The Thai Pirate - Thai Blog and Travel Stories

Bringing up a nipper in LOS

My apologies for the lack of posting recently, my time is somewhat limited now the kid is in control, although I still fully intend to post when I can.

Bringing up a kid in Thailand is a little different from how it might be in the UK. For one thing, it's warmer, most of the time quite a bit warmer; rather than be confined to the indoors due to poor weather (as he might be in England) in Thailand he often has to be kept indoors due to the heat..... Everytime I walk him from, say, the car to a shop, various blankets / shirts / hankees are thrown in my direction to protect his little features from the blazing sun.

The other thing that springs to mind is language.

Everybody accepts that Aiden will most likely speak two languages, but, I would be a liar if I said that there wasn't a little competition for which language he will learn first.

I, of course, want Aiden to speak English prominantly, being that I am his dad, and would like to say a few things to him on occasion, but this feeling is echoed by his Thai family. I think the poor little sod has his work cut out, even at this age. (incidently if anyone who has young kids in Thailand who can offer any tips on language development, would be greatly appreciated). I don't think it will be much of a problem, as he is surrounded by the Thai language everyday, and Sutiya and I only speak English (as my Thai is dodgy at best) I hope he can soak it all up without too many issues.

Another thing is work.

As Sutiya and I often work together, this has meant that Aiden has tagged along with us.

I have to confess, I wasn't sure how this would 'pan out', or whether it was practical, but it has worked well so far. Thailand's more relaxed attitude towards kids / family and work in general has meant we are freer to venture out together, and take advantage of Thailand's endless range of decent quality, affordable pitstops and hotels ..

Whether this can continue as he gets older is anyones guess.

Having a young family in Thailand is alot of fun, but as he begins to run around etc I will no doubt have nightmares about snakes / creepy crawlies etc, something I wouldn't worry about in the UK, but I'm sure if I was back at home in England I would replace this worry with something else...

Have a happy and safe Songhran and thanks for reading.

A room with two views

We stayed at a cheapish hotel in Cha Am not too long ago. Here is a fantastic view from the window.

Unforutunately, this was a picture I took from the room across the corridor (the door was open and room was vacant). This was our view.

Not so spectacular I think you'll agree (but still, bundles of character). This example is typical of how many of these Thai beach resorts develop; packed lines of buildings along the sea shore, with vast tracts of vacant land behind them, with long, straight and occasionally very busy roads leading up to the main sukhumvit.

A favourite conversation between farangs often takes the line of 'one day that land will be worth fortunes' and 'we should buy lots of it now' etc etc.

Perfectly true, probably, although I'm sure the land prices are not as low as some might like to believe ....

I'm no expert, but I do think Cha-Am is an excellent investment area for those with the resources...I mean, look at all that land.... one day that will be worth fortunes blah etc.

Flying Back to UK - Egypt Air

Flying home to see family for Christmas. Booked a flight with Egypt Air on Lastminute, cheapest one I could get (pushing 600 quid). As I usually fly with Etihad I thought it a good oppo to see how another airline compares.

In short, Egypt Air is a bit naff, compared with Etihad. The planes were pretty ancient in comparison, everything a little worn, a little tired. No entertainment system etc.

The overhead lockers were a massive cause of frustration before take off. The (male and female) dollys had trouble shutting them; consequently they would randomly crash down on peoples bonses. These lockers have a lock at either end, and so have to be shut with two hands, each at opposite ends and pushed firmly. Rocket science it isn't.... The dollys seemed to have great difficulty with this concept... Making me wonder how on earth this lot built the pyramids....

But in defence, Egypt Air made for fascinating people watching.

Egyptians come in all shapes and colours. Some are very tall, lean, dark skinned, asian eyes... some are olive skinned, short, afro hair.... others are white skinned, blonde, blue eyed.... Some have blonde, afro hair, romany skin, and asian eyes! A complete melting pot of colours and tones, but all speaking the same husky accent..... Interesting.

Landing and taking off is a little more worrying in these old planes. I noticed I was sitting over the wing on both flights.... having heard that this is statistically the safest part of the plane in a crash situation, I thought I may just make it out alive.. The nerves weren't helped by the dozen or so lockers that crashed down as the planes wheels met solid ground..

But in fairness the staff were all really friendly, and despite the age of the old bus, the pilot took off and touched down very smoothly (the only real way I can judge a pilot).

So in comparision, I reckon Egypt Air need to free up some cash to spend on their fleet. Flying with someone like Etihad is far more comfy, if only because the entertainment keeps you occupied for a couple of hours at a time..... Without it, you have too much time to ponder, boredly musing away the endless hours within a cramped, fart-filled, cigar shaped tin can.

Not a good look.

Bangkok - City of......... Green?

Most wouldn't think of Bangkok as a green city, but this time of year during the rainy season, Thailand really does turn a lush green in many places. The photo is on top of a high road running through Bang Bua Tong, in the North of Bangkok....

(The not so green view)

Visiting Hospital for Baby Check Up in Thailand

(Pic above: Chula Hospital just over the zebra on the left, maccas behind)

We attend a hospital in Bangkok (Chula Hospital), which we were recommended by some of Sutiya's nearest and dearest, they gave us the name of a maternity doctor at the hospital, and with some ducking and diving, he became our man.

At first we went every month, now, for the last couple of months, we go every 2 weeks.

We have the journey well tuned....

Chula Hospital is 2 hours away, door to door, so up at 5, showered, shave, cup of rosy, we hit the road at 6.30. The driving is fine until we hit the outskirts of Bangkok at about 7.30-8.00, then it goes pete tong.

Once we have fought through the traffic, we are usually a bit behind schedule, so I'll drop Sutiya at the front door, and scoot round to a paid car park a couple of minutes away (if you thought parking at your hospital in UK was bad, ha ha, trust me, it ain't so bad).

This is an excellent opportunity for me to grab a bacon and egg mcmuffin. A year ago, I was a silly boy, and wrote about how dumb it was for falang to seek out McMucks food when they had lots of Thai food to choose from.

Crap. I grab a burger any chance I get these days.... Shameful.. But I am the fat falang.

Into the hospital, to locate Wifey amongst a thousand or so black haired ladies on the 8th floor (the maternity ward).

The first mission is to get there. You can either use the hospital lift, 8 in total, and swamped with the young, old, healthy and ill. No previous experience of queueing is required....If anything, it's a disadvantage.

If you have had a ding dong with wifey during the journey, or are generally hungry / tired / frustrated, you are now on collision course with trouble....

People jostle, nudge, elbow, tread and cough on you..... space is now a limited resource, and everyone wants a piece. . you will get mad, at someone, during the wait you will probably invent a thousand different queuing systems in your head (all of which would probably fail) and pass judgement on the Thai's for their indifference to 'i was here first'. But then you're not really any different.... You find yourself owning space, and after some silent queue intimidation, you will be a part of the winning 15, squeezing in, leaving all the losers behind.

Or you can take the stairs, my preferred option. No matter how hungover, or ill. 8 floors is a bit of a tug with gravity, but well worth it. Stairwells in Thai hospitals are generally empty...

Talking about the actual care / attention given to the afflicted, we have had a pretty positive experience I would say... there is always a wait when you get to the hospital, but this is to be expected, and something the Brits are drilled in. After the first month when you have your bearings, you can be in and out within a few hours... Urine tested, blood pressure checked, doctor thumbs up....

The doctor? He speaks fluent English, is internationally trained (I believe), and seems very nice and in control, so I'm happy. He has answered all of our questions thus far, and seems very competent. All good.

The only thing that worries me now, is the two hour drive to the hospital once baby has had enough, and decides it's time to make an appearence.....