settling in part 1

Wednesday, Thursday,

Previously, Random had spent about six months in Pattaya. We make the rounds of some of his haunts and meet up with some of his acquaintances, both Thai and other ex-pats.

The primary means of getting around in Pattaya are on foot, motorcycle taxi or baht bus. The baht buses are long bed Ford Rangers with two long benches on either side of the bed and a metal cover over the bed. Buzzer buttons are wired at intervals down the ceiling on each side. When a rider wants to get off they hit the buzzer, the driver stops and is paid depending on the distance, usually 20 baht (about 75 cents American). The motorcycle taxis are a little more expensive and not for the faint of heart.

Most of the motorcycles are smaller bikes, usually 150 cc and lower. The traffic laws are observed fast and loose with motorcycles dodging in and out of the lanes at speed. The fundamental rule is that whomever is in front has the right of way. Those of you who have ridden with me will know that I am totally simpatico with that philosophy. The only drivers who signal are the tourists who rent bikes. This is another option; renting, or if you have the money buying a motorcycle. Random rented a well used Honda 115 cc. Random has gotten pretty comfortable with the driving conditions. With our combined weight and the well worn shocks we regularly bottom out going over speed bumps and usually keep the speed around 35 to 40 mph to keep physical damage to a minimum incase we crash.

We stop in and have an excellent foot massage at the Jeab massage parlor. Nok and Gud are bright and funny as they banter with us while working out the soreness and kinks in out feet and calves. We exchange English words for Thai. Like most Thais, the girls work very hard for very little. I’ve never had a massage in the States, so I don’t have anything to compare it with. I have seen massages advertised for upwards of 50 to 75 dollars for 45 minutes of massage in the US. In Thailand the massages are regularly an hour or more and are the equivalent of 5 to 6 dollars.

We go from the massage to pedicures, similarly priced. (note to my female admirers (sic): Don't Panic, I'm still as macho as ever, it's just nice to have cleaned up toes)

We stop at an open air restaurant for lunch. We have large heaping plates of pork fried rice for less than 1 US dollar.

Thursday

We check in with an old friend, Jonnie Black. Jonnie has been in Pattaya for the last 2 years. Jonnie is doing well. He has a live-in girlfriend and has settled in to a nice house on the quiet side of town.