You experience everything in Thailand (82)

Blog reader Jan Hegman is a true Rotterdammer; he was born and raised there and has always worked in the port. Jan has three children and he is married to the Thai Lek. In 2014 he wrote a wonderful story for Thailandblog about his first flight to Thailand.

His story should certainly not be missing in our series “You experience all kinds of things in Thailand”

For the first time to Thailand

'My husband Kees, he could also sleep anywhere', it suddenly sounded out of nowhere. It was the old lady sitting next to Lek at the window. We had been on the road for more than two hours. I sat staring at the TV screen, which showed a small plane indicating where we were at that moment.

Lek had wrapped herself in a gray blanket that had been placed on the seat for each passenger in advance and had fallen asleep resting her head on my shoulder. 'No sir, he had no problem with that,' the eloquent lady continued in a soft voice.

"Oh, is that so?" I replied.

'Yes, just like your wife. I was sometimes jealous of him, especially when we went by plane like now. Sometimes he slept almost the entire flight, all the way to Thailand!'

To also contribute to the conversation, I asked her: 'And you ma'am? Can you sleep well on an airplane?'

– 'Call me Annie,' she said.

'Lovely Jan', I introduced myself, 'and that's Lek my girlfriend', pointing to the sleepy head next to me.

Sneaky

– 'No', replied the lady. 'I have a fear of flying. I don't sleep a wink, although I must say that the more often you fly, the less it bothers you.'

'Ah, you know ma'am, you're more likely to have an accident with a car than with an airplane (to use another cliché). It has been researched that for every two million flights, one plane crashes! So if you look closely, there's not much to be afraid of.' Hear who's talking! What a sneak you are, said a little voice in my head.

– 'Oh is that so?', replied the lady, looking at me with those penetrating eyes. You know that, some people have that, they see right through you, it's like they can read your mind.

– 'But you will only just be on that one plane,' she continued. 'What about you? Can you sleep on an airplane?'

I'm really bad at lying, but at the time I was too proud to tell the first stranger out there that I also had a fear of flying. See, she was an old woman, and then no one would be surprised if she talked about it, I thought narrowly. But I, the oversized dockworker from Rotterdam, afraid of flying? No, it couldn't!

'Oh yes. No problem, I sleep anywhere (a white lie should be possible, I thought), but I don't sleep right now. I went to bed early yesterday," I lied.

Just to the toilet

Ping!, it sounded. The warning light that read fasten your seatbelt went out, so it was a good time to go to the toilet. I gently lifted Lek's head off my shoulder with one hand and rested it gently against the back of the chair. She just continued to snore.

"Excuse me ma'am, uh Annie, just to the toilet," I said to the old lady. Tired of flight behaviour? There was that annoying little voice again, oh well, don't interfere, I answered in my mind.

A little stiff from the already long seat, I staggered down the dimly lit aisle to the restroom, which was halfway up the plane. The toilet was occupied and another man was waiting. While asking about the well-known road, I asked him: 'Occupied?'

– 'Joa,' the man chuckled, 'and I think he's gone.'

He was younger and shorter than me, and spoke with a Brabant accent. Around his neck hung a thick gold link chain that he wore deliberately over his T-shirt, clearly intending to show it off to anyone who would look at it. It said Chang Beer in big letters on his T-shirt, and by his big belly. which he couldn't possibly hide in the T-shirt, he loved it!

"Yes, you will have to," I replied. He nodded in agreement.

'Also on holiday to Thailand?', he asked. Before I could answer, he continued. 'Good, get out of that cold frog country.'

He was one of those people who chattered on and on without getting a word in.

"Skon land hear Thailand, I've been coming for years," he said.

"I'm going there for the first time," I answered quickly, before he started rattling again.

I couldn't have said that better

Mistake! I couldn't have said that better. The man suddenly turned out to be the Thailand expert. He started to warn me about all the dangers there (with good intentions, by the way) and which food was good, and which dishes I should definitely try.

If he had let me speak for a moment, I could have told him that my girlfriend, whom I had met in the Netherlands, is Thai, and because she is Thai, I was therefore quite well informed of the country and the associated culture!

But the chatter went on and on with his recommendations. He began as a walking tour guide touting the country's sights. And then the females came up.

'If you are looking for un durske (woman),' he continued, 'then you should go to Thailand.'

"Is that so?" I asked him.

'Yes, you don't have to put in much effort, you know, because they're mad at Farang! Do you know what is meant by this, by Farang? Dah is the Thai word for a foreigner!'

Yes, I nodded understandingly, as if I didn't know!

– 'Crazy to say, if you would like it, one will already be hanging on your arm as soon as you step off the plane. Honestly, it's that easy.'

The toilet door opened. A small balding and slightly sweaty man came out. "Sorry for the long wait, bit of a nuisance," pointing to his belly.

'Yes, that's annoying, isn't it?'

Where were you so long, tarak

When I returned to my chair, I saw that Lek had already woken up. She was talking to Annie. Hopefully my fear of flying was not the subject of the conversation, because suddenly the conversation fell silent when they saw me coming.

'Where have you been tarmac for so long,' Lek asked.

'Oh, let's go to the toilet, but a gentleman had a bit of a long job, so I had to wait a while.'

At the same time, a flight attendant came by with a cart of drinks. This time it was not the Miss Thailand in the making, but this one was also there. I had seen her standing in our aisle at the start of the flight earlier. Then she did her mandatory exercises with the life jacket and oxygen caps, and then the climax when she blew the whistle in an oh-so-elegant way. That was still burned into my retina!

Sir, she looked at me questioningly.

'May have some water ma'am', I asked, and as she handed me a cup of water, the ventilation blew the fresh scent of her perfume towards me. The oriental scent of jasmine and blossom petals took me on a short but sensual journey. Just then, turbulence! The plane shook in all directions for a few seconds, and I awoke from my dream. "Oh my God," I said.

Thank you ma'am.

'You are welcome sir', she said with a sweet shy smile. Oh, how beautiful life is sometimes, I thought.

Landing had begun, I was already lashed down

The TV screen showed that our plane had reached the map of Thailand. At the same time, a man's voice came through the loudspeakers. In almost unintelligible English the voice said, 'Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain. Thank you, that you have been flying with China Airlines. In about twenty minutes we land at the Bangkok airport! ….. blablabla'.

The landing had started, I was already strapped into my seat and I must admit the flying was a hundred percent better than expected. After a flawless landing and a loud applause from some of the passengers, the luggage lockers were opened impatiently. After some time I decided to pack my things too.

"If you point out which luggage is yours, I'll take that too," I said to Annie. And supposedly done so. 'Well Annie, we're here. Let the vacation start.'

"Yes, that's fine," she replied, taking a roll of peppermint from her purse. 'Here, nice and fresh for the road, but I'm not there yet, I still have a nice trip to Hua Hin ahead of me.'

It's a rotten disease

She had told us during the flight about her husband (Kees), and his sudden illness, within three months it had happened.

'Well you don't do anything about it, once you have it, then it's usually happened to you, it's a rotten disease. Yes, I do miss him. I had such a good time talking to him. If I sometimes couldn't sleep, or if I was worried about something, he was always there for me, and he always had a solution.'

A slight smile appeared on her mouth.

'Oh, he was such a good guy, sometimes too good Jan, if you know what I mean.' I nodded.

'But we had a good time together, you know. We traveled a lot and saw beautiful countries, he was crazy about Thailand just like me, and Thailand was crazy about him.'

I don't know exactly what she meant by the latter. I didn't want to ask her either. Sometimes it's better just to listen.

'And now I'm going to good friends in Hua Hin. I have known them for over thirty years. Yes, we laughed a lot back in the day. Always with the four of us, we traveled all over Thailand. They have never let me down. They are real friends, and I am always welcome too! It's still nice there, but it's different, isn't it, without my Kees.'

Charmer, she laughed

We said goodbye to her, she wished us a very happy holiday.

'And take good care of her, don't you (meaning Lek), because you have a lovely wife!'

'Well, you can be there too!'

Charmer, she laughed. And when leaving the plane, she whispered to me: 'Oh yes Jan, don't forget! Next time it will bother you even less. You will see it!'

I looked at her questioningly.

'Fear of flying!', she whispered softly ……So anyway!!

When we left the plane ourselves, we did not see her anywhere, it seemed as if she had disappeared into nothing!

It is now 2014 as I write this diary. But to this day, every time we are back at Schiphol in the departure hall about to board the plane on our way to Thailand, I always let my gaze wander past the other passengers in the hope of seeing Annie again. but unfortunately we never saw her again.