Jan Pieter from the polder on an adventure in Thailand

Even his mother had to admit that Jan Pieter had not been a pretty baby. He grew up a sickly asthmatic child and was bullied at school for his peculiar gait. They called him Dracula because of his very pale complexion and piercing eyes. His mother kept hoping that this ugly duckling would grow into a beautiful swan once he grew up.

That should not be the case, he remained unattractive and was absolutely no match for one of the farmer's daughters from the polder. The family owned a thriving agricultural business, where Jan Pieter worked with his father to manage the business after his studies at the Hogere Landbouwschool. He remained unmarried and for his sexual pleasure he sometimes went to Amsterdam, but that did not make him really happy.

To Thailand

While enjoying a (or more) beer in the village pub, the conversation with one of his sadly few friends turned to this subject. That friend told him that he knew a country with countless beautiful women who judged men not by their looks, but by their character and wallet. He discussed this with his father, who of course knew the problem, and so Jan Pieter went to Thailand with a generous monthly allowance.

Jan Pieter soon got used to the attractive life in Pattaya. He spoke good English and in the beer bars he easily made friends among the ladies with regular rounds and good tips. He also met Jorge, a Danish man his age, who was married to Wan, a hard-working woman – not from the bar scene – who made money from a clothes stand in a market.

Looking for a farang

Wan had a sister, Noy-Na, who was desperately looking for a farang after her Thai husband left her. Jorge and Wan thought that Jan Pieter was a possibility and they arranged a dinner party for the four of them at the Ruen Thai restaurant on Second Road. Neither the excellent food nor the pleasant atmosphere with Thai music and dance could conceal the fact that Noy-Na was not at all impressed by Jan Pieter. That was a pity because Jan Pieter was madly in love with her from the first moment. He tried to make a second appointment with her, but that didn't happen.

Jan Pieter regularly took a girl from different bars to his room in the Lek Hotel. One of them, Daeng, saw something in Jan Pieter, despite his appearance and asthmatic attacks. He eventually saw her three times a week, but in his heart he thought only of Noy-Na.

Villa for sale

Jorge and Wan lived in a beautiful villa in a park in the east of Pattaya (the dark side). They once invited Jan Pieter for a drink and dinner and they told him that such a villa, complete with swimming pool and large garden, would be a good investment. There was still a villa for sale in the park and Jan Pieter was interested. He promised to think about it.

Two days later he received a call from Noy-Na, who first apologized for not being able to meet him sooner. She wondered if Jan Pieter might want to buy that house in the park and—she had nothing to do on Friday—perhaps they could have dinner together and talk about it. Jan Pieter had actually agreed to meet Daeng that evening, but thought that he could see her again on another day.

Jan Pieter and Noy-Na had a great evening at the Hilton Hotel and this time Noy-Na seemed much more sensitive to Jan Pieter's courtship. Her laugh sounded loud (and false) in the restaurant and as she ate she stroked his hand on the white tablecloth and looked deep into his wild and staring eyes. By the end of the meal Jan Pieter had decided to buy the house and Noy-Na stayed with him that night at the Lek Hotel. Although she could not sleep well because of the heavy breathing and Jan Pieter's rattling, she had money and a new house near her sister in mind.

Jan Pieter bought his house

The following weeks everything went fast. Jan Pieter bought the house through a company he founded and soon had a team of construction workers carry out the necessary repairs and adjustments to his new house. Noy-Na was now a regular visitor, making all sorts of suggestions and proposals for improvement, and Jan Pieter was all right with it. He still saw Daeng too, especially when Noy-Na was again prevented from staying the night because of a migraine, daughter sick, a meeting the next day or some other excuse.

If he was honest, Jan Pieter had to admit that he enjoyed the evenings with Daeng more than with Noy-Na, who could only talk about the house. Noy-Na also carefully explored whether Jan Pieter wanted to marry her and she was successful. Jan Pieter provisionally agreed and the marriage would be arranged after his return from the Netherlands. He had to deal with some financial matters with his father.

Fate

However, Jan Pieter did not return. His health had deteriorated considerably and the sudden change of climate in the cold frog country was fatal. One morning his father found him dead in his bed. When Jorge received that message from the Netherlands, he was stunned, but immediately presented himself as the one who would arrange matters concerning the new house. The father did not want to claim the house, it had to be handled in Thailand.

Noy-Na was distraught, but acted immediately. She fired the construction workers with the promise that they could get back to work as soon as her fiancé Jan Pieter's papers were in order. She hired a local lawyer to take possession of her fiancé's house and a meeting was arranged at the city hall in Pattaya North to sort things out.

Attorney-at-law

They sat in a small office, where the smell of furniture wax predominated. Jorge and Wan, Noy-Na and her lawyer, but also a strange man in an expensive suit. According to Noy-Na's lawyer it was a formality, after all Jan Pieter's grieving fiancé was the only natural claimant, so everything could be handled quickly. Everyone nodded solemnly except the strange man.

He cleared his throat, fiddled with some papers and said: “I don't agree with what is being discussed here. I am Jan Pieter's lawyer and I have arranged all the paperwork for the establishment of his firm in accordance with Thai law. You should know that the company must have 51% Thai shareholders”. He paused to make sure he had the full attention of the company, held up a document and continued: “This is a list of shareholders of the company, prepared by me on instructions from Jan Pieter. He was of course a major shareholder with 49 %, me and my secretary have a joint share of 5% and the remaining 46% is in the name of one Miss Kittysak.”

Astonishing silence in the room, but the lawyer went even further: “Jan Pieter knew about his poor health and we discussed what should happen if he unexpectedly died. On this paper is his statement that in that case all shares will transfer to Miss Kittysak. You may know her by the name Daeng, the house is now completely hers!”

This story is based on an identical story about a Russian, written by Mike Bell in The Pattaya Trader.