was an admiral, who joined the Thai Navy sometime before 1900. He served in the Royal Navy for six years and then rebuilt the Thai Navy where he became Captain and then Admiral. Some research on the internet tells me that his name is Kromluang Chomphonkhetudomsak, and he is regarded as the founding father of the modern Thai Navy, who is honoured by the Thai people. On the side of the hill there is, what looked like to me, some sort of naval lookout box, and I watched a few people set off some very loud firecrackers in it, presumably for good luck.

I walked back down the hill and decided to go and see the Big Buddha or Wat Phra Yai (up yet another hill). A motorbike taxi will take you up for 30 baht. At the top you will see a huge Buddha at the top of a set of stairs, flanked by two sets of Naga-a cobra-like snake with many heads. The Buddha hill and the Big Buddha are regarded as the protectors of Pattaya City. The Big Buddha is surrounded by different Buddhas, all in different positions, representing each day of the week. At the back there is a small pavilion with a Buddha’s footprint carved into the stone, and it is good luck for visitors to try and place a coin in the grooves of the pattern on the stone.

On the way down the hill, I was walking again- it’s easier on the way down- I came across some Chinese Gardens, with statues, temples and a beautiful little pond-these are dedicated to Confucius, a Chinese teacher, editor, politician and philosopher in the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history, and Lao-Zi, a philosopher and poet of ancient China.

Aside wandering around looking at the temples and murals, there was a guy with a rucksack on his back. I thought he was sightseeing, like me, but when he passed me he was out of breath- he appeared to be jogging. That’s one way to get round the attractions I suppose!

I decided to walk back down the hill to Beach Road as it was downhill but it was quite a long walk but persevered I did BUT be sure to take plenty of water-I did not; wear sensible shoes-I did not; and don’t forget the suntan lotion- I did. From the peace and tranquility of Memorial look-out point and Big Buddha Hill to the bustling and chaotic Beach Road- the two are worlds apart. Everywhere there are people- walking, cycling, enjoying the beach, in bars and restaurants, even passed out from the night before.

Having felt like I had walked the whole of Pattaya I went back to my room for an afternoon nap, which has become a daily (almost every day) occurrence- I would never think of doing this in the UK but it’s so damn hot here and added to that I am not working at the moment- it’s very tiring doing nothing you know- but the walk made me feel revived (after my snooze of course).

Having spent two weeks back in Surin and realising after one week that, however good it was living there before, it is not the place for me. It would be easy for me to live there again-I mean I have friends there and I know where I am going and the good places to hang out. But I need to go outside my comfort zone again and live somewhere new and meet some new friends.

So I took myself off to Pattaya-which is located on the eastern seaboard, about 100 km southeast of Bangkok. Why? No.1- I wanted to visit my good friend Steve and No.2- I spent a few weeks there when I did my TEFL course (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and whatever you have heard of this place or your own opinion of it- I like it, although I wouldn’t want to live there but it’s good for a couple of days/nights.

So after eight long hours on a bus I arrived around 4pm and met Steve in a bar on Soi Buklaow. We had a good catch up having not seen each other for two years and wandered to the next bar where we spent the next couple of hours with his friend.
However seedy this place is, it is full of life-people in bars, people walking around, motorcycle taxis, baht buses, street vendors, bar girls, bar boys, farangs and Thais, among a whole host of nationalities- it is a place of constant activity….the complete opposite of Surin…so for me a welcome change- at least for a couple of days.

1. Lady-boys- I love lady-boys, they fascinate me. There was a group of them sitting having dinner and drinks in On Nut night market in Bangkok on the first night I arrived back.  I have been out with a few and they are so much fun although they can be bitchy and some of them you just cannot tell that they used to be female- some of them are absolutely stunning but some of them have sorry tales to tell- when sometimes their family disown them because of who they want to be. It’s very sad. I watched a DVD- Beautiful Boxer- about a Thai boy, Nong Toom, who did Muay Thai boxing to pay for his operations to become female, he was accused of defiling the masculinity of Thai kick-boxing  but persevered in following his dreams and now she is a successful business woman, running a boxing camp in Pranburi, Thailand and teaching Muay Thai and aerobics to children.

   

   2. Street Dogs- Oh my god they are such a pain in the ass. Most of these dogs are owned by families who let them out at night, and they go around in packs and it is sometimes very intimidating when they won’t let you pass. I remember once I was walking back to the house I was staying, and after some little yappy pup tried snapping at my heels, he watched until I got back to the house and no longer on his territory. When I first moved into my house, in Surin, the dogs would bark and bark because they did not know me but after a while they got used to my smell and left me alone. For this reason they are actually quite good guard dogs because they bark if they don’t know someone walking around near your home.

3. Don’t “wai” kids when they “wai” you- In Thailand the accustomed greeting (if you enter a home or work or even a restaurant, is for people to “wai”; which is when both palms are pressed together, as in a prayer fashion, and the head is bowed slightly. There are rules though and most Thai people forgive Westerners the fact that we do not know what these rules are.  If you “wai” your parents, grandparents, or a monk the tips of the fingers should be touching between your eyes; a friend you would have your fingertips at the tip of the nose; if someone younger “wais” an older person then the older person does not return the gesture. When I got back to Surin we went to a local bar for a beer and said hello to the owner who had a child in the back. As the child should have she greeted me in the traditional way and I returned it- I just got carried away because I was all excited at being back in Surin.

4. Staring- Oh how Thais love to stare, especially when you are in a non-touristy place, such as Surin, where I am based for a few weeks. They don’t mean anything by it, they are genuinely interested in seeing a foreign woman in their midst. I remember living here and was doing my weekly shop and this whole family spotted me and stared and I thought “for God’s sake what are you lot staring at now?” So I waved and was treated to the most wonderful smiles and enthusiastic waving. It made me laugh and really made my day.

5. Wonderful Smiles- Thailand is known as The Land of Smiles and believe me it is true (apart from the moody immigration officers at the airport). Everywhere you go if you smile you get the most wonderful smiles back and if you ingratiate yourself into their culture a little by speaking to them and making friends, you will be rewarded with ever-lasting memories. I have so many friends here- people in bars and restaurants, people in schools, people that I have met once or twice- when I lived in Surin I went to a restaurant only once in a three year period, and on arrival back here, some two years later, the lady remembered me. It is such a nice feeling.

6. Friendly People- As no.5 but everywhere you go you will find Thais a friendly bunch of people. You only have to walk down the street and say “sawadee ka” (Hello) and they will say it back to you. On my daily run around the park they say “hi” and engage me in conversation about where I’m from, what I’m doing here, what my name is. It’s so easy to talk to them and become friends with some of them.

7. Chicken Balls (on sticks) – Any market has these and they are delicious. You can get chicken, pork, beef and prawns and these are skewered onto a stick which are then deep fried so they cook and served in a plastic bag with a little bag of chilli sauce. Delicious and so cheap, about 10 BHT each (around 1p).

8. Ants- Ants are everywhere, in the kitchen, in your bed, in your cup of tea, in your food. Tiny ones that don’t bite- they are so small they won’t do you any harm but they do get everywhere but after a while you just tend to ignore them even when you see hundreds of them marching in a line towards a piece of food that you have maybe left out after lunch. They love sweet things, so things like sugar have to be kept in the fridge because, even if the sugar is in a sealed container, the little rascals still find a way in. Then there are the large red ants that also march around outside on their daily business but these ones are aggressive and if you annoy them they will give you a nasty bite.

9. XL clothes- Being someone who likes to keep fit and (tries) to watch what I am eating and drinking I still have a few unwanted pounds here and there but it pains me to buy XL clothes when I am normally around a 12/14 but living in an Asian country one has to put up with certain things, and as Thais are generally smaller the clothes are made smaller. So XL it is then!

10. Taking alcohol into bars/clubs-This I love. Certain clubs and bars, especially in places like Surin, will allow you to bring your own bottle of vodka, whiskey or whatever you want (sometimes you have to pay a corkage fee), so you only pay for whatever mixers you have- which makes for a cheaper night out if you are on a budget. I found out the other day that at a couple of regular hangout places, here in Surin, the staff will let you keep a bottle behind the bar (even putting your name on it), so that every time you go there you only have to buy the mixers.

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