Pattaya - Asia's City of Sin in Transition

Not a diligent blogger by any stretch of the imagination. Always seems to be something more enticing than hammering the keys on my aging lap top. It was easier while staying in the northern parts of Thailand where time seems to be irrelevant. The objective of this blog, I thinks, was to provide an outlet for me to express myself. I do talk to myself or meditate in a loose sense on life but why not put something down more permanent to look back on as life moves by at its hectic pace.

Here I go again with my attempt to blog. The next few blogs will be about the Eastern sea board, centering on Pattaya and its surrounding. Lots to cover and some of it a little to completely perverse but hard to avoid discussing the wild side of Pattaya. The town popped up during the Vietnam war as a anything goes destination for the troops. It has just recently, after 40 years, begun to redefine itself which has been hilarious yet successful. It is now a family destination and I would venture to guess it will be predominately families in ten years time and the hell raising westerners will be a memory. Its proximity to Russia and ex-Soviet Union Bloc countries, as well China, are the factors behind the evolution of Pattaya. Baby strollers everywhere and families that look just like Americans (before we became a plump nation) outnumber westerners in the area around my condo.

This blog is about my not so well thought out reason I'm here and the next entries will be about the area's crazy entertainment venues and bizarre daily life where the ironic is normal. A city with numerous five star hotels and restaurants that are in the heart of a city of sins and excitement.

How I Landed on the Eastern Sea Board

Now, after 4 months in the Northern Thailand and the rice paddies, I find myself again on the Eastern sea board of the Gulf Of Thailand. Our condo is minutes away from the Pattaya, a city that would cause Vegas to blush. It is the most dynamic city I've ever experienced and driven by greed with few restraints. There are a limited number of laws that are enforced and when they are is usually a random process. If you find yourself in a dangerous situation, then you better deduce how to separate yourself from it. No knight in shining armor with a badge and clock in his holster will offer any assistance. It is just part of the excitement and those that live here simply avoid the dangers.

How I ended up here is a long story and a little cloudy. The gist: it was a rush and the air was clean. For those that have spent time in developing nations, the second reason is not as easy as you might conclude. As luck would have it, a crazy American living in the same building stabbed my current neighbor, a fellow American that coincidentally went to the same college as me. The president of the home owners association also went to ASU, but I'm digressing. Anyhow, he stabbed Robert ( neighbor) a few times and then returned to his condo. The details of what happened next are not too descriptive. From what I gather from anecdotal conversations and an article in the paper, he was eventually taken down to the police station, a report was taken, and the situation was then completely forgotten. Months later somehow a Thai person in the building that had contacts in the Thai legal system brought the case to the forefront again and the insane American was booted from the country.

His place had a nice view and its placement offered privacy. The building is wave like and the condo is at the precipice of one of the waves garnering it almost complete privacy. I walk around in boxers or even less at times so this is important. We do get to see our 83 year and German neighbor prance around naked on his balcony but he is here rarely and nudity doesn't bother us. The prior infamous owner installed a fake video recorder which covered his patio and forced him to cover up. At his request, I removed the video recorder and he resumed his naked patio visits. I do enjoy the tiny condo with its incredible views (minus the naked raisin ), from both balconies and brisk to hurricane force winds that cool it down.

As I write this we are already thinking about moving on to N. Thailand soon. It has been a nice 3 months here in Pattaya but the tourist season is almost upon us and I don't do well with the hordes. I think the next blog entry will focus on the nightlife and Deuan and will jump on the scooter on Saturday night and take some random crazy pictures of things you would never see in the states.

May

a bummer of a month

First, I want to warn anybody reading this post. It 's more of a journal entry and is not too interesting. Had a bad month and moping a little. I hope to be moving down to our beach place next month and need the change of scenery. Should have something more interesting to post in July.

I pride myself on persistence - not the George W's stay the course at all costs. When something isn't working keep searching for a solution and alter the plan. I listen to others advice but have found that their good intentions usually don't accomplish nearly as much as hard work and retrospection. I can reflect on the past in relationship to my issues better than someone else in most situations. This point of view is also a reflection of me being a loner and at times has also been a hindrance. In the end though, I go with what works for me which is solving my problems with limited outside influence.

I'm a serious runner and for those that are also obsessed with running will easily relate and for those that aren't will just wonder how and why I put myself through all these trials of miles. Ninety-nine percent of my current health issues, albeit minor problems, are all directly related to my running. Through 2010 there were few if any negatives in regards to my running and life was in balance. Now, after 18 months of injuries, I'm completely out of balance. My fanatical persistence, in this instance, ultimately hurt me. I've managed to make adjustments to my running form and types of running I do to run with injuries. Now my body is a knot of confused tendons and muscles.

It's important to keep my health in perspective in lieu of only focusing on the negatives. My health is exceptional in a general sense. I'm a healthy middle aged male with some minor issues that are having a major impact on the quality of my life at the moment. My weak links are my joints and tendons which are now chronically fatigued but for the most part I haven't causes any long term damage.

Over the last month I have had countless doctor visits and massages to no avail. I really can't remember when a doctor has helped me in the last 20 years. Doctors are great but with sports related injuries that aren't caused by trauma are hard to diagnose. Last week I had the dreaded cortisone injection into the heel. I've had about five in my lifetime on various body parts and most are only mildly painful but the doctor told me this one would hurt lots. In the end, it accomplished nothing with the exception of me screaming in pain. I told him to not mess around and jab me like a pin cushion.

I'm done with the doctors and am going to fix the underlying problem. Been told this is the route to take now for the last 18 months. I wanted to slug most the people saying it and still think it is an overused runners cliche. Most runners would fix whatever might be causing the injury(s) if they only knew what was causing their body to fall apart. Find the underlying cause – duh – and what the heck do people think I've been doing for 18 months!

My hips are extremely tight and releasing the tension might be the answer to running injury free. I now rest most the day and stretch rigorously a few times each day. I am bored out of my mind. Started biking again and that helps me get my exercise fix. I've watched more TV in the lat 10 days than I've watched over the last four years in total.

Anyhow, my pathetic post is over and back to watching another episode of “The Wire”. I haven't watched a TV series in probably five years so I could watch TV every waking hour for months without running out of new shows. Hope that doesn't become a reality.

Easy Adjustment to Village Life

Adding a tad of civilization

It's been two months now and still enjoying living in the sticks. Honestly, I don't know why three years passed without even attempting to live with the in-laws for more than a week or two. Every day is relaxing and I don't miss the hordes of tourists or the traffic. This will be our second home now and expect to stay here intermittently throughout the year for months at a time. Our beach place is fun and I'm sure with time I'll miss it more. For now though this arrangement in the sticks is working for me.

I claim to live in the sticks but in actuality I have transformed our bedroom in Deuan's sister's home into a modern abode. First I got high speed internet which turned into a high speed dial-up service. The nearby city just got 3G and as of May 1, speedy Internet is now reality. It doesn't compare to speeds in America but I'm satisfied. After the Internet, I added a flat screen and have thousands of movies and TV shows on my hard drive or friends' hard drives. Almost forgot, I added an AC unit to bedroom the week prior arriving. Without AC this month, I wouldn't have survived. August in Phoenix is similar to weather here in May.

Lastly and most importantly ( other than the AC), I remodeled the bedroom which was a cave because the windows opened up to a smelly shack and were always closed. A cobra that they were unable to kill also lived in there which gave me little incentive to clean it.

Below is a pic of the adjacent shack which is in much better condition than the shack behind our room. I paid some vilagers to knock it down and don't have any pictures. Take my word – it was disgusting. The cobra got away again and slid under an old sewage container.


Deuan and I then cleaned up the area. In lieu of taking construction waste to the dump the common practice is to dig a large hole in the back and dump everything into it. It took a full day to clear the area of all the crap that was just under the surface. We hired two kids to help because I have sissy hands and within 3 hours were a bloody mess. Not a bad thing being that I now was forced to hire people to do all the tasks requiring the use of hands which ultimately was everything.

Thais in the village are definitely handy when it comes to construction. The going rate is $8 a day for a general laborer and up to $15 for a specialist. All are undependable and most drink heavily. I was in no hurry and was fine with the arrangement. In the end I must have hired 15 different villagers to help. Unlike America, the economy is humming and you hire who isn't working that day. You are also expected to buy whiskey on top of the wages. All in all, not a bad setup and preferred over employing sub contractors in America. During the housing bubble they wouldn't show-up or charge outrageous prices. Not all subs but this was often my experience.

Once I started the project it consumed me and I was determined to transform our cave room into something special. Sure not special compared to the spacious gardens back home but I had very little to work with. Below was my to do list on April 20.

Knock down shack in back of bedroom
Clear area and purchase dirt for garden
Build outdoor shower with toilet
Add pond ( use cement sewage container – onwer unknown ). Careful – cobra escaped underneath
Add class bedroom door opening into patio and window
Purchase plants to border Patio Garden
Add fence around Patio garden
Build/buy table
Extent patio with cement slabs

My must haves were the bedroom door and the outdoor shower. Running in this muggy heat is a sweaty experience. After my runs I had nowhere to strip off my clothes and wet myself down. The only entrance was through the front door next to their food shop with all the customers and family around. The shower would provide a space to get out of sticky clothes and cool down.

Today is May 1, 10 days into the project, and somehow I've managed to clear the list without stressing. The project would have taken months back home but I improvised and utilized labor, materials, and plants that were all around the house. Also didn't have to worry about building and waste disposal permits which are time consuming.

There are vegetables growing all around and we just replanted some of them in our tiny vegetable garden, her usually drunk oldest brother helped perform monotonous tasks that take a limited amount of brain cells, our patio backs up to a house that was just built and we had access to all the wood from the old house, and many others items laying around were transformed into tables, pond, etc.

Below is my humble garden and outdoor shower. Total cost of $1,000 give or take $100. The table was an old huge water jug that had a leak and an old door that was sawed in half and painted. The pond was an old underground sewage container that was laying around, and the plants were all gathered from around the house. I used an old stairway to make the fence to keep the ducks and chickens out.







The shower is wonderful and drastically improves my after run experience. It is hard to imagine what state I'm in after running 10-15 miles in this heat. The locals always ask what happened to me because of the wet rat appearance. Now I get back from my runs and turn on the AC prior to showering and getting out of my running gear.

The room backs up to a newly built house. The owner coincidentally is a friend that lives next to our beach condo in Southern Thailand. Small world and a story for another time. They use the place a few weeks a year and we have quite a bit of privacy other than the kids that randomly visit. A couple of them call me Dad which is cute but they are serious which I assume will be problematic. They are related to Deuan and their parents live in Bangkok. I would guess they see their parents less than 10 days a year. Sad but all to common here. I'm sure I'll be paying for any large medical emergencies or other bills that are a necessity. Oh well, life goes on. They are adorable and definitely not shy.

Kat and Nui





Besides the remodel, I've also made life easier and fun of late by purchasing a Android tablet PC to replace my Ipad. I'm glad to have purchased the Ipad because of the mobile convenience it offers but now there are much better options. Here goes my Apple rant – HaHa. I can now do what I desire without the hellish restrictions Apple places on users. Ipad is so limiting a baby could use it. They have sold everyone on its simplicity and setup a distribution network second to none. Their product is mediocre at best and mark my words, Apple will crumble as it did in the late 80's. They are using the same strategy and history will repeat. Window toppled Apple with software that wasn't hardware specific. Android will do it this time around. Hard not to respect the run they are having and doubt there will be another marketing or distribution network as successful for a long time.

An incredible sports stadium was completed last year and odly enough Buriram has the best soccer team in Thailand. It isn't even close and they are also one of the strongest clubs in all of Asia. Thais love their soccer (futbol) and games are big draws. The health club is empty on game nights. Plan on attending a game this month and try to comprehand thailnad's and world's infatuation with the sport.



To end this post, I've included the video of a bike ride During Songkran ( Thai New Years celebration ). It usually begins around April 10 and last 3 to 14 days. It all depends on the location and the government. During the riots and finacial crisis it lasted 2 weeks at our beach town condo. Almost everything is shuttered and parties rage in the streets form 9 AM to dusk. Drinking and drenching everything with water are the central themes and just having a great time. It was relatively tame here compared to what I've experienced in the big cities or tourist detinations but still quite impressive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKX0GqsCoLo

Thais Know How to Have a Good Time

Hard to grasp to what extent until you spend some time here

Last Monday we took our adopted son to his Mom's home. He will be staying a month with his Grandma. Thought it would be an uneventful trip but before we left, it took on a more festive feel. The wife invited the village head and about 20 people piled into his truck. The motivation was free booze, food, and fishing. I was on Skype talking to a friend and was unaware of how the anticipated mellow trip was evolving. When I grabbed the keys and went outside, I just went with the flow and thought nothing of it.

The drive was uneventful and took about an hour with 80% on a just finished four lane highway. It was a slow, dangerous drive prior to the new road. Stopped by one of the many fruit stands for cantaloupe and watermelon which was the only semi-interesting part of the drive.

We arrived at Din's house, surrounded by rice and sugar cane fields. The house is not much different than houses in the area 200 years ago with the exception of electricity. I think the electricity was a recent addition. This type of experience really helps put my childhood in perspective. Kids grow-up quick here and learn how to survive on what the land delivers. I had to wash dishes and take the trash out. Din helps gather vegetables, wild herbs, insects, and lake crabs for their meals. Below are pictures of the house.


We piled out of the cars and the festivities commenced. We carried the copious supplies to their version of a lake house. A shack on stilts in the middle of a muddy pond. I had my doubts this would be a pleasant experience for all the villagers that came with us. I was wrong!


Within minutes fishing nets were unpacked and hooks bated. The women were readying barbeques for the fish and preparing snacks. The fishing started slowly which is probably the case everywhere in the world. Patience it seems is the trick to pond fishing. It took about 20 minutes to catch the first tiny fish which was a big event. An hour later we had netted and reeled in enough fish to feed the crowd of 40 people, most of them hanging their feet over the edge drinking to excess.



This area of Thailand is dominated by Lao culture. I experienced foods and a style of eating that shocked me. In America, I had issues eating when someone blew their nose in the general vicinity. Living in Asia, I've managed to adapt. Odd foods and their preparations are usually not a major concern.

The first abnormal occurrence was the cooking of the fish. It began as expected. The fish were clubbed over the head, rinsed off, and put in a basket. All was copacetic up to when they took the uncleaned fish and put them on the grill. Apparently a few weren't clubbed with enough force and were still breathing. They didn't flop around so they probably were not in any “fish” pain.

Everybody was busy socializing or preparing something. The village head was cutting flesh from a hog's spine and putting it in a bowl. He was on the edge of then shack fishing and I assumed he was just preparing bait. He did this for about an hour and I thought nothing of it. Eventually he pushed two bowls of raw pork into the center of the food prep area. The women then start adding a variety of spices and herbs. Not how things are done back home, but incorrectly believed I would be capable of inhaling a few bites to be polite.

After the women were done and it was ready to cook, the uncooked bowls were passed around as if the raw pork was an appetizer. It can't be healthy to eat raw pork! Screw being polite, I wasn't partaking. Also, we were all fishing and there was no outdoor sink. Everybody was dipping in with their fingers. A trite concern, considering the raw pork would have done much more damage than anyone's slightly dirty hands.

I knew I had to eat something and didn't want to offend anyone. There were piles of tree leaves and veggies which I consumed with abandon. Eventually after strategically avoiding the fish, a whole fish was placed in front of me and all eyes were on me. I dived in and it was tasty with the rare spattering of fish guts. If you were careful, you could avoid all traces of the innards and I was careful.

Everybody was sharing and there were no utensils. I'm not being disrespectful but it reminded me of animals eating their kill. All the food was communal and fingers a plenty.

Everybody had a good time and I had a fun and interesting day. We packed up around 4 PM and headed home where the party continued well into the night. Not me – I crashed at 9 PM.

About a week prior to our trip to Din's home the village had a gigantic party. Our room shook from 10 PM to sunrise. Our neighbor hired a mini carnival. Must have been 1,000 people from the surrounding villages at 11 Pm and I would estimate a few thousand passed through during the night. Carnival games, a few rides, loads of food, and an outdoor 30x40 ft movie screen with a sound system that dwarfs most theaters. Our neighbors are poor and basically live in an upscale shack. It only cost $600 to rent the movie screen and all the other entertainment is supported by the patrons. Still don't know how they came up with the cash.

This is the first all night party in our village since I arrived earlier this month but I'm sure there will be more in the coming months. Thais are generally extremely laid back and enjoy late nights partying. The local clubs and parties like our neighbors really don't get going until 11 PM and can last well past sunrise. I have never been to a house party in America even remotely as large as this party and it was Tuesday.

Adjusting to the reality of extremely loud nights is a necessity here and is damn near impossible to escape. We have a place near the beach which is on one of the quietest street in Thailand, being that the princess lives at the end of the street, but firework shows among a plethora of other noise producing events happened regularly.

Here in the village it is quiet 19 out of 20 nights and I can deal with not sleeping well on occasion. The windows were literally vibrating all night. I joined the party for a little while since sleep wasn't an option. Below is a video taken when it was dark and lacks clarity but I'm sure you will understand why sleeping would be difficult.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BX5SlKg7nM


In the end, just a minor inconvenience. Didn't have to work the next day and skipped my morning run. Had some dry squid and beer and watched Seal Team 7 dubbed in Thai. The dry squid is at the end of the video.

I'm regularly running by parties of all types. They are just winding down during my 6 AM runs. Couple weeks ago I ran by net fishing party party( pic below ). Lots of drinking and a little fishing. Saw Deuan's brother throwing nets but mostly just jabbering with friends.

Most the festivities are in good fun but many of the villagers are in continuous party mode. Deuan's oldest brother drinks for days on end and sometimes doesn't sleep for 48 hours. He is one of the worst drunks in the area but too many other drunkards in the village to keep him company. It's the life they have chosen and they really don't seem all that unhappy. Most have been at it a long time and quitting doesn't seem to be an option. Local doctors even advice against it because the shock it would cause to their system. In my opinion. the doctors grasp that they are never going to quit and tell the family this to alleviate tensions.

Traveled throughout Thailand the last 12 years and with exception of the Muslim dominated south, it is all nearly the same when it comes to socializing and enjoying life. Only difference are the venues. On the porches and rice fields up country and huge and extravagant night clubs in the cities.

Daily Life In The Village - definitely not an American neighborhood

Lived and traveled extensively in America and love the country. I'm patriotic to a fault at times. More than likely a product of the people from different countries I've interacted with over the last twenty years. Not to get off topic but let's just say many are extremely infantile with extremely short memories or lack perspective. In the end, as a whole, we are all basically the same at the core.

O.K., now I can savagely trash America! Not going to happen but America does have a control complex. Everything needs to be ordered and “SAFE”. This is not the norm in all the countries I've visited, regardless of economics or government structure. Life is more of an adventure and much more social compared with Americans sanitized daily life’s.

People in other countries interact with people they know on a personal basis throughout each day. The local food shop, hardware store, and all the other business owners are a tangible part of the community. In America, it is solely a business transaction and no more in most situations. We are left with a shallow understanding of the areas we live and move through each day. Gone is the “Leave It To Beaver” community and in with the efficient and sanitized save zones.

Families in America now live a sheltered life and at the same time are petrified of the unsafe community surrounding them. Most American's seem to think that we live in dangerous times where evil is around every corner. They pick up their kids from school because of what might happen if they walk home. The kids are shuttled around to structured activities, and whatever happened to Halloween? Dangerous times we live in today or are Americans just ridiculously paranoid?

Statistics don't tell the whole story but do Americans really think the anecdotal stories heard through the grapevine and the media do? So what do the statistics say? Shock, America is much safer looking at the murder rates compared to 10, 20, 30 ,and 40 years ago. It is not in the interest of the media to tell the true story of a safe and more monotonous America. I wouldn't even waste my energy on this news. In lieu, we get what we cherish– drama.

It is Sunday here today in a village of about 300 people in North Eastern Thailand. I've been here now for 2 weeks and have probalby stayed here in total, 100 days over the last 12 years. The social atmosphere hasn't really changed even with the introduction of technology and inflow of wealth. 12 years ago the town was buzzing from 7am until 8pm at night. People walking, biking, scootering down the dirt roads that bisect the village. Everybody interacting with each other as they performed their daily activities. Now 12 years later it is the same socially even though the roads are all now paved, most the houses are western style, and cars are part of the mix.

The kids play soccer, fish, or find other activities of interest and in most cases their parents don't have a clue what their next activity will be. They make their own fun and at times make their own trouble. Yesterday we had to take our adopted son to the hospital to get his head stitched-up. A girl through a big sharp edged rock and tagged him behind the ear. The girl felt bad, the stitches stopped the bleeding, and life went on. They were just being kids! The girl probably learned a lesson or two and I would hope Din is more wary of chicks with rocks.

Last night we had a barbeque Thai style. Similar to a Korean barbeque with Thai spices. They bought the meat and vegies at a local market. The type you see on Travel Channel with people chaotically shuffling between hundreds of vendors selling everything from fried insects to Tulips. It is loud and fun with everybody yammering to no end.

They prepared the food in-front of the house and we setup the barbeques. Sometimes we have 15 people join the dinner but last night there were only 5 of us with the occasional straggler that would jump in for a quick bite. A fun time and everybody constantly talking and laughing up to the point I went to bed. Some of them apparently went to the karaoke bar in the village to wrap up the night.

Americans need to just chill much more often and let life happen. Not all the time but letting the guard down most of the day is a much more pleasant experience. The kids will still grow up and life won't be a monotonous affair.

First Post - The Ideal Life

The blog's central theme is travel and by no means a how to guide. Where I've been and my current lifestyle are  a product of hard work, a general lifestyle idea, and fate.  Good fortune seemed to always be right around the next corner. Another possibility is I have an inherent ability to find adventure and happiness in the mundane.

So how did this less ordinary adventure begin? At twenty- five I realized while sitting behind a desk at a credit union, my life path could be my unique experience. Dreams of travel could become a reality. My vision at the time was to travel the globe with no intention of following the traditional path of working and traveling a week or two each year while juggling family responsibilities.

Fortunately I grasped during this epiphany, a paramount caveat. This ideal life would come at a cost and I alone was responsible for bearing the cost.  Initially the plan was not complicated but as the years passed, became somewhat more detailed. The foundation was simplicity. Basically don't complicate the endeavor with excess which needs to be maintained and ultimately is extremely limiting. Save as much money as possible and in shortest amount of time.

Now with a simple plan, I needed to implement it. I didn't graduate from Harvard and, to be honest, my transcript was pathetically average. At this point in the process, I remember a feeling of hopelessness. Why had I been average academically when it would have been easy to excel.  After a minimal amount of rehashing the errors of the past, I moved on to doing what had to be done.

When in doubt, always revert to the foundation of the plan. It was “simple” I had to work harder, longer, and exceed expectations. The simple work ethic had its faults. Mainly, others have to recognize productivity and this can be impacted equally by actual results as well as political maneuvering. In my demented mind, I never doubt my ability to out work my peers. In the political arena, I have self esteem issues and as I improved my position at work, I always assumed my peers were intellectually superior. Socially, at times, I become a little lost and this forced me to even work harder.

Oddly enough, I wasn't concerned because I accepted that my communication skills were lacking and most didn't care to grasp my simple approach to succeeding at work. Even when I reached the executive level, I was always out of place. I was the grunt mixed in with the true executives. They enjoyed my awkward input at my expense and for the most part my business unit financial contributions. My results were always exceptional during my later years but my explanation of those results was lacking.

Saving was easy since I had few to no liabilities. During my longest work stint in my thirties I was able to save in excess of $10,000 each month for 4 years. At the time, I was living near San Francisco and still managed to live comfortably on a $2,500 budget. My simple plan was working and  I didn't need to sacrifice enjoying life while saving for my next adventure.

Limiting responsibilities wherever possible was the third facet of my plan and also based on simplicity. Supporting a family is a noble endeavor and took much introspection to determine its roles in my life. At the time of the original plan, I had no intention or desire to raise a family. Actually still don't in the traditional sense. I've managed to slowly assume many responsibilities of raising a family but that is a story for another occasion.

Eliminating the largest obstacle, raising a family, was probably the choice that empowered me to experience life my way over the years. Having the freedom to put yourself first or near the top makes decisions easier. Not a sacrifice most would make and probably regret if they did. I haven't regretted the decision and time will only tell if it was the right choice.

Well that is the gist of my plan. Where has it left me today? I'm 44 years old and retired now for three years. Traveling often and enjoying life. Every day isn't perfect and to be honest, there have been difficult times. I'll share some of those challenging periods to add perspective and also ramble on about my travels and other hobbies while traveling through life.