September 30, 2012

Wondering

Two weeks … why is it that I am as excited after 24 holidays in Thailand as after the first one ? It seems there is always everything new to discover in this country, but what is sure is that I can never get bored with the freedom I can enjoy every minute of my stays. And this is why I cannot wait to fly once again to the land of my dreams. I have no big plans for this time. As usual, one short and one long stay (nine days if you can call it long !) in Pattaya, more days in Bangkok than usual, and the sidetrip this year will be for isan towns : Khorat, Khon Kaen, Udon Thani and perhaps Nong Khai are on the list. Some new Camfrog acquaintances are not unrelated to this schedule…

What bothers me, besides the floods, is firstly my boyfriend's problems. He had some bad times this year, with a gale which destroyed his house's roof, a motorbike accident which did not left him undamaged, and now an eye infection. Sure some will give a faint smile about this and think these are only variations from the ill buffalo, wounded grandmother and broken phone stories. It could be true … or not, as he had never asked for much money during the almost ten years we have been together. So I wonder what I will find when arriving. One of my concerns is that, should he really need a lot of money, I simply could not help him.

Former Threezone bar, Sunee Plaza
Closed ... where should I go now ?
Another bad news was the closure of Threezone Bar, my favourite venue in Pattaya. It has been for more than twelve years my refuge in Sunee Plaza, the place I liked to hang out in when coming back from the beach or when being on a loose end between two bar visits.

I guess I will now have to find a new base but my requirements are rather high : good location, cute boys, fair prices, and preferably thai owner. Is there only one place like this in Sunee, I wonder …

September 15, 2012

... and counting !

Young muay thai boxerLong gone are the days when I had promised to myself to update this blog at least once a month … which was enough when I was not in Thailand.

Already nine months and nothing new. I did not even describe the end of my stay in Pattaya, from where I left directly to the airport – for the first time since 15 years … I missed the one or two days I used to stay in Bangkok before leaving, a time which was like a transition back to everyday life. And I will remember for a long time the day I made the trip from Pattaya to Saphan Kwai to retrieve my luggage I had left in the hotel, fearing I would not be able to come back later due to the floods. I felt like fleeing the scene and leaving friends alone to fight the enemy … Finally the water never made its way to Saphan Kwai.

No June trip to Thailand this year, only boring work, daily chores and persistent stress. Camfrog was not the great help it used to be due to still unidentified problems preventing me to access to the most interesting rooms – a problem apparently faced by many fans in Europe. However the few rooms left available were good enough to have some virtual adventures and know more or less thoroughly many new friends.

The good news was that the newly elected government in France held its promise to allow people like me to retire at the age we had hoped for, and this should be in about one year and a half from now. Sure we can retire early in my country, but what is less known is that we (they …) make more children than elsewhere, that our pensions are clearly lower, and the time we have to work before retiring (41 years +) is longer. So much for the bastards who would like to see the working class going directly from labour to the graveyard.

And the best news is that there are only four weeks left before I land once again in Suwanaphum …