The Thai Pirate - Thai Blog and Travel Stories

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Spotted in a side road in Pattaya.

Accidentally on purpose? I'm not sure.

A harsh reality in rural Thailand

Awoke the other morning to find my little pal Pinky's lifeless body on the terrace outside. Snake bite. I didn't have to check for a heartbeat, her body was stiff and her eyes were dull. I was, and am, gutted.

For the last 3 months we have kept the dogs in an outdoor kennel. It's pretty big, easily big enough for them to sleep comfortably, but these Thai dogs not being used to confinement, do everything they can to escape. Little Pinky was probably the best escape artist among them.

I took to burying her immediately, partly because I didn't want the others to see her, and partly because I was looking to close the issue as quickly as possible.

Instead of shovels or spades, the Thai's instead use a long pick, to break through the soil and lift it out. Once you get used to them, they are effective, and equally usable by both men and women being that they are a more 'foot friendly' alternative to the shovel, which generally requires boots, and not sandals. I buried her behind an old shrine of one of Sutiya's relatives in the garden, and in the muggy humidity of the morning I worked up quite a sweat; the inside of my thumbs became red raw as I chopped away at the earth, illustrating to me just how hard the hands are of the Thai's I work with, I swear some of them can crack nuts with their fingers.

So a very sad day for me. Apart from myself and Sutiya, no one in my Thai family spoke of it, even though everyone was very fond of Pinky.

As a dog lover, losing them has been one of the hardest things to deal with during my stay. Of course I've lost dogs back in the UK before, but always because they are too old, or ill, which makes it more acceptable. Pinky was only three.... and we've lost three dogs now in under six months, all to snakes. The house I am staying in has no real boundaries, is used for work as well as living, so is open, and has a lot of natural water, plants, and treescape, so it's the perfect environment for snakes. During the wet season you are probably only a few feet away from a snake at anytime, although if exposed they quickly make for the hills. The dogs are at a natural disadvantage in that their innate curiosity gets the better of them, and should they come across the wrong one, it's curtains.

So another day, another dead dog. I am slowly hardening to this fact of rural Thai life, although I still fear greatly for the others left in the pack. I have barricaded the kennel so much that Charles Bronson would have a hard time getting free.

(pic: how Thai's use normal shovels) So farewell my little Pinky, you were a lovely little mutt, and will be sorely missed. In a strange way you have done your job well, as your death is a constant reminder to me that while I am here I shall have to keep a constant watch on Aiden when he is tottering around, so thank you my lovely. 

If you've read this post, please don't feel obliged to post messages of sympathy, the post is just to show how some elements of living in rural Thailand are difficult for us Western folk to swallow, but are very much just another part of the rich tapestry here.. In Thailand, life generally is more unfiltered than back home.

Another VERY nice place to stay near Suvarnabhumi

Moving on nicely from the last post, for those that want somewhere nice to stay near to Suvarnabhumi, check out the Paragon Inn, it's no more than 5-10 mins from the airport.

(Paragon Inn - The Secret of Living ...... I always enjoy the Thai's love of cheesy catchphrases, one day I will have to write a post listing a few of them)

We found this place completely on the off chance, as usual. It is signposted from King Kaew Road, and we took a chance and wow, it is a great little find. Very well designed rooms throughout, great menu and nice food (for those that may be wondering, this is a genuine post).

The place can be no more than a year old, at most. Done out in modern Thai style, very traditional, very welcoming, very clean. Another great thing about this place is the price tag... For somewhere that could easily charge 3k plus a night, the cost to us, on this occasion (Friday night) was 1.1k. We were well pleased with the value, especially when the room turned out to be one of the best we have stayed in (we have seen a few), so just, really good, although I'm sure the low price has more to do with the fact the place is new, so, get in, because I can't see it staying so low in the future.

(New style in relaxing - ha) The Paragon Inn will be opening up a pool soon, which will probably add to the cost, but seriously, for somewhere so close to the airport, it is well worth checking out if you want an easy ride to Suvarnabhumi in the morning before your flight, even if the price goes up.

Great place to stay 5 mins from Suvarnabhumi

This post should be a useful post for all travellers to Thailand.. Recently I've been working in a place in Bangkok called Ladkrabang, which is near to Suvarnabhumi. At the end of the first day, we had to find somewhere close by to stay..... We were looking for somewhere as cheap as possible, and somewhere which wasn't a toilet (as we were going to be there a few days).

We drove to a couple of places that were pretty toilet, and as we began to lose hope someone advised us to take a look down King Keaw Road (sounds a bit like Ging Gell).

We tried it, and discovered that it is an excellent area to stay the night before flying home / out of Thailand (as it is less than 5 minutes drive to the airport).

King Keaw is a long road, with many different places to stay to suit all budgets. We stopped at a little place called 'Valentines' which was OK, but, by far the best thing about staying at this end of King Keaw is that it is right next to a large, new development that includes a fantastic riverside restaurant, night club and lots of evening entertainment. Even though I don't know the name of the place, it is so large you can't miss it, it is easily visible when driving onto King Keaw from the motorway, mainly due to the large (artificial) lake, and various traditional thai buildings and watch towers.

(above: the bandstand) We had dinner in there a couple of times, and the food was spot on. It's very popular, busy every night, to the point that you might wait for an outdoor table, and there are at least a hundred. There is an attractive bandstand with different entertainment, and a large screen and indoor restaurant (perfect for the football, at the time).

(attractive walkways and decorations throughout) But best of all, sitting out on the riverside decks and enjoying the good food, you are also able to view the spectacular night landings of the various planes coming into Suvarnabhumi every few minutes... Some flying incredibly close overhead...

(Plane landing circled in white) Typical Thai innovation - build a restaurant near to the runway - never a boring night!

So next time you're flying home, check out King Keaw road.

Rear Ended in Pattaya?

Just got back from a 5 day stay in Pattaya. Nothing much to report, my partying days are pretty much over now Aiden is keeping me up awake... Drinking and getting up three times a night don't bode well for a fruitful day, so I'm kinda turning boring in my old age.

Just a couple of shots I took on the motorway heading back to Bangkok... Traffic chaos as usual on the roads, three separate crashes on this occassion -

- evidently these Thai drivers just can't stop rear-ending each other!

Poo Restaurant

Maybe the owner wonders why he doesn't get alot of farang trade?

Might have to try it, just to see if it lives up to its name....

Only in Pattaya eh :)

Sam Moo-un

Some of you may know that myself, wife and son were involved in a collision a while back. It was quite bad, a motorcycle pulled out in front of my car whilst he was doing a U turn (we were doing around 90km in the middle lane of 3 lane highway, 4 lanes if you count the U turn lane). He was in his sixties and wearing no helmet. He swears the whole thing was my fault, although I'm pretty confident all he can really remember is waking up a week or so later..

He was badly hurt. My family nor I were, thank god (...no thanks to him).

After several visits to the police station, and despite the advice of some, it was clear that to end the matter it was best to pay over some money to the injured party.

The amount was the key to the whole thing, they initially wanted 80k, I told them I'd pay 10k (insert holy grail quote - 10 sheckles for that, you must be mad etc).

Long story short, we agreed some while back to pay 'sam moo-un' (30k).

I'm not a rich man, to me, 30k is 30k (around 600 quid) and it's more difficult to swallow when you come from the UK, where this matter would be open and shut (mate, you weren't wearing a helmet, you drove across me, on a motorway, end of, goodbye).

But, when in Rome, and having to sit opposite his wife in the final meeting (who was always OK with me, despite clearly difficult circumstances) I said no problem to 30k let it be an end to the whole damn thing (which had dragged on, albeit in the background, for too long).

Some may think I should pay more... some may think I should not have paid at all.

To be frank, the father and son involved were difficult people. I was threatened by the son in front of the cops, and called alot of names by the father (he refused any responsibility). I'm aware some of it is 'heat of the moment' stuff, but it left a bad taste, and a reluctance on my part to give anything, especially as I was the only one down on hands and knees in the road trying to keep the bugger alive, whilst all the other onlookers ignored any pleas to lend a hand..

(If somebody can offer any explanation why all the bystanders were so reluctant to help out, please let me know, because I am still having trouble understanding this part of thai culture).

Anyways, it's over now, thank Christ.

(side note: even though we settled, I hear from the law guy they are still unhappy, refusing to pay the cops 3k admin fee, stomping their feet saying I should pay it). Some people are just never satisfied, after all, it's a miracle this guy is still breathing....

Is there any sort of moral to the story?

Not really. It was horrible. In hindsight I feel better for paying some money, not sure how I'd feel now if I just walked away and ignored it all.

I'm very glad he survived, and wish him all the best... I suppose if he'd of been more passive 'post-accident', he may have got less money, so I guess that makes some sense?

The REAL moral of the story? Watch those ROADS in THAILAND folks. Accidents are very much dealt with between the parties involved, 'mediated' over by the police.

By all means, if you are involved in an accident and feel like it wasn't your fault say so and stand your ground... depending on the circumstances it may possibly blow over... At some points during this mess, I was up for seeing it through to court, looking back the thought seems absurd now, and it would probably have never happened... I could have probably dug my heels in, but in hindsight I'm glad I didn't.

Sometimes it better to pay up and move on... Mai pen arai and all that... Watch out for those motorcyclists, especially the ones without helmets, or 'Sam Moo-un's', as I now call them.

A View of Hua Hin

(a nice contrast from the pics of Bangkok being banded around lately) For all those looking for a place to stay in Hua Hin, you can do far worse than the 'Hua Hin Grand' Hotel located on the main road into Hua Hin.... no diversions, just stay on the main road into the town centre, and it pops up on your right (Hua Hin Grand Hotel and Plaza).

Not being overly familiar with Hua Hin, we were looking for a place that offered a good nightly rate, a nice pool and internet access - all pretty straightforward, but its sometimes hard to find all three (esp when on a budget).

I notice that Hua Hin has some very new and swanky modern resorts popping up all over, and in some very strange designs. We pulled into one that at first just looks like a carpark, the buildings are all grey and there is hardly any decoration... a fairly dull and ordinary looking place from the outside, but at reception I was told 10k a NIGHT! Jesus, this place isn't even on the beach? What are they doing to you in there?

Whatever it is, it must be incredible..., but we didn't hang about ..... Onward bound, and that's when we came across the Hua Hin Grand.... a nice hotel, very good value (1500b a night) really nice large clean pool and fairly dodgy wireless internet access as standard. I think the place probably set the tone around twenty years ago, but hasn't updated much since (including the cost to stay).

If you're heading into Hua Hin from Bangkok and looking for somewhere to stay on the fly, I would advise to just stay on the main road all the way into Hua Hin town (well past Cha Am and all the initial resorts) - just keep going. We found that it's tempting to stop and just get one of the first places that fits, but trust me, the further you go (and you can go quite a way), the more options become available (even well past the main town centre).

Sympathy for the Devil?

After being ejected en masse from their encampments today, from which they have created havoc and caused financial woes for all Thais and foreigners alike for two months, this is how the Reds take out their frustrations whilst fleeing the capital..

From pictures like these, may all onlookers across the world now see the true character behind the 'red shirts'...

Any sympathy I held for them has gone up in smoke...

Muay Thai Youngsters

Spent a day in Hua Hin recently. Stayed at a hotel in town, which I'd never stayed at, nice place, the Hua Hin Grand Plaza, very good value (1500 baht a night) and super pool. May do a blog on it at some point.

Usual scenario, we camp down, have some food, nipper dozes off, as does Sutiya. I'm left watching whatever's on tv. Beers in the fridge - x 2 singha, that will do, for now.

Half an hour later and they're done.. I've got a taste on, it's Friday night, and out of the 14th floor window (big place) I spy a night bazaar type night market thingy down below, so decide I'll give it a look and bring back a few little beer chang whilst on my travels.

Walking just outside of the Hua Hin Grand I notice a muay thai gym just outside and guess what.... its a muay thai night..... tonight! Nice one....... Checking out the price, its 500 baht for 6 fights, just over a couple of hours entertainment, that's the kind of thing I'm looking for, a lucky pirate I am.

(above: a muay thai fighter getting ready for the ring) I grab a chair, a bottle of ice cold beer chang, ahhhhhhhh..... settled now, this is quality.

Hang on? What's this? First fight............Two kids???

Yep, and tough little buggers alright. They danced the traditional Thai dance, around the ring, preying in the centre and touching the ring corners. Soon enough, the bell rang, and away they went.

By the second round they had warmed up, and the little fella in black shorts seriously gave the other poor lad a real battering, bringing his knees strongly and sharply into the ribcage of his opponent. It was pretty intense viewing, and when the little guy crashed down wincing in pain, it was clear that this contest was done.

Do I agree with it? Can't say I do, or that I don't.... These kids are brought up to be muay thai fighters, I'm sure they learn heaps of discipline along the way (as all young atheletes do), respect for others, and enjoyment in partaking and being skillful in muay thai from a very young age.

Would I want my kid doing it? no. I don't think so. I don't think I could stand by and watch, it would be too hard........but that doesn't mean I think it's a bad thing, maybe my reluctance to let Aiden do something like this is a weakness or failing on my part...

Maybe these kids won't benefit from these experiences in their own futures, but I hope they do, one thing I do know, it takes a lot of guts to get into a ring no matter what age.

Whatever you think, whether you agree with kids taking part in muay thai or not, you have to take your hat off to these two young lads, and the levels of maturity they show in order to partake in this interesting, skillful, extremely tough sport.