Frans Amsterdam (part 15): 'An Isan party in Pattaya'
Frans Amsterdam has settled down again in Pattaya and entertains us, until there are no more 'like' ratings, with his experiences in a follow-up story.
Opposite the Wonderful 2 Bar, on the other corner of Soi 13 and Second Road, there used to be a photo shop. I regularly visited there with my digital camera. Just under ten years ago you could still impress with that and the quality was incomparably better than that of the available smartphones.
The fact that you could view the photos directly on a screen was already very nice, but in this digital photoshop they could also be printed. The format 30 x 45 centimeters was my preference, a large piece of cloth, and then plasticized for eternity. 150 Baht each, if I remember correctly. That included extensive editing with the well-known and infamous Photoshop program.
The girl who worked there was very skilled in that program. You didn't have to tell her anything, she knew exactly what to do with a photo and she did it with an inimitable drive, speed and dedication. Usually I submitted files with pictures of girls in beer bars. You could hardly do them a greater pleasure than with such a large print. And on paper, such a girl looked even more beautiful than in reality. Lightened the skin a bit, and carefully removed all pimples, blemishes and irregularities.
When the girl from the photoshop had nothing to do, she was also working away pimples. Her own pimples, that is. Hours and hours a day she smeared with anything and everything. Every day a different jar or bottle. There was no better proof that all those remedies don't work than her, even after years no result had been achieved. A few years ago, the photo shop suddenly disappeared and a branch of the Ring O Massage settled in the building. That meant the end of the photo gifts for the bargirls. That was not a big deal, the need for it had already diminished due to the improvement and rise of smartphones and you were often amazed at what beautiful selfies the ladies managed to make with those relatively simple cameras.
I don't know what it meant to the girl from the photo shop, but once in a while she came by the Wonderful 2 Bar. Usually with a bag full of new jars and bottles.
The Ring O Massage falls into the category of massage parlors that don't make you happy. That is not meant negatively, it just indicates that there is no happy ending and/or other 'extras' on the menu. From 200 Baht per hour you can relax and enjoy yourself and you would be crazy not to drop down every now and then.
It was someone's birthday there a few days ago. I don't know who it was exactly, I suspect the son of the big boss, and that would not go unnoticed. In the course of the evening, the motorbike taxi boys from the same corner usually cook their own meals on the sidewalk. This evening they were apparently hired to cater the birthday party, because a real barbecue was started and huge pieces of meat were dragged.
The ladies of the 'Ring O' - if not busy with a customer - also took place on the sidewalk, many more boxes of food were unpacked and displayed and the whole thing gradually started to take shape. The most important boxes, the ones with the whiskey bottles, were received with cheers. The band in the Wonderful 2 Bar played an extra song 'Thai music' from time to time and then there was loud singing and dancing between meals. By twelve o'clock, of course, a birthday song, the inevitable cake, and more guests with more whiskey. Just say a real Isan party in Pattaya. I didn't even have to leave my pub for it. I thought I recognized one of the guests. I had to think for a moment and then I remembered: The photo shop girl! Heavily pregnant and yet for the first time to get through a ring! Maybe an idea for ladies who also suffer from pimples.
– Relocated in memory of Frans Amsterdam (Frans Goedhart ) † April 2018 –
I would like to see a picture of Mr Frans Amsterdam.
Photoshopped?
and with or without a sweatband 😉
Just think of a bean bag that occasionally emits a plume of smoke.
Me too, would love to meet you in Thailand.
There are few Thai people in Pattaya who are originally from there. Most of them are from Isaan and the playing of songs by Isaan singers by a band is a guarantee of success, a catalyst for the Thai people present to sing and dance along with unbridled cheerfulness and energy. That's even contagious for me, even though I don't understand a word of the lyrics, I still want to skip along, even though I normally can't get out of my chair when it comes to dancing. At that time there was a club on Third Road, I think it was called Esan Music, with fantastic performances. When I stayed in Pattaya, a visit at least once a week was 'mandatory', which I happily complied with. Walking Street also had, or perhaps even still has, a bar on the sea side where mainly Isaan music was played. And yes, Frans, the whiskey flows steadily. Although rarely pure, but mixed with cola/soda with lots of ice cubes, including expensive brands of whisky, a bottle is easily captured. It was incomprehensible to me that a cake was also eaten during a party, but yes, with all that dancing you burn a lot of calories!
Dear French,
Starting to like your stories more and more… some lew lew. (sorry for the translation) soon.
The bar you talk about in Walking Street still exists, albeit not as good as the years before but still (I like this music very much).
Keep on writing these long limericks.
Regarding your photo, you don't have to but be curious, especially if you don't like to get out of your chair (joke).
perhaps Ronald's book is also a good option to boost the language traffic.
Wishing you many more fun stories.
Yours faithfully,
Erwin