Will you bring me a monkey?
In earlier years, when there was not much travel, this was a winged expression. Someone who was going on a long journey was invariably asked to bring something from that mostly tropical country as a souvenir.
My biggest fear when driving in Thailand
For my transportation in Pattaya and actually for the whole of Thailand, my Thai wife and I have a scooter (one for each) and a pick-up truck. With the scooter through Pattaya is no problem. Of course you don't have any certainty that you won't get into an accident, but I manage very well with it. I never use the pick-up (!)
A perfect expat from the Netherlands
Recently I was sitting in an open beer bar on Beach Road here in Pattaya drinking a beer. Just relax and watch the passing crowd on the boardwalk.
Tableware in Thailand
As a little boy I ate from a deep plate, blue with lots of white dots, my brother had a gray deep plate, probably from the then soup kitchen. The rest of the family also had their own deep plate. So it was impossible that I would ever - at the risk of a violent argument - eat my hot food from my brother's plate.
Good or bad? Say it!
A story about Thai ladies who don't take fidelity too seriously. Of course there are also foreigners who copy that behaviour. Gringo wonders whether or not sex with another partner is acceptable within a relationship?
For a Thai everything is "paeng"
We Dutch have a reputation, just ask a Belgian, to be frugal, even stingy. We do not like to spend money and if we have to, preferably as little as possible.
An ounce more, is that allowed?
Now that Gringo lives in Thailand and the normal lifestyle here is completely different, there is still a slight form of weight gain. What's he doing about it?
Ludo and Annemarie from Nieuwkerke
What is an elderly couple doing in Pattaya, Thailand's Sodom and Gomorrah? Ludo and Annemarie have to laugh hard at that question, because they have been there for a week now and are fully enjoying this seaside resort with its countless fun things to see and do.
Koos from Beerta, a real unlucky one
Gringo describes the adventures of Koos, an acquaintance who came to celebrate in Pattaya but came home with a rude awakening. A story about love, lust and sorrow.
A Thai dilemma
Gringo frequents Megabreak, a pool hall in Pattaya. In addition to the regular players, many tourists come to the pool hall who want to play a game or just have a drink. So nothing spectacular and no significant incidents of any kind occur. Until last week. Gringo sketches a “drama” as a one-act play.
Monday: laundry day!
It's Monday morning, about eleven o'clock, so I say coffee time. Time to relax with coffee and a cigar after work. I have just filled the washing machine with the colorful laundry and to speak with Trafassi, “let it run”.
Encounter with a Flemish razor clam in Thailand
Last week Gringo came into conversation with Barry from Izegem. He was on holiday in Thailand, because January and February were quiet months in his profession. He told me that he stands on the market, not as a real merchant, but as a sharpener of scissors and knives.
If your hair is good
To judge for yourself whether a lady is attractive, you have a number of options. I'm not going to mention all those possibilities, you probably know them, I limit myself in this story to her hairstyle.
Beauty treatment for men in Thailand
A while ago I read an article in De Volkskrant entitled “Breaking the taboo on beauty treatment for men”. The introduction to the article read: “Pedicure here, facial there and a massage. Typically something for a girlfriends day? No, the beauty salon especially for men is rapidly conquering ground. "You don't get nail polish here," unless you want to, of course.
A naked blunder on a balcony in Thailand
Recently, I regularly saw a Dutch article on my Facebook page, posted as a “submitted announcement”, say an advertisement. It was submitted by Kek Mama. That didn't mean anything to me, so let's see what was behind it.
Ben visits an acupuncturist
Ben's bad back was always a source of amusement for his friends during their weekly get-together in a coffee house near the market in Pattaya. Ben blamed his back pain on golfing and gardening, but his friends pinned it down to another activity (Pattaya, right?) that an old man shouldn't be doing anymore.
'The Perfect Husband'
He sat next to me on the plane, flight KL 875 to Bangkok. I don't know his name, he didn't mention it and I didn't ask. For the rest…. i know all about him.
Lonely in Thailand
Despite all that beauty in Thailand, you can sometimes feel lonely under the new circumstances in which you did not grow up. In fact, it can lead to serious depression. The word depression is a bit too much for me, but if I take myself as an example, I can confess that moments of loneliness occur to me.
How does a Thai survive in Bangkok?
Living and/or working in a country's capital always requires a certain behavior that is different from elsewhere in the country. Bangkok also has its own “rules of conduct”. How does a Thai survive in Bangkok?
Expatriates in Thailand: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Not all expats in Thailand are of impeccable conduct, because a minority of them tarnish the reputation of foreigners, I call them the prejudiced people, the White Knights and the Cheap Charlies, in short, the bastards. One cannot tar expats with the same brush and one sees favorable and less favorable characteristics of those foreigners. I have now come to know them over the years and sometimes classify them – after the title of the classic western – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
Sweet revenge for the Chocolate Man
Leo, a Surinamese man from Amsterdam, had been told that Thais can be very racist and he was a bit concerned about this because he was black. During his first visit to Thailand, he found Bangkok a disappointment. He thought it was a filthy city with a lot of traffic, air pollution and the Thai ladies didn't pay attention to him.
Pentecost in Thailand
Well, this can be a short piece, because Pentecost is an unknown concept in Thailand. If some (commercial) attention is devoted to the Christian holidays Christmas and Easter, Pentecost passes unnoticed in Thailand.