Thursday, June 2, 2011
So…it’s been a couple (OK a few) months since I last
wrote anything of consequence But to tell you the truth…
to me…my own absence has been somewhat refreshing.
You see… writing the Blog had almost become almost
(I shudder...to use this term)…a job…YIKES!
Anyway…for those of you that have missed my epic (?)
scribes…you may relax as I only took a little detour
regarding my writings. For those that have “not” missed
me… well either read on or…go on your merry way…
”up too you”!
TODAY…
I’ve been mulling over what to write about and…have
decided to forego all (well not all that much) that may
have happened during this non-writing period. With that
in mind I will start this Blog as of a few months ago
THAILAND (part deux)…that’s the number two…
or those that have no inkling of French.
I don’t recall if I previously mentioned the situation that
I had…with my Thai Ex-wife Aor…regarding the selling
the property in Chiang Mai, Thailand. As it turned out…
any Thai Consulate and or Embassy in the U.S. proved
to be a completely worthless endeavor…with regards to
obtaining the required paperwork (can you say…
MASSIVE RED-TAPE). This left me with one available
means in which to bring my real estate debacle to an
amicable close. How you ask?...
By making another round-trip to Thailand.
LET THE GAMES BEGIN !!!!!
Now if one is flying within ones own country or even a
neighboring country in the same hemisphere…one can
imagine a “normal” (and somewhat affordable) flight
schedule. That said...and being that I am presently
residing in South America i.e. Ecuador….well let’s
just say...“it’s a game changer”.
After numerous searches on the Internet for a flight to
Chiang Mai and…after many weeks of searching…
I came across a flight that would allow me to by-pass the
Good ‘Ol U.S of A entirely. My route took me from Quito,
Ecuador to Paris, France, to Bangkok and finally to...
Chiang Mai.
This “little” trip only took me 50 (yes fifty) plus hours and
by the way…was each way. “Not” a fun trip by anyone’s
standards (except maybe the airline)!
After all is said and done I have to say the flights were
all pleasant…overall the service was good and more
importantly “safe”.
NOW OR THEN...GOOD STUFF…
Soon after my arrival in Chiang Mai and after catching my
breath…I got in touch with Aor (my ex) and we got down
to business (real business).
Off we went to what is loosely translated from Thai…as
the “land office”. This is always a fun place…as is any
government agency throughout the world. I must say
though…they did get us in and out as quickly as possible.
Whether this is the rule or the exception…I have no idea …
nor do I care!
After a short wait I signed where they told me to sign…
and Aor likewise signed. I then paid the exorbitant
fee of roughly U.S.$5 dollars...and wah-lah…we were
done! Now and hopefully soon…the house will sell and
I’ll be the recipient of a good portion of my original
monies…I hope!
A FUNNY THING HAPPENED...
You know the old saying “Never Say Never” well this
proved very apropos.
When I left Thailand a bit over year ago…I basically
said good-bye to LOS (land of smiles) and hello to
Ecuador. This…to the point that I even applied for and
received my…”legal residency” in Ecuador. However…
coming back once again to LOS…that same feeling of
years ago (this being my very first visit to Thailand) hit
me like a “ton of bricks”.
The feeling that I am referring to occurred on the first
morning of my “first trip” to Thailand. This feeling very
simply…was an internal voice that simply said…
”I’m Home”!
Guess what…my latest trip last month was in essence…
”déjà vu”!
Anyway…to continue on with my little story...after doing
the legal stuff…I made contact with some of my friends
in Chiang Mai. This [meeting friends] also gave me a
chance to re-acquaint myself with the city and it’s surrounds.
Unfortunately…everything didn’t go as smooth as I
thought it would (what a surprise). The first thing that
threw me…happened the day after my arrival. This day…
being a Saturday…was also the now “once a month”
meeting of the Chiang Mai Ex-Pats Club. I was somewhat
excited as I “new”…I would get to see more than a few
of my Chiang Mai friends.
SURPRISE!
I arrived the customary ½ hour before start time. This
BTW…is to give everyone a chance to socialize a bit…
while sampling some coffee and “goodies”. Apparently
people got mixed up (as I found out later) regarding
the meeting date. The result…out of the average 2-300
or so people that show up regularly for these meetings…
maybe …maybe 60 made their presence known.
Of the 60 people…I new exactly 4…yes “four” people.
It wasn’t a total loss however as I did get to spend some
quality time with [granted] a few friends.
Now…you know there is always a down side to a story.
This being no exception…here it comes...
My downside…happened once I rented my motorbike (yes…
the same make and model that I owned while living in
Chiang Mai). After renting said motorbike…I got on the
inner-moat roadway that surrounds Old Chiang Mai City.
My purpose was simply to get back to my Guesthouse.
This was when I did a “very…very stupid thing”!
At approximately 40 mph…I decided to adjust my side-
view mirrors. HELLOOOOOO….
It’s said that at the moment of an accident…ones brain
shuts down. I now know that…this IS a truism if there
ever was one…because…one moment I was riding and
the very next moment…I was...”kissing the pavement” of
the roadway. To say that I was extremely lucky is a huge
understatement! Luckily…nothing was broken…that with
the exception of my pride. And of course bruises (possibly
I think some torn tendons).
To make a longish story short…I went to Maw Pan
(pronounced "paan") my old doc in town and after 2 visits
(a week apart) with some medication and 2 weeks hence…
doc and I decided I needed to get an X-ray. This …just to
confirm his original findings. So…off I went (on my
motorbike) to the hospital.
To say that they [hospital] are efficient would be a gross
understatement and that…in capital letters. I entered into
the outpatient area…went to the front desk and was
immediately and literally handed over to a very pretty
English speaking floor nurse. She understood that all I
needed…was X-rays and an X-ray report for my doctor.
She then physically led me to the x-ray area on the other
side of the hospital. I was then “asked” to wait.
X-rays (2 of them) taken…I waited a bit more…was
handed my report along with my x-rays and with the
verbal report that told me “all was well” and I was done.
Total time in the hospital…under 1 (one) hour.
Complete cost for the X-rays…500 Baht or U.S. $16.66
Total cost for my two (2) doctor visits, medications and
along with the outpatient hospital visit with x-rays…
under U.S.$55 (fifty-five).
So…now after another fun 50+ hour trip back to Cuenca
(Ecuador)…I am and have been for a bit over a week…
once again back in my “departemento” (apartment).
AND NOW TO…CUT TO THE CHASE!
For those that do not already know…I have decided to
return…once again to live in Chiang Mai.
I guess this statement makes it “official”.
There are a few major reasons for my decision.
The first reason…being the weather.
You see…after living 10 years in S. Florida…on or very
close to the beach and then followed by 3 years in
Thailand….I am convinced that my body will never be
comfortable in a 50-70F degree temperature range…
such as it is in Cuenca.
In actuality the range as of late…has been 50 to low 60’s
under clouds or rainy skies…YUK! This by the way...
will get worse as Ecuador is coming into the colder
months! Incidentally…there are those that would say…
well move to the warmer climes near Ecuador’s Beaches.
To that I say…”been there-done that”…and no thank-you!
The second reason is food.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again…
No place… Nowhere…even comes close to Thai food…
’nuff said!
Thirdly …but definitely not lastly…are the women.
Now don’t get me wrong…as there are some beautiful
women in Cuenca. Again I am only basing this on my
one year in “Cuenca”!
The problem as I and many other single men in this town
see it…is this simple fact:…”life is all encompassed in a
very strong Catholic upbringing”…wherein ”marriage” is
the only acceptable way of life for a woman…period
end-of-story. I for one…am not inclined to marry again…
so life (for me anyway) in Cuenca/Ecuador is…well...
a very lonely affair!
Now I am not saying that women in Thailand don’t care
about marriage. They do…and I don’t blame them…it is
after all a way for many Thai women …to lift themselves
out of a...shall we say…underprivileged-type lifestyle.
That said…”IF” marriage proved (for me) to be the only
way to have a long lasting relationship…so be it.
However…in Thailand (as in many other countries) there
are two ways to get married.
One way of course…is under religious vows etc.
The second way is...marriage by way of a Civil Contract…
which of course binds one legally. That leaves me one
option (if it comes to that)…which is a religious ceremony
and without legal parameters.
The Big Question…
When is my upcoming re-expatriation to Thailand...
going to happen? The answer simply is this…
I am planning…but as of this writing no reservations
have been made…to leave Ecuador the beginning of this
coming September…visit family and some friends in the
states and then off to Thailand i.e. to renew my Thai-
type lifestyle.
So there you have it folks and until next time…
Have a great day and embrace life for what it is …”wonderful” :) :)
