The View from Nongkhai

Part 31

Published

21 March 2006

Welcome to Episode 31

In this episode I write about the recent Prab Hor festival in Nongkhai, conclude the tale of our trip to UK (seems a long time ago now), discover 'scambaiting', meet more Danish visitors, hear news from the Outback, and have pictures from Michael & Oui's wedding feast. (btw I first got married 36 years ago today).

Nongkhai seems to manage several festivals every year. Usually each festival has a Buddhist significance, but the Prab Hor festival commemorates the putting down of an insurrection by Hor tribesmen. The common feature of all festivals is however the commercial side. Even in the short time (3 years) I have lived in Nongkhai, each festival has got progressively longer, with people from all over the province coming to sell something to the festival visitors. The Prab Hor festival started on Saturday 4th March, and this year lasted 11 days, ending on Tuesday 14th. Dott and I visited it on both the first and last days, where spookily we bumped into A (below left) on both occasions. Although she runs a bookshop, A has not read James Redfield's 'The Celestine Prophecy', so we were not able to discover the message that she had for me (or I for her). The centre picture is from the first day of the festival, with a young woman sitting next to an enormous pile of coconuts (btw these are young coconuts and may be unfamiliar to many western readers). You may have guessed that the picture on the right is the same pile on the last day of the festival.

For much of this year, work has been going on to construct the archway (below left) as a symbolic gateway to Nongkhai, and to construct the fountain (below right by night) in front of the Prab Hor monument. The fountain is quite spectacular at night, and worth a visit to see all the effects produced. In the centre is one of several very attractive girls promoting Asahi beer. (More on this subject later).

One of the delights of the festival is eating 'al fresco' on what are normal streets on non-festival days. Naturally Dott and I partook of this particular pleasure. All the tables seated 4 people, but we were only two, so on the first night Leo and Win were passing and came to join us (below left) while on the last night A (above) and a friend who wishes to remain anonymous joined us. In the centre below, this lady does a line of very tasty barbecue kebabs, while below right an idea of the variety of food available.

On the last night at a nearby table was my close neighbour Stan and his wife Sue and another Nongkhai resident Paul. (Sorry Paul I didn't get the name of your partner). The object on their table is apparently a dispenser of Asahi beer. It is filled with 5 bottles of beer, and then you help yourself from the tap. But as it costs the same price as 5 bottles of beer why bother? Perhaps Stan or Paul can enlighten me? Initially I didn't recognise Paul, but he recognised me and told me that some time last year I had done a favour for him, and that he owed me a beer. In fact he bought me a bottle of Asahi beer there and then from one of those gorgeous Asahi girls. So it is true, the good that you do will be repaid, but perhaps not always in Asahi beer.

Above right could be the interior of a large restaurant, with a stage in the distance, but is actually the street just outside the TOT office (for those who know Nongkhai). In the centre picture is one of the new ornate lampposts that has sprung up in the area of the Prab Hor monument. It will be interesting to see whether these are a permanent addition or just come out once a year. A few days after the end of the festival I bumped into Stan and Sue in Tesco-Lotus, and was able to ask him why they had had the beer tower? He responded that he didn't know, it was Paul's idea. One thing that Stan and I were in 100% agreement was that the Asahi girls are by far the best looking, so I am not ashamed to repeat the picture.

For the benefit of my Danish readers, here at my desk at 10.30 p.m. it is exactly 90°F or 34°C. My lovely Danish correspondent reports that it is now minus 11.4°C there. As Denmark gets colder Kim gets more visitors. Below left Bent and Kim caught in happy mood one evening at a restaurant on the river, while centre Ou looks stunning. Right Kim with Per and Gwen having a coffee in the Pantawee. Note that Kim is wearing the same shirt in both photos. Kim, perhaps its time to refer back to Episode08 for Doughnut's fashion tips.

Bent first appeared in Episode07 where we learnt that he is an actor, etc., etc., Looking back at that episode, it contained this photo of Ou (right). What a difference 18 months has made. Ou is now a successful business woman, and boy does it show?

As I had previously met Per and Gwen, I was also looking to see when they had appeared, but they seem to have been lucky and escaped. Per is not looking at his best in the photo above, so I have included this picture below left of Per and Gwen from their visit last year. It seems that they have become quite fond of Nongkhai, and that they may be seen here far more frequently in the future.

By spooky coincidence, as well as Bent, someone else who made their first appearance in Episode07 was John, aka Big John or Australian John, centre picture above with son Nicky. I had been doing some gardening out at the front of the house, when John rode past and spotted me. I was pleased that he did a U-turn and came back to speak as I haven't seen him for some time. Turns out he has been in Oz, and has only just got back. A day or two later I ran into (NZ) Nik at the Outback. Turns out he too has been away, and just got back. I had hardly got a photo of Nik when John turned up. For some reason I had not realised that they were mutually acquainted, and was pleased to get this photo (above right) of them together. In a too brief conversation, Nik and I discovered 4 different things that connect us, including being born in the same year (but his birthday comes first) and living in the same town in S E Kent (i.e. Hythe).

Also in the Meeting Place as a resident was Arto (above centre) visiting Nongkhai from Finland. Is it me, or does Arto bear a striking resemblance to Scottish Nick? (Taking away the glasses and two day growth).

Tony and Dott visit UK (concluding part)

In episode 30 I paused the tale of our visit to UK with the move of my daughter and her family to their new house. After a couple of days the house was organised to Jacq's satisfaction, and it was time for Dott and I to return to Hatfield, where we spent the remainder of our visit, with one exception. The exception was our trip to Bexhill-on-Sea to visit my Aunt Ros. In a previous episode I admired her courage as an octogenarian moving from the home she has known for many years in Worcester Park, Surrey to a bungalow in Bexhill-on-Sea. At first she missed the shopping at Sutton, but she reassured me recently that she has no doubts that she made the right move. We went for a meal in a nice pub overlooking a new marina at Chichester. In summer you can eat outside, but in January with a cold wind blowing, we couldn't get inside fast enough!

Dott and Ros pose outside (chilly)

Tony and Ros pose inside (warm)

Dott & Jasper

Dott and I stayed overnight in Bexhill-on-Sea at a typical English bed and breakfast. I had stayed there last year when my parents and I had visited my aunt. This year my father was not strong enough to make the trip, so it was only Dott and I who had gone. The landlady had a lovely long haired Persian with beautiful blue eyes named Jasper, (above right with Dott). As well as being so good looking (I hope you are reading this Doughnut) he was very affectionate. One of his pleasures was to lie on his back in your lap. In this shot his head is at the bottom of the photo, and his four paws are in a line in the middle. The dark vertical line is his tail. Ros and I share a love of cats, so I have included these photos of Jasper as a thank you for her hospitality on the two days we stayed.

On our last full day, Dott and I went to Russell Square in London. We often eat food from local vendors while in Nongkhai, so I was determined that Dott would try what was on offer in London. Apart from the food itself, the big difference was the price. This cheerful vendor outside the British Museum was happy to pose with Dott, and yes it was windy, and it was cold. We had an enjoyable afternoon in the B M, the first time either of us had been there. Naturally I wanted to see what they had got from Thailand.

It turned out to be surprisingly little, but it did include these two to three thousand year old pots from Ban Chiang, not far from Nongkhai.

All of my visitors to Nongkhai get taken to Ban Chiang, a World Heritage Site, "the most important prehistoric settlement so far discovered in south-east Asia".

When we had visited Trafalgar Square the previous month, we discovered that the pigeons had been evicted, and that visitors were not encouraged to feed them. I had wondered where they had gone. When Dott was eating her hotdog outside the B M we found the answer. Like every other day, our last day was cold, but as the shadows show, it was at least bright and sunny. Generally we were lucky with the weather, and that contributed to making Dott's first trip to UK so special for both of us. I want to thank everybody who fed us, all those who shared their homes with us, my son Chris and my daughter Jacq, but the biggest thank you must go to my Mum and Dad.

News from the Outback

Some of you may may be wondering what happened to Priscilla (left), Glen's mascot at the Outback. I'm not saying anything. There is going to be a BEACH PARTY at the Outback on Friday 31st March starting at 3 p.m. Dress should be beach casual. We are promised Sun, Sand & Fun,

as well as a live band, sandy beach, pool and free barbecue. Stan & Sue, it starts at 3 p.m. you have no excuse for not attending!

Hooray I am soon going to be very very rich!

I have learnt that I was 'scambaiting' Pascal, and I have moved the tale to another page Scambaiting Apparently I am not alone in this activity, and some people have managed to manipulate scammers such as 'Pascal' into doing some strange things. I have put links to two very good stories on the 'scambaiting' page. If you have the time they are worth reading. Of course Nongkhai has its own 'home-grown' scammers. We had 'Goldilocks' who claimed to be drummer with Procul Harum, until a check on the P H website failed to reveal his name among the nine drummers listed. Then there was the resident of a riverside hotel who tried a 50,000 baht scam with Giulio at the Outback, but what he didn't realise was that he had instead taken the bait and walked into a very simple trap. For obvious reasons I cannot name names here.

Michael & Oui's Wedding Feast

It was back in part 24 that I mentioned that Michael & Oui had become an item, so it was a pleasure to accept the invitation to their wedding feast, even though it meant I would miss the opening race of the F1 season. (Btw I watched it the next day at the Meeting Place, and it was an absolutely superb race. Any fan who missed it must be really kicking himself). The feast was a splendid 'do'. The food was excellent, and there was plenty to drink. Paul made a very emotional speech in his capacity as Micky's surrogate father for the night. Below left Micky & Oui light symbolic candles together.

Above right we shared a table with Dan and Anne. Dan was previously featured comatose with a fish on his chest (I suppose you might call it a lie-on as opposed to walk-on part) in an earlier episode (21) when he was photographed by Not Gay Dave. Also on our table were Giulio and Sangjun (below left) who is now expecting a baby. Nobody has ever seen Giulio without his hat, so I asked them whether he was wearing it when the baby was conceived. Interestingly they gave me different answers. Below centre Micky gets among the ladies, while below right Giulio is being doubly cheeky.

OK that's enough for this episode. In the next episode I will  write about Glen's Beach Party, preview a surprise at the Meeting Place (when Paul lets me in on the secret), have photos from March birthday parties plus of course anything else that I think might amuse or interest you.

If you want to write to us, but you don't know any of our other email addresses, you can email us at mail@nongkhai.co.uk 

Best Wishes to all our readers        Tony and Dott 

P.S. Doughnut says 'Woofs to all readers' and special kisses to Kim.

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