The Travel Agent

Yesterday, I made my reservations and paid for my tickets (almost) for a scheduled home visit in February 2009. The process was not exactly problem free though as one would expect in Thailand.

Several months ago while were were riding around checkout the various businesses in our new home town we spotted a travel agency on one of the back streets. We elected to keep our business at home and gave them a shot at making a few baht.

Our first visit to their office was on Monday morning. I had written down everything that I wanted to do, you know, preferred times, airlines and dates. I even included all the airport codes thinking that he would at least be familiarly with these if not the American cities. First off he could not read English. Words like departure and return threw him along with the words February and March. So with the note of little use, Mee had to explain everything to him, line by line several times.

After about an hour he provides me with a schedule on which I only noted one problem. On the return portion he had me arriving in Dallas, Texas with only 45 minutes to changes planes at a different terminal and then a 6 hour wait in Los Angeles for my flight back to Bangkok. Forty Five minutes is probably enough time for me to change flights if all goes according to Hoyle but I have no faith what so ever of the airline to transfer baggage in that time frame. So I asked for a change to a later flight out of Dallas. This would give me a chance to change terminals without a rush, eat breakfast and besides I would rather wait several hours in Dallas rather than Los Angles. After an extensive look again he informs me that that's not possible. There were no other flights.

Taking his word I agree to the provided schedule and ask how much which is the typical next question. Again after much waiting he lets us know that the reservations are made but he will have to call us back with the fare. So off to the house we go to wait. Guess he needed time to figure how much to stick it to the farang.

When I arrive at home I decided to look up the American Airlines website and see for myself the flights leaving Dallas for Los Angles as things just didn't seem right to me. There it was plain as day a flight leaving Dallas two hour after my arrival rather than the one he scheduled for 45 minutes later.

Of course he was closed on Tuesday for Mothers day, so on Wednesday, armed with the different flight information that I desired, the cash money to pay for the ticket (he did finally call with the fare) we headed back of the travel agency.

After waiting an hour for him to make reservations for some lady to travel to Japan and selling one round trip ticket to Bangkok it was my turn.

Again had written down the change that I wanted to make which included the new flight number and the departure and arrivals times. Well he gets on his little computer and screws around for a good 15 minutes and finally just showing me the schedule and I already had and wants to know if that OK. Again we point out that I want to cancel flight 7 on the current itinerary (which was circled) and reschedule with the information I have written down. This my wife has to explain to him about 3 times as he just kept saying he didn't understand and then that there was no such flight.

Low and behold he finally catches on as to how to change a flight number and a new itinerary emerges. He then has to get back on the phone and gets the fare information. It came to 52,000 baht the same as the old schedule. We then paid and were told to wait for the tickets.

At this point we moved away from the counter to another sitting area so that other customers could be served. After about 30 minutes of waiting he ask my wife do we want to go shopping or something and come back later for the tickets. No, we are comfortable and will wait right here.

During this time I am starting to walk around the office and look things over. No where do I see a printer which I think capable of printing multiple part airline tickets. But what do I know.

Again 30 minutes later he now informs us that the ticket must be sent up from Bangkok and will not be here until Monday. WTF. I have been watching him, he has not spoken to anyone on the phone so how did he just out of the blue discover that the ticket would not arrive until Monday and why does the ticket have to come to Bangkok? This is all a mystery to me. I got my payment back, reminded him of our phone number and said call when the tickets arrive. I wonder if he will or is he still confused.

Side Note: During the several hours that we were to spend with this gentlemen he must have asked us four time why did I want to make my reservations six months in advance. Well, my number one reply is that it's really not any business of his but his demonstrated performance is the major reason why. Also, because airline tickets will only continue to rise, the cheap seats will be sold up and most importantly I don't like leaving anything the chance. I believe his opinion is why am I doing work today that can be done later.

Mother's Day

Today is a National Holiday. Mother's Day which is also the Queen's Birthday. That makes it easy to remember when it's a holiday sponsored by the government.

At least the Thai's get a day off work here and not just a Sunday to take mother her card, flowers and possibly a dinner at Denney's as is the practice in the west. If her birthday falls on Saturday or Sunday, they then celebrate on the following Monday.

They do, do a lot of the going to dinner bit but again nothing like in the west. There is also not much taking place regarding the presentation of cards and flowers. If that ever catches on over here there will be a fortune to be made. They do go so see mother though and spend the day with her and give her a gift or at least my Thai family does it that way.

Last night the Queen have her annual birthday address during the prime time television viewing part of the evening. By my estimate it lasted a good two hours or so after all the ceremonies associated with it were completed. Not a soul complain except a few of us farang's who missed out on some of the coverage of the Olympics. There were even more ceremonies this morning between nine and eleven which also cut into the Olympic viewing time. Oh, well. They will show highlights later this evening.

Down and Out

For the first time in a long time I have been down and out for over a week. When I lived in Bangkok it was referred to as "Bangkok Belly". Now that I have moved up country I guess the name should be changed to "Thailand Tummy". In any case, it has kicked my ass and left me as weak as a kitten. I have not fully recovered but did manage to pull my sorry ass out the door today and take my morning walk, th0ugh at a somewhat slower pace.

The Olympics start tomorrow and that is somewhat exciting except for the fact that it is only offered on Thai T.V. and as I understand it they will rotate the daily coverage from channel to channel so that all stations get a shot. I sure hope they do a better job that their 2004 coverage which was somewhat limited. My first complaint is that even though all stations have dual language capabilities that feature wasn't used 4 years ago. The regularly broadcast were talked over in Thai thus not understandable for us Farang's. The second big problems was the event coverage. Naturally, they covered the sports of interest to Thai's like table tennis, tennis, badminton, ladies weight lifting and of course the ever popular football. Not much aired in the way of athletics, basketball or gymnastics which I enjoy. They did get in a good bit of swimming if I recall correctly.

During my down period I did manage to read one book. Farang written by Dr. Iain Corness which is advertised as "Thailand through the eyes of an ex-pat". On a scale of 1 through 10 I rate it at about a 4 in my humble opinion but remember that is a review by an ex-pat that has been here for sometime. Someone new in country or with no prior experience may find it more revealing. I will get around to doing a full book review in the future.

Yesterday was another birthday, 64 of those suckers so far. Cake with the family last night and their good wished for a healthy future. Also, received a phone call from Pia the teacher that I worked with for so many years during my school teaching gig. Was nice to be remembered. Thanks Pia.

Why Thailand. Part I

This is where I should have been spending

most of my time.

I don’t know why exactly as there were many contributing factors, but mainly it just happened.

I made my first visit here in late 1968 when I was a young sailor 24 years of age. At the time I was stationed with River Assault Flotilla One at Dong Tam, Vietnam. So when I became eligible for my period of R and R (Rest and Relaxation) I chose Bangkok, as it was only an hour away by air. This way I could start enjoying myself much faster than the other destinations that were being offered like Sidney, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Hawaii, Manila and several others, which I can’t remember now.

During the remainder of my Navy career I had the pleasure to visit Thailand numerous time and I always enjoyed myself. I found it exotic in a wild west sort of way. For the most part the people were friendly, the women beautiful, the weather great, the beer cold, and most importantly it was very very easy on the old wallet. There are also beautiful temples, palaces, beaches and lots of green scenery to be seen and enjoyed. However, to be truthful, during these early years and while a single man, I didn’t see much more that the inside of bars and massage parlors (as indicated in the below photograph) with maybe an occasional visit to the picture show. But, those are stories for another day.

After getting married, I didn’t visit for many years except for a brief working visit in the mid 80’s. The purpose of that visit was to talk directly to The United Nations Committee On Refugees and the Vietnamese Embassy. This was for the purpose of trying to get my wife’s family relocated from Vietnam to the United Stated. By the way it was a successful visit. Which is also another story for another day perhaps.

After my second marriage ended I decided I owed myself a vacation so again headed for Thailand. On this trip I actually did a lot of the normal tourist activities and really got to see the country for the first time. I also spend my evenings in two well established expatriate hangouts meeting many westerners that live here. After, many conversations with them, I decided that I would give it a try for a year or so. I had a little money saved (and I stress a little), but thought I would be able to live on what was left of my navy retirement check, after my first wife was given her share monthly.

So after going back home, resigning from my job, putting my personal affairs in order I bought a open return ticket and set out for a new adventure in my life.

Continued.

Where I actually use to spend the majority

of my time and money.

Tax Break

Today the Thai government gave many of its citizens a tax break by reducing the excise tax of diesel fuel by about 4 baht per liter. The results is a gallon of diesel now roughly sells for about $4.55 per gallon rather than $5.02. That’s a pretty good deal for me.

The amazing part of this change in price is the way they went about implementing the new price.

At midnight on Thursday every fuel station in Thailand, all 15,000 of them, plus 100 oil depots closed. They reopen five hours later at 5:00 A.M. on Friday morning. During this time 2000 agents checked the diesel fuel levels in the tanks of all these stations. This was accomplished so that stations could receive a tax refund for the excise tax they had previously paid on the fuel in their stocks.

This may not have been the most cost effective way to accomplish this, but labor is cheap and at least the government did something to ease the fuel price burden upon is citizens. Not like many western countries that talk things to death but do nothing. I for one appreciate the government’s action and even though I am not a citizen I can reap the benefits.

Thai Fact: The average salary for those employed in the field of agriculture is only 3,420 baht per month or about $102.00 per month. These are the good folks who normally work 7 day a week, which works out to something like $3.40 per day. I’m not a religious person, but God bless these folks.

Warning Label

The above devices must immediately have warning labels firmly attached. Not only will they cause a seriously sore back for a 6-foot farang they also can be damaging to ones self-esteem should you be observed using one.

In case you have no idea what you are looking at they are the standard Mod 1; government approved Thai floor sweeping apparatus. There are two models. Model 1 is all natural. It is comprised of a bamboo handle with all natural grass fibers all sewed together by a little old lady with betel nut stained teeth. Model 2 is made of all synthetic materials. The handle is PVC piping and the sweeping fibers are made of some unpronounceable poly like material. There is no sewing on this model as the fibers are held in place by pressure molded plastic. It will last in the landfill for decades.

The disavanages of Model 1 is that it continually sheds is bristles while sweeping so you have to repeat the job several times to finally get all the material from the floor. It must also be replaces at some point in time. Model 2 is none stop sweeping with no bristle loss. Model 1 sells for 20 baht or about 60 cents. Model 2 runs about 35 baht or about $1.05. Model 1 has a limited life span; Model 2 is virtually indestructible, unless of course you finally use it as a paintbrush to white wash your fence or smooth wet cement. .

Anyway back to the warning label business. As you can see these brooms are very short, and in no way built for a taller person. Should a tall person use one, they have to bend over at a somewhat awkward angle to do a proper job. After several minutes your back begins to hurt and continual use may result in permanent damage, so avoid these devices at all cost. (That the story I’ve told my wife and I’m sticking to it.)

SIDE BAR: Should you be caught with one these devices in your hand outside, say sweeping the front porch a funny thing occurs. The minute you walk out all the Thai construction workers in the area stop what every they are doing and observe the farang in action. I don’t know if they are just amazed that I know what the device is for or that farangs are actually capable of manual labor. This event occurs daily and is no joke. I just wave nod and grin.

Kathy from Canada

Kathy or Katie (I can't recall which) was another of the backpacker types who come to Thailand on an adventure, enjoy themselves and want to say here a little longer. To meet this goal they often seek short-term employment as English Teachers to tide them over. Like myself Katie didn’t possess all of the Ministry of Education qualification for a proper teacher licenses but she performed her job admirably.


Katie was from Canada and at this late date I no longer remember what providence. I do remember her speaking about of one of her prior occupations prior to her Thai adventure and that was as cashier for a supermarket. Prior to this position I believe she had also worked as a stock clerk in the same facility. This may be faulty memory though.


As I said she performed he job very well. She took her work seriously, unlike many of the other teachers that pass through the portals of the Thai school system in the capacity of English Teachers. She came to work daily, prepared her lessons, got along extremely well with the students and was an asset to the school. She was a well rounded and competent teachers.


She lived alone in a condominium without roommates. Completely on her own and at her own expense as far as I am aware. I though that rather brave for a single young lady in a foreign country.



She only encountered two problems that I can remember.



One of her co-workers, one which I previously wrote about had a habit of showed up at her front door drunk as Hogan’s goat when he had problems with his wife which were often. This worried her as she felt he was up to no good. She could just tell he was looking for more that a friendly shoulder to cry on. I believe the head teachers had a talk with this individual and the problems solved. Now that I think about it, that may be why she later went to work at one of the other schools in our bosses empire.


There was also an occasion when she was walking home and two Thai men on a motorcycle approached and snatched her purse from her shoulder and took off. Luckily, she had no important papers in her purse at the time and very little cash. The experience did frighten her though. After that she was leery to walk alone down the street.



Thai Fact: According to the Mid-Year 2008 Economic Review the adverage wage in the field of Education is 16,767 baht per month or about $500.00 per month. At the school where I worked the average I'm sure was much less. Most teacher I knew made about 10,000 per month. For this they were at school from 7:00 to 17:00 Monday through Friday and one Saturday per month with very few benefits.