My Other Thai Eye: The Other Side of Thailand
By Edwin Tipple
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My Other Thai Eye - Edwin Tipple
My Other Thai Eye
the second eBook in the My Thai Eye series
by Edwin Tipple
Cover design: Edwin Tipple
Published by: Edwin Tipple
Copyright © 2014 Edwin Tipple
Smashwords Edition
This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this e-book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it to Smashwords.com.
Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
***
I’d like to thank my dear friends Carol, Wendy, Roger and Paul for their eagle-eyed proof reading of this book and of course my lovely wife Liz who, once again, has put up admirably with being an author-widow.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to the Thai people. May their political differences soon be settled.
My Other Thai Eye
Table of Contents
Author note
So you have decided to come
PART ONE
Getting about can be tricky
WALKING
Pavements/sidewalks are for farangs
We have a new pavement
Rules for crossing the road
TRAVEL by ROAD
Buses
Tuk-tuks
Minivans
Hitchcock’s ‘The Bikes’
Death on the Roads
TRAINS
To Hua Hin and Beyond
Was That a Freight Train?
The Strange Case of the Damaged Picture
SRT Wipers
PART TWO
People, Building, Shopping and General Tales
PEOPLE;
What’s in a name?
Ways,
The Interviewer,
Ghostly Gold,
So sad saying, goodbye,
Zits and Selfies,
The Artist
BUILDING;
Another shopping mall
Let’s build a toilet
More Condos
SHOPPING;
Too much orange about the place, and maybe a charade too far
Getting on line
Shoes
Check bin
Concerts, Cinema & Theatre
GENERAL TALES
We’ve been fumigated including advice on ants
Well dressed
News on the beauty scene
The annual boat race
The last banana is at 17:30
Was Santa crucified this Christmas?
PART THREE
The not so amusing side of Thailand
What do you want to go there for?
A tale of John Thomas,
Thai women: ‘They’re all prostitutes.’
‘But it’s dangerous, surely?
PART FOUR
There’s an old saying: ‘The people get the government they deserve.’
Not another military coup!
Incompetent leaders
Corruption
Voting
The incredible ‘rice pledging scheme’
What to do when the military invite you in
SOME USEFUL STUFF
VISAS
Travelling with Monks
Finding a place to rent
A little handy Thai
Changing your money
LINKS
National information
Hua Hin information
My Other Thai Eye
What most guide books don’t say.
Author Note
Welcome to the second in the My Thai Eye series: My Other Thai Eye. A special thank you to all those who read the first, particularly those who posted reviews on amazon.com or amazon.co.uk – just why reviews on one site don’t appear on all Amazon sites is a quirk beyond me. Nevertheless, I’ve taken on board most reviewer criticisms.
You wanted more amusing stories and more information. (I’ve included a handful of the original articles from MTE, so that new readers don’t miss out, and marked them ** so you can easily skip them). I hope that with some information about getting around Thailand and Links to useful websites you will find My Other Thai Eye a much better read. This edition is still a collection of my observations, most of which are humorous. But please note, this is not a standard guide book.
If you’ve thought before about visiting Thailand, you will probably have read some travel books already. Few guide books, if any, give you that sideways glance, that insight into so many amusing things Thai, to prepare you for your visit: the way the people think; what they do; how they organize things. Thai antics never fail to amuse visitors. There are few days you won’t see something to make you smile or gasp, like a woman breast-feeding her baby, while riding her motorbike! I hope my wry view will persuade you to come.
You also wanted to know more about ‘the other side of Thailand’, so I’ve included information relating to this year’s military coup of May 22nd – a result of the recent political unrest that had been going on for months; correction, years. Note: it is likely to last until at least the spring of 2016 when, it is hoped, elections will be resumed. Every article has been researched from news reports in the world’s press or broadcasting organisations.
But don’t let the coup put you off coming. It really isn’t bad; quite the reverse in fact compared to recent times. If you were not in Bangkok at the time or don’t study the media, you may not even have been aware it’s the latest in a long string of Thai political upheavals.
But isn’t there another big problem: don’t a lot of tourists get murdered? The death of one person is a tragedy which I don’t set out here to demean. To put it into perspective, over the last five years 15 UK nationals were murdered in Thailand. Yet in the same period, in England and Wales alone, over 3,200 UK citizens were murdered.
But why come to Thailand? What is so good about the place? The answer is simple: the people; the food; and of course, the weather.
You’ll probably know Thailand is known as ‘The Land of Smiles’ and it certainly is. No matter how many of the people are troubled by the lack of basic things, like enough money, they are generally happy. They make you welcome, stand up to offer elders – Thai or farang (westerner)– a seat on the bus, are very hospitable and will help you as much as possible. They don’t deserve most things thrust upon them, especially incompetent leaders.
Between stories – marked in bold italic text – you’ll find short paragraphs of unrelated issues: some bizarre, some funny, some simply unbelievable and some to make you think.
***
So you have decided to come.
You’ve booked your flight which will probably arrive at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport, an airport as modern as any western one you’ve passed through. From there, you can be whisked off by a large comfortable taxi to your three, four or five star hotel where you can unwind by the infinity pool which, if you have researched the Internet well, will be overlooking the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok.
Just imagine, you’ll be able to sip your gin and tonics, relax and tell yourself the journey was worth all the effort; and believe me, it will be. A very nice waitress will arrive, wai and ask you if you would like dinner. Apart from her beauty, you’ll notice how slim and polite she is, and you will come to learn that she’s just like all Thai people you will meet as a tourist.
Over dinner – for it’s best to stay up as long as you can to adjust to the new time zone – you can decide what to do after breakfast tomorrow. Okay, I’m sure you’ll be by that very nice pool again but don’t spend all day there.
Take a peek around the city. Try a long-tailed boat ride and explore the klongs – canals. When you’ve torn yourself away from your hotel and are rocking along the klong, you’ll begin to notice that this country is about as different as it can be from any in the western world. It’s colourful, it’s vibrant and, it’s very definitely quirky. It’s just about every other adjective that springs to mind, too.
You’ll see wooden houses built on stilts, rising above the klongs, ideal for children to dive into the busy waterways. When you look back, towards the mighty Chao Phraya