by Guy Lilburne
Aa told me that her sister wanted us to go to her house for dinner and I was delighted to get away from papa’s house, so I agreed without hesitation. Any change of scenery would be most welcome. Aa had previously taken me past her sister’s house and it was about half an hour’s drive from her mama’s house. We set off at 10am on Aa’s new motorbike. I drove it with Aa as passenger, but she directed me to another house. It turned out that her sister, Porn and her husband Mai, have two houses. This one was a modern two bedroom town house and I loved it. Porn and Mai didn’t usually stay in this house, so it was empty. They were just using it for the day to entertain us for dinner. I told Aa how much I liked it there and Aa asked me if I wanted to sleep there that night, although I would be alone, because Porn and Mai would be going back to their farm house. I was thrilled by the idea of sleeping there. I liked the house and the location, just near to an evening market on the edge of town; Brilliant!
If the truth be told I couldn’t wait to get away from papa’s house. It was just a case of sorting out the logistics of getting all my stuff from papa’s house and getting the motorbike back to the house. The next day Aa and I were flying to Chiang Mai anyway. Aa sorted everything. One of her nephews, King, came and collected the motorbike and Mai took us back to papa’s house in the evening to pack our cases before he took us back to the town house. I pulled my packed suitcase past papa without a word to each other and we went back to the town house. I had the best night I had ever had in Sakon Nakhon. There was an impressive thunder storm that lit up the sky for hours. Actually, the next day on the BBC world news it reported the storm and showed pictures of Hong Kong, where the storm had turned night into day. I made love with Aa and we slept in each other’s arms. It was a fantastic night and I slept like a baby.
We were up at 5am the next morning and we showered and packed and at 5:30am Mai and Porn came to take us to Udon Thani airport for the Nok Airways flight to Chiang Mai. My first impression of Chiang Mai was that it was a lovely city - very clean and modern looking. Of course, it is an ancient city and you can still see some of the ancient city walls as you drive around the town. I have heard and read that it is cooler in Chiang Mai and that the girls are taller and more beautiful than anywhere else in Thailand. I can tell you this is an urban myth. It was as hot as anywhere else that I have ever been to in Thailand and I didn’t notice that the girls were any taller or more beautiful. As beautiful - certainly!
I liked Chiang Mai and we stayed in The Chiang Mai Plaza Hotel, which had the feel of an old colonial hotel. I could imagine authors of a bygone age writing great novels while sitting in the extravagant reception. Talking of which; I have just finished reading a great book called ‘A Woman of Bangkok’ by Jack Reynolds, which was written over fifty years ago. It amazed me how much so little had changed in so many ways from the Thailand that Mr Reynolds had written about in respect of relationships with bar girls. Anyway, in the book the characters visit Chiang Mai and the temple up on Doi Suthep. It hasn’t changed a bit and I was thrilled to tread the same steps.
The original founding of the temple remains a legend and there are a few varied versions. The temple is said to have been founded in 1383 when the first Chedi was built. Over time, the temple has expanded, and been made to look more extravagant, with many more holy shrines added. A road to the temple was first built in 1935.
According to legend, a monk named Sumanathera from Sukhothai had a dream. In this vision he was told to go to Pang Cha and look for a relic. Sumanathera ventured to Pang Cha and is said to have found a bone, which many claim was Buddha’s shoulder bone. The relic displayed magical powers; it glowed, it was able to vanish, it could move itself and replicate itself. Sumanathera took the relic to King Dharmmaraja who ruled the Sukhothai.
The eager Dharmmaraja made offerings and hosted a ceremony when Sumanathera arrived. However, the relic displayed no abnormal characteristics, and the king, doubtful of the relic’s authenticity, told Sumanathera to keep it.
However, King Nu Naone of the Lanna Kingdom had heard of the relic and offered the monk to take it to him instead. In 1368, with Dharmmaraja’s permission, Sumanathera took the relic to what is now Lamphun, in northern Thailand. The relic apparently split in two, one piece was the same size; the other was smaller than the original. The smaller piece of the relic was enshrined at a temple in Suandok . The other piece was placed by the King on the back of a white elephant which was released in the jungle. The elephant is said to have climbed up Doi Suthep, at the time called Doi Aoy Chang (Sugar Elephant Mountain), trumpeted three times before dying at the site. It was interpreted as a sign and King Nu Naone ordered the construction of a temple at the site
When we checked into the hotel Aa seemed to just want to stay in the room all the time and I mean all the time, night and day. In fact she only left the room on four occasions over the next five days. Once to come to the temple with me, once to go elephant trekking and twice to walk about five minutes to the famous Night Market in the evening to have something to eat with me. We didn’t have an argument or anything! We just didn’t seem to have a lot in common and Aa was happy to stay in the air conditioned room and watch TV and chat to her friends on the internet. She knew that there was a big problem between her father and myself, and I think this was affecting her mood. I couldn’t blame her! I went out for walks by myself to explore the area a little and get a feel for the place. I made use of the hotel swimming pool and sat in a little café with my laptop and did some writing. I received an email from my friend Jules Lee, asking me if I wanted to go on a radio show in Pattaya and talk about my latest book. I told him that I’d go down to Pattaya for a meeting with him and we’d have a chat after I had been to Hua Hin. I was hoping that when we went to Hua Hin for a beach holiday for two weeks that Aa might be a bit more active and enthusiastic about getting out and about during the day time…..or night time for that matter! In fact if anything it was worse. She pretty much stayed in bed day and night and we spent longer periods apart. I couldn’t just stay in a hotel room 24 hours a day and I went out and about by myself, had a few beers and looked around. Twice in the evening we went for a walk along the beach but other than that it was just boring and we just didn‘t seem happy together. We were supposed to stay in Hua Hin until 5th May but on 30th April Aa said that she didn’t want to stay that long because she had to get things ready for her daughter before she went back to school. It sort of suited me to have a break from Aa and give myself some thinking time. I really liked Aa. She was a lovely girl, elegant and charming, but boring. There was just no chemistry between us. It was such a shame after we had spent over 18 months as internet pen friends and both hoping that it might lead to some kind of future. I think Aa still thought it could do, but I had a big problem with her papa and I had felt lonely and isolated in Sakon Nakhon. Even with Aa away from there it was just boring and I realised that this wasn’t my future. We caught a mini bus back to Bangkok the next day and there was tension between us, but neither of us said anything. We said goodbye at the bus station under one of the fly-overs in Bangkok. I waited for another bus to go to Pattaya and Aa walked away through the crowd to get a taxi to the airport. I had given her 3000 baht to catch a flight back up to Udon Thani. Maybe I would see Aa again one day. Maybe I wouldn’t. Who knows!
When I watched Aa walk off along the busy Bangkok street and disappear amongst the crowd I felt neither happy nor sad. I think I just felt relieved. I sat on my suitcase under the shade of the flyover and waited for the mini bus to Jomtien Beach. After about half an hour it arrived. I had to pay for a seat for myself and a seat for my suitcase. A grand total of 160 baht - about £3.20 - an absolute bargain. The mini bus was full. The journey took just over an hour to reach Pattaya. We drove around the streets of Pattaya, dropping people off at various points until there was just me and my suitcase left on board. I had been to Pattaya before and I recognised some of the streets, but I didn’t want to stay t
here. I was heading for Jomtien Beach, a place that I had never been to before. I had no idea where I was going to get off the mini bus in Jomtien Beach. The mini bus turned into Jomtien Beach and travelled a short distance before it stopped at the end of soi 5. It was as far as it was going, so that is where I had to get off. I didn’t want to drag my suitcase around Jomtien Beach and there was a big hotel, the Jomtien Thani Hotel on soi 5, so I walked up the soi and decided to check in for a few days. I had a room on the top floor and had a great view of the Gulf of Thailand. I dropped my case off and had a shower, changed and went for a walk to explore the area. It was hot and sunny and I liked the look of Jomtien Beach. It was sort of ‘Pattaya Lite’.
I told you that I had received a message from a friend of mine called Jules Lee. He owns a bar in Jomtien Beach and is the sort of person who knows everyone. Jules told me that Pattaya 105 FM wanted me to do an interview about the recent publication of my latest book, ‘The Flower Girl’. I decided I would go and visit Jules while I was there. I only intended staying for a few days, but I have to say that I really liked Jomtien Beach. It was only up the road from Pattaya, but it was worlds apart and I could imagine myself living there. When I first arrived I booked into The Jomtien Thani Hotel on Soi 5, but when I decided to stay in the area for another week or two I moved into a guest house over the road from the hotel for a fraction of the price and I got a fantastic air conditioned room, flat screen TV, bathroom, safe, full size fridge freezer and tea/coffee making facilities and free internet. I even had a balcony with a sea view. I lived over a massage parlour in BV Guest house and I could sit out on the balcony and look down on the street not so many feet below me and watch the world go by and write. I loved it! Just down the soi there was a great expat café called Simple Simon’s and I would highly recommend the English breakfasts. I hired a motorbike so I could explore a bit further afield and each day I found that I liked Jomtien Beach a little bit more. I decided that when everything was finished up in England I might base myself in Jomtien Beach. Well, at least for a while. I am a Gemini after all and don’t like to stay anywhere for too long! Besides doing the radio interview I received an unexpected email from James Newman from Thailand Books & Reviews telling me that they had enjoyed reading my books and asking if I would be interested in contributing a short story for an anthology of Thai stories due to be published in 2013. A number of famous authors had already signed up to it and all the proceeds would be going to Thai charities. I was thrilled to be asked and delighted to tell them that I was on board with the project. It seemed that my journey towards a new life as a writer in Thailand was well on the way and, every now and again, I had to pinch myself and ask myself ‘is all this really happening?’ I took time out from writing this book and another book that I was writing called ‘The Lost Temple of Kanchanaburi’ (the follow on book to ’The Flower Girl’) and decided to write the short story and get it done. Over two days I wrote a short story called Lek’s Bar. I hope you look out for it and all the money goes to Thai charities. (Since writing this I have to tell you that the idea for an anthology of short stories to raise money for Thai charities never materialised. I have since had ‘Lek’s Bar’ published in my own collection of short stories…..which is not for charity!)
I loved being in Thailand. In fact I loved Thailand, but I still hadn’t found the place where I wanted to live. Jomtien Beach was growing on me and each day I liked the place a little bit more. I had already decided that I wanted to live near to the sea, but I found Phuket was far too expensive and just too many tourists for me to be really happy there. I had been to many other places on the coast and they all had ‘pros and cons’. The living cost in Jomtien Beach was about half what it was in Phuket and I started to visualise myself living there. If I ever wanted a wild night out then Pattaya was only five minutes down the road on my motorbike.
I went to see my friend Jules Lee at his bar - The Sportarama Bar. It’s a ground floor bar in a block of apartments at View Talay 1, between Pattaya and Jomtien on the Thappraya Road. I really liked Jules’s bar, I liked Jules too. He had an easy going charm and a quick wit and, as I said before, he was the sort of person who knows everyone who is worth knowing. He was friends with many artists, writers, musicians and many visit his bar. I met my editor, Burnie Sinclair, in Jules’s bar. I have also met the famous DJ Johnny Diamond and the writer Craig Hurren in Jules’s bar. Jules Sportarama Bar also features in the novel ‘Nine Monkeys’ by Mike Pettit and in one of my very own short stories called ‘The Winner Takes it all’. If you are ever in Pattaya or Jomtien you should make it your business to drop into his bar. You never know who you will meet in Jules’s bar. Tell him that I sent you. If you are really unlucky you might even see me in there.
I wasn’t expecting to see Aa again, or even hear from her for that matter, but a few days later she rang me to tell me that she was in Jomtien for just one night’s holiday with her daughter. I went to their hotel to meet them and I took them out to the lovely island of Koh Larn. I have to say that we had a lovely day. It was probably the best day that I had ever had with Aa. Maybe it was because she had her daughter with her and we were actually doing something together. We didn’t talk about what was happening between us. I think we both knew it was all over before it had really began. We went out for a nice meal in a beach front restaurant when we got back in the evening and then I took Aa and her daughter back to their hotel. We just said a quick goodbye. The next morning we shared a taxi to Bangkok. I had to fly back to England and Aa took a bus from Bangkok back to Sakon Nakhon with her daughter. I never saw Aa again after that. She did send me a couple of messages on the internet, wishing me luck and happiness in the future and she told me that she was working for Siam Health again, this time in Dubai or somewhere! The whole experience with Aa made me realise that I had attached finding love with finding a new life and I realised now that the two were not connected. I already had the love of my life.It was Thailand itself, I didn’t need anything else.
I hated being back in England. I had already sold my house and car and now I had made my mind up about the area of Thailand in which I wanted to live. A month later I was back in Jomtien looking for a property to live in.
Chapter 12 - It’s funny how a corn on the cob can change your life!
It’s funny how a corn on the cob can change your life! I’ve always said that…actually I haven’t. That is the first time I have ever said it, but in my case it was true! I was back in Jomtien Beach looking for a property to buy or rent, and not getting anywhere very fast. There were lots available and the prices were very good, but I just wasn’t finding the perfect place for me. I had spent yet another day driving around and looking at apartments. Some were very nice and all of them were close to the beach. My dream of living in Thailand was very quickly becoming a reality. I went back to my room above the massage parlour armed with more brochures to add the ones that I had collected the day before. After I had a wonderful cool shower, I dressed and went for a walk along the beach front. I wanted something to eat but couldn’t make my mind up what it was that I wanted. After stopping at many of the beach front restaurants and checking out the menus, I still hadn’t decided. A few beers later and I wasn’t hungry any more. Walking back to my room I stopped at a roadside food stall that was cooking and selling corn on the cob. They smelt fantastic and I realised it was just what I wanted. I bought two to take back to my room. The Thai lady who served me spoke fantastic English. She told me her name was Amy, that she was on holiday and just helping out with the family business. The family also owned a guesthouse, a mini mart, and several food stalls. Amy worked for a Norwegian cruise liner company and told me that she also spoke fluent Norwegian and German. She lived in Norway and I guessed that she must have been married to a Norwegian man; although I never asked her and she never said that she was or was not. She was a Thai lady on holiday in Thailand for three weeks before returning to Norway for her next cruise. She asked me a lot of t
he usual questions that Thai ladies always like to ask a farang. ‘How long are you here for?’ ‘Where are you staying?’ ‘Do you have Thai wife or girlfriend?’
I told her that I was just about to move out to Thailand on a permanent basis and that I was looking for somewhere to live. She immediately offered her services as an estate agent. She told me that she knew the area and knew all the properties that were for sale or rent. She said that she could take me around and get me a good deal. She had a nice smile, although I wouldn’t say that she was particularly attractive. I would guess that she was in her mid-forties. She seemed nice, she spoke good English and I liked her, so I agreed and asked her how much money she wanted to show me around for a day. Amy just laughed and said that she would do it for free because she liked me and she was bored selling corn on the cob for her auntie. We agreed to meet at the bottom of Soi 3 at 10:00am the following morning. I walked back to my room and sat on the small balcony above the bars below. I ate my corn on the cob and drank a few brandies before going to bed. I was hoping that Amy could show me something that I hadn’t already seen. I went to bed happy and slightly tipsy and slept like a baby.
The next morning I was up, showered and dressed early. I went for breakfast at ‘Simple Simon’s’ and went to meet Amy at 10:00am. She was standing against the wall, trying to stay in the shade while she waited for me. She smiled and waved as I pulled up on my motorbike. I have to say that she scrubbed up Ok. Her hair was nicely tied up under a straw hat and she was wearing a white blouse and some denim shorts. She suggested that she should drive the bike because she knew where she was going, so I slid back on the seat and she drove me around all day. She did show me some nice apartments, but nothing that really grabbed me. Either that or they were more than I wanted to pay. Anyway we had a long day driving around and looking at places. I bought her meals of course during the day and I dropped her off at her family’s guesthouse at about 6:00pm. We agreed to meet the following day to look at some more properties slightly further out of Jomtien. She asked me if I knew Bang Saray. I told her that I had never heard of it. I went back to my room, showered and went out for the night, playing pool around the new market bars in Jomtien. I wasn’t very hopeful about the next day, but Amy seemed like a nice lady so I didn’t mind spending another day with her.