You experience everything in Thailand (3)

Under this title we will publish nice little stories about something special, funny, curious, moving, strange or ordinary that readers have experienced in Thailand.

In the beginning these will be anecdotes, which we use with the permission of the author and administrator Freek Beijdorff of the Thailand Community Facebook page, but submissions to the editors are also very welcome.

This time tells David Baker a nice story

A scooter ride in Mae Hong Son

When I visited Mae Hong Son I rented a scooter to make a nice trip. I went on my own to a Chinese village on the border with Myanmar. After a beautiful ride I had a delicious meal in the village and made a short trip to Myanmar. Then it was time for the 2-hour return trip at a nice leisurely pace.

After about 3/4 hours of driving, the back of the scooter suddenly felt a bit strange: flat tire! I put the scooter aside and look at my phone, no coverage. I was nowhere near a real village and couldn't find help so quickly. There was hardly any traffic passing by. Finally a Thai family stops to ask what was going on. I assume so, since they didn't speak a word of English. I pointed out the flat tire and gave them the landlord's phone number. They also had no access…

It was slowly getting dark, so I started to wonder how I was going to get out of here. Then the family made it clear to me with gestures that I should get in. Despite coming from the direction of Mae Hong Son, they insisted on taking me back to the landlord. I put an asterisk on Google maps where the scooter was and got on.

The ride was a true experience. Using Google translate, the driver and I tried to have a chat, while the lady and two children were playing in the back of the car in the place of the removed backseat. The kids found me interesting.

After an hour's drive I was dropped off at the landlord. I wanted to give them a nice little compensation for the ride, but that wasn't going to happen! I went inside with the landlord, who also spoke almost no English. This man was, quite rightly, not very happy that I returned without a scooter. I should have left him there to fix it or called him. I had to pay for a new scooter! Of course I didn't agree with that and after some polite arguing we decided to go to the tourist police to resolve the dispute.

There we were helped by a friendly agent who spoke reasonable English. We made a neat compromise: I paid an extra day's rent and a fee for picking up the scooter. When the deal was closed, all the cold was gone immediately and the rental company complimented me on how smart I was to save the location of the scooter on Google maps, so he could find it easily. As a thank you he brought me back to my accommodation on the back of the scooter.

It was a special day and another example of the fact that in Asia you never know how your day will go, but everything always turns out well in the end!

I love you Thailand!

Source: Facebook page Thailand Community