After the Tsunami.....

It's hard to know what to say after an event like that. On the one hand we are so far removed from the disaster, that were virtually unaffected, on the other hand there is so much devastation in the south. In some ways you guys knew more about what had happened than I did. I was in central Thailand when the Tsunami struck, and though there was reports of the disaster on TV, It was in Thai. Paew was interpreting for me, but it wasn't til I got back to Pattaya and saw the American news network coverage showing how bad the destruction was. Harvey and I were in the South in July and August. The first time we spent a couple weeks in Patong beach (Phuket). The second time we went to Phuket for a short time, then went to Kho Phi Phi and Railay. As I watch the news coverage I recognize some of the places they show. It must have been horrible for those people who were stuck in the middle of that. The Tsunami hit at 11:00 AM, so the beaches and beachfront businesses must have been full of people. This the height of the tourist season, so there was even more people in these areas than when we were there. I can't imagine what it would have been like. In Patong Beach the high ground is maybe a quarter mile from the beach. I think the entire beachfront and most of the area around it was completely destroyed. I imagine if you could get to the high ground or the upper floors of the hotels you might have been OK, but people who were in their first floor hotel rooms, or around the beachfront were screwed. That's Patong, Phi Phi Island was almost completely low lying. Most of the Island is steep rock cliffs, so all of flat ground was used for shops hotels and restaurants. Many of the hotels offered bungalows that are little more than a light wood frame with a bamboo or woven palm frond skin. They were really quaint little standalone accommodations. From the pictures I've seen the bungalows have completely vanished. All that is left is the concrete slabs that they sat on. Phi Phi is a very narrow Island. The resort we stayed at had beachfront on either side of it. It was a great place for a vacation, but there was virtually no where to run in the event of a Tsunami. It very likely had waves coming in from both directions. I guess if you could get to a second floor you might have been OK, but most of the island was one story. Right now there are 3000 Americans, and many more Thai's unaccounted for. While I'm sure many of those people will turn up (apparently Harvey, me, and even Warren who is in LA were on the list). I would expect that many of those people are dead and not identified, or buried under debris, or lost at sea. The major grocery, and department stores have stands out in front of them to buy food, water and medical supplies for the victims in the South. Were gonna go down there today and do our part to help. Thailand has declared a three day mourning period. This will continue through New Years. They still haven't decided if there will be any New Year celebration in Pattaya. If there is it will be more of a wake than a New Years.

Were all just fine.

Thanks for all your concern, but Harvey Thurston and I are all safe and sound in Pattaya. As you heard from others already we are on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand...part of the Pacific Ocean. The earthquake and tsunami struck in the Andaman sea....part of the Indian Ocean. Sorry I didn't post, or respond to emails. I was in Si Thep for the last couple days. It looks as if we went to Southern Thailand at the right time, cuz it wont be the same for a very long time. It's really sad all the death and injury has all of Thailand rather shocked. I'll post again soon I just got off the road from Si Thep.

Have a very merry Christmas!

Well, today is Christmas in the land of smiles. I woke up today, and I didn't find any gifts under the tree. Is it because we have no chimney?....no xmas tree?....or have I just been too naughty? Maybe Santa just got too drunk last night. I saw him on walking street, and he was pretty buzzed. Pattaya had the
Christmas spirit though. All the go-go girls had their red bikini's on and the people outside had their Christmas gear on as well. Last week I heard on the television that boystown was going to have snow, so we took a walk through boystown to see the snow. It looked a little like snow, but it was really foam machines mounted above the shops. Not quite the same, but that's OK I didn't come here to see snow. Tonight were going in to Pattaya again to have a Christmas dinner. Several of the restaurants are putting on Turkey dinner buffets. That should just about cover the Christmas thing here in Thailand......next stop New Years. I think I'm gonna be up in Si Thep for that. So My New Years post will probably be a bit late. I hope this post finds all of you Happy and Healthy. Merry Christmas.

Is anybody out there?

I know it's the holidays, and you're all pretty busy with shopping, decorating, and making the plum pudding, but could you spare a few words for a traveler missing contact with his friends? I've taken to reading other peoples blogs, and for the most part it's absolute shyte. Hey, in comparison I'm giving up some quality content here....just let me know someone's reading it with a comment here and there. Even a "Hi Mikey" will do. By the way.....I enabled anonymous posting in case you've forgotten your usernames or passwords. Just throw your name in the comment so I know who you are.

On's Cake.

Wooooohooooo!

Me and Paew.

On and Ann.

Harvey, On, Ann, and their Mom

Guess where I was sitting...see the Djarums?

Hiro...our host.

On’s Birthday

Happy Birthday Jamie! I hope you had a fun one, and I hope the hangover fades quickly.

Last night we all headed over to Hiro’s bar (The Flying Dolphins). Paew and I got there a bit late….overslept on the siesta. When we got there the bar was full of people….On’s family, her friends and all of us. Harvey had arranged for dinner, so there was a pig roasting, and chicken…fried rice lots of fruit, and coke and whiskey. As usual the crowd was about 80% girls. Not only that the girls were unusually festive. I was having a great time as was everyone else. Even Hiro was happy, because his bar was jumping on a Sunday night. After a while more and more people showed up….not friends, just people who saw a fun bar full of people, so they came in and joined us. I was sitting at a table with Paew, and a bunch of other girls, and they introduced me to one of the girls dates. He was a really nice Thai guy wearing a uniform. I thought he was a security guard. It was quite a while later that I noticed the gun he had, then I realized he was police (only the police and military can have guns in Thailand). Not only is he a cop, but he’s a sergeant in the Pattaya police department. I didn’t know this til long after we had become drinking buddies. I had ordered a bottle of tequila, and we had been knockin em back for a while by then. After a while Tiep (my cop buddy) asked me for my number, and gave me his number. He told me if I have any trouble in Pattaya just give him a call. It’s nice being connected to the local police…not that I get into any trouble, but just in case.

The same thing happened to me up in Si Thep. I was playing snooker with some of the guys from Paew’s neighborhood, and on the next table a bunch of Thai guys were playing. They kept coming over and asking where I was from and rubbing my belly(good luck?). When I left that night they waved me over, and wanted me to drink some of there Thai whiskey. I told them in sign language that I was driving, but that didn’t matter to them and they handed me a glass. I took a drink, but that wasn’t enough, and they pushed the glass back towards me. I drank again, but that still wasn’t enough, so I took a big ole slug of it and they all cheered and gave me hugs. It wasn’t til I left that I found out that I had been drinkin with the Si Thep police department. I guess that’s why they weren’t taking my “I’m driving” excuse seriously. The only people who were gonna catch me were the ones I was drinking with. In any case I had only had one beer before that, and I really didn’t feel any effect from drinking the whiskey, but “I’m driving” is my usual excuse for not drinking it. It doesn’t seem to work on cops.

Back to On’s party…..After we had cake (which was really good, I found a French baker who made it for us a few hours before the party) we all went out to go dancing. We tried to get into Xcite the biggest disco in town, but On’s sister Ann is only nineteen, so she couldn’t get in. I was amazed that they turned us away, because there was nearly twenty of us, I would have thought they would have wanted our money. Even Tiep couldn’t get us in with his police clout. So…we all went to Hollywood disco. That’s the place we went on my birthday. Once again we had a great time. Harvey was dancing with the girls, and they pushed him into the biggest ugliest, and most flamboyant lady boy I have ever seen. Instantly this guy was all over our table. Harvey hid behind On, but Sage didn’t really have anywhere to hide, so he ended up being the one to run the guy off. Luckily I was on the opposite side of the table, so for me it was just funny as hell. Needless to say we all had a great time.

Where I’ve been the last couple weeks…….

Since my Loi Katrong post I’ve been pretty busy. Paew’s Mom got sick, so we went to Si Thep to visit her. She seems to be getting better, and it was a really nice visit. The First time I came we stayed at a rather generic roadside hotel. It was basically like any hotel you’d see along the road in the US. The next trip we stayed at the Pasaak Hillside Forrest. It’s like a private club for a land development project. At the center of the property is an ancient volcanic cinder cone. Around that they have planted a Teak forest. The trees are only seven years old, but they are about Thirty feet tall. It’s really a beautiful place. Our first time there the clubhouse area was full, so they offered us a forest home. When we went to see it they took us on a dirt road about two miles into the forest. The whole time we were driving I was wondering what would be at the end of the road. When we got there I was pleasantly surprised. We came to an area of paved roads with what seemed to be the model homes for the development. We were shown a really nice home that we stayed in for two nights. The Forest was so serene, probably due to the isolation of it. Right now I’m back in Si Thep. The work on the interior of Paew’s house is nearly done, so were here checking it out and paying the contractor. They are putting in a Western style bathroom for me, cuz I don’t like using squat toilets. This time The clubhouse wasn’t full, so were not staying at the forest home. We’ve got a bungalow right next to the lake. The bungalows are really rustic, They’re made entirely of mahogany, teak and stone. They kind of remind me of cabins in Big Bear, but all the wood is exotic rather than just fir like Big Bear. The weather is jut perfect. In the daytime the temperature barely reaches 80 and at night it gets down to the low seventies. The Thai’s keep asking me if I’m cold. They are….everyone is wearing long sleeve shirts and jackets. We took a trip to Si Thep Historical Park. There is a monument complex 9 kilometers from Paew’s house. It’s like Anchor Wat on a much smaller scale. There’s two temples and a pyramid in which one of the ancient kings is buried. Si Thep is beginning to grow on me. I’m friends with the whole neighborhood, even though we have major difficulties communicating.

I wrote the stuff above in Si Thep.

Last week, Sage, Harvey and I were in Phnom Penh. We stayed for six days, and as usual it was a total blast. I instantly went into vampire mode…..sleeping in the daytime, and staying up all night. Sage didn’t get to see much of the tourist stuff in Phnom Penh, but he knows where to go to party there. I think I saw the sunrise four of the six nights I was there. I found that if I don’t drink too much I can drink and stay up all night without any ill effects. Of course that doesn’t leave too much time for doing any daylight activities, but I love the Phnom Penh night life so much I really didn’t care. On Friday night we ended up at Martini, and Charlie the owner had just bought a guitar. Sage and I talked him into bringing it out, and we passed it around each of us playing a song. They turned the music at the bar off, and it turned into a big sing along. I did Margaritaville, and every night after that someone would come up to me and ask if I was gonna sing again. It was really a fun night. I should have been writing while I was there, because now the six days just seems like one long wild night.

Tonight is On’s Birthday, so were having a party for her at Flying Dolphins, a bar here in Jomtien. Were good friends with the owner. I just dropped off the cake at the bar, and they were getting a bunch of decorations up. Were all going over there at 8:00. Hiro (the owner) is a Japanese guy who loves Rock and Roll. He always has really good music playing, and he has a great pool table. It’s one of our favorite local bars, and tonight were gonna tear it up.

Sorry for not posting for a while. I’ll try to keep up with it a little better. I hope all of you are happy healthy, and enjoying the holidays.

You guys like the new look?