My Thai Story Page 2

  The next day I’ve gone back to the site and I’m overwhelmed with the response, I’ve got twenty or thirty messages, this is amazing. I’ve made myself a coffee and got an A4 size pad and a pen. I’m going to have to go through all these and see if there are any potential partners, so I’ll need to make notes. I don’t even know what I want but I know I want someone nice, but how will I know they are nice? I’m going to work my way through them and make notes as I go.

  Some ‘potential partners’ were obvious none starters for various reasons, one was because she was actually a man. Call me old fashioned but I like my women to actually be women.

  One girl, who seemed to be very charming, was a girl called Jee. She was from a place called Udon Thani in the north east of Thailand. I can’t really put my finger on it, why Jee has stood out from the rest. She is pretty, but a bit on the young side at only twenty five years old, she is twenty two years younger then me. She sent me a really nice message and she seems very nice and my instinct tells me that she is genuine. Most amazing of all is that she seems to actually like me. We have exchanged email addresses and phone numbers.

  The next day, Jee emails me to tell me that she has taken her profile off the dating site because she knows that I’m the one for her. I look to see, and she has, blimey!

  The other girls who had contacted me all fall away and I’m in full time correspondence with Jee, my new potential girlfriend.

  Chapter 5. Jee what I know about her.

  Jee is twenty five years old but she will be twenty six in May. She works in the x ray department at Udon Thani Hospital. Her mum and dad died when she was twenty two and she has two older sisters. She has no children and has never been married. She lives alone in a rented apartment, and has her own car and motor bike. She works a lot and goes to the temple a lot.

  The next few weeks become a bit of a blur really. Jee and I are in daily contact by phone text, email and instant message on Yahoo. We talk a lot about Thailand and Udon Thani in particular.

  I’ve told Jee that I have read in a guide book that it’s a grey place and Jee tells me that she will move anywhere to be with me ‘no problem’. We’ve discussed what we want from life and we both seem to want the same things, a nice quiet settled life. Jee says that she would like two children and I don’t mind the idea at all. I’ve told Jee that I drink too much but I haven’t been drinking since I started talking to her on the internet, which is true. I’ve also told her about my past history and about my dreams for a better future with someone special in Thailand.

  I’m excited about Jee, she seems wonderful. She keeps telling me that she is ‘real’ and I don’t doubt it.

  Chapter 6. Holiday in April

  Before very long we are making plans to meet up in April. I think it might be a good idea to have a holiday with her in Phuket and I’ve told her that I go over for the whole month. Jee loves the idea and says that if she works lots of overtime now, then she will be able to get that time off work. I have offered to book separate rooms, or even separate hotels, whatever is acceptable to her, but she dismissed the idea without hesitation telling me that she already thinks that I’m her husband, so it’s no problem.

  I have to say that it was a problem to me. I do like Jee. I think I like her a lot, she is charming and quite funny, when she isn’t being serious but I don’t want her to be thinking of me as her husband already, we haven’t even met yet. I think that it is a great idea to have a holiday in Phuket, but I like the idea of separate rooms. It is a safety thing really.

  Then at least if we don’t get on so well then at least we will have our own rooms and space and if we do get along then we can always share a room if we both want to.

  We have carried on planning the April holiday and I have booked over three weeks at the Baumanburi Hotel in Patong Beach, but it is bothering me that Jee is somehow way ahead of me as to where she thinks we are in any potential relationship. I am excited to meet her and see what happens, Jee is already telling me that she thinks of me as her husband and it bothers me.

  The crunch came when Jee started telling me that she loved me.

  How can she possibly love me? We haven’t even met yet; we might hate each other once we meet, so to me it seems ridicules to be declaring love. It is a seed of doubt that she has planted in my mind and it has started to grow.

  Chapter 7. Change of plan

  We have been talking to each other on the internet for a couple of weeks already and it is only the end of January now. I really like Jee, I think that there is something special about her, but if I’m honest she has scared me off. I know that she can’t possibly love me and when she started saying that she did it brought into doubt everything that she had said and it has all started to bother me. I do like her and I don’t know if I am about to make a big mistake.

  I have written Jee a big email explaining why I think it wouldn’t work between us, and the main reason is because she was saying that she loves me and she hasn’t given us the time to get to know each other.

  I’ve explained that I now think it would be a bad idea to holiday together in Phuket because if we don’t get along then it could be a nightmare. I have told Jee that I am sorry but I am not going to go over to meet her.

  Chapter 8. Keep in touch

  Jee replied after a couple of days. It was a lovely email and she had obviously taken great care over writing it. She said that she was sorry that she had made me worry, but she couldn’t be sorry for the way that she felt, just sorry for telling me about her feelings. She went on to say that she knew in her heart that I was someone special and she hoped that we could stay in touch even if it’s just as friends, because she thinks that one day I might realise that she is a good and true person and I might change my mind. The letter said other things as well, but that’s the gist of it. I sent a very brief reply back, basically saying that of course we could be friends, but I said little to encourage further contact.

  There was no further contact, well not for over two weeks anyway. Then on St Valentines day (14th February), I received a nice message from Jee wishing me a Happy Valentines Day and hoping I was ok. She was wondering if I had found someone nice.

  I had found someone nice and it was Jee. I really wasn’t interested in finding anyone else. So I wrote back and told her this. I got an immediate reply and we carried on where we had left off, corresponding everyday by email, text, Yahoo and phone.

  Chapter 9. Getting to know you

  This time it seems much better, Jee hasn’t told me that she loves me and we have both agreed that we should get to know each other and just see what happens. It’s amazing how you can get an idea about someone because of their general conversation.

  Twice Jee has mentioned that she has to go to her sisters house because she is having problems with her husband, who as Jee put it ‘wants to box her’.

  It spoke volumes to me about Jee. The younger sister sorting out her older sisters marriage problems. When I mentioned this to her she just said,

  “Yes take care all family. “

  It is just another thing I liked about Jee. She also told me that she is working double shifts to make up time to be able to have time off in April.

  Chapter 10. Booked trip (9th to 27th travel to Udon on 16th)

  The trip to Thailand and the hotel is already booked. I am flying out from London on 8th April, arriving in Thailand on the 9th. Originally I was going to meet Jee on the 9th at Phuket Airport and we were going go to Patong Beach together, but then it didn’t seem like such a good idea to me now. I’ve told Jee that I will have a week in Phuket by myself and then go up to Udon Thani to meet her on 16th April. Jee has agreed, but I don’t really think she could have done anything else.

  I do have good reasons for this. I know from experience that the first few days are hard work because jet lag seriously kicks in. I think that it will be nice to have a week to myself and acclimatise before meeting Jee. I have also given the meeting a lot of thought and decided that I’d bet
ter see Udon Thani for myself if there was going to be any possibility of me ever living there. Also it will be better to meet Jee in her own environment, rather than on a three week beach holiday.

  I want to be with her doing everyday normal things to see how we get along, and if I’m perfectly honest, I also think that if we don’t get on, then it will be a lot easier for me to simply leave Udon Thani, rather than being stuck with Jee in Phuket if the chemistry isn’t there.

  It isn’t written into the plan the exact return date from Udon Thani but as long as I am at Phuket airport on 27th April for my return flight back to England, it doesn’t matter. If I was having a great time I could always stay, and if I wasn’t then I could return to Phuket after a day or two.

  April seems to be taking forever to come round, and each day I am counting down the days until my holiday, but I am already aware of something changing inside me.

  I am getting more and more excited about meeting Jee and less and less bothered about being on my own in Phuket. We are getting to know each other more everyday and already I am really starting to like Jee.

  About a week before I am due to fly out she has bought a web cam. I already know what she looks like because she has sent photos, besides the one that was on the dating site, but now seeing her on web cam, I have to say that she looks amazing, very beautiful and very elegant. I am delighted.

  Chapter 11. Snow to 92f

  At last the 8th April has come along. I seem to have been waiting for it for such a long time. It was snowing here yesterday and even today it’s freezing, and it’s April not January.

  I stayed in a hotel last night near to Heathrow airport. I usually fly from Manchester or Birmingham but I just couldn’t get the flights on the days that I needed them, so here I am at Heathrow airport. I fly with Singapore Airlines and on this trip. I’m going on their new Airbus 380, it’s a huge aircraft, but I have to say it doesn’t matter what you fly in, a twelve hour trip is mind numbingly boring. I don’t mind the take off and the landing, but the bit in between is a real pain.

  I was on a flight which nearly crashed a few years ago. It was April 2000 and I was flying from Manchester to Rhodes, a Greek island, with my kids Amy and Tom for a holiday. They would have been fifteen and twelve at the time. We were flying with Monarch Airlines.

  Everything was fine and dandy until we got over Rhodes Island. The aircraft in front and behind us had all diverted to the island of Kos because there was a violent storm over Rhodes and it was considered dangerous to land.

  I think the Captain of our flight must have been asleep or something and the Co Pilot, who was obviously either on some kind of ‘Youth Training Scheme’, drunk or just the most stupid person on the plane, decided that he was going to try and land at Rhodes anyway.

  He announced it before we even got there, in one of those pompous and irksome ‘Hello my name is Nigel’ type of voices. “….So we may be in for a slightly bumpy ride.” He ended cheerily.

  I really don’t think the fool realised himself just how bad it was going to be. As we approached Rhodes, the sky turned from bright blue and sunny to black and threatening. We flew into a raging storm which tossed the aircraft around in the black sky like a rag doll in the jaws of a rabid dog. Just to add to the terror, streaks of lightening forked down all around the plane.

  Within minutes people were screaming as they were being thrown around inside the plane, some slipping out of their seatbelts, and then people started to be sick, throwing up all over the place, the smell of vomit causing even more people to throw up. We circled around the airport like this for over twenty minutes. It was a real life nightmare. With every passing minute it got worse. It was violent and it was scary.

  People, including the cabin, crew were turning various shades of green, vomiting and retching. There was the constant low moan of people crying and the occasional scream of panic. I think we were all waiting to die. Even to an untrained person like me it was obvious that this was never right.

  The plane was rattling like a bucket of nails and panic swept throughout the plane like a tidal wave. Amy and Tom were sitting each side of me and after filling their sick bags and mine. They used the floor just like a lot of other people were doing.

  “Are we going to die dad?” asked Tom.

  “No mate, we’ll be ok.” I lied.

  Just as I was thinking that things couldn’t get any worse, the idiot who was flying the plane decided that he was going to try and land it. The plane was rolling from side to side, each wing taking it in turns to swing up into the sky and then down to the ground.

  We were sat looking out onto one of the wings and the rolling motion finally made me heave my stomachs contents up. The plane got nearer and nearer to the runway, sinking lower and lower from the sky. The plane still wasn’t under control and was rolling and swinging from side to side. What the fuck was the pilot playing at? We were going to crash, there was no doubt about it, and everyone knew we were going to die.

  “Are we going to die dad?” Tom asked again.

  “No son.”

  I put my arms around tom and Amy

  “We’ll be alright. Amy and Tom nuzzled their heads into me.

  “We are going to crash aren’t we dad?” said Amy unable to hold back her tears.

  “Trust me Amy, we will survive this.”

  I kept talking, constantly telling the kids that it would be ok, even though I didn’t believe it myself. I just didn’t want them to be terrified.

  Most of the people on the plane were crying and sobbing.

  Funnily enough the screaming had stopped. The panic was largely replaced by an acceptance of the inevitable and we were all helpless to do anything about it.

  The plane was still rolling with violent swings, hopelessly out of control and it was getting nearer and nearer the runway. I could see the flashing lights of the emergency vehicles gathering up ahead alongside the runway. Someone announced to get into crash positions but not many people did. We were moments from disaster.

  I looked along the wing; it swung down towards the tarmac of the runway. The distance between the wing tip and the ground was now down to only ten metres. The wing tip started to swing back upwards and I knew that the other wing was on it’s way down and that it would surely smash into the ground and we would all be evaporated in a huge ball of flames.

  Then a miracle happened. The Captain either woke up and took control, or whoever was flying this thing, and so intent on killing us all, just came to their senses. They put on full power and pulled the nose of the aircraft back up into the air. The G force pinned everyone back into their seats and the plane climbed back up into the black sky. The plane was still rolling around all over the place and shaking as if it was going to fall apart, but at least we were putting distance between us and the hard runway. After the initial screams I think everyone was just relieved not to be dead just yet. The plane was thrown around for another ten minutes or so until we had flown out of the storm. Then we flew smoothly onto the island of Kos.

  At Kos airport they kept us sitting on the plane for over two hours, along with other diverted planes because believe it or not, the airport wasn’t yet open for the holiday season. The plane stank of vomit and fear. The cabin crew had their hands full trying to keep some very angry and upset people calm, and from trying to get off the Plane. Others wanted to go and kick shit out of the pilot and were demanding to be allowed to see him.

  I wondered if the only reason that the pilot didn’t divert to Kos in the first place was because he wanted to stay within their permitted working hours, so that the crew could still fly back to England the same night and thus avoiding an unscheduled overnight stay away from home. I was only guessing of course.

  Just over two hours later we flew back to Rhodes, afraid and in silence. Stupid ‘Nigel’ announced that the storm had passed and that it would be a smooth landing. Even he didn’t sound so pompous and full of himself this time. I was sort of glad that he had managed to scare himsel
f as much as he had scared the rest of us.

  I really hope that he got sacked, as I’m sure most of the people on the flight would have complained, although I actually didn’t bother in the end. The plane landed at Rhodes and the female ‘number one’ cabin crew announced:

  “Thank you for flying with Monarch. We hope you enjoyed your flight. On behalf of Captain Kangaroo and the rest of the crew we sincerely hope that you enjoy the rest of your holiday. You can collect what’s left of you baggage at the baggage reclaim situated inside the main terminal building.”

  Actually she didn’t say that at all. I just made that up, but that’s what she should have said. That’s what I would have said, and a lot more besides.

  It was a very frightening experience and as close to death as you are ever likely to come without actually dying. Sorry I’ve gone off on a bit of a tangent here.

  Anyway this flight to Singapore and then onto Phuket went without incident, just a long and boring flight, but finally at around midday I stepped off the plane into 92f heat at Phuket Airport.

  I love Thailand and I’m so happy to be back.

  Chapter 12. Patong/mobile phone/change plan

  The taxi from the airport to your hotel destination will always stop at an agents office that will then try and sell you another hotel room and various day trips and tours. The very first time that I had come to Phuket it annoyed me, but now I don’t mind. I have a cigarette and a glass of iced water with them and spend ten minutes talking about nothing. I take some leaflets and a business card. The taxi driver will get something towards his petrol costs, the agent has a new potential customer, and I’ve made another friend, so everybody is happy.