Wan di, wan mai di (part 25 + closing)

Chris de Boer lives in a condominium building in Bangkok. Every day there is something for it. Sometimes good, sometimes bad.

Comeback

The wonders are not yet out of the world, and certainly not from Thailand. For who sketches my surprise? Kob is back. Just to refresh your memory. Kob was the woman who ran the laundromat in the condo and left like a thief in the night. Thief is not the right word because Kob was (is?) addicted to gambling, borrowed a lot of money from loan sharks and friends and always got that money back from her rich Thai lover until he failed. Loan sharks angry, friends appalled. She disappeared to her home village in Kampheng Phet and no one had any contact with her. At least, that's what I thought.

One day not so long ago I came home and my wife asked me: Guess who I just saw and talked to? I had no idea. Bob, she said. No, that can't be true. Is Kob back? Well, my wife said, I don't know if she's really back, but I just saw her. When Kob lived and worked in the condo, she had a girlfriend who took her to the Christian church in Bangkok (main reason: hooking up with a foreign man). Apparently, this was the only person still in contact with Kob after she left in debt. I almost forgot but I still owe her 2.000 baht. Apparently this friend had told her that the coast was somewhat clear again and that Kob could return to Bangkok. Because let's face it: is it better for a single Thai woman to live in Bangkok or in Kampheng Phet? Bangkok of course.

Now two gigs

Half an hour later, Kob showed up on our doorstep and a conversation in Thai ensued between Kob and my wife. I could follow the conversation in bits and pieces. Kob rents a 1-bedroom condo not far from us. Not such a bad strategy, because who would expect Kob to return to live in the neighborhood where she caused so much misery? Her old flame now pays her 10.000 Baht a month which is at least 100.000 Baht less than in the past. She cannot gamble with it, also because Kuhn Phrayuth has made illegal gambling virtually impossible.

So Kob doesn't really have to do anything but wait for the lover to come by. She goes out as little as possible because she is afraid of being recognized by old creditors on the street or in the market. They still have a mango to peel with her, I know. Jokingly, I had told my wife that I would like my 2.000 Baht back anyway. In the conversation at the door (Kob saw that I was home) Kob promised that she will pay back the loan amount, but she does not know when yet. I do. That will be with Sint-Juttemis. And that is a Thai holiday unknown to Kob.

If you think that this is the end of the story, you are wrong. My wife already suspected that handyman cum night watchman Tjet had a 'more than friendly' relationship with Kob. The fact that Tjet divorced his wife was therefore not only due to the fact that his wife could not handle money. Tjet couldn't handle his libido (or he could, depending on which side you look at it). I'm pretty sure Tjet also kept in touch with Kob after she left the condo. Because what is happening now? Some nights Tjet does not work as a night watchman. He has already asked my neighbor Lek a few times to replace him (with payment of his wages) but urged him not to tell grandmother. I do have a dark brown suspicion where he is "working" on the nights he's not working as a security guard at the condo. I'd bet 1.000 Baht (if Phrayuth would allow that) that Kob knows that too.

Heiraten zum drieten Mal?

Our German friend Rainer has been spotted in Thailand again. After his arrival in Bangkok, he immediately flew on to his new Thai lover in the far north. After two days, he announced on his Facebook page that he is engaged. She is – according to him – completely different from all the other Thai women he has met, either in Khao San or Sukhumvit. I don't believe that shit. There can be no conclusion other than that he is hopelessly in love. And that is dangerous, every man knows. He takes for granted that he lives far away from civilization, somewhere on the border with Myanmar, without a reliable internet connection. He only drinks three bottles of Leo a day, which is at least 3 bottles less than in his bachelor life. I don't know if it's to save money or because his girlfriend thinks three beers are more than enough. Maybe both.

One day I read on his Facebook that he was on his way to Bangkok. And yes, in the afternoon he was on our doorstep with his Thai beauty, whom I already knew from the countless photos. My wife inquired about her work and background. She works as a kindergarten teacher in the village and receives 5.000 baht a month salary. Judging by her face (and the countless photos in which she can never be seen without make-up and lipstick), at least half of that is spent on products to look more beautiful. And, she told my wife, she wants to become an even more attractive woman to Rainer by having her breasts enlarged.

She has already had two relationships with foreigners. Her last English boyfriend has left her and lives with another Thai woman in Chiang Mai, not far from her. She has a son who is clearly a cross between a Thai and a Westerner, but the Englishman refuses to believe that he is the father and therefore pays nothing according to her. But how does she pay for everything? She is well dressed and her son also always wears neat and not so cheap clothes and shoes in the photos. My wife suspects that there are some men (in Thailand but more likely abroad) who transfer her money every month.
She inquired extensively with my wife about how to officially marry a foreigner in Thailand: where, how, how much it costs. She absolutely wants to marry Rainer. It would also be the third time for Rainer, but officially. Last year he had assured me that he would never marry again in his life.

So you see again: you can't trust Germans abroad either.