Thailand Beckons...

“...so the long and short of it is, we’re moving to Thailand. In 1 month.” Those were The Husband’s words to me on one of those miserably cold, damp, grey days that November can often bring in the UK. The engineering company he works for had assigned him to a project in Laem Chabang, a couple of hours south of Bangkok on the Eastern Seaboard, and they wanted him there ASAP.

Let me paint the scene for you: sales pitch over, list of all plus points of moving to a foreign country where we know nobody complete, he looks up at me, nervously awaiting my reply. “So, let me get this straight,” I begin solemnly, staring him straight in the eye, “you’re trying to tell me that this January, rather than being stuck in post-Christmas blues, recession-mired, freezing cold England, we will be in the hot, sunny climes of the Land of Smiles?” At this, my mock serious expression softens and I break into a huge grin, barely able to contain my excitement. In turn, his anxious face quickly morphs into a look of pure joy as he realises that I am actually happy about this monumental life change. Happy? I am more than happy! I am over the moon! I can’t wait! I want to pack up my bags and jump on a plane to BKK this very instant.

You see, having grown up in Hong Kong I have always wanted to live in Asia again and, from numerous holidays in Thailand I know what a fantastic country it is. Admittedly, the timing wasn’t perfect. We had bought a house only two months previously and I had just been promoted at work. Still, this was the opportunity of a lifetime and there was no way I was going to pass it up! So, one hectic month of packing our lives into boxes, arranging for our house to be let, wrapping things up at work, and saying goodbye to loved ones later, and we were watching Bangkok unfold outside the tiny cabin window of the plane.

We sailed through Immigration, partly because, as we had both forgotten to fill in our landing cards on the plane we had to stand outside the toilets in the terminal scribbling away, so by the time we got there everyone had already gone through. Genius really! A brief moment of panic ensued when our bags were nowhere to be seen on the practically empty carousel. I quickly spotted them though – they were so heavy they had been thrown in the naughty pile with the other ridiculously large items of luggage.

With a carry-on bag over each arm and hauling my oversized case behind me, we staggered through to the arrivals hall, looking out expectantly for the driver who had been sent to pick us up and take us to our hotel in the seaside resort of Pattaya. He was nowhere to be seen so we waited. And we waited. And we waited. The Husband went to look for him outside, quickly scurrying back in to the safety of the air con after being hit by a wall of heat. Eventually we went over to the information desk to ask them to put out an announcement on the loudspeaker for us and there we found our driver, sitting next to the pretty girl behind the counter, chatting away. “Ah, Mister Matthew,” he exclaimed after we told him who we were, “I been here long time. You no see me?” Considering he was sitting behind a raucous congregation of taxi touts, with the sign bearing our name on his lap, I’m not entirely sure how he expected us to see him. Having only just landed, we were already having to learn to master mai pen rai, the Thai attitude of not worrying about anything, a skill we continue to attempt to hone every day!

So that’s how we ended up here, in this land of crazy taxi drivers, even crazier motorbike riders, stray animals of every species, food that will blow your head off, strange and intoxicating smells assailing the nostrils, and massage parlours around every corner. And, for the most part, I love it!