Why I moved to Thailand! Back in Bangkok, Hello Amm! Part 2 of 3

I arrived in Bangkok on a sweltering hot April morning; it was already 35 and bound to get hotter, ran the gauntlet of private taxis wanting 500 baht and took a meter taxi to my Hotel in Bangkok for 200 baht. Now the last time I was in Bangkok the company was paying the bills but this time I had to pay for everything and not being rich but still wanting to stay away from the backpackers in Khao Sarn Road stayed at Wendy’s Guesthouse, which was a five minutes walk from the MBK shopping Center. Now when I booked this place over the internet the description of the rooms were “cosy” they got that right, double bed with just enough room to walk around the bed to the bathroom. But at least the bathroom was clean and roomy, I’m close to 190cm tall and I was able to get under it without bending over! (Try to do that at most cheap Hotels!) This place charged 900 baht a night with breakfast so it was well within my budget since I was going to be staying in Thailand for nearly a month. So I checked in and had a shower and some rest before going out for massage and then some lunch.

Came back to Wendy’s around 3pm for another shower as its very hot at this time of the year, it was around 38 and 90% humidity. I had agreed to meet Amm at MBK has I knew where this shopping center was and there were some restaurants there that I liked on the 7^th floor, so made my way there around 5.30pm. At about 6pm Amm rings me and tells me she was already in MBK and was looking for me on the 2^nd floor, so I went looking for her. Now trying to find someone that’s only 154cm tall in a sea of people of similar height is hard enough add to this that you’re never seen the person you’re looking for and only having a photo to go by and it gets hard. After about ten minutes of walking around trying to find her I was starting to get frustrated, why do most Thai women look so similar! Anyway my phone rings and Amm tells me what am I doing! I tell her trying to find her and not having any luck. She tells me to stop being so silly and just turn around I right behind you. Boy I felt so stupid, here I was walking around looking for her but so busy looking in front that I’d not seen this small women trying to catch up to me. Now you might ask how she spotted me so easily, well I am tall and was also wearing a Cowboy Hat! Easy.

When I turned around and saw Amm I couldn’t believe how beautiful she was, sure I’d seen photos of her and seen her on MSN but hadn’t realize how short or how beautiful she really was, turns out she’s only 154cm in height and I’m over 187cm. We had a nice dinner then chatted for about three hours while using the Sky Train to sight see around Bangkok. Around ten we called it a night has we had to get an early start the next day to travel to her village about 450km away. Before coming over I’d asked Amm if there was something special she wanted me to bring for her, like perfume or something from my country, she told me that if it was ok she’d like a Cowboy Hat as she’s seen photos of me wearing one while in Thailand and told me she’d always wanted one to wear when she went bush walking. So while we had dinner I gave her the Cowboy Hat she’d always wanted and did she look cute wearing it, in fact for the next month that I was here Amm wore it whenever she had the chance. Mind you it did make it easier for me to find her if she wandered too far as how many Thai’s wear Cowboy Hats.

Songkran Festival

Next morning Amm picked me up in her car from Wendy’s and we traveled to her home town which was about 450km North East of Bangkok, that’s right! Issan country. Now in the West trips like this would take about six to seven hours at the most! Try thirteen hours, seems ¾ of Bangkok people were going to their villages for this festival and it took us two hours just to exit Bangkok.

While stuck in this traffic nightmare and chatting away Amm asked me if I’d ever seen the movie Independence Day? I said sure it was a good movie; well she said this is Just like the movie Independence Day! Everybody wants to get away from Bangkok. So by the time we got to her village at night we’d had a time finding out about each other and enjoying each others company. I had bought some small trinkets for the children in her family and some small souvenirs from my country for her parents. One thing I found strange was that the gifts I’d offered to her parents weren’t open and were just put away. I found this strange and thought they didn’t want what I’d brought. It was only the next day when I mentioned this to Amm that she told me in her culture gifts aren’t open in from of people.

Amm’s parents had a nice house and after settling into one of the upstairs’ bedrooms, I wanted a shower so Amm showed me the bathroom and said there’s the water and there’s the water container to pour water on yourself. Ok no hot water, but didn’t need it as it was so hot but then it came time to use the toilet? Try using one of these squat toilets when you’re my height and you’ll see it not much fun.

Anyway the house was nice and comfortable and I had a good sleep. The next morning when I woke up and went down for breakfast and noticed that Amm was there and her parents were the only ones here, well they don’t talk English & I don’t talk Thai so after about five minutes of just looking at each other Amm’s dad pointed to a cup then to a coffee jar and pointed in my direction! Ok, Yes! I want some coffee (we did this a lot over the next four days). When Amm came back she was surprised that I was already having breakfast and asked me how I did it, well it was easy. Your dad pointed at the coffee and I just nodded my head, after breakfast we had to get ready as we had to see the local people parade through town as part of the Songkran Festival.

This was great see & take part in, as everybody was smiling and laughing and having a good time. The parade ended at the town’s sports field, they’d set up large displays of how they use to do things in the past. Amm had introduced me to most of her family by then and one of her young cousins decided to show me around the display’s, this was also great because she could talk English, has her dad was a farang like me. Beau was about 10 and a nice kid and we had a fun time, around lunch time Amm tracked me down and told me there was a small problem? What was the problem! Well it seemed that a lot of people wanted to wet me has this is Songkran and part of the fun is wetting people and getting wet. She told me they wanted to wet me but since I was taking photos with my expensive camera they couldn’t wet me. So I gave the camera to Amm and off I went back into the crowd, well less than five minutes later and I was drenched and everybody was happy, the farang was wet and he was also laughing and wetting other people. I had a great time that day and meet lots of people, but why do they play the music so loud! Felt like there was a jet taking off beside my ear all day.

The festivities went late into the night and when we finally got home at about eleven I was stuffed so had a shower and crashed for the night.

The next day Amm took me sightseeing around her village and I we went to see a small factory where they made some nice silk and silk items. This place is owned and run by the locals and they make some of the best silk in Thailand,

They were proud to show me that they’d won the right to make the silk for APEC 2006. That night we went into Surin and we caught up with some of her friends over dinner and had a great time. The next day we just chilled out with her parents as they wanted to know a bit about me! (OK a lot about me it seemed). The following day we went to see some of the sights around this part of Thailand and while traveling to the border of Cambodia meet some Thai’s having fun throwing water!

We stopped near the border at a small restaurant beside this nice lake and had a great lunch of fresh fish and vegetables and then it was time to drive back to her village, during the time that we drove around Amm’s mum was constantly asking question about me! Like where you from, what you do for work, why you still single, would you like to live in Thailand. I just took it all in and told her what she wanted to know.

Woke up on Tuesday morning to fresh coffee & toasts and watched the rest of the family eat rice with some spicy foods. This was our last day here and by lunch time we’d said goodbye to most of the family, it was only when we were about to leave that her parent through Amm told me that they liked what I’d brought them and gave me a gift to take back home with me. This was some silk that her mother had woven herself many years ago and was to be given to my mother. Amm mother said this was to thank my mother for teaching me to respect other people and their cultures. This gesture really moved me as she’d only meet me a few days ago but knew the type of person I was already.

Hello Bangkok! Well maybe?

The drive back to Bangkok was a little better but still took us nine hours and since it was late Amm just dropped me off at the Guesthouse and then went back to her apartment as she had to work the next day. This is where my holiday took a turn for the worse, I’d not eaten dinner yet so made my way over to MBK to eat some KFC. Well there was a long queue and it would be about twenty minutes before any food and the other places were similar so I left MBK and just headed outside and bought some chicken from a street food stall vendor and then went home to sleep (bad move). About 2am I woke up and felt very sick and started throwing up, for the next two days I suffered the worst case of food poisoning I’d ever had and learnt a good lesson! Don’t even eat fried chicken from a street food stall vendor especially this late at night. I was so lucky that Amm was a nurse and she took me to see a doctor that afternoon. It wasn’t until Friday morning that I started feeling better and was happy as we were going to Phuket for the week-end that night, so I rest all day and I picked up Amm to go to the airport I was feeling much better.

Phuket was great, the weather was perfect and the water was clear, Amm had told me she had a bikini and was going to wear it on the week-end. Well what she’d not told me was that she’d be wearing shorts and a t-shirt over it, No surprise there as I know most Thai women are very shy. Over the week-end we explored the bottom part of the island and had a great time, we were slowly starting to get to know each other and Sunday night came all too soon and we had to leave Phuket and fly back to Bangkok.

During the week we’d catch up and have dinner every night then go back to my place. I had moved out of Wendy’s and into a small apartment for only 100 baht more, one of the taxi drivers that I’d been using had told me about this place and how nice it was and he wasn’t wrong. This place was 32 squares in size compared to 20 at Wendy’s, we’d chat late into the night before Amm would leave and go pack to her place to sleep. The following week-end we spent some time sightseeing around Bangkok and also went to the Chatchuchak Market and bought some gift for my family, these markets are huge and it gets very hot inside so make sure you drink plenty of water if going there.

The following week was just a repeat of the week before, have dinner somewhere in Bangkok then go back to my place and we’d talk late into the night before Amm would leave and go pack to her place to sleep. Sure we’d cuddle up and kiss sometimes but that was where the fun stopped as Amm had told me that she’d been burnt before by a westerner and this time was taking it slow until she knew me better, this was fine by me has it had been while that I’d had a girlfriend and was happy with the way things were anyway.

Amm had asked me a few times during this last week if I’d liked Thailand and was I still planning to come back here to live, sure I was and told her I’d already started to make this happen. Work was going to be an issue, but if all else failed I’d rely on my teaching skills and work as an English teacher.

The last week-end I was in Thailand we drove to Rayong and stayed on night at Hat Mae Ramphuenb Beach before taking a boat trip to Ko Samet.

We had a good time on Ko Samet and even thought the weather wasn’t great, but the beaches were nice and the water warm. During the week-end I noticed that Amm’s affection was changing towards me and it was starting to worry me, she started to get more redrawn and sometimes talking to her seemed like talking to a wall. So Sunday after lunch as we were walking along the beach I asked her what was going on! Amm told me she was worried I’d be forget about her when I’d go back home tomorrow just like the others had. “I later learnt that some of her friends had had similar experiences and they’d waited for their farang to come back and he never did. (Please guys if you're not coming back then tell them, don’t let them believe & hope that your coming back if your not. They get hurt and it makes it all the harder for the next man they meet to be trusted). I said that would be impossible, how could I forget someone like you. You are so beautiful and have such a warm heart that I could never forget you, and plan on talking to you a lot before coming back here to live in the next few months. I like you a lot and if things go well I’d like this friendship to continue, this did cheer her up we finished off the afternoon with a swim in the clear waters of Ko Samet.

The drive back to Bangkok was somber as we both knew that tomorrow I’d be heading home for a while and she be here alone again. We got back in the early evening and freshened up then went out to a classy restaurant for our last night together. We had a nice time and made no mention of the fact that I’d be going in the morning, since my flight was early the next day we said our goodbyes that night and I told Amm that I’d ring her from the airport before leaving. Has I was going out to Suvarnabhumi Airport I couldn’t believe that I’d been here for close to a month and everything that’d happen. I felt joy & sadness at the same time, sadness for I was leaving this place and Amm here and going back home but joy because of having met Amm and looking forwards to coming back here within the next two months to live for some time, how long well that was yet to be determined.

We’d just about arrived at the airport when my taxi driver (the one I’d used so many time during my stay) asked me if I was coming going to come back to Thailand one day, I told him sure I was and most likely within the next two months. I was just putting my luggage on the trolley when he came over shook my hands and told me Mr. ****** you’re a good man, not like other farangs I’ve driven around, you’ve shown respect for our culture and our beliefs. he gave me his business card and told me to ring him when I came back and he’d come out to pick me up, I gave him a nice tip “not only for today but for all the times I’d use his service for not once trying to scam me or taking detours to get more money”.

I checked in and made my way to the gate No where I’d be taking my plane back home, once settled I rang Amm and we talked for a while. It was getting a bit emotional talking so I said I loved her and would talk to her once I was back home, she said she hoped I had a nice flight and would wait for my phone call.

I’d just made a call back home to some friends letting them know I was on my way, my flight No and what time to expect me when I got a text message from Amm. It read (her exact words) “Follow your heart to a happy life and then all your dreams will come true. I had a great time with u and will count the days until we meet again… Hope you have a nice day. Miss+love..u”. I replied that I will miss her also and then turned the phone off. Nice way to finish off a holiday to L.O.S

The plane flight home was long and it seemed like forever before I was able to get some shut eye, but when it came I was grateful. During the flight I started reflecting on my time here, I’d come back to Thailand looking to see if I wanted to live here and left with that accomplished and also happy in knowing I’d met someone wonderful and looking forward to starting a new part of my life working in Thailand and getting to know Amm more.

The Waiting Game!

After the long flight home it was good to catch up with the rest of the family and tell them a little bit of what I’d been up to, then going home for a good nights sleep. But not before calling Amm and letting her know that I was safely home.

She was glad that I’d called and we made plans to keep in touch through MSN & Skype “thank goodness for the internet as it would have cost me a small fortune if I’d to pay for all the ISD calls to Thailand I made while away”.

The next week was a blur, has I got back to making some money, arranging to sell my business and applying for a Visa to stay in Thailand for a year (not an easy task). The following week-end I caught up with the rest of the family and my friends, they all wanted to know how my holiday went and what I got up too. I told them all how good my holiday was and what I’d seen and done while in Thailand, but then told them that I’d be heading back there once I’d sold my business and most of my belonging. They all though I was suffering from Sun Stroke! I had told many of my friends about my intentions of living In Thailand but I guess they though that it was just wishful thinking on my part. Only my family knew how serious I really was, as I rarely say I’m going to do something and then not do it.

It took my close to two months to get everything done and during this time spent many nights on MSN talking to Amm about what I was doing and her telling what was happening in Thailand as well as letting me know how much she missed me. Like always she was the one telling to make sure this is what I wanted as it was a big step to take, but at the same time telling me how much she missed me. I assured her that I’d though about long & hard and this is what I wanted to do and didn’t want to live with the thought of what could have been if I didn’t do this now. I had been very busy during this time and lucky as I found someone who was willing not only buy my business but also pay extra for my customer database that I’d created over eight years.

So after two months away I was ready to move to Thailand and start from scratch in a new country with a totally different culture than mine. So after one last big party with family & friends it was with great sadness that I bid my family goodbye and jumped on the plane bound for Bangkok, looking forwards to seeing Amm but not the heat and smog.

Final Part coming soon!

The Big Move!