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Thailand 2019

sustaining songs

Rem – Rockville

Bowie – speed of life

Eno – China my china

Rem – Fall on me

Warren zevon – back in the high life

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On the Road Random Thoughts Thailand 2019 Vietnam

Rayong to Da Nang

The following is an abject lesson in travel.

The plan – travel from Rayong to Da Nang by bike, taxi, plane, and taxi. The timeframe – one day. Bish, bosh, bash, just like that.

Not so difficult? Except that…

This is Thailand

In the week before leaving, I’d had to show my face at Rayong Wittayakom school, where I’d worked as a teacher for the previous six months. This because I wanted to ensure I was paid the previous month’s salary.

At 37,000 ฿ ( ~=USD 1120), it’s a pittance by Western standards. But living monkishly, I’d been able to save around 500 USD / month. And, with Vietnam in my sights, I could hardly afford to be sniffing at it.

The byzantine Thai bureaucracy dictated that my Visa was kaput as soon as the school contract ended. That meant I had exactly one day between finishing my school duties, and evacuating Thailand.

This Is Me

I’d been in the same apartment for a couple of months, during which time I’d accrued belongings, both useful and otherwise. My ‘filing system’ was the floor, over which tumbled my worldly possessions.

After wrangling with Thais, a hopeless scenario at the best of times, I’d found a dirt-cheap ( 2300 ฿/month ) scooter for rental from Pattaya. However, I now had to return it before leaving.

I’d decided to go to Vietnam, rather than do a ‘Visa run’ across the border and back, or return to New Zealand.

I’d turned down two good job offers, one in Pattaya, and another in Phuket. Mostly because I didn’t want to face another 30-hour bus trip , or deal with the Thai education ‘system’.

All of which resulted in last-minute packing decisions, money-changing, changing travel plans, insurance cashing, and general chaos.

The result? Early on the morning of November 1, 2019, I loaded more than 30kgs worth of possessions onto a 150cc scooter, ready to ride from Rayong to Pattaya, a trip of about 65 km.

A Tranquilised Mule

On first mounting the scooter, it slowly keeled over ,like a tranquilised mule. This of course was just cream on the cake for the hotel staff watching the entire pantomime from the front checkout.

A couple of them did come over to help right the beast, and I was shortly back on board.

I wobbled around the carpark a few times as a warm-up, and then set off on the Long Run to Pattaya. The suburbs of Rayong present their own challenge, because Thai motorists treat road rules as advisories. Much like “do not exceed the recommended dose”.

Half an hour and a couple of stops later, I was on the main road to Pattaya. These are mainly concrete, and so are slippery. An abrupt change of direction would result in a slide much more unhealthy than your average amusement park.

Stay Calm, Focus, Execute

So it became a question of sustaining concentration. I’m a small overloaded blip travelling slower than almost anything else.

This is the first leg of the journey, Rayong to Pattaya. The next is Pattaya to Bangkok via taxi. The third is the flight from Bangkok to Da Nang, Vietnam. And the last is the taxi ride to my pre-booked hotel from Da Nang airport.

It’s a game of dominoes. If one fails to fall, none of the rest of them fall into place either.

I streamed the mantra “stay calm, focus, execute”, to distract myself from thinking about consequences of an accident.

Panic in Pattaya

Once I made it to Pattaya, there was an additional hurdle. I was there to return the rental scooter. But the directions given by the scooter owner were sketchy at best.

“Find the 7-11 on the corner of Sukhimwit Road. I’m in the third shop from the corner, it’s behind the cafe …”

Ragged from the concentration of the trip, I darted hither and yon, hauling in my wake a suitcase, a laptop briefcase, and a shoulder bag. Up against the clock of my flight departure, another 20 minutes ticked by before I found said scooter owner.

With the handover out of the way, and nothing said about the additional dents, it was time to find the taxi for the second leg, Pattaya to Suvarnabhumi airport, Bangkok.

Easy? But no. With the usual Thai efficiency, the driver I’d been chatting to for three days to drive home the deadlines was otherwise engaged. After another 20 minutes of pacing inside an air-conditioned 7-11, I had a driver.

As it happened, about an hour, and 1100 ฿ later, the airport hove into view.

Gate A

The attendant told me he plane was leaving at “Gate A”. Minutes later, it dawned on me that the gates were numbered, not lettered. While other passengers glided around with their small trolleys behind them, I hobbled along like a small mule with a limp. Then, six months of teaching Thais came to the rescue.

Thais often drop the final consonant of English words. ‘Gate A’ was ‘Gate 8’.

With the target finally settled, I found the flight board, and discovered that the flight was boarding 15 minutes ago

Fark! All this way, all that palaver, and here I am stumbling at the second hurdle. I picked myself up and started sprinting. It didn’t look good, but it was effective. Soon I caught the remnants of the check-in line.

A short sauna bus ride, and 30 minutes’ of looking at the flight attendants later, and we were airborne.

Da Nang

I’d organised online a Vietnam Visa for about USD 100 for 3 months. So I was surprised and delighted when I was snapped and stamped and waved through in about 10 minutes.

It was around 6pm, and I was in ‘Nam.

On the advice of someone who knew these things, I’d arrived with a wad-full of US dollars. The advice was good, and I got instant co-operation from taxi drivers.

The short taxi ride gave me a taste of the beauty of Da Nang. It’s a much more modern city than Rayong – bridges lighting up like stairways, wide roads, modern architecture.

I found that US dollars got instant co-operation from apartment managers , too.

I’d skimped on the apartment. It was something like $12 ( 300,000 VND ) / night , and I got what I paid for. But at this stage, I didn’t care.

I’d made it. I unpacked a few things, and collapsed on my bed.

school
– long-term teacher doesn’t talk to anyone
– fat thai teacher with a mental age of 10

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Thailand 2019 Vietnam

Good Evening Vietnam

I made it to Vietnam.

The day of the trip – yesterday – is a long comic story, more of which later.

For now, here’s a view from the balcony of the Kaluga Hotel, Da Nang

First impressions –

  • Da Nang is a beautuful city
  • It’s cleaner, and less dusty, than ( the parts of ) Thailand ( I was in )
  • The ( ocean ) beach is great – long, relatively clean, and less than 5 minutes’ walk from the hotel
  • Riding ( a scooter ) on the right-hand side of the road is a challenge
  • Vietnamese drivers use their horns like other people use their indicators
  • Categories
    Thailand 2019

    Man on the Moon

    The Thai Government is ‘liberal’ with its public holidays – 27 of them in 2019.

    The last one I was there for was ( King ) Chulalongkorn Memorial Day. More than half of the public holidays are connected to royalty.

    Thais – like many women, I hear, love men in uniform. This holiday, as with the others, is as good an excuse as any to button one on, and prance about.There’s also a noticeably strong police and army ( uniformed ) presence in Thailand.

    Both the uniforms and the strong regard for royalty seem to me to be a sign of a deeply conformist society. It’s a collectivist – “what’s best for all of us?” – outlook. Thailand, and many other Eastern societies, typically follow this ethic.

    As opposed to an individualist – “what’s best for me and mine?” – outlook. Think Western / United States, especially.

    There are pluses and minuses to both. Following are some back-of-the-napkin ideas. For the first, I’m thinking mainly of Thailand. For the second, America.

    Collectivism / conformity – suffocating bureaucracy, poor education standards ( because no-one is allowed to fail, and thus few stand out ), better social adjustment, fewer innovations, less people who are way more ‘dirt poor’ than the rest.

    Individualism – the PC, the Velvet Underground and The Ramones, a Man on the Moon, the Internet, ( mass-affordable ) cars. More sick people ( more murders than anywhere else, more people on medication ), and more wealth concentrated in fewer hands.

    Categories
    Food Thailand 2019

    The Duck or the Egg?

    I manage to share some light and laughter in at least one realm of my life here in Thailand.

    That’s at the 7-11s ( that’s a dairy to you in NZ ) , where I practise my kindergarten Thai on the shop assistants. They most often greet my attempts with a slyish grin. They’re both chuffed that I’m trying, and laughing at me at the same time.

    The other day I discovered salted duck eggs, after a fellow teacher tipped me off
    .
    After wolfing down my first 4-pack in a day or two, next time I went into a ‘Se-When’ ( 7-11 ) , I asked for ‘bpet’ ( duck ) ‘kai’ ( eggs ). Funny look. Assistant points to duck eggs. I nod vigorously.

    ‘Chai chai ( yes yes ). Bpet kai?’.

    ‘Kai bpet,’ she corrects.

    So it turns out I’d been asking for ‘duck eggs’, when I should have been asking for ‘eggs duck’.

    I’m left to ponder how a NZ shop assistant would handle a request for an ‘egg duck’.

    Whatever the case, these things are the business. Bright orange yokes, as you see above, and salted just right.

    Hope they have ’em in ‘Nam.

    Categories
    Thailand 2019 Vietnam

    Vietnam here I come

    The see-sawing is finally over. It’s Vietnam rather than Pattaya.

    After I resigned from my current school, I did a phone interview with a private school in Pattaya. The upshot was a job offer for 40k baht / month, as opposed to the current 37k ( about NZD 1900 ).

    So a good offer. But after torturing myself with Visa options for staying in Thailand, the only reliable one I could find was another 30-hour bus-trip to Savannakhet, Laos. The slightly less bitter pill would have been a 10-hour drive in a rental car.

    I just couldn’t do it. Here’s my logic – if that’s how high Thailand wants me to jump, I’ll play elsewhere. Plus, the Thai Visa situation re foreigners is getting worse, not better.

    So it’s two birds in the bush – Vietnam’s higher pay-rates and cheaper living – rather than one in the hand ( a solid offer from Thailand ).

    My last day at the current job is October 31.

    I leave for Vietnam – most likely Da Nang – in the day or after that.

    Categories
    Thailand 2019

    Tien Beach

    After yesterday’s disappointment, this morning’s sojourn to Tien Beach set me straight.

    The place is spectacular. Access to the beach is via a wooden walkbridge, as below;

    The beach itself is like a tourist brochure;

    I expect it’s often busier than this, but it was early enough in the morning to be relatively quiet.

    I spent an hour or so strolling up and down, listening to the Russians ( they’re following me, I swear ), and wallowing about in the water.

    More than that would have brought on some heat-stroke, so back to the room for the return to Pattaya.

    Categories
    Thailand 2019

    A Day In The Life

    Since I’m on holiday, I thought it would be in order to go ‘hog wild’.

    Alright, alright, maybe chicken wild is closer to the truth. I’ve loosed the purse strings a little, and decided to enjoy my few days in Pattaya.

    But before I go into that, here’s the street scene from my routine morning coffee. Times two ( ‘eek neung gao’ – ‘just one more’ ), and make it strong please.

    Below is the scene;

    Maybe the caffeine sharpened my eye. Whatever, on my return to RL Residence I spotted the wildlife below.

    Not one to be easily fooled, I figured this to be a feral monkey.

    Later in the day, I decided took a trip to Koh Larn ( island ). While it may seem exotic, this was actually the bugdet option. I considered Ko Samet ( island ), and Phuket, but decided to keep the purse-strings a little tight given the job situation.

    Here’s the scene from the ferry ( 30 baht );

    I’d booked a hotel earlier, and finally discovered it after hiring a bike and weaving down streets the size of footpaths.

    The room was passable, functional.

    I settled in and made the required trip to the local beaches.

    The two I visited were spectacular scenes, but to be honest, they were filthy by New Zealand standards. Islands of trash ( mainly plastic food wrappings ) floating in the water, seams of the stuff stretching up on sand. And while the water seemed clean, that’s not really a safe bet given the crap innit.

    From the dozen or so beaches I’ve visited in Thailand, this is pretty much par for the course.

    If beaches back home were in this condition, there’d be outraged National Party supporters marching in the streets, and never mind the Greens.

    Tomorrow – Tien Beach.