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I'd have loved to go into hotel management - good lifestyle, decent pay, working around the world in non-shit holes.

 

I ran a D&B for a few years before the war while I was in the reserves. The money was astoundingly good but it did not make up for dealing with a staff of 50 18 -25 year old girls. I swear, all of their periods would sync up and last only 12 months a year. As you know, he war took me away from all that and got me back into chemistry and which was always a love. And that got me to where I am now.

 

I would love to meet up with all of you that I have not met at the friday happy hours, but unless you do it next year, I doubt I will be in town!

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actually you have also met me some distance west of the mekong & I was in fact a proud if obnoxious expat london gang member around 200x ish days perhaps under a former alias ib13 :)

 

so guys I'm still here & exited to have been part of the demise of that excellent pub in china town our former meeting place with the hot china girls in the basement club haha!!

 

oh let the drugs flow...umm pints or ales at least ;)

good to hear from you my friend,The King's Head was a rather grotty London pub but with great charm.

sadly now a fairly expensive Chinese restaurant but i still nod my head towards it whenever i'm in town and pass it in memory of some good times and friends i met there.

would be great to hook up with Carew again but he seems to have disappeared of the face of the earth,but i'm sure many of you will know where he is and what he's doing.

 

on a side note STH,i think the last time a few of us met up(or me at least) was at a pub just off Leicester Square/7 Dials area just after the smoking ban came in.

i remember our group all standing outside on the pavement and probably blocking it whilst smoling ourselves to death.

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Rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated, Sayjann. I just haven't visited this board for a long time. Hell, I haven't even visited the UK since 2008. I have my own life in Thailand. When I get a holiday I'm where I want to be on holiday.

 

Now that I've said 'hello' I feel somewhat duty bound to say something further. Hang on a minute, let me have a think.

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Okay - I'll have a stab at something. It's Sunday night here and half of my brain is already working on tomorrow's demands. And talking of brains - and how I nearly lost mine - makes a good enough short anecdote.

 

"If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans." Woody Allen said that (according to Google).

 

True enough in my case. I had some plans when I arrived here in 2004 - nothing particularly concrete, definitely flexible, no hurry, no worry - but after just two weeks in Thailand a couple of guys tried to murder me. That was a novel experience. Somewhere in the archives is a rather garbled account written shortly afterwards, together with the comments opining that 'there must be more to this story' as if I was at fault. Well, there was more to it as it happened, but it took me more than four years to actually get to the bottom of it - but that's for another time.

 

No, the reason why that incident is really significant is that even my half-formed plans were suddenly off the table. I had a Korean visa in my passport already, and had been about to embark for the land of kimchi. Never happened, no airline would let me board. Even weeks after getting out of hospital I was a mess. I've had worse, but I could have done without all the fuss.

 

I didn't realise then that I'd been done a favour. The way things worked out to my benefit afterwards were a bit spooky. Things just fell into place over time. Over time - that's the key here. I see a lot of fast-talking smart-arses turn up here thinking that what works in the west can work in Thailand if only the Thais would get with the program. Trust me - they won't do anything unless they want to, and only then in their own way. Thailand just tires these fuckers out, then they fuck off. Seen 'em come, seen 'em go.

 

If you stick around long enough, opportunities happen - in time.

 

I'll never understand this place. No one who isn't Thai could ever understand this place. The curtain lifts every now and again, but then that's it. Cultural Peek-a-Boo.

 

And that's just the way I like it.

 

No regrets.

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I'll never understand this place. No one who isn't Thai could ever understand this place. The curtain lifts every now and again, but then that's it. Cultural Peek-a-Boo.

 

And that's just the way I like it.

 

No regrets.

 

 

Welcome back Carew, I trust Rayong is still treating you well.

 

Even Mrs M does not understand Thai's half the time and she was born in Chiang Mai 45 years ago, so the likes of you and I have no chance.

 

Don't be a stranger and keep us entertained with your observations of Thai life.

 

Kong

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Okay - I'll have a stab at something. It's Sunday night here and half of my brain is already working on tomorrow's demands. And talking of brains - and how I nearly lost mine - makes a good enough short anecdote.

 

"If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans." Woody Allen said that (according to Google).

 

True enough in my case. I had some plans when I arrived here in 2004 - nothing particularly concrete, definitely flexible, no hurry, no worry - but after just two weeks in Thailand a couple of guys tried to murder me. That was a novel experience. Somewhere in the archives is a rather garbled account written shortly afterwards, together with the comments opining that 'there must be more to this story' as if I was at fault. Well, there was more to it as it happened, but it took me more than four years to actually get to the bottom of it - but that's for another time.

 

No, the reason why that incident is really significant is that even my half-formed plans were suddenly off the table. I had a Korean visa in my passport already, and had been about to embark for the land of kimchi. Never happened, no airline would let me board. Even weeks after getting out of hospital I was a mess. I've had worse, but I could have done without all the fuss.

 

I didn't realise then that I'd been done a favour. The way things worked out to my benefit afterwards were a bit spooky. Things just fell into place over time. Over time - that's the key here. I see a lot of fast-talking smart-arses turn up here thinking that what works in the west can work in Thailand if only the Thais would get with the program. Trust me - they won't do anything unless they want to, and only then in their own way. Thailand just tires these fuckers out, then they fuck off. Seen 'em come, seen 'em go.

 

If you stick around long enough, opportunities happen - in time.

 

I'll never understand this place. No one who isn't Thai could ever understand this place. The curtain lifts every now and again, but then that's it. Cultural Peek-a-Boo.

 

And that's just the way I like it.

 

No regrets.

joey d

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I ran a D&B for a few years before the war while I was in the reserves. The money was astoundingly good but it did not make up for dealing with a staff of 50 18 -25 year old girls. I swear, all of their periods would sync up and last only 12 months a year. As you know, he war took me away from all that and got me back into chemistry and which was always a love. And that got me to where I am now.

 

I would love to meet up with all of you that I have not met at the friday happy hours, but unless you do it next year, I doubt I will be in town!

 

You should have been at JUSMAG Thai Thursday night for Thai-American Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth's talk. It was a genuine feel good night for all vets. And Tammy is a gem, works tirelessly for veterans' benefits. (She lost both legs in Iraq.)

 

Good grief, I'm even in a few of these photos. I forgot to duck. :surprised:

 

https://www.facebook...38375807&type=1

 

 

p.s. Thread hijack over. :beer:

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Rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated, Sayjann. I just haven't visited this board for a long time. Hell, I haven't even visited the UK since 2008. I have my own life in Thailand. When I get a holiday I'm where I want to be on holiday.

 

Now that I've said 'hello' I feel somewhat duty bound to say something further. Hang on a minute, let me have a think.

fuck me,hello mate...... :elf:

good to hear from you and glad you still around in spirit.

miss the chats we used to have in the King's Head.....

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