Koos from Beerta, a real unlucky one

I have known Koos from the Groningen village of Beerta for quite a few years. A nice sympathetic young man of just over 30 years, who regularly visits Pattaya.

He once came to Megabreak to play a game of pool with his Thai girlfriend Ning. He doesn't play very well, but that's not the point. Pool billiards is also a fun pastime for Farang/Thai couples to kill some time before diving into the nightlife of Pattaya.

We got to talking and he has been coming regularly ever since, usually just to play or just to chat over a beer. I now know almost his entire past and the common thread that runs through his life is bad luck.

As a layman I would describe his character as: sympathetic, without self-confidence and therefore insecure, charming for ladies, but at the same time no aptitude for maintaining good contacts with the opposite sex. I will come back to that but let me start at the beginning.

Private

The bad luck for Koos already starts at birth. His father runs a country café in the village where he himself is the best customer. His mother works in an office in the city of Groningen, or so he is told. Later it turns out that that office is no more than a little room in the Vischhoek. Koos does not know love from parents and the security of a family, he has to find his own way in the big bad world. He does not finish high school and is looking for all kinds of jobs. Occasionally he can work as a waiter or bartender, then again he finds a job as a parcel delivery boy. He can just forget about a real job.

poker

Koos isn't stupid though and there are things he's good at. One of them is poker. He is proficient in that online game and slowly but surely he is going to win prizes. Not millions, but he can still make a decent living from the profits. Last year he went to Paris where several major tournaments were organized. He returned home quite successfully, the costs of the trip to Paris (paid for by a friend) were recovered and he even had a nice savings left over.

Thailand

While he achieved successes and successes in poker, things went less well with the Groningen ladies. He has had a number of relationships, but they all failed. On the advice of some friends, he then decided to make a trip to Thailand. After the usual adventures of a foreigner visiting Pattaya for the first time, he met the aforementioned Ning, a nice girl from Surin. It seemed to click and Koos enjoyed his holiday to the fullest.

Tik

On a subsequent visit to Thailand, there seemed to be a dip in Koos' relationship with Ning. He came into contact with a number of clubbers and Tik, a lady I happen to know very well, became his favourite. There was no real relationship, but they did go out together and took an excursion to the Silverlake vineyard. That was it because the contact was only outside the home. Still, Koos kept hoping that Tik liked him more than anything. I have read the many text messages between the two and I must honestly say that those hopes were not entirely unfounded. He wanted to move on but didn't know how to do it properly and yet cautiously.

He went back to the Netherlands empty-handed and when he was gone Tik came to me to ask what that Koos actually thought. She found him a bit strange, but also a nice person to have as a friend, but not as a boyfriend (the Thailand connoisseur knows the difference in nuance of these two words). Koos continued to bombard her with meaningless messages on Facebook from the Netherlands until she had had enough and blocked him. End of story.

Wedding

At the beginning of last year, Koos came with the happy news that he was going to marry Ning. Admittedly only for Buddha, but still, who would have thought? Koos got married! He had met Ning again and ironed out the previous folds and love for each other reigned supreme. Everything was arranged before the wedding, that is, he told her what he thought life as a married couple would be like, and Ning meekly nodded yes and amen. He would continue to work (play poker) in the Netherlands, but she could not count on financial support from the Netherlands, that was simply not possible. He would save and if everything went well they would either live together in the Netherlands or in Thailand. Ning didn't think that was a problem, after all she loved him and that was much more important than money, wasn't it?

Surin

The Buddhist ceremony took place in Surin. Koos had bought a beautiful white suit in Thai style and Ning also appeared in a beautiful white robe. White is apparently not the color of virginity in Thailand, but that aside. Koos had his mother and two other family members come over from the Netherlands. The party afterwards with at least 100 guests was exuberant and great. He showed me beautiful photos and posted them on Facebook. It must have cost Koos a fortune, but who cares, certainly not a Thai. Satisfied and happy, Koos goes to the Netherlands to start again with filling the piggy bank.

Theft

Koos' next visit to Pattaya will be spent with his lover in a hotel. They are happy together, enjoy each other and the nightlife. Pattaya is seventh heaven for them. A small downer during that visit is that 40.000 Baht is stolen from his room. The owner / porter has not noticed any strange birds in the hotel and the report to the police also yields nothing. Just bad luck, but an attack on Koos' budget.

Climax

All good things come in threes, is a Dutch saying. The expression also applies to Koos when it comes to breakdowns. All the bad luck came in threes during his recent visit to Pattaya, the last of which was very bad luck.

The first time he visited me was three weeks ago. He told me he had a scooter accident. Well, you could hardly call it an accident. He rode his scooter slowly behind a Baht bus in Soi Buakhow, while a motorbike taxi wanted to pass him on the left. The mirrors touched and both fell. No significant damage to people or scooter, but there was consternation. The taximan thought Koos was driving recklessly and demanded compensation for damage suffered (which was not there). The man was supported by a number of colleagues, who had suddenly crawled out of a nearby nest of taxi drivers. Koos was assisted by a number of Farangs, who happened to be nearby, only by paying 5000 Baht, Koos escaped physical punishment.

He came by again a week later, just after a weekend. He (who else?) had been apprehended the night before by a police check near Walking Street. Yes, he had been drinking and that was also proven by the result of the breathalyzer test. The officer told him that he had to go to jail pending trial, he could buy it off by paying 20.000 Baht. Left with no choice, he went to an ATM and paid the police, of course without a receipt. Remarkably enough, he was then allowed to continue his way on the scooter. After 500 meters Koos realized that he had forgotten his helmet at the police station, turned around and was again arrested for a breathalyzer test. He managed to convince that officer that he had just paid 20.000 Baht across the street.

Last week I saw Koos again. "And, Koos", I said to be funny, "what misfortune are you coming to tell me?" “Well”, answered Koos with a sad face, “Ning has left me, she has left me!” That was the pinnacle of bad luck. He told me in scents and colors how it had happened. I'll spare you the details, but the bottom line was that Ning didn't love Koos anymore. Ready, over and out! Is that unlucky or not?

Aftermath

The divorce did not go without a hitch, the love for each other turned into hostility, even threatening the police. Koos is missing more than 900 euros, which he had hidden between his socks and underwear and, according to him, it is inevitable that Ning stole it. He now also has an idea where the aforementioned 40.000 Baht have gone.

The day after the final divorce, Koos released all brakes. He took a lady from a bar and for two days it was booze and sex, the whole world around him didn't exist.

Koos is now back in Beerta and it is his hope that the lady did not give him a souvenir in the form of an STD. Wouldn't be surprising, because Koos takes all the bad luck to himself.

Note: Names of individuals have been made up for privacy.