by Guy Lilburne
I didn’t see a lot more of Daz on that holiday and when I did he was with Nang. I did go out with them a couple of times. Sometimes we’d meet up for a drink or something to eat, but of course they wanted to be alone. I saw enough to see that they both really loved each other, even then, right at the start. Like I said, it was love at first sight. When it was time for the taxi to take us from the hotel to the airport Nang came to wave us off. I sat in the back of the taxi with Daz and Nang stood on the step of the Yorkshire Inn Hotel to wave us off. They had already done all their hugging and kissing goodbye and they had promised each other not to cry, but, as the taxi pulled away, Nang suddenly ran after it with her arms reaching out to the love of her life, who was being taken away in the white cab. Her face was distorted with grief and tears ran freely down her face. I looked at Daz and he was crying too. I patted him on the knee.
“Don’t cry mate. If you really love each other then you’ll see each other again. Love will always find a way.”
It was probably an inadequate thing to say but I couldn’t think of anything else that could possibly make him feel any better. He looked at me but couldn’t speak. If he did I knew and he knew that he would start to blubber. I just watched the tears roll down his face.
“I know,” I said.
Their love story was one that doesn’t happen so often. It was special. They kept in touch everyday by phone and internet. Daz talked about her every day and so I wasn’t surprised when, a couple of months later, he was back in Thailand in January 2010 to be with Nang. He stayed in her bungalow near the beach and he loved every minute of it. He and Nang found a happiness that neither of them had ever known before. In April 2010 he was back again and they had sorted out a visa for Nang to come back to England with him in the May. Believe me; sorting out a visa to enter the UK is not easy for a Thai national. But they did it and she came to England to stay with Daz. I have to say that she transformed his house; suddenly it felt like a home. It was a happy place and there was no doubt that these two were made for each other. Nang’s visa was only for six months, so in September, she was on her way back to Thailand. At the end of December Daz was back out in Thailand with Nang again for a few weeks and he asked her to marry him. He bought a beautiful ring and practiced in Thai to ask her parents if he could marry their daughter. He asked Nang and she said yes. They were engaged. He had arranged to go again in April 2011, and they were going to have an official engagement party in Kamala Beach. But I’ll tell you about that when I get to it.
Chapter 5 - April 2011
I hated waiting for anything. It must be a Gemini thing. April seemed to take an age to arrive, but just as I had predicted, it arrived just after March had left. My flights were booked with Etihad Airways and I was going to be in my beloved Thailand from 4th April until 4th May. I was excited and happy in my heart to be going back, but the most important thing was that I was going to be meeting Aa.
I had given her my dates and flight times and it was arranged that she would be at Phuket International airport waiting for me when I arrived. I flew from Manchester to Abu Dhabi and onto Bangkok, then finally onto Phuket. This was about 20 hours travelling time, not including the journey to Manchester airport from my house. Anyway, when I got to Phuket, I went through immigration and collected by suitcase from baggage reclaim, I was very tired, but now really excited to see Aa. I walked through the glass doors into the public area dragging my case behind me. I was mobbed by agents trying to sell me the taxi ride to Patong, but I couldn’t see Aa anywhere. On that side of the glass doors there was no air conditioning and the intense heat blowing in from outside, along with the taxi exhaust fumes and smell of diesel, was making me feel hot, bothered and a bit sick, but I was sure that Aa would be there somewhere. I kept on waiting. I waited a long time. I walked around pulling my case behind me. I walked the entire length of the airport inside and out, but she was nowhere to be seen. I didn’t realise that I would have been so disappointed - not just disappointed, but upset. I was so sure that she would be there. We had been chatting online for 6 months already, but she wasn’t there. So, deflated, I trudged to the crowd of agents trying to sell taxi trips and paid the overpriced charge of 600 baht for a taxi to take me to the Chang Residence Hotel on Nanai Road, Patong. I loved the journey from the airport into Patong. I loved seeing the rubber tree plantations, the green hills, the blue Andaman Sea, the roads that bend over the hills, all the signs written in Thai. Huge advertising boards with photos of attractive Thai people and the old photos of the King of Thailand from when he was a younger man over every bridge and most of the major road junctions. The roadside vendors, the markets, three or four school girls riding along on one motorbike and pick-up trucks packed with twenty or thirty Burmese labourers wearing hats and thick woollen scarves around their faces. Another pick up piled high with pineapples or jack fruits or old furniture. Motorbikes converted into mobile shops and barbeques, and thousands of unconverted motorbikes weaving between the cars like shoals of fish, that all seemed to be going to more or less the same place. The buildings, the fields, the smiling faces, the pretty girls. It only takes one short taxi ride from the airport and a feeling of wellbeing always sweeps over me. There is no mistake that I was back in Thailand. I never wanted to be anywhere else.
The Chang Residence looked great. The staff was lovely and the room was perfect, I had a balcony over the pool. Normally, at this stage I would be very happy thinking that I was back in Thailand for a month. But I didn’t feel happy. I kept thinking of reasons why Aa wouldn’t have turned up to meet me. I rang her mobile several times but there was no answer. It didn’t even ring out, just some voice message in Thai that I couldn’t understand. I gave up when my mobile finally ran out of charge and went off. I was feeling tired and jet lagged. I emptied my case and decided to have a walk along Nanai Road, find a bar and have a few beers. The first bar that I came to was Don’s Bar. I sat at the empty bar and had a few Chang beers. I only stayed an hour because I think I just needed some sleep. I crossed the road to the Seven Eleven shop and took a bottle of brandy back to the hotel and after a couple of brandies on the balcony I went to bed and slept. It was early evening when I awoke. I put some Thai music channel on the TV and went and had a long cool shower. I had decided when I was sitting at Don’s bar that I wasn’t going to bother trying to contact Aa again, but now, after some sleep and a shower, I thought that I’d send her a text just asking why she had decided not to turn up at the airport. I sent the text from my Thai mobile and didn’t expect a reply but as soon as I had sent it the phone rang and it was Aa.
“Tee rak I am here in Phuket. Sorry I was late at airport. My flight too late.”
“I tried to ring your mobile,” I said.
“My mobile turn off on plane and when I try to ring your mobile it was turn off. I no have your Thai mobile number until you just send text.”
“Oh Rattanawalee! I am so sorry, I just thought that you had changed your mind.”
“No tee rak, I wait at airport for you, but I already too late. So I phone my friend and she tell me hotel to book into.”
“Where are you now?”
“I in hotel.”
“Where is hotel?”
“Phuket.”
“Why you stay in Phuket? I told you I was staying in Patong. I gave you all my hotel details, and I checked you into my hotel on the booking, I thought that you were going to stay with me?”
“Tee rak, I miss you at airport and not sure you want me to stay with you in your hotel.”
“Of course I did, why did you book a hotel in Phuket?”
“Tee rak, I get taxi now to your hotel.”
“Ok, so you will be here in another hour then?”
“No tee rak, maybe not so far.”
“Tee rak, where are you then?”
“Tee rak, I not know, I get taxi.”
“Ok, I’l
l wait.”
I knew that there had been a mix up and maybe something had got lost in translation. It was nobody’s fault that phones had been turned off and phones had run out of charge, and a delayed flight meant that she wasn’t at the airport to meet me. But I couldn’t understand why she just didn’t get a taxi to my hotel. She knew that I had put her name on the booking and she had the name and address of the hotel, but she chose to book into another hotel. Oh well!
I still didn’t know how long Aa would be because she didn’t seem to know where she was, but I was still getting dressed when the phone on the bedside cabinet rang and the hotel reception told me that Miss Rattanawalee had arrived. I told them that I would come down and meet her in reception as soon as I finished getting dressed, but a couple of minutes later, there was a knock at the door and one of the very nice hotel staff had brought her up to my room.
Wow! Suddenly, after all this time, there she was standing in front of me. We hugged each other and she held onto me, not because she loved me, but because she was too shy to look at me. But after a few minutes she let go and I could look at her. She was even more beautiful in real life than she was on the webcam, but a big red pimple had come up on the side of her nose and she pointed to it.
“I have spot, tee rak,” she said looking all sad.
She actually didn’t need to point it out. I had noticed it already. I have seen clowns wear something similar to try and get a cheap laugh! I felt sorry for her. We had waited all these months and on the day we meet she had a big red spot on her nose. But to be honest, she was still the most beautiful girl I had ever seen.
“Yes,” I said. “Big spot.”
“Ohhh tee rak,” she moaned and playfully slapped me on the arm.
I think we were both a bit shy but Aa was a lot shyer than I was. I just wanted to look at her and hold her and kiss her, but she just wanted to hide her spot with her long black hair and her hand. I was starving but Aa had already eaten and wasn’t hungry. She said that she was happy to go to a restaurant with me while I had something, but I just said that we could eat later if she got hungry. We took a tuk-tuk down into Patong town and wondered around a couple of bars and chatted. Aa told me that she could only stay a couple of days and then she had to go back to Sakon Nakhon. She knew that I was doing the photo shoot for ’The Kiss of the Dragon’ book cover in Phuket and all that had to be arranged. She also knew that my friend Daz was coming to Phuket to see Nang again and they were having their engagement party, so it was impossible for me to go up to Sakon Nakhon with her. We only had two days together.
When I told her that I thought she had changed her mind when I didn’t see her waiting at the airport and I thought that she decided that she didn’t like me, she just said;
“Tee rak, I not come to Phuket if I didn’t like you very much.”
I suddenly felt very guilty. I had been disappointed when Aa wasn’t at the airport - even angry. And then again when she had booked into another hotel, but now I realised that this was just the Thai way. It was Aa’s way. She was a nice girl, a good girl, and she had a good heart. She was shy, but she said it and she really liked me. I really liked her too. Aa had booked into the Royal Paradise Hotel. It was only about 6 or 7 minutes away from my hotel by taxi. I didn’t know if she wanted to stay in my hotel with me or in her hotel on her own, but just walking around with her and holding hands made it a wonderful evening. I plucked up the courage and asked her. She said that she wanted to stay with me. Now I felt like the happiest man in the world. She was really something special and she really liked me. It was a fantastic night and we kissed and cuddled for a long time before we slept and I slept like a baby with my arm around Aa all night long.
In the morning we went for breakfast in a little place just off the Beach Road. We had a day not doing much at all except enjoying each other’s company. Another night together and then suddenly that was it. I was on the balcony watching Aa leaving my hotel and taking a taxi back to her hotel to collect her stuff. Then she was flying back to Bangkok and a long bus ride back home to Sakon Nakhon. As soon as I waved her goodbye I felt lonely again. Maybe I should feel lucky that at least we had a couple of days together. It was an unexpected blessing because of the uprising in Bahrain. Yes, I should have been feeling lucky, but I wasn’t! I was feeling sorry for myself and I was missing Aa. I spent the next couple of days trying to arrange the photo shoot. I spoke to the model and tried to arrange the dress and get a gun to use as a prop, but it was all going to take time and the only thing I could think about was Aa. We were still talking to each other by phone every day and she had been gone for three days already. On impulse I said to her;
“Tee rak, I want to come to Sakon Nakhon to see you before you go back to Bahrain next week.”
I don’t think Aa believed me. It was 9th April and she was going back to Bahrain on 17th. I booked my flight on my laptop in my hotel room that night and the next day I flew to Udon Thani airport, where Aa promised she would meet me and take me back to Sakon Nakhon with her.
Chapter 6 - Sakon Nakhon
I arrived at Udon Thani at 5:00pm. I liked this airport. It was small, neat and felt friendly and there was never any delay getting in and out of the place. There were a lot of family and friends waiting to greet the passengers off the plane, but I couldn’t see Aa anywhere. I walked out of the front of the airport building and there she was, standing with a teenage girl and a younger girl, who she introduced as her nieces - Pukky & Cherry. They greeted me with big smiling faces. The three of them wai’d to me as soon as they saw me and I wai’d back. In Patong Aa had hugged me, but I was well aware that in polite Thai culture hugging was a very private matter. We had only been apart for a few days, but I had missed her a lot and I felt happy in my heart now that I was back with her. She had the most beautiful smile I had ever seen and now the big spot on her nose was gone.
Aa and the girls walked me through the car park to meet her brother in law, Mai, the girl’s dad, who was waiting in his pick-up truck. Just like his daughters he had a lovely open smile and I liked him instantly. Mai and his daughters couldn’t speak English, but they chuckled and smiled as we started the drive back to Sakon Nakhon. Aa spoke in English to me and then translated everything into Laos for their benefit. It was well over a two hour drive to Sakon Nakhon and it was already dark by the time we got there. My first impression of Sakon Nakhon was that there was not much there. We were all hungry so we stopped at a little restaurant in the town. It was very small and basic and most of the tables spilled out onto the pavement in front of the restaurant, but it was full of people. It was friendly and the food was great. Spicy, but great. Over the years I had got a taste for spicy Thai food. I caused quite a stir in the restaurant. I was the only farang in a sea of smiling Thai faces and lots of people were passing comments to Aa. I am guessing that they were all nice comments because she was smiling and nodding and thanking them.
“Tee rak, tonight you stay in hotel,” said Aa, looking slightly concerned.
“Are you staying with me?” I asked, looking slightly hopeful.
“No tee rak. Cannot.”
“Oh,” I said, more than a little disappointed. “Have they got any hotels here?”
“Yes, of course.”
I was disappointed. I had travelled all this way and I wanted to be with Aa, but I understood that she could not sleep with me. I didn’t care, I was just happy to see her again. But I decided that I wanted to get a bottle of brandy from a Seven Eleven shop to take back to the hotel with me. Otherwise it was going to be a long lonely night on my own, stuck there in Sakon Nakhon. It was in the middle of nowhere and it felt like it was at the end of the world.
“Tee rak, I want to stop at a shop before we find hotel,” I said.
“What you need tee rak?”
“I want a packet of cigarettes and a bottle of brandy.”
“Why tee rak?”
“Because it’s still only early evening and it will be a long lonely night by myself. I think I need a drink.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell Aa, but Sakon Nakhon just hadn’t inspired me. It looked dull and sort of basic and there was nothing for a lonely farang to do. I had come all this way to see Aa and now I was going to be in some hotel all by myself. Mai pen rai. (Never mind)
We finished the delicious food and got back into the pick-up. The hotel was just around the corner from the restaurant.
“How far is your mama’s house from here, tee rak?” I asked.
“Little bit far, tee rak,” said Aa.
They took me to the hotel and my heart sank before we even got out of the pick-up. The place was a dump. It was dirty and old and crumbling. Mai woke up the young man wearing the dirty shirt on the reception and Aa told me that it was 500 baht a night. I shrugged my shoulders and tried to smile, but the smile didn’t come easy. I handed over a 500 baht note and the young man with the dirty shirt from reception selected a key from a row of metal hooks stuck in the wall behind him. I followed him along a court yard corridor, along with Aa and the two girls. Mai went and waited in the pick-up.