On the Move Again (Almost)

June 18, 2011

As I was perched on one of my chosen benches in 

Parke Calderone today…it came to mind that 

I hadn’t written anything in quite some time. 

Well, nothing has really happened with the 

exception of my recent trip back to Thailand.

So…I rushed back to my apartemento and 

started writing. This is the result. 

I know…I know…Exciting isn’t it? :) :)

Just as a tiny refresher…my latest trip to Thailand…

occurred about 2 months ago and lasted a whole 

month...in the Land of Smiles.

For those who do not know (even though I 

mentioned this in my last Blog)…I have decided 

to return once again (this time to stay) to Thailand… 

specifically Chiang Mai.

The reasons (3 major) are few but for me…

powerful (forgive me if I am repeating myself 

from the previous Blog).

The reason(s)…

Wine…Women…and Song…Just Kidding :) :)

No…the real reason(s) for me are the following:

Firstly…is the Weather. Yes it’s eternal spring in 

Cuenca…which by the way… is located “high” in 

the Andes (elevation 8500 ft). This keeps the weather 

(depending on each of the two seasons) in the low 

40F’s [at night] to mid 70F’s [mid afternoon] on a 

daily basis. 

Now… for most folks this would be ideal. 

For someone (like yours truly)…who because of 

my ten (10) “beach living” years in S. Florida 

and three (3) years in Thailand…not so ideal.

In fact…mornings and especially evenings…

it is Downright Chilly (if not cold).

Yes it’s warm to hot in Thailand year-round but…

I’ll take that over being chilled and/or cold 

anytime…"more my speed".

Scondly…is the food. I’ve said this many times 

before so…forgive me if you feel I’m repeating 

myself (I am). Nobody…Not Anywhere and at 

Anytime…can even come close to the Taste of 

Thai Food. That by the way…also includes 

multitudes of fresh fruits and vegetables that one 

can stand. ‘Nuff said!

Thirdly: (but definitely not least)…and remember…

me being a single guy…are the Thai Women. 

Once again…’Nuff Said!

So there you have it…my three (3) main reasons 

for returning to “LOS” (Land of Smiles). Now…

don’t get me wrong…as there are many more 

reasons than the three I just mentioned.

The following is a gentle touch on this 

“incomplete” list of reasons. 

I would need to first mention…the easy 

going and smiling Thai peoples…the simple 

life-styles…the plethora of entertainment…

”in” and “nearby” country travels…the 

availability of modern goods…foodstuffs etc. 

This along with many and varied venues of 

entertainment…world class (and very low cost) 

medical treatment…and you may now...

understand some of the reasons for my deciding 

to return to Thailand…specifically Chiang Mai.    

       

On my way:

In my last writing...I mentioned that I had not yet 

made any concrete dates for my return. 

Obviously that has now changed.

For those interested…I will be leaving Cuenca 

on September 1st…leaving Ecuador on 

September 2nd and then…spending time with 

family and friends in South Florida for a week. 

After my Florida fling…it’s back on the plane 

to Upstate and Downstate New York for more 

family. This will encompass a few days and then 

back in the air and…onward too Chiang Mai, 

Thailand via Inchon, S. Korea.

What Next?

As my mind is always thinking ahead…it hit 

me that (and this is extremely important!)...

I need to settle on a “New Title” for my Blog 

(told you it was important) :)  

Something tells me that “A Single Expat in 

Cuenca”...when I’m going to be living in 

Thailand…well…just won’t cut it.

So…now comes the real work. If you think 

coming up with a good solid title is easy…

well…plain and simple…It Is Not and…

not by a long shot! So…I‘m throwing this 

out to anyone who is interested in assisting me… 

in my quest for a new title. No…I’m not 

promising I’ll use your suggestion but…

maybe :)

Oh yes…for those that may be looking for 

compensation re: the above…let me say this 

now and upfront and in a friendly way. 

Ain’t No Way No How! Plain enough? 

That said...

all your suggestions will be welcomed!

Back in Cuenca

As of now…I’m basically living in limbo. 

Some (not all) of my compadres in Cuenca 

know of my upcoming re-expatriating to 

Thailand. That said…word (I believe) is 

spreading rapidly. This is after all…

a fairly small Gringo community.

One of my personal grievances here in 

Cuenca and a fairly strong reason behind my 

move (no…its not a big deal) is finding things 

to do along with other people (many married 

couples...which complicates things). This…

has never been easy. I personally like to be able 

to share experiences. 

Where’s the fun in sightseeing solo?

So…for now I am biding my time and “just” 

starting to think of putting items up for sale…

thinking of pre-packing luggage (YUK) and…

a few thousand other small things that need 

to be addressed.

Rest assured that when things start popping 

and I have some news for you…I will 

definitely “wind up my thinking cap” and 

send off a new…updated Blog.

BTW…Please (and seriously)…

if anyone has a title suggestion for my Blog…

for when I’m residing in Thailand…

please let me know. Who knows…

maybe one day you can tell your friends that...

my Blog title was your idea. 

Now…wouldn’t that make you feel “special” ? :) 

Until next time…Have a great day J

Past...Present & Future

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”  :) :)