Retired In Thailand and Loving It

FISH ON!!!!!!!! sometimes

2012-01-13T06:07:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things to do has always been fishing , I really love it, and wither I'm catching fish or not , I still just like being on the river or lake and having a line or two in the water and the anticipation of a fish running away with the bait on the hook and jumping up and yelling fish on and the excitement of fighting the fish to get it in and into my net. When we lived in Alaska (a fisherman's paradise) Me and the boys were on the Russian River or the Famous Kenai River as often as we could get away . You didn't need to be a professional or seasoned fisherman to catch fish in Alaska , it is almost like get a pole and a line ,bait your hook, and cast it out into the water, and you'll 75% of the time get a fish . That of course, does not hold true for the trophy fish and the hard to catch one's and I've caught a few of them too, but for the most part it was just easy and fun and I don't have to tell you how exciting it was to hook into a big salmon on it's way to deposit it's eggs in the creek bed ,where it was hatched and hell bent on getting there to lay her eggs , before it's life cycle was to end, and when you hooked one of these you had a fight on your hand and about as much excitement as a body could stand. I have fished in heat , rain, sleet , snow and blowing wind and still loved every minute of it .
Then here I am in Thailand and the fishing is a whole new ball game for me , . they use different kinds of bait and you cast your line into the lake or river and just sit there sometimes for hours and a lot of times you never catch nothing and then some days you may just hit it right and catch one or two. Fishing the other day I hadn't got even a bite for 6 hours and then a fish just grabbed my hook and took off, I got it in with almost no resistance on the other end at all, maybe that's because it was so small ha ha. When I got it home , Ciejay made Red Curry Pla ( a spicy and hot fish soup ), and was it ever good . My friend caught nothing and that was the only bite I got the whole day . A fisherman down the bank from us was having real good luck and landed a few nice one , He also lost a real big one by trying to bring him out of the water to fast , and if you can believe this ,a man way down the river from us put a whole small banana on his hook and caught a huge fish , I couldn't believe it .Guess I'll have to just keep trying everything I know to do to catch fish here in Thailand , some days fishing is like the ole song "some days a diamond , some days a coal," and You know old fisherman " THEY NEVER DIE , THEY JUST SMELL THAT WAY".

This one didn't get away, if you look real close you can see a fish on the end of the line ha ha

Jerry , trying for a small minnow to catch a big fish

Checking my bait

Jerry , checking things out

we got some poles in the water now where are the fish

FISH ON

caught on another fishing trip, these were good fileted and pan fried

This is a big 73# salmon I caught in Alaska

If you need some time to just relax and get away , alone or with a friend, give fishing a try , you might just like it and get hook yourself, and if you are like me, I can't wait for the moment I can yell "FISH ON".

MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL

2011-12-15T05:52:00.000-08:00

This has been a great year, very busy , but all in all a great year. Hope all is well with all of the readers of my little blog. Sorry I haven't posted as much as I would have wanted to , BUTTT Ciejay's honey do list are getting bigger all the time , and some days my get up and go seems to have got up and gone , soooo I find myself when ever the opportunity comes my way,I jump in the hammock for a quick power nap.
Here's wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year too, and as they say in Thailand ---"rich ,rich, lucky lucky,happy happy".

Samlor--- saved from the scrap pile and restored to beyond it's glory

2011-12-03T04:31:00.000-08:00

This is the before --just as he bought it

And this is the after ---3 months of hard work

My friend Jerry has been for the last few months been busy restoring a old and I mean old Samlor( a bicycle with a passenger seat. I'll let him tell the story , I think he did a great job and lots of hard work and love went into this project , I went by every week to check on progress and was always amazed at the work he did little by little .Hope you enjoy the story and pictures and if you leave a comment I'll be sure he see's them. Malcolm
Just to give you all a brief description on what a samlor is and a little history about it before I start telling you about the restoration:

A samlor is a three wheel bicycle with a seat behind the driver in which to carry passengers. It was one of the first forms of public taxi service in Thailand. The samlors were first built in the northeast of Thailand in Nakhon Ratchasima in 1933 and quickly spread throughout Thailand as a popular mode of transportation. Presently in Thailand due to modern day traffic such as car taxis, buses and millions of personal cars and trucks crowding the highways, the slow samlor is just getting in the way and have been banned inside some cities and will surely become a thing of the past in 10-20 years. Some parts of the country still allow samlors to operate on the backstreets but with the loss of income to samlor drivers, they will be forced to change to other modes of travel. Tourists coming to Thailand have always looked forward to a ride in a samlor just to experience a little of part of Thai culture. So after being in Thailand for 10 years, I decided to

restore a piece of Thai history in hopes that some young people that have never seen a samlor will be able to experience a bit of their own culture after their grandparents and myself are gone.

I have taken a few before and after pictures of the samlor and wish that I had taken more especially when it came time to put it back together. I first want to say that this samlor that I purchased was at least 30 years old and that the old Thai man that sold it said he just got to old to peddle it and had bought a motorcycle with a side cart for his taxi business. I disassembled the entire samlor and started to check, repair, replace and restore everything as best as I could. I quickly discovered that parts are hard to find because all the companies that made samlors went out of business several years ago and there are very few shops in the country that still repair samlors with remaining parts from years past. It won't be long until it will be impossible to find parts. It was a real experience trying to explain to shop owners which parts that I was looking for when they were not expecting a foreigner to be fixing up an old samlor. Most people thought I was out of my mind, but I already knew that. I will try to explain a little about each picture the best that I can and hopefully you will understand. I will use the picture number in my draft here and hope that they will match up in order when I attach the photos to this email. If you click on the link that I have attached you will find the pictures and if you look in the lower right hand corner you will find the comment on each picture same as below.

https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=ba51755fb1e21857&resid=BA51755FB1E21857!362&parid=root

Photo Attachments:

#001 Samlor was bought for $254.00 on Sept 12, 2011. The last new samlors sold a few years ago for around $2000.00. The picture makes it appear to be in good shape. Things looked ok before I bought it, boy was I wrong!!

#002 Center of the photo is a cast iron emblem of a deer with wings with the name of the company : Liang Service Co. in the Thai Language. Notice a lot of rust and front fender damage at the bottom.

#003 Front View

#004 Notice the motorcycle mirrors welded to handle bars. Samlors came out with no mirrors. Man at the re-chroming shop did a great job of grinding them off and re-chroming handlebars. Brass figurine will be explained later.

#006 Looking down at the floorboard shows a lot of rot and damage.

#007 Scene hand painted on back of passenger seat is of the Bridge Over River Kwai. Hated to remove it but had to do repairs to the seat and removed 4 layers of old paint.

#008 Side view. Notice the blue roof was taped on with black electrical tape.

#009 Rear bumper was not damaged but had some rust on back side, needed re-chroming. The emblem in center of bumper is of the deer with wings again.

#010 Parts everywhere. Lots of damage to wooden passenger seat.

#011 Heavy duty springs and other parts in need of re-chroming.

#013 Disassembling the wheels.

#014 View of bottom of seat and main chassis leaning against the pole. I have no electric power tools so I used a pocket knife to strip the paint off the chassis along with steel wool.

#016 Loaded up and ready to go looking for bearings for axle, wheels, front forks, and pedal crank.

#019 Had to replace all bearings on samlor

#020 Rear axle chain sprocket about 50% worn. At present unable to find a new one but will keep looking. This one will still last a long time no more than it will be ridden.

#021 The brake is on the right rear wheel.

#022 Brake repair needed, have already found new brake shoe.

#023 Another view of brake. Brake drum is ok.

#026 Springs disassembled and ready for chroming.

#027 Front fender damage repaired using a hammer and a round head bolt.

#028 More front fender damage.

#029 Rear fender damage. Note: All fenders had been painted many times. Had to remove all paint again with a pocket knife and steel wool.

#033 Used paint stripper to remove paint from wooden passenger seat.

#034 Paint stripping. Lot of damage on bottom needing repair.

There may be a few more "before" photos added later.

#036 Here are two of the chassis decorative pieces that were rusted out and I couldn't find replacements so I made new ones. Old ones were made of steel and had been chromed. I purchased a piece of chromed brass sink drain pipe and took a hacksaw blade and a file and worked a week making new ones. There were four pieces in all. This was a hard job!

#040 Starting to reassemble after painting chassis and getting re chromed pieces back.

#042 Rear end assembled and waiting on passenger seat to be finished.

#044 Front half assembled.

#045 Rear wheel view.

#046 Company logo after re chroming.

#047 Floorboard of passenger seat getting ready for polyurethane.

#048 Working on reassembly. Notice the grey primed passenger seat to my left ready for painting.

#049 Adjusting the brakes.

#051 These old pieces were the lip on the floorboard. Made of wood and covered with sheet metal. Wood was rotten. I replaced it all with stainless steel.

#052 Front fender and handlebar grips installed.

#053 Chain installed. All bearings on the samlor were replaced with new ones.

#055 Old seat held together with wire and string.

#056 Another view. This was the original seat and is over 30 years old.

#058 New seat, genuine replacement part.

#059 New seat, best bargain of the restoration project. Cost me $13.50 and was the last one in the shop. Real leather one-quarter inch thick. Lucky to find this!

#061 Solid brass figurine ornament. Very old and worn. Was on the samlor when I bought it, was added by previous owner. He wanted to remove it but I told him I wanted it and he decided to let me have it. This is truly an antique and a great conversation piece.

#062 More on the figurine: This brass figure is a character in the epic saga story of the Ramakien (Google it). His name is Ramasoon and is the " God of Thunder". Perfect for my samlor because I will probably be making a lot of thunder when I strain to pedal this heavy bike! LOL!

#063 Just installed the newly upholstered passenger seat.

#064 Back view of passenger seat.

#067 Front view of passenger seat.

#085 Rear wheel fenders installed with new reflectors. Also installed the re chromed bumper. Paint job that I did on the seat came out looking good after a lot of compounding.

#086 Rear wheel hubcaps installed. I found these after a lot of searching in a lot of cities around Bangkok. Not many of these left in the country.

#091 Roof support tubes mounted. They are the five tubes you see on each side of the seat.

#092 Vinyl roof installed with rain flaps down.

#093 Rain flap side view.

#097 Roof with the rain flaps rolled up. Notice the red bamboo slats that mount into the tubes to support the roof. They are the original slats that came from the factory when it was built. I repainted them.

#098 Finished job

#099 Samlors didn't come with headlights because they were used in the city areas where they had street lights. I live outside the village and decided to add two headlights(one on each side of the passenger seat) to be able to see at night if needed. I also installed two new tail lights under the back of the seat where two old lights were before.

#100 Side view

#103 Back view

#106 Ready to ride! Plan to ride around the village on the King Of Thailand's 84th Birthday to celebrate his birthday on Dec. 05. The whole village will celebrate with a big party and fireworks. LONG LIVE THE KING!!!

#108 View of the seat and floorboard area. That's All Folks!!!

Well, my restoration project is almost completed. It is Dec.03 2011 and I have been working since Sept. 12 and all I have to do now is to clean and polish the samlor and I will be done. Many people have asked me what I plan to do with the samlor and my answer is that I will probably ride it around the village, go to the local market, use it to get a little exercise. Some people have asked me if I would sell it and I said that I would if the price is right, but I really would like to see it end up in a museum so people can remember a part of their heritage. I have spent a lot of time traveling around and looking for parts and looking at other samlors and talking to many samlor drivers. After seeing other samlors and the run-down condition that they were in, it made me feel proud to have taken on this project and to restore a part of Thai culture that is worthy enough to be in a museum. I have put a lot of hard work into this project and have enjoyed the time spent doing it.

I hope everyone of you will take the time to look at the pictures and read the comment that I have put on each one. If you have any questions please feel free to ask and if you have any comments I would love to hear them. Hope you enjoy and learn something from my project.

Peace be with you!

Jerry

Water ,Water everywhere

2011-11-23T07:36:00.000-08:00

Ciejay and me got up early Sunday morning and decided to take a day trip , it wasn't planned , But the trip was a water related day, We first went about 100 kl. up the road (323) to the town of Tong Pa Pung and went to the huge hydro-electric Dam and lake , from there we went to the Hindad Hot Spring , was this ever a great place, It's well maintained and they have 3 pools to soak in Hot ,Hotter, and Hottest and I do mean hot, but the great thing about it is the cold creek from the mountains that runs along side of the hot pools, after a time in the hot you can just slide over into the cold and what a refreshing feel that is , I'm in whole body and Ciejay is just a feet soaker. We had a great time there and then we were hungry from all the relaxing and found this great little road side restaurant and had the best Pad Thai I have ever had , we'll be going back for more .

We then headed back toward home and when we got to Sai Yok Noi , Ciejay said "we haven't been to the water fall in quite a while ,lets go there " so we stopped in Nom Tok and headed up the trail to the water fall . The place was packed ,and lots of folks were pic-nicking and playing in the water , kids everywhere and having a great time , we soaked our feet in the small falls and just sit and "people watched" for a while , and enjoyed the cool breeze coming off the water . We did a little hiking up the trail to the place where they have one of the old trains parked and you can climb in and pretend you're the engineer , you know me ,up I went , . After that we came back down the trail to the gift and food shops and we did our share of helping out the local economy, we got a back seat full of snacks for us and our neighbors and , the one special thing I love is the fresh dried pork that has been sun dried and then deep fried , a lot like the beef jerky I loved in America. It's one of my favorite afternoon snacks , I eat it with sticky rice, it's to kill for . After spending all my money on snacks (that I really don't need to be eating ) we headed home. We had a great day and I was able to take a few pictures before my Sony Cyber -Shot gave up the ghost , I got 5 really good years out of it , and it was always in my pocket and had fallen out many times and got wet and lots of other abuse, So it was about time , and YES I'll buy another Cyber -Shot.
Hope you enjoy the day trip post and the pictures.
Thailand is a great place to live and lots of fun stuff to see and do , and all in your "own back yard ", so to speak . I guess that's just another reason why I'm "Retired in Thailand and Loving It." Malcolm

HIGH and DRY

2011-11-06T22:09:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't said much about the flooding in Thailand , BUT , my computer has been having problems and we've been busy working in the yard as the rainy season has come to a end here in our little part of Thailand .
But-- that cannot be said of about 1/3rd of the provinces in Thailand many have been flooded with water up to 2 and 3 feet and some places even higher , and with it all happening right in the middle of the rainy season and with the ground already being saturated with the rain , the water just are not going down in many places and will be around for quite a while.
Our Thai. daughter Nu and husband A and grandson Nicky boy's home was flooded to the first floor in Nakon Sawan and they had to flee up North to their relatives and are building a small home there , as it will be in reality months before things in Thailand will be back to normal ,, they make a trip to their home every week to check on things and they have someone who is watching the place for them ,by staying on the second floor and guarding things , when in time like these , as almost everywhere , there are terrible people that take advantage of other folks tragedies and are going around to homes where there is no one staying and just helping themselves to what ever is there. In fact I would say that for some places it will be years and some will never be the same , even as I type this it was announced on the news that lots of water is now pouring into the center of the business and market districts of Bangkok today.
Our little village is full and I mean full of folks who have fled Bangkok and are living with relatives here or they are renting every guest house and empty room for a place to stay with their families and pets some expect to be here for months. We have several homes on our street that have been rented out and they are several families staying in each one , people helping people and Wang Pho is doing it's best to help all we can.

We were in Kanchanaburi a couple days ago for my Dr.'s app. and they say that there are thousands of folks that have fled to the city of Kanchanaburi as some hospital in Bangkok have been closed and they ( the sick) have come to our Prov. hospital to get treatment , when Ciejay got there it was packed, thankful she was already scheduled and was only there for 4 hours .Afterwords we went across the street to Tesco and you could not hardly find a place to park it was sooo busy, they are trying , but a lot of shelves were empty and some prices had gone way up.They have been asked by our PM not to raise prices , But many of their suppliers are in the flooded city of BKK and have only limited supplies , and their factories are being closed , because of the flooding they are charging more and it is being pasted on to the consumers This months groceries probably cost us at least $50 more US dollars than last month and will probably go up even more as the waters will be around in most places for a while .
As the title says we here in Wang Pho are high and dry and our folks are doing all we can to help those effected by the flooding .
Take care and remember to pray for the folks and not only them but thousands of pets have been left behind and many are starving and hungry too . This kind of stuff effects the hold of humanity and the animal kingdom as well. If you have any questions about the flooding or if you want to know how you can help E-mail me and I'll point you to the RIGHT place. Malcolm

What's that noise???????

2011-10-25T06:45:00.000-07:00

I woke up early this morning with the sound of sawing and grinding and hammering , I ask Ciejay "whats all that noise"?. I don't know was her answer , which was a little strange , because normally the neighbors tell each other everything they are doing(well almost) , especially when they are building something . My curiosity got the best of me and I could not go back to sleep with all the noise , so I got up dressed grabs my first cup of coffee and out the door to see what I could see. I found two strangers ,with all kind of wood-working tools laying everywhere on the road and it looked like they were going to make something , well, I sit down on a stump and watched for a bit while I enjoyed my coffee and the smell of wood being planed and sawed , I love the smell of worked wood. Well it didn't take long for me to figure out that they were going to make a table out of the wood that my neighbor had saved when they cut down a jack-fruit tree that was about ready to blow over near their house . I love the yellow color of the jack-fruit wood, and I have been enjoying a rather beautiful table made from a Jack-fruit tree that I use for my computer and (Ciejay calls it my Junk table) and stuff. I watched as these men, here on the side of the road and in no time at all made a table that after it has been sanded and finished with a clear coat of wood preservative like varnish or poly-urethane , and rubbed to a glossy finish . If you were to buy a table like this, in the USA, where I'm from, it would cost you at least $300.00 US DOLLARS and that is a very conservative guess, but here in the LOS with wood free for the cutting ( if it's on your property and for your use ) and a couple of skilled woodman you can have one for as little as 1,000 baht (US $30 dollars) and if you have a relative that is skilled even cheaper. I love to watch the Thai's at work building , it would take a shop and lots of tools and money to build a table like this in the USA , but here in the LOS any place with a little shade and somewhere to run a cord for power and the next thing you know ,you.ve got a table.Well that's my story and I've included a few pictures for you to look at, hope you enjoy. Malcolm

Went to take a look this morning andf they had made 3 more tables and had enough wood to make a small book shelf , took a couple new pictures for you to see. Malcolm

All the tables in our home are made from wood left over from our remodel in 2004 ( the wood is sooo hard that you have to pre-drill , before you can drive a nail into it,) except the computer table , which is made by Thai craftsman from a Jack-fruit tree we cut down a few years ago.As a side note the Thai's use the jack-fruit wood for the backs of guitars made in Thailand.

THE HAMMOCK OF LIFE (another repost)

2011-10-16T12:58:00.000-07:00

Our friend Florance giving it a try

Ciejay has pretty well figured it out

And me,I am a master hammocker

Seven years ago, when I was living in America , I ended up in the emergency room one evening with what I thought was a heart attack, fortunately it was not.After a overnite stay the Dr. came in to discharge me and to give me some instructions about my health and my life style and, how to prevent a real heart attack, "this time it was just a warning sign" he said, and you have a severe case of stress related heart problems, being brought on by your work habits and lifestyle. My suggestion is that you make a change at once and get all this under control. Well I gave it a try for a week and then went back to my old habits , and would'nt you know it his prediction came true , only this time I needed a triple by-pass to save my life. After the operation and six months of recouping , I felt strong enough to go back to work. Then I meet my Thai wife , Ciejay , and we took a trip to Thailand and at the same time it was time to retire. So, here we are in the LOS and no stress Thailand . with the good weather and , food , and easy living , I feel like a new man, and my body feels like it, and, my kids and wife say I look like a new man too.

The one thing I do remember the Dr. saying was this " Malcolm the best thing you can do for yourself is to take a NAP, every day for at least one hour". AND THEN I SAW IT, the ultimate napping object, and answer to my prayers, the all mighty HAMMOCK.

The hammock is a fabric sling used for sleeping or resting while suspended above ground,it normally consist of one or more cloth panels,or woven network of

twine stretched with ropes between two firm points such as trees or poles.Hammocks were developed by native inhabitants of tropical regions for sleeping or resting.

There is an art and sometimes hard learned lesson to sleeping or resting in a hammock ,one wrong move and you will find yourself on the ground with a sore back or lump on your head, I seem to have mastered this very quickly and as per my Dr.'s advice I force myself to take a Nap every day. Ha Ha. If you have not yet discovered this wonderful invention of the natives in tropical regions , I hope you do soon , it will change you life . If you need help mastering ,and figuring it out come on over about three o 'clock every afternoon and I'll personally show you how it's done . I have a extra hanging nearby for guest.

You'll hear the cry of the obedient expat "Hammock Time." Malcolm

Retirement ---Rerun--- Why Thailand ?????

2011-09-26T05:57:00.000-07:00

Sabu

Nu and A and Nicky Boy

fishing at one of my favorite spots

Taking a bath and ride on my friend Moll-Lee

Our home the first time we saw and bought it in 2003

A couple years later after the remodel and adding a few plants and flowers

We call this our long room

Our home in 2011

fresh chicken and chicken parts

lots of salads to take home

Me and My Girl

I love this

Sunset from the porch

Wang Pho train station

Our church family Hope of Kanchanaburi

Taking off for a little tripn with folks from our village

We were in town the other day and we saw a friend or two that was here in the LOS on a holiday and thinking about retirement, and they ask us the same question many have ask us in the past as to why we chose Thailand as our retirement home and country. Well , it will be 7 years in October that we moved here from America," lock stock and barrel "as the ole saying goes and I thought it would be good to repeat a post I posted about a year or so ago , it might help to answer that question, Hope you enjoy the older post and pictures.

Why Thailand

When we travel on vacation or we are out and about, one of the most ask questions is "Why Thailand."In order to really answer that question , First, you have to know that I am married to a Thai lady , and one of my main concerns in my marriage was what could I do to make her happy .We came to Thailand in 2003 on a vacation and a chance for me to meet her family and kids. I saw at once ,how happy she was to be in her home country with friends and family , and yet have the security in knowing that she had a husband who could and would do anything she needed , with-in reason to make her happy. Not only could I see how happy she was , but I at once fell in love with Thailand , there was lots of things that attracted me to the LOS , BUT the most important one was how happy Ciejay seemed to be .

I knew it was about time for us to start thinking seriously about where we wanted to live out out retirement years , I had always thought about somewhere close to my Brother and Sister, out Tenn. way , and we went for a visit to check things out before coming to Thailand the next year on Vacation , and somehow it just didn't feel right to both of us. Before we came over to the LOS we had mentioned to each other if the opportunity and time arrived that we would look around and maybe think about Thailand (of course it was my first visit ,so much of the decision would be on my shoulders. We looked around and then on the last day when we came to Kanchanaburi and our small village of Whang Pho , We looked at each other and smiled, and knew this was the place. We had little daylight left for this visit to her Older Brother and the next day it was off to Bangkok to catch the plane and head home , Would you believe we found a little house and piece of land and bought it in the dark of night , saying that we would be back next year when I retired and make it our home , Everyone laughed and thought to themselves that they would never see us again, but we fooled them all and you can read about the move and remodel and moving , in a older post , just go back and start from my first ones .

Now that was a long story to tell you the main reason for choosing Thailand. Some of the others are as follows and in no order of importance , all of them to us are important reasons for choosing the LOS.

1.--My small SS check is enough for us here in Thailand.

2.--We were able for Ciejay to buy a house and small piece of land with what little money we had in savings.

3.--The weather is the kind of weather I always thought I would like about a place, when I retired.

4.--The food is out of this world tasty, healthy (spicy mind you ) but plenty and fresh, and growing everywhere , even in your own backyard.

5.--The Thai people,( our neighbors and village folks) even tho it took a while to get use to their way of life and culture and their way of thinking , and for them to get use to me -ha ha ha

6.-- The almost crime free village and area we live in .

7.--Lots of things to see and do , and a lot of it not far from where we live .

8.--Our Thai family

9.--Our dogs(our kids ) that can run free and wild .(we have since lost Bok ), but Sabu is alive and well, and a everyday source of fun and companionship

10.--Our home, our yard with all the plants and flowers and the wonderful view of the mountains from our front porch , all these things make up our little piece of paradise

11.--Our village and the town folks .

12.--And our neighbors

13.--Our Dr's., and health care

14.-- Our church and church family

15.-- The difference in our health since moving here to Thailand

16.-- And the big difference in me and my thinking about life and living.

17.-- The happiness I see in my wife ,Ciejay,(thai nickname Toon)

That's not all the reasons , I could go on and on , and you might say "well couldn't you find that in your own country ", maybe so , But we didn't. and we have found it here in what we call our little piece of paradise, that , we believe the Lord had saved just for us and all the blessings that go along , with being Retired in Thailand and Loving It .

Nipa Palm--have you ever seen????

2011-09-23T23:44:00.000-07:00

I received this e-mail and pictures from my Thai friend ,Aom who is owner and operator of the local computer and video game store in our village. I had gone to add minutes of time to my cell phone and she had this strange fruit that she was chopping open and feeding her son and anyone that wanted to try, and she gave me a few pods to take home and try , she also sent the e-mail and pictures for me with information about the plant and fruit. What a interesting plant , and one of many uses for the Thai folks in the villages where it grows . Take a look at the pictures and video and see for yourself a very interesting plant that most (me for sure ) have never seen or heard of in our lives.Thailand (the country and the people) never lets a day go by that I don't see or hear about something new and interesting to me and I hope to those that read my little blog.Things like this and friends like Aom(who also owns and operates a beautiful resort(family style -kid friendly) on the Famous River Kwai here in Wang Pho, are just another one of the reasons why I'm Rretired in Thailand and Loving It. You can E-mail me if you're ever in this area and would love to stay in a real Thai (house) resort for you and family and there is enough rooms in the house to bring along your friends too.Thanks for the read .
Malcolm
E-Mail from Aom

Sawasdee ka ,malcolm และพี่ตุ่น

Nipa Palm make thai sweet food ลูกจากลอยแก้ว

Leaves nipa palm can be taken to wrap the sweet food.

ใบสามารถเอาไปห่อทำขนมได้เรียกว่า ขนมจาก

To be able to remove the leaves to make the roof.

และใบก็สามารถไปทำหลังคามุงจากได้

VDO cilp Nipa Palm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnHtqY4GIXY

aom

Talking (feeding) with the animals

2011-09-13T22:51:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago I went to the famous Bridge on the River Kwai, to visit Ciejay's nephew Guy, he has a bar-b-que stand near the bridge and sells a great bar-b-que chicken and ribs. You know me and food I just had to give it a try, he ask what I wanted and I said "give me a sampler plate" WELL , he piled a little bit of everything on my plate and a generous side of his famous homemade bar-b-que sauce, I rolled up my shirt sleeves and dug right in, to my surprise, and sauce all over my face,the plate was empty in no time, and it was all good, especially the Bar-b-que chicken legs.The food was good and I would go back for more another day , a great lunch stop, or afternoon snack.
BUTTT the thing that caught my attention that day aside from the great food was a little table beside the stand that had a couple of baby animals on display for picture taking and for a small donation you could hold them ,pet them ,and feed them a bottle of milk. They had a leopard and a tiger and they were just beautiful, and very playful. The petting and feeding stand are a part of the Safari Park Zoo, in Bophloi , Kanchanaburi.It's a really good zoo and they display and take care of the animals very well, They have several of these stands around the area and the donations help to feed and take care of the many endangered animals in Thailand. It was a real thrill to hold and feed these babies and something I'll remember a long time ., lots of folks were having their pictures taken while feeding the babies , something you get to do maybe once in a lifetime, I loved it .
I took a few pictures and hope you enjoy them , and if you're ever in the area ,stop by for a bar-b-que plate and feed yourself and the animals .

Mushrooms,picking ,cooking ,eating ,enjoying

2011-08-03T23:33:00.000-07:00

This is mushroom season here in Thailand and Kanchanaburi is famous for all kinds of mushrooms that grow in the forest and especially the foothills of the small mountain range in the Sai Yok area, there are mushrooms a plenty, one of the favorite and most sought after, and a great income for the families that live here is the termite mushroom or (hed khone ), also they are a favorite in Tum Yum soup of all kinds , my favorite is hed khone mushrooms and chicken soup with coconut milk, "yum yum".

    One of the most famous and expensive mushrooms found around here are called the hed khone , and folks come from all over the country to buy them at the roadside stands along the highway between Sai Yok and Kanchanaburi, and there are whole sellers that come from Bangkok to bargain with the roadside stands in order to take them back and sell to the high priced restaurants, a meal that includes hed khone mushrooms (fresh) can cost as much as 350 baht or more . . They can cost upwards to 400 baht per kilo at the roadside stands. The season for them is Sept. till Jan. and families that sell them every year, will stay in the woods for days, guarding their secret places, they seem to grow in the same places at the same times every year.
    At the foot of the mountain behind our house and in the forest leading up to it ,there lots of hed khone mushrooms grow and people from our village will come every morning at 5 or 6 am and start looking for them especially after a good rain and a sunny day. It's first come first served at our Mt. and the early bird gets the worm (mushrooms).
Today was a lucky day for us , we had a man come and cut our grass for us today and I was out back looking, to see if he had done a good job when , I happened to look over about 50 ft. from our back deck and saw what I thought was mushrooms ,I called Ciejay to come look , and sure enough they were hed Khone mushrooms. we were able to pick about 2 kilo. What a great fine and in our own backyard , It don't get any better than that.
   Ciejay just finished cleaning them and tonight we are going to saute them with onions and garlic and serve them with grilled, pork tenderloin and jasmine rice. and we will still have enough left to make a great mushroom and chicken with coconut milk for a great Tum Yum soup.
    This is just another example of the wonderful variety of food that is available here in the LOS , that is there just for the small effort of getting out and looking . Do you like fresh mushrooms?, and do you ever go to look for them in the forest near your home?Ciejay and me we love mushrooms any time we can get them , most of the time we , like most people have to buy from the roadside stands and every once in a while , if a neighbor finds more than they can use they will share them with their neighbors, and we're very happy when this includes us . Just another reason why we're "Retired in Thailand and Loving It".

A visit to the Bamboo School's (Thailand) Lakeside Chapel

2011-07-11T07:11:00.000-07:00

Bamboo School
The Bamboo School exists to fulfill God's direction given in Isaiah 58.
We're located in the mountains up against the Burmese border in the small village of Bongti, home to 541 families with an annual average income of just US$180/year.
There are currently 63 residents (many of them orphaned, abused, medically challenged, retarded, or refugees of economic poverty) that God has molded into a family.

Many of you know that Ciejay and Me , are very much supporters of the Bamboo School near the Burma border in Bongti, Thailand. The Bamboo School is a orphanage , that is held together and run by a lady,the kids call MOM MOM Kat, I call her Kat for short . She is a wonderful , and committed person to the Task God has called her to do , I know of no other person with so much love and compassion ( and energy) for unwanted children. She is truly what God calls "The Salt of The Earth".The school is not funded by any one particular organization , even tho Kat is a Seven Day Adventist, Children of all religions , are welcome, the school is funded by freewill offerings , if you would like to know more about the Bamboo School check out their web site at http://www.bambooschool.org/ .

My friend Jerry took a trip thru the mountains to visit Kat and the Kids , this past Saturday , we wanted to take some bakery goodies for the kids that Ciejay had a lady who bakes in our neighbor hood ,she had her to bake a bunch of small cream filled rolls , enough for the kids to have for a couple days for an afternoon snack.
We got there just in time for their Sabbath Day Church Services at their new Chapel by the Lake , what a beautiful place , and we enjoyed a great sermon from Kat and some really wonderful singing of hymns from the kids . We visited for a few hours and really enjoyed our time with the kids . I took a lot of pictures and will post a few for you to see , If you are ever over this away and would like to visit the School , give me a call and I'll show you the way . Malcolm and Ciejay

GOOD-BYE-----BOK----WE LOVED YOU

2011-07-03T01:22:00.000-07:00

Today is a sad day at the Burgess's , Our boy Bok (dog) passed away ,and went on ahead to the rainbow bridge to wait for Ciejay and Me when we pass by someday.

Bok was a stray ,that found his way to our home and hearts as a little puppy he was , not even a month old, he was nine months old when he was poisoned , by someone or something , we'll probably never know . Bok never meet a stranger during the day and was loved and enjoyed by all who live on our road , a couple of our neighbors loved him as much as we and they called him Peter, he could understand Thai and English and was very obedient when told what to do.BUT when nightime came and he would take his post on our front porch , then, he was transformed into Bok the Wonder Guard Dog and everyone was a stranger till morning. He will be missed , If you have dogs watch after them as they like Bok will love unconditional and sometimes that's not to good. Take care of them as you would a small child and never allow any folks to be cruel to them.

The Rainbow Bridge

inspired by a Norse legend

By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill,

Is a lush, green meadow where time stands still.

Where the friends of man and woman do run,

When their time on earth is over and done.

For here, between this world and the next,

Is a place where each beloved creature finds rest.

On this golden land, they wait and they play,

Till the Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day.

No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness,

For here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness.

Their limbs are restored, their health renewed,

Their bodies have healed, with strength imbued.

They romp through the grass, without even a care,

Until one day they stop, and sniff at the air.

All ears prick forward, eyes dart front and back,

Then all of a sudden, one breaks from the pack.

For just at that instant, their eyes have met;

Together again, both person and pet.

So they run to each other, these friends from long past,

The time of their parting is over at last.

The sadness they felt while they were apart,

Has turned into joy once more in each heart.

They embrace with a love that will last forever,

And then, side-by-side, they cross over… together.

I Do a Walk-About

2011-07-01T00:14:00.000-07:00

Well, not a very long walk-about , just a walk around the yard and our house , some in-side and mostly outside. Folks are always wondering what kind of a house or hut we live in here in the LOS. I thought I would take a few pictures to post and show you that we are not as far removed from civilization as some folks seem think that have never been to Thailand . A long time ago in one of my first post here on Retired in Thailand and Loving It , I showed pictures of the house ,before and after the remodel, you see we bought a 8 year old Thai concrete house that was 70% finished when it was abandoned, and sat empty for about 8 years , really run down and some structural damage no one was interested in buying it to repair or live in , but Ciejay and Me had a dream of turning this into a home for us in Thailand , so with a lot of blood, sweat , and tears , we think we have almost after 7 years got it just about like we want it .There will always be little things we see that we want to do and as time and money allow we'll try to do what we can.Now we are happy with the little make-over we have done and hope you enjoy the pictures, I put little brief caption on each to explain them . Malcolm

Share my blog with your friends and family, and they will get a little (real) glance into living and retireing in Thailand.

Building a Hut

2011-06-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

I was surprised last week when a friend stopped by and said that Ott our neighbor who owned the land we bought and still owns the 12 Rai clear to the foot of the mountain , told him he could build a small hut at the end of the road that ends at the foot of the mountain. I was interested in knowing why he wanted to build a hut on someone else's land , he said he liked our area and there was lots of small trees and lots of bamboo to help with the material he will need and he said that also he liked the neighbors.
I ask him what he was going to use the hut for and when was he going to start building , the rainy season has already started here in Whang Pho, so I figured he would start in Oct. or Nov. , to my surprise he said , "I'm starting today an before I knew what was going on Mac the fellow that works in my yard and on my house was here and said he was going to take a few days off and help to build the hut. He told me that the reason for the little hut was that he needed a place to get away on the week-in's after a long hard week at his job at the resort , and also he wanted a place he could bring his dog s so that they could run free and play in the woods and get some exercise (he lives in the city and they are in a pen all week while he is at work). He loves his dogs as much as we love ours .
Well off they went with a saw and a ax and a few hours later they were back carrying logs they had cut , then a day later, after they had the foundation and post up they put in the floor of bamboo and he had a load of log slabs that he got at a saw mill for the walls and a friend wove the roof covering out of palm limbs and leaves and bamboo , and to my amazement it does not leak they worked steady on it and would you believe , in one week they had it done and have even planted some plants and flowers and hung flower baskets from the eves and he has spent a week-in already and his dogs love it there and to my surprise and our dogs get along well with his and they stay at their little hut and don't run up and down the road . I still have to say , that Sabu is still the alpha Male of this road and he made sure that they knew it right away I love this little hut and I have talked to B-bie and he is going to find me a place at a friend of his that has a piece of land on the River Kwai and Mac said he would go and build me a small hut just like this one , I think that maybe Ciejay would like it and we could spend a few week-in's on the river once in a while and also it would be available for friends that want to get away and back to nature so to speak for a few days . What do you think?

Where else but in the LOS could you find a person to let you build a hut and not have to bother with building permits and best of all , get most all of the building materials right there from the land . I love it and I guess this kind of freedom and these kind of folks, is just a couple of more reasons that make me say I'm Retired In Thailand and Loving It

WHAT IS THAT SMELL??????

2011-06-11T23:58:00.000-07:00

I walked out back the other day to feed the dogs their lunch when this ,awful smell hit me in the face like a ton of bricks , the wind was blowing just right and the smell was coming from the back deck , I thought for a minute the dogs had dragged up something dead from the woods to roll in , their favorite thing to do of late , they both smell like a couple of skunks. I walked around from where I thought it was coming from and there in the dirt and grass looked like a scene from the ole Beverly Hillbilly's t.v. show (" up from the ground popped a bubbling crude") there was a bubbling , But it was not crude this was bubbling SH-- coming from the buried sewer tank under the poured deck and ground. When we remodeled the house 7 years ago we took a look at the system and (knowing nothing about them ) thought it looked ok to me , the contractor never said anything different, Sooo we poured a concrete deck over it with a plug left to clean it out when it got full, this is usually about every 3 or 4 months ,I knew it was already old when we moved in but what I didn't know was that when they put it in almost 15 years ago they did not put gravel or rocks around the outside and did not seal the concrete top when they put it on and after all these years when the rainy season came the holes in the lid and between the two culverts were letting it fill up with water and pushing the sewer water out the top holes , thus the bubbling stinky stuff. Well with nothing left to do but put in a new sewer system ,BUTT the only problem was that all the PVC pipes from the toilets were also encased in the concrete deck.Would you believe I had a dream as to how to fix the problem . First ,we dug a 5 mete hole beside the deck and put in 2 huge concrete culverts and sealed them and sealed the cover as well , with the hole in the top we we put a 6in. PVC with a elbow and ,then where the old system came to the side if the deck , punched a hole in the side close to the bottom and ran the PVC pipe in there, and sealed around it good , sooo when the old system fills to the pipe the water and stuff them flow thru the PVC, from the old , into the new system that is lower than the old one thus utilizing some of the old and also a new system , we then, back filled around with rocks and gravel and packed the top soil real good, . and WALA it works like I hoped and prayed it would , now instead of have the POOP sucker come every 3 or 4 months and as if late with the problem , more like every 2 months , hopefully it will be every 6 or 7 months , will cost more , because of pumping two systems but will be a while in between pumping, that the truck does not have to drive on the grass , which always takes a week or two to look normal again.Another thing that we did was to put a gas vent in the system to keep the smell and gas from coming back into the toilet when you flushed sometimes , now nooo smell and gases stay outside and away from the house .I hope you understood all this high tec (dreaming)Thailand ingenuity, anyway life is never boring here in Wang Pho and especially at the Burgess's. Well at least I didn't just run a blue PVC pipe out the back and let it run into a hole in the ground , which most Thais that live in the country side do , on the plus side of things here on Moo1 , is that since we have moved here and I have talked to all our neighbors about the importance of sanitation and clean yards and surroundings they have all installed sewer systems and I can really smell the difference when the wind blows from their way up to ours and I have also noticed that we have almost no flys and the mosquitoes are a lot less in the evenings ,when you are outside working or playing ..
Well that's an up-date on thing here at our house , the new project is a pathway with stepping stones from the carport to the side deck , which I will report and post pictures next time .. Hope you enjoy this post and pictures and are any of you taking on summer projects ??? if so then what ??

ROOM WITH A VIEW

2011-06-02T06:11:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since my last post , But , I have been busy taking care of my girl Ciejay. It seems that the meds they gave her from her last stay at the hospital were to strong for her little stomach, and it ate a small hole in her intestines, and caused her to loose a lot of blood and all her energy just up and left her. It was time for her normal check-up at the hospital , and when the Dr. saw her he said "you aren't going anywhere but here for a few days till we find out whats wrong and get you fixed up" . Well they didn't have a private room available at the time so off to the ward we go . Now a hospital ward in Thailand is not like a ward in any other country , folks are put in a bed if they have one and are rolled into any space they can find to put them sometimes over 100 folks in a small ward and 4 or 5 nurses to take care of them , this is where the Thai family comes in to play, a family member or several members will bring a mat and stay in the space with them (sleeping and sitting where ever they can , sometimes under the sick persons bed ) to take care of all their needs , feeding , washing , trips to bathroom , changing the bed cloths and emptying the bedpans when needed and anything else that is not of an emergency need, the nurses are there to check temp, hook up meds and dispense pills , all the important stuff. SOOO there we were for 3 days and 2 nights and I did my duty as Ciejay's private nurse and family member,the other folks showed me how and where everything was and how to do , they were all sooo gracious and genuine concerned that I could do what was necessary., I will forever remember the time there and the wonderful folks who helped me be a nurse for a day or two.Then a private room opened up and we were off to the 9th floor or the Pent House and VIP rooms ( and the room with a view), I would have stayed in the ward, BUT, the mosquitoes ate me and Ciejay up at night and I could not sleep in the bench that was there and it was soooo hot I almost screamed sometimes ( now I'm complaining ). So I was glad to pay for the private room and be able to sleep and not be eaten alive at night by the mosquitoes and did I say that it was air- condition , private bath , Cable TV and a frig and a small bed for me to sleep on , and for our 7 day stay there the private room was all we had to pay , all the meds , the blood and all the other IVs they gave her the private nurses and all the wonderful care and the room was $20.oo a day American money and they gave us the last day for free. And to top it all off the room had a view .

The view from our room

this is the right side view

this is the left side view

extreme left

Ciejay's brother came for a visit and made her happy

Ciejay in her bed in the private room

the door into our room

the hall-way in the ward where Ciejay was about 6 beds down

Ciejay in the ward

I am happy to report that they got the hole closed up and with the bags of blood and other stuff they they were pumping into her , Ciejay is home and doing great.She(reluctantly), rested easy for a couple days and now back at her normal pace , Me ,,,,,I have learned how to notice when she needs help and I jump right in and do things that I had not thought of doing before , I guess my nights in the ward taught me a few things and I am sooo glad she is doing good and glad to have her home , after all she's my whole life. Malcolm

Going Bananas

2011-05-14T22:15:00.000-07:00

Well, almost 6 months ago we got a banana flower on our tree and have watched with anticipation for it to get ready to harvest , well I never knew it took almost a half year for them to get ready to eat after the flower appears , but ready they got and we were excited to get to cut them down and keep a few hands a(as they call them) for ourselves and to share with the neighbors and friends as they have shared their harvest with us in the past, Our bananas are grown all organic with no pesticides or fertilizers and with lots of tender love and care , and it was well worth it , to bite into one of the sweetest and favourable bananas ,I have ever ate before , maybe I'm bragging a little , BUT they sure were good and the neighbors loved them to .
Have you ever planted a banana tree and were you able to harvest bananas for your self?

I got a few pictures of them and Ciejay and the dogs(kids) watching the harvesting, I was surprised that the kids loved them too. . Hope you enjoy.

Sorry

2011-05-01T22:54:00.000-07:00

I will be back as soon as they get my computer repaired, don't know what happened , but all of a sudden my computer went crazy. Malcolm

Songkran 2011 on Moo1 and Wang Pho

2011-04-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

It is with great pleasure that I announce that here in Wang Pho , and especially here on Moo 1 , that Songkran (Thai New Years) is over . I've lived on Moo1 for 7 (almost) years and I have to say that my neighbors, being ,Thai and Buddish did everything they could to make this a monumental Songkran. They ate more food than was donated to the Tsunami and floods in Thailand and they danced and sang like they were trying to earn a place in the Guinness Book of Records with non stop singing and dancing from the 12th till the evening of the 18th ," ohhh wait just a minute , there's are still a few die hards still singing karaoke. Did I mention that Ciejay and Me were there as always , when it came to the eating and singing and oh yes I even danced a few , and If there's karaoke , you know I'm singing a few Elvis oldies ," Don't Be Cruel," "Love Me Tender",and my all time favorite "Want You Wear My Ring Around Your Neck" and John Denver's "Take Me Home Country Roads".
The real reason I'm glad it's over is not all the activities, But my body is soooo tired , it will take me a week to recuperate.
Not only was there a lot of action on Moo1 , but the village of Wang Pho had their usual Songkran concert with music and singing and dancing and food and you know me someone said "Food" and I'm there . Then just today to finish the week off with thanksgiving for the Buddish folks , they had a huge and I mean lots and lots of food with all the neighbors and friends and they even had the local temple Monks come and chant and pray and Bless all the Buddish folks for the coming year , and as Thai custom goes we all had to wait till the monks were fed and then we could eat, and eat we did , at least I know one person that ate more than his share ( Me).
I have to be very honest and say that even tho I got wet (oh yes I forgot) Songkran is a water festival too and that means that everywhere you go they are throwing water on you and your mode of transportation. And I'm sure I gained 5 pounds over 5 days and stretched my body to the limits, BUT!!!!!!!! "I HAD FUN ". Elvis would have been be proud of me,( not to sure about Ciejay ha ha ha ), and I made sure he was remembered at least for another year.

If you ever get over here to the Land Of Smiles , try and plan it for April the weather is great ( hot) and you'll get a chance to join in to all the festivities and it will be and experience of a lifetime that you'll never forget.
Hope you enjoy the pictures some are a little blurry , but was the best I could do . Malcolm

MUANG SING Historical Park

2011-04-11T20:43:00.000-07:00

Prasat Muang Sing Historical Park, Kanchanaburi

The ancient site is 43 kms out of Kanchanaburi on the bank of the Kwai Noi River on Highway 323. The principal structure, the Khmer Prasat Muang Sing (Tower of the City of Lions), is believed to have been the western most outpost of the Angkor-centere Khmer empire. A wide range of artifacts including temple carvings, religious statues, implements, and pottery shards indicate the once-thriving city must have been inhabited from approximately the 12th to14th centuries. The park is daily open for tourists from 09.00 a.m. to 04.30 p.m.

Today was a beautiful Thailand day and just right for a day trip with the sun shining as always , but a very nice cool breeze blowing up from the Famous River Kwai,and all around the valley we call Sai Yok. We had been to the Muang Sing Park 6 years ago , but we were traveling with other folks and history was just not their thing soooo we were rushed to look and and hurry as they were hungry, and were more interested in where and when they were going to eat , than relaxing and walking around the beautiful Park with all it's beautiful flowers and well kept walking paths and so many huge trees that provided the best canopy of shade that you could ask for .
Well we decided that we would go alone this time and spend as much time there as we wanted . I have to say from the start that , If you want to see old Thai history from the Khmer period , and art from that period as well , then this is a must see place .There are 4 Monuments as they call them , I call them Temples and Mini temples and as of this date only 2 have been really excavated and laterite blocks stacked back up to show what it looked like 2,000 years ago, I am just amazed that this stuff (art and history) made it this long with out being totally lost or destroyed. Lots of artifacts and treasure have been found and I'm sure there is more just buried beneath the paths and trails we were walking on. They have found many traces of habitation,such as iron tools,ornaments ,glazed ceramics Khmer ware, Chinese celadon of the Sung period (12th--13th century) now that's old stuff.There were a lot of Stucco Decorations for the sanctuaries made from limestone and crushed shells mixed with glue from animal skins even juice from sugar cane was used to make the stucco dry slower so that they could shape it easier.They found several religious sculptures at each monument and lots of Images of Budda.

In 1985 while digging around the wall( close to the river bank) to clean and restore it they uncovered what they now know to be evidence of a prehistoric burial ground.They have excavated two skeletons and lots of grave goods such as whole pots beaded bracelet's ,and bronze artifacts. They have come to conclude that the whole area around the river bank is a burial ground there fore all construction in that area has come to a halt (good for them ).
We really enjoyed our half day there and could have stayed longer , but like the friends of a few years ago my stomach was crying for food., We had already made plans to eat at a favorite little road side restaurant of mine , but if you don't have plans they have food and snacks and a few gifts for you to buy there too..
They have several great picnic areas and the solitude of the Park is a great relaxer, in fact one of the comments from Ciejay as we were walking around was that it was a "Sad" place and that if she believed in ghost this was a perfect place for them to live . I thought that was funny to hear her say that , and I was feeling it myself too.
If you are ever In the Kanchanaburi area and have at least a half a day to spend this place will not disappoint you .We enjoyed ourselves and we're sure you will too.
History, History, History , it don't get any better than this , and it's just another reason why we're Retired In Thailand and Loving It.

A Trip to the Animal Hospital and Where's Bok

2011-04-08T08:12:00.000-07:00

Bok with a bandage I put on that lasted for 10 min.

I'll take door number 2

Waiting our turn , This is a busy place , and yes folks really do care about their pets in Thailand

Here's Bok waiting his turn as cool as a cucumber

That is until this old fellow walked by after his visit and Bok took one look and was ready to go home , sores or not ha ha

A little pug first visit

Even a little Budda altar for the Animals

getting fitted with Head Gear

Here's Ciejay paying the Dr. bill

Front view of the Hospital

Well I tried to Dr. our little dog Bok, for myself , BUTTTT he just kept licking the medicine off and the sores would not heal , sooo it's off to the Vets , where they cleaned the sores very good , and they poked and prodded, and checked him out real good , Bok is all the while looking at me and giving me a look as to say "their killing me here." After it was all over and the "anti lick head gear "was put on , Ciejay and I agreed it would be better to leave him there for a few days sooo they could change the bandages and clean the sores and apply more medicines.
I would like to say that every time I have had occasion to visit the Animal Hospital , that I have been impressed with how organised they are and also how polite they are and the compassion (genuine) that they show the little sick animals . I have to add that this is a Hospital that also treats large animals also and the day we were there they had elephants , horses , cows and a couple of goats too.
I've posted a few pictures of the trip and will comment under each if needs be .Take care of you pets , to Ciejay and Me they are just like our kids , Very protective of our home and they follow Ciejay everywhere she goes.
And Sabu has been looking everywhere and even sticks his head in the doorway to see if Bok is inside the house , they are really good buddies and Sabu has not eaten very good since Bok has been gone and he looks at Ciejay every time she feeds him, and looks as to ask "where's Bok ".
And on a side note---- the local Tesabon held a free clinic for birth control and for rabies shots , sooo off to the town square with Sabu for his shot , it has been an animal week, But you know "they are well worth it ",for all the joy and companionship, they bring to our lives , and I read somewhere that folks that had pets seem to have less stress in their lives and some have even gotten well, and lived longer , Sounds a lot better than Prozac to me .

"Here comes the junk man"

2011-03-26T21:34:00.000-07:00

Here is the Junk Man always with a smile on his face

Ciejay cleaning out the storage areas of her saved plastic and cans

Sorting it out

Weighing each and puting in Big bags to haul away

In and out and off to another house , hopefully to get a full truck today

That's a sound I love to hear , for one thing , it cleans out our storage room of all the plastic and cans and paper that Ciejay has saved to sell to the junk man.For Ciejay it brings a smile to her face , she saves the recyclable things to sell to the junk man and she calls it her "hair money" . The little bit of Baht that she gets adds to the (my) pocket change cup that she keeps on my computer table and when it's full it's time to go to the hair lady in the village, to get a cut and wash and style and sometimes even a dye job , ( when the gray comes peeking thru).
Recycling is sooo easy here in Thailand , because the junk man comes around with his truck and weight scales about once a month to buy from the folks, things that he can buy for a few baht per kilo and hopefully sell in the big city to the larger recyclers for a little profit . Some do this as a way of making a living and a few others in Wang Pho, do it for a week-in or part- time job to add to their monthly income or to help make the payments on the new truck or to pay for the building of a new home, that's the case, for one young couple that comes by.
Ciejay keeps her plastic in one bag and cans in another, all neat for the junk man , and me I am just happy to see it saved for a good cause ,and for the good of Mother Earth, the more we recycle and reuse , the less non biodegradable stuff that goes into the land fields and is dumped alone our highways and by-ways to stay forever polluting our land and landscape and adding another eyesore to our beautiful earth, and the area that we call home.
Do you recycle??? I remember in America it was a pain in the neck to do, because you had to have different color containers , and everything sorted out for the garbage men or they wouldn't pick it up and when they did , if it was something that they didn't want they would just throw it back on your lawn and drive away , and you never saw a reduction on you (very high) garbage bill each month. Things here in are so different and the "JUNK MAN" makes it sooo easy to recycle , I have found it to be so , and I hope if you live in the LOS or in a place where they take recycling seriously that you do all you can to pitch -in and help , If we don't do it WHO WILL??. Malcolm

Retirement----Why Thailand

2011-03-21T01:14:00.000-07:00

Me and my Valentines Girl

Before

Our home after remodel

Ciejay and baby elephant

Taking it easy

A visit to a Thai Temple ---- Lots of them in every village

OUR CITY SQUARE

OUR CHURCH FAMILY

US WITH NU and A ,and NICKY BOY

Me taking a swim with Moll-Lee

Train Station 4 blocks from our home

Fresh (and I do mean fresh ) fish

Me and Bok taking a nap

Sue and Alex

When we travel on vacation or we are out and about one of the most ask questions is "Why Thailand."In order to really answer that question , First, you have to know that I am married to a Thai lady , and one of my main concerns in my marriage was what could I do to make her happy .We came to Thailand in 2003 on a vacation and a chance for me to meet her family and kids. I saw at once ,how happy she was to be in her home country with friends and family , and yet have the security in knowing that she had a husband who could and would do anything she needed , with-in reason to make her happy. Not only could I see how happy she was , but I at once fell in love with Thailand , there was lots of things that attracted me to the LOS , BUT the most important one was how happy Ciejay seemed to be .

I knew it was about time for us to start thinking seriously about where we wanted to live out out retirement years , I had always thought about somewhere close to my Brother and Sister, out Tenn. way , and we went for a visit to check things out before coming to Thailand the next year on Vacation , and somehow it just didn't feel right to both of us. Before we came over to the LOS we had mentioned to each other if the opportunity and time arrived that we would look around and maybe think about Thailand (of course it was my first visit ,so much of the decision would be on my shoulders. We looked around and then on the last day when we came to Kanchanaburi and our small village of Whang Pho , We looked at each other and smiled, and knew this was the place. We had little daylight left for this visit to her Older Brother and the next day it was off to Bangkok to catch the plane and head home , Would you believe we found a little house and piece of land and bought it in the dark of night , saying that we would be back next year when I retired and make it our home , Everyone laughed and thought to themselves that they would never see us again, but we fooled them all and you can read about the move and remodel and moving , in a older post , just go back and start from my first ones .

Now that was a long story to tell you the main reason for choosing Thailand. Some of the others are as follows and in no order of importance , all of them to us are important reasons for choosing the LOS.
1.--My small SS check is enough for us here in Thailand.
2.--We were able for Ciejay to buy a house and small piece of land with what little money we had in savings.
3.--The weather is the kind of weather I always thought I would like about a place, when I retired.
4.--The food is out of this world tasty, healthy (spicy mind you ) but plenty and fresh, and growing everywhere , even in your own backyard.
5.--The Thai people, even tho it took a while to get use to their way of life and culture and their way of thinking .
6.-- The almost crime free village and area we live in .
7.--Lots of things to see and do , and a lot of it not far from where we live .
8.--Our Thai family
9.--Our dogs(our kids ) that can run free and wild .
10.--Our home and little piece of paradise.
11.--Our village and the town folks .
12.--And our neighbors
13.--Our Drs. and health care
14.-- Our church and church family
15.-- The difference in my health since moving here to Thailand
16.-- And the difference in me and my thinking about life and living.
That's not all the reasons , I could go on and on , and you might say "well couldn't you find that in your own country ", maybe so , But we didn't. and we have found it here in what we call our little piece of paradise, that , we believe the Lord had saved just for us and all the blessings that go along , with being Retired in Thailand and Loving It . Malcolm

Retirement and Relocation

2011-03-08T01:06:00.000-08:00

LIFESTYLE HEALTH GUIDE FOR 55+ Guest post by Mary Albert

Traveling Versus Temporary or Permanent Relocation

When it comes to retirement, you've got a lot of options out there waiting for you. I love to travel the world, but I also love my home in California, so I always come back. However, I do hear about a lot of people who choose to relocate for their retirement. Some choose to move away permanently and live in paradise, whatever that may mean for them. Others choose to move for a year or two, or even five, to a destination where they've always wanted to stay.

Moving across the country or around the world can seem a bit intimidating, to say the least. I'm a fan of anyone who chooses to follow their heart in retirement and live somewhere new. However, you have to remember that these places can be visited just as easily. Some people might enjoy the newfound freedom and culture that comes from retirement relocation. Others might prefer a more temporary hiatus to an area rather than packing it all up and moving there.

If you're ready to hit the road, good for you. If you're still wondering or questioning whether you should move to the backcountry of Alaska, the beautiful beaches of the Caribbean, or anywhere else in the world, you have to think about a few things. Can you stand to leave your life behind? A lot of times, people have too much attachment to their current life, family, or circle of friends to move permanently. Remember, though, you can always visit whenever you'd like. This is a big decision and some people are better suited for it than others.

If you're dreaming of retirement a world away from it all, you literally have the whole world in your hands. Of course, it doesn't hurt to take a little holiday first and make sure that you'll really enjoy where you're going. I love my home, and I wish everyone else the same success in finding a home for their retirement, no matter where in the world that might be.
"senior lifestyle and senior health" to link to http://www.happyhealth.net/
"medical alert reviews" to link to http://www.happyhealth.net/medical-alert-reviews

Contributed by Mary Albert, a blogger for a senior lifestyle and senior health web site that provides advice for the 55+ age group as well as medical alert reviews . You'll find the link to Mary's web site on my side bar (good stuff)
Malcolm

RETIREMENT and MAINTENANCE

2011-03-06T20:28:00.000-08:00

This will be a short post .
I was laying in the hammock thinking , and remembering , something I do a lot of ,while enjoying my retirement, and the blessing in mine and Ciejay's life and reaping the benefits of all the hard work ,until I retired and moved to Thailand.

The thought that popped into my head was some advice my Dad gave me while I was a kid,and young adult, and growing up, He always stressed the importance of maintenance and that if you wanted to enjoy the things that you invested you time and money into that if you maintained and took care of it (things) you would get a life time of enjoyment and use from them. I thought( then) that all he meant was ,my car , my home , my yard and things. Now as I have gotten older I realize that everything in our lives need maintenance, our friends, family , wives, kids , pets, neighbors, our spiritual lives, and also of course our cars, homes , and yards, and things.
Lately with the encouragement of my wonderful wife Ciejay and my Pastor , and my Dr. and a look in the mirror( who was I looking at ?), I have begun to do a little maintenance on a very important part of my life, MY BODY , and you know what?? it has paid off ,my blood pressure is now normal and my sugar count has gone in 6 months from 147 to between 90 and 98 which means that I have beat the diabetes 2 problem and my Dr. said next month I can quit the Pill yee haa . The maintenance is easier than I thought , getting up earlier than my usual 9 or 10 am and going to bed a little earlier, and a mile walk with Ciejay and the boys (our dogs ) at 8 am at least every other day( will increase the distance as time goes by) . . About half way thru the walk (slow first half ) I do about 15 min of senior exercises, and stretches, nothing painful (you don't need pain to get gain ) and the last half is a little faster pace , not much and WOW what a difference it has made in my life and energy level, and the way I feel about myself, and the way I can look at Ciejay's Honey Do list and not cringe.
I'm sure most of you have a maintenance program in place and if you don't I would encourage you to start one. The better I feel ,the more I love being Retired in Thailand and Loving It

Bringing back a oldie---The Art of Hammocking

2011-03-02T07:41:00.000-08:00

The Master at work

It don't get no better than this

" Come on down " have a spare hammock just waiting for you

Looks like Ciejay has mastered it too

Florance giving it a try

Hammocking

After six years of trail and error , I now consider myself and expert in the Art of Hammocking . You don't just jump in a hammock and lay down and think that you have mastered it , hammocking is like riding a bike , learning to canoe, or kayak you can't just jump in, you might just fall right out , it takes control , thinking, and planning and a little common sense. First you have to come to a understanding that a hammock is a piece of canvas, ropes platted or, bamboo strips interwoven to make a banana shaped container to hang between two, trees , poles or ,on a frame which ever one you have available( myself I like it somewhere with lots of shade, a tree if possible .This banana shaped basket is tied at either end with some kind of rope or chain, and will swing easily in the breeze, and being banana shaped and swinging in the breeze you don't just jump in , you have to walk up slowly and turn with your back to the hammock some where near the middle of the banana shaped swing (thats what a hammock really is ) and slowly lower yourself down in a sitting position as close to the middle as you can figure out , and then with one sweep swing a leg over the other side like you were riding a horse and then very slowly lay back and then bring your legs up onto the hammock , remember that the hammock is banana shaped and your head and legs are going to be higher that the rest of your body, (now you are in), this takes a little getting use to and some folks with back problems just can't get the hang of it . All the while you are laying there enjoying the rocking motion of you hammock , you have to be careful, not to make any sudden moves ,or over you head looking as you might just roll out of the banana shaped contrapition you are laying in .Many folks I know have fell out and brusied or some have even broke a wrist or fingers trying to catch themselves , some like me have landed on their elbow and brusied or cut it pretty bad and required a hospital visit. When I told the nurse how it had happened , she told the others and they had a big laugh , my friend said I should have told them some machoo story , like I fell off my motor bike trying to avoid an accident with a dog or something , anything BUTTTT I fell out of my hammock . ha ha ha .
If you have followed my advise and instructions very carefully , you too may someday become as good as I am at the art of napping in a hammock or just relaxing and watching the world go by in front of you , remember don't try to look to much to the sides and especially not behind, as you might just roll out. OH I almost forgot , if you like the rocking motion you have to learn how to hang one leg over the side from time to time to give yourself a push to get the rocking going , and then bringing it back up into the hammock , you can't leave it hanging over as the side of the hammock will cut of the circulation to your leg and it will go numb and when you get out of the hanmmock, very slowly just like you got in but in reverse, your leg will be asleep and you will fall on your face , I almost did that one to , BUTTT now I'm and expert and that comes with , time and experience and being Retired in Thailand and Loving It .
I am posting a few pictures of the Art of Hammocking for your viewing and hopefully enjoyment. Malcolm

Living with the Tiger

2011-02-27T04:59:00.000-08:00

Baan Gerda Orphans

Can you imagine the trauma a young child goes through seeing their father or mother slowly waste away and die of AIDS. Quite often a child loses both parents and has to be cared for by relatives, the mental trauma and pain they suffer is unimaginable to most of us.
Many of these children are born with HIV and when their own symptoms develop they are cast aside by their relatives and abandoned by their own communities. A traumatized child alone in the world. Maybe traumatized isn’t a big enough word. But this is happening all over the world today, tomorrow and thereafter. There is however a glint of hope for some.
A small rural village in Thailand and a full length feature film documentary are highlighting a simple fact about HIV and AIDS. Those infected with the disease can lead a good life and one which is fully integrated into society.

Baan Gerda is that village and Living with the Tiger the film which documents the renewed hope and optimism being given to HIV infected orphans at Baan Gerda.
The orphans live in Baan Gerda, a hospice in Lopburi Province originally set up to care for AIDS victims during their last days. Nowadays Baan Gerda is full of energetic kids who hop, skip and jump like any other children. Many of them arrived at the hospice having been abandoned by their extended families and in poor health.

The small village is home for around 80 children who are cared for by foster parents, but the ultimate aim at Baan Gerda is to re-integrate their children back into the communities which rejected them and re-unite them with their relatives once again.

Living with a Tiger is playing a big role in helping make that happen and also in educating people about the mental burden these orphans carry around with them. It also is hoping to once and for all bury the myths and stigma wrongfully attached to HIV and AIDS.

Bruce Gaston, Mike Thomas and around 80 kids with a zest for life have set about changing Thailand’s, and hopefully the world’s, misconceptions about these two diseases.

Bruce Gaston is a composer, performer and music teacher. He first started teaching music to the children of Baan Gerda in early 2007, and then began to develop an idea for the children to perform in an opera. It has been inspired by the best-selling novel by Yann Martel, LIFE OF PI.

Mike Thomas worked as a volunteer after an opportunistic visit to Baan Gerda in 2006. He began to film the music lessons that Gaston had started, long before the idea of an opera or a documentary film had been discussed. Despite no formal training or experience, he went on to record the unfolding events and capture the stories of the children over the next 3 years.

Living with the Tiger is a feature-length film viewed through the eyes of two boys, Oy and Bla who both lost their AIDS infected parents. Bruce Gaston starts giving the orphans at Baan Gerda music lessons and their enthusiasm and passion gives him the idea of writing an opera for the kids to perform.

As the opera progresses, kids from public Thai schools are invited to take part and the orphans re-integration back into local community life begins. The stigmas and myths start to get buried too. The opera and the orphans gel together so well it all eventually leads to a performance of their concert in Khon Kaen.

The film documents the highs and lows of Oy, Bla and their friends over a period of three years, and Living with the Tiger has a special free preview screening at Patravadi Theatre Bangkok on March 17th 2011. Click on the link for ticket details.

If you wish to visit Living with the Tiger’s website follow the link where you’ll find lots of background information about the film and the orphans of Baan Gerda. You can also buy a full length festival edition of the film via the website by making a donation of $28 (21 Euros / 500 Baht).

“Every dime helps make another million dollar smile at Baan Gerda.”
Talen, author of popular Thai blog Thailand Land of Smiles highlighted the story of Baan Gerda’s orphans and Living with the Tiger via his latest blog post. Talen is giving away three copies of the full length festival edition of the film and you can win one by visiting his site. He also challenged his fellow Thai bloggers to publicize and help to get the word out about Living with the Tiger and Baan Gerda.Retired in Thailand and Loving It is very happy to do just that.

These final paragraphs and thoughts from Martyn over at Beyond the Mango Juice Thanks Martyn

Finally I’d like to leave you with an extract from Living with the Tiger’s website which describes a bit about the film’s two main characters, Oy and Bla.

It was only after a year of filming that the idea of making a feature length documentarybegan to take shape. Although the crew had been capturing the developments in themusic lessons, it became clear that it was the lives of the children that was of mostinterest. The decision was made to focus on Bla and Oy as they had prominent roles inthe opera.

After details of Oy’s troubled past emerged, the team managed to secure an interview with the uncle and aunt that had abandoned him at an AIDS hospice. They also asked if Oy would like to make the journey back to visit his relatives. It was several years since he was last in his hometown and the emotional reunion prompted the uncle and aunt to ask Oy if he would come back to live with them again. It was a difficult decision for him to make after what had happened to him before.

Bla had much clearer memories of his experiences when he was living at home. He knew that he had been rejected by his family yet he had this growing desire to return home, even if it was just to bring about some kind of closure on this period of his life. When he mentioned that he wanted to take a trip back to see his land and visit his family he was happy for the film team to accompany him

The Joy of Gardening in Thailand and growing flowers

2011-02-23T23:50:00.000-08:00

I think I have always had a green thumb when it comes to plants and flowers and I always had a great garden when I lived in America and had a small plot to grow a garden of veggies .
One of the things that makes living here in Thailand such a great joy , is that you don't even have to have a green thumb to be a great gardener, they have a saying here in Thailand " put it in the ground and water it and IT WILL GROW ", and this I have found out is so true and with hardly no effort on my part.
Ciejay and me have a great herb garden and a few more plants for fresh veggies, and lots of fruit trees that provide us with more than enough fruit and herbs , and I have planted a few Tomato plants and now they all have small tomato all over them , and we planted a few eggplants and they are doing well , Veggies that like to spead out and take up a lot of ground space (something I can't spare ) we find it still cheaper and a lot less work just to buy them at the fresh food market Tuesdays and Thursdays. All in all gardening is a lot of fun and a small source of much needed exercise. (alto I have started walking a bit every morning with Ciejay and the dogs).We have a large variety of flowers and plants , that bring a never ending source of smells and and smiles.
One plant I had tried to grow while I was in America was orchids and no matter how green I painted my fingers I could never get them to bloom for me , while my Bro Jim had such great success in growing and having them bloom for him when he lived in Florida , but now that he has moved to Tenn. he can not get them to bloom , much to his disappointment, and now envy that I can grow a orchid and with only a little help from me get them them to bloom also , and to my surprise some will bloom several times a year.
Do you live in a climate where you can grow orchids and do you ?? If not I would encourage you to give it a try , most of the common one are not to expensive , while more exotic ones can cost big bucks. Growing a orchid and having it bloom is the "Gold Thumb"for a gardener. If you do grow them and want to brag a little you can always e-mail me a picture of yours I would love to see them. Take care and remember don't lick your fingers after playing around in the organic fertilizer. ha ha ha.
Again as I have said many times before and never tire of repeating myself , this is just one more of the reasons I am Retired in Thailand and Loving It.

Orchids (info from www. )
Orchids, one of the most fascinating, beautiful and peculiar variety among the flowering plants, have always been considered difficult to grow. But given the right climatic and cultural conditions, they can thrive anywhere and will flower regularly.
These plants belongs to the Orchidacae family, with all the difference in size, shape, colour, scent or lack of it. They are the most rapidly changing group of plants on earth with over 880 genera and 28,000 species.
Once the cultural needs of these fascinating plants are understood, growing orchids is relatively simple. It becomes a deeply satisfying and therapeutic activity. If given the right climatic and cultural conditions, they can thrive anywhere and will flower regularly. Some species of orchids may flower two or three times a year and some flower annually.

Khanom Khao Lam ( sticky rice in bamboo)

2011-02-16T06:23:00.000-08:00

The other day Ciejay and me took a ride out in the country , to a local Thai Temple that holds a flea market every Sunday early in the morning , all the things are sold as is and there is lots of treasures and collectibles to be had as well as a lot of stuff for the handy man around the house.All proceeds from the sale of items donated go to the up-keep of the Temple and they also hire local men to work in the flea market thus providing a little income where there would be none . More on this story next week as I forgot to take any pictures as I was sooo busy bargain hunting , I promise a good story and lots of pictures .

But, back to this story of the sticky rice cooked in Bamboo .

I had eaten a Khao Lam a time or two and loved it , but I could never find them for sale around our village , well today as we were driving I saw a table covered with them and a lady who made them told Ciejay that she makes about a hundred of them every morning and folks come from all over the area to buy them and she said that every once in a while she will get a order for a lot of them as some folks will buy them wholesale from her and take them to their villages and sell them retail, she also told Ciejay that there is a lady from our village that buys from her a couple times a week and sells them in Wang Pho , But, you have to get there early because she sells out fast , I guess that's the reason I have never seen them for sell , as I am not to much at being a early riser.

The lady's husband cuts the bamboo from the mountain behind their house and then cuts them into about a foot long piece and cleans them for her to fill with sticky rice ( white and black ) and black bean and coconut milk and then she puts a plug of banana leaf in the top to keep all the rice inside during the cooking stage . After the are done cooking she puts them in bundles of three and sells them for 100 baht for three. You can buy for a little less if you take a few bundles and she sometimes throws in a few one or two sticks for good will. After you buy them she will take a small hatchet and cut the tops for you so you can pull the bamboo away to get at the treat inside and I must say it is a real treat and a extra treat if you get there early and they are still warm Yum Yum..

Have you ever had them and if so what did you think . I now know where to get them and for sure when I am on the way to the flea market early Sunday mornings I will be stopping to pick some up for my lunch snack and I'll get a few extra for the neighbors ( they love them too ) .

I didn't get there early enough to get pictures of her making and stuffing them , but I got a few pictures of her operation and assembly area , Hopefully I can get more photos on my next trip , I gleamed a couple photos from the www. to show you also .

All this great and New food that I am still discovering , after 7 years living here , make everyday life here in the LOS exciting (to say the least) and Khao Lam is just one more reason why I'm Retired in Thailand and Loving It. Malcolm

WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE ????

2011-02-10T23:37:00.000-08:00

I thought I had seen every kind of bug and insect there is in Thailand , BUTTTT !!!!! Ciejay opened the back door and let out a blood curdling scream and I thought we had ourselves another Cobra trying to get into our house this time , I ran an at first look i thought the dogs had bitten a snake in half and left the front half for us to see , I could see eyes and ears and what looked like a mouth, upon closer ---buttt careful examination I saw that it was some kind of caterpillar or something , to me it looked like a Tiger worm , It was something out of the twilight zone as far as I was concerned for a moment. I touched it with the broom and it straightened out like it wanted to crawl away, but when it never did I so carefully got it on the broom and took it out in the field behind the house to let it go , could not bring myself to kill it , it looked like a little animal instead of a worm.
Have you ever seen something like this? I tried to look it up on the net and could not find it. If you have a name for it and what it looks like when it becomes.
I found this on the net with John'a help thanks again John Malcolm
Elephant Hawk Moth Caterpillar
The species is found throughout Britain and Ireland except for the north and east of Scotland, and its range extends across Europe, Russia, and into China, northern parts of the Indian subcontinent, Japan and Korea (though not Taiwan). Introduced specimens have been found in British Columbia. In most of their range, the adults are seen from May to July and the caterpillars from July to September, when they pupate. However in some parts of the Mediterranean and China the adults may be seen from April on, sometimes having two broods in a year.
Caterpillar in "elephant" pose
Caterpillar in "snake" pose
The larva is about 75mm long, green and brown in colour. Like most hawk moth caterpillars, they have a backward curving spine or "horn" on the final abdominal segment. The anterior of the caterpillar appears to have the shape of a trunk-like snout. It is this elephant look, rather than its large size, that gives the moth its name. When startled, the caterpillar draws its trunk into its foremost body segment. This posture resembles a snake with a large head and four large eye-like patches. Caterpillars are preyed upon by birds, but these shy away (at least for some time) from caterpillars in "snake" pose. It is not known whether the birds take the caterpillar to actually resemble a snake, or are frightened by the sudden change of a familiar prey item into an unusual and boldly-patterned shape (Stevens 2005).

The preferred food plants of the caterpillar are willowherb and bedstraw, though it will also take fuchsias.
The imago (adult) tends to feed in the evening, and often takes nectar from garden plants like honeysuckles and petunias, so it is quite often seen in urban settings. The moth has a wing span typically between 50 and 70 mm. It is spectacularly coloured, seeming to shimmer with green and red when in motion. The adult moths are eaten by some species of bats.
Two subspecies, Deilephila elpenor elpenor and Deilephila elpenor lewisii, were recognised in the past, but they are no longer regarded as well distinguished. Similarly the subspecies Deilephila elpenor szechuana is now thought to be a synonym for Deilephila elpenor elpenor. The subspecies Deilephila elpenor macromera, found in southern China, northern India, Bhutan and Myanmar, is still regarded as distinct.
The related species, the Small Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila porcellus) and Chitral Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila rivularis) are similar but smaller and less colourful.(Wikipedia)

Snake in the neighbor's bathroom

2011-02-05T00:11:00.000-08:00

This is what he looked like (picture from www.

This was what he looked like when I saw him , he was 5 1/2 foot long

Ciejay was watering the plants yesterday ,when she heard someone screaming Help!!! , Help!!!!, someone Help me please , she recognized the voice right away and her and a couple of neighbors who heard the cry too , ran ,as fast as they could run, to Nam Lum's house, thinking she had taken a bad fall and broke something , when they got there they saw Nam sitting on the toilet pointing up( Ciejay said" she was white as a sheet" ) and there in a basket of towels was a Cobra snake all raised up with his hood expanded and was weaving back and forth and hissing and (they said ) growling at her , she was scared to death , (I would have probably passed out , as the two things in Thailand that scare me the most are spiders and of course SNAKES of any kind). they were scared too and didn't know what to do , because they were afraid if they move to get Nam out of the toilet the Cobra would strike and bite her. They man who had ran in with the ladies decided to try to hit it with a stick and when he came in with the stick the cobra fell to the floor and again raised up with it's hood expanded and begin hissing again, the ladies ran and the man hit the snake in the head with the stick and then hit it a few more times just to make sure it was dead,( then and only then could they get Nam off the toliet). They carried it out and when I came back from the market Ciejay told me I had missed all the excitement( I'm really glad I wasn't there it may have been me that would have had to kill the cobra ). and that kind of excitement I was glad to miss. I got my camera and got a shot of the snake before the folks down the road came and got him and had a big bar-b-que 0f snake . (they said it taste just like chicken) They ask me if I wanted a bite , but I kindly and with great respect for the cook said" NOOOO!!!!!, I think I'll pass. "

I think this is the same snake(they all look the same to me when I'm running the other way and looking over my shoulder --ha ha ha ha ) that I saw last week in the back yard that Sabu and Nosey were barking at , he headed (the snake ) for the bushes out in the Mango field. I sure hope this was the one , I have been very careful when watering the plants at night to have lots of outside lights on so I could see all around me , and as far as I am concerned my motto when it comes to snakes is this "THE ONLY GOOD SNAKE IS A DEAD SNAKE". Sorry to all the snake lovers that's just the way I feel about snakes, and I think Nam is glad the neighbor man felt the same too.

Now I'm just glad(especially after yesterday) that we have screens and screen doors in our house , to keep the unwanted critters out.And I still look under the bed and behind the doors all the time JUST IN CASE.

WATER--WATER ---- WATER

2011-01-30T05:55:00.000-08:00

Ciejay waiting on the jug to get full

Ciejay fills and I load

This is the Ultra Violet light that kills any bateria in the water

This is the storage tank after the water has been filtered

This water treatment system is provide free of charge for the folks of our village and surrounding area by our city officals

This is what the water looks like when the water pipe is broke and for a while after it is repaired.

Bottled water to drink ---25 baht for a gallon plastic jug

These 5 gallon heavy duty jugs you can have delivered or buy them for 70 baht full and then refill them yourselves and you own the bottles then or you can have the delivered for 82 baht and then only 12 baht delivered to you house after that .

WATER----------------------WATER--------------------------WATER

I was amazed when we took our trip back to the USA last year , that some of the most asked questions was "hows the water over there ? is it clean and safe? do you have city water ? do you have running water or do you get it from a well?,do you have to boil your water ?".
I guess I never realized how many countries don't have clean drinkable water readily available, and some even tho they have water it doesn't taste good and has bad odours, and is not safe to drink.
We should be very thankful that Thailand is very much concerned that it's people where ever they live in Thailand that they have access to some type of drinkable water .
Lots of folks in rural Thailand still collect rain water in huge tanks or pots during the rainy season to supply them with water for the months with no rain. When Ciejay and Me first moved to Thailand in 2004 , while we were remodeling our house we stayed in a house that had tap water , but collected rain water during the rainy season , we were drinking this for a week or two , we were told it was fresh caught water and Ciejay had drank rain stored water all her life , growing up in the small farming village of Wat Sing and did not have running water piped into their home till she was in high school ,so I said sounds good to me , until !!! one day I saw mosquito lava swimming around in my glass. That was the last time for the rain water for me , Ciejay laughed at me and said Mom use to say "no bones ". ha ha ha

Ciejay and me are on the city water system and we use this water for doing dishes ,taking a bath and laundry and irrigation of the plants and flowers .
We take our 5 gal plastic jugs to the city hall or tessibon and there they have a filtering system and a system that uses ultra violet light to kill the bacteria that filters the city water and this water we use to cook with , I might add here that they don't charge for the filtered water,If we didn't want to haul our jugs down and fill them ourselves there are a couple of stores in Wang Pho that will deliver them to you house for 12 baht for a 5 gal jug , these are suppose to be filled by watering companies in and around Kanchanaburi and delivered to the outline villages and to Wang Pho 's little stores , we used this service for a few years for cooking water but, we begin to notice that the jugs were not getting cleaned properly and many times we would find dirt in the bottom of the jug, I think they just get lazy and don't clean them good before filling them and someone told me one of the delivery guys after he quit told someone they (the water jug folks ) were filling the jugs with the water from their tap and putting the shrink wrap tape on the lids themselves as if it was filtered water , some folks will do anything to try and make a dollar, even when it comes to the safety of drinking water. The water we drink comes from the Tesco Lotus store in Kanchanaburi , we buy the Tesco brand for 25 baht per gal. or if they are out we but the Nestle brand for 29 baht per gal.If need be and we could not get to the store I would drink the filtered city water , from the city provided system. Lots of folks we know here in Wang Pho drink the city water piped into their homes , I may would at last resort , even when we want to use it to to wash clothes and take a bath we have to watch as sometimes a neighbor will dig up or break a water pipe (blue pvc pipe ) and when they glue in the repair job they will let dirt and muddy water enter the pipe and we have to let the water run for a long period of time to clear out the pipe , I'm sure there is a muddy film coating the inside of the pipe for a while and that's the reason I don't drink our tap water.
How about some of you folks where do you get your water? do you have to boil or filter it before you drink it? , do you drink tap water or do you buy bottled water to drink ?? Do you store water either tap or rain water for the dry season or when the water is turned off in town?
I'm just very thankful that we can have good clean drinkable water where we live here in the LOS, and thats just another reason why I'm Retired in Thailand and Loving It

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Drinking water----Thanks

Tap water, Drinking water or potable water, is water of sufficiently high quality that can be consumed or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually consumed or used in food preparation.

Over large parts of the world, humans have inadequate access to potable water and use sources contaminated with disease vectors, pathogens or unacceptable levels of toxins or suspended solids. Such water is not potable, and drinking or using such water in food preparation leads to widespread acute and chronic illnesses and is a major cause of death and misery in many countries. Reduction of waterborne diseases is a major public health goal in developing countries.

Typical water supply networks deliver potable water from the tap, whether it is to be used for drinking, washing or landscape irrigation

Throughout most of the world, the most common contamination of raw water sources is from human sewage and in particular human fecal pathogens and parasites. In 2006, waterborne diseases were estimated to cause 1.8 million deaths each year while about 1.1 billion people lacked proper drinking water.[4] It is clear that people in the developing world need to have access to good quality water in sufficient quantity, water purification technology and availability and distribution systems for water. In many parts of the world the only sources of water are from small streams often directly contaminated by sewage
Most water requires some type of treatment before use, even water from deep wells or springs. The extent of treatment depends on the source of the water. Appropriate technology options in water treatment include both community-scale and household-scale point-of-use (POU) designs.

The pain of it all by Kris

2011-01-27T01:00:00.000-08:00

This is a e-mail I got from my friend Kris , He lives up North and has been having a little trouble with his feet and legs , soooo I'll just let him tell you the story himself . It's always good to hear about others living here in the LOS and their experiences when they do need medical attention.
HERES KRIS
Yesterday I was in so much pain we traveled to the hospital in Ubon, man what a trip. I will start our day in the Emergency room from whence the story will blossom. As usual a lovely Thai nurse took my blood pressure and remarked "Blood pressure high." I replied "Oh, that is not good." The end of the conversation. As thinking beyond the ER walls was out of the question I didn't explain to her that I had just driven some 80 kilometres in extreme pain. Everytime I needed to start off, stop or change gears I had to use an arm to lift my left leg up to be able to place my foot on the clutch knowing each and every movement would cause pain. On arrival at the hospital I had to hobble over to the steps leading up to the main entrance. Halfway up the steps I had to have a rest as to on reaching the top. I hobbled into the reception area with all and sundry looking at me, I then "fell" into a waiting chair. Full of concern, by this time a nurse grabbed an orderly who grabbed a wheel chair. Please sit in this chair she says. Now once you take the pressure off the leg the pain increases somewhat for a couple of minutes then subsides again to barely tolerable. Now to get up again will only increase the pain, sit down again and increase the pain. I figured if I could make it into the wheel chair then perhaps I could remain there until the whole hospital ordeal was over.................and that lovely smiling yet somewhat concerned nurse who took my blood pressure found it to be slightly raised???!!!!
As usual once I was wheeled into the waiting area all went rather quickly and very efficiently. I only had to wait about 10 minutes to see the Doctor. He asked me if I had an injury or illness to which I replied that I was not a doctor but I thought I had a build up of uric acid (gout). He checked my left knee and said "yes, you are right, we need to take blood." Wheeled out again, blood taken and sent off to the lab. Half an hour later back in to see the doc. Yes, uric acid, I will get an injection for you and some medication. Wheeled out and around the corner, please lay down in that wheel chair (more of a wheel bed I think), undo you belt and roll over!!!! OK, that done back outside to the waiting room, pay the bill and get the medication. Medication 1,350 baht, Pathology 100 baht, other medical service charge (?) maybe the injection? 50 baht, Doctors fee 230 baht a grand total of 1,730 baht and all done in a 2 hour time frame, pretty good I reckon.
OK now we take outside. Once again I was wheeled away to just outside the main entrance doors. "Can't you wheel me to my car?" No, we stop here.
Take care, Kris

A Visit from Dave Dawson

2011-01-16T20:59:00.000-08:00

Dave says he has lots of miles and adventures on this cycle.

It's always great to have visitors stop by the house for a chat, a little story telling , and a cup of coffee, yesterday was such a day , a friend Dave Dawson stopped by for a short visit at our place , after a little trip he had made to the Bamboo School to take a gift of clothes for the kids there .

He always has a good story to tell and always lots of detail in telling them . Yesterdays story was a continuation of a story from another time , but this time he had pictures . He tells of being on the tanker the Alaska Yukon coming from Drift River oil fields in Alaska in 1969 when the tanker struck a uncharted rock and ripped out half the bottom storage tanks for the crude oil , he told about the rescue and the task of getting all the spilled oil from the ocean and being towed back to Port Nikiski in North Kenai for repairs , I'm not sure if this or another time that four of his friends were lost at sea and later on he put up a marker and head stone for them in a National Park in California. Now I can't even begain to put down all the details of the story , sooo if you want to hear it the way I did , come on down or over or whatever to Wang Pho and we'll call Dave and get together for a good story telling afternoon.He tells the story of years later he was having back and neck problems and went to a Dr. to see what was the problem , when the Dr. ask him where he was injured and what happened as he begin to relate the story to him and when he mentioned the "Alaska Yukon "tanker and 1969 , the Dr. said " I was on that tanker in 1969" , What a small world we live in.I do sooo much enjoy good stories about folks lives and their adventures Then and Now. Dave is not finished with all his adventures and he rides his cycle all over Thailand taking pictures and meeting folks and sharing his stories and listening to theirs. He rode 2 1/2 hours from his home deep in the mountains near the Burma border just to bring the gifts to the Bamboo School and to bring pictures to finish the story he started telling me months ago. And you know me , He had to listen to a few of mine in return, what a great visit we had on the front porch of our home , and by the way if you're ever down our way , stop in and we'll tell a few stories over a good cup of coffee. Days like this ,unexpected visitors , story telling and good friends and a peaceful life are just a few of the reasons why "I'm Retired in Thailand and Loving It" Malcolm

So much to see and do and tell

2011-01-07T06:27:00.000-08:00

This was what greeted us as we started our day of adventures

Looking across the river from where we were fishing

The cemetery on the way

As far as you could see

Jerry getting ready to catch a big one , this was a coal day ha ha

Fun on the River Kwai

A barge full of sand headed down river for processing

Barges ready to pump the sand

Pumping the sand

I'm ready

Getting ready

This is the kind of fish we were catching , Ciejay made Tum Yum Pla one night and Pla Red Curry over Jasmine rice the next day yum yum

This is my secret spot I found

It don't get no better than this

This was a great day fishing and relaxing and watching all kinds of birds in the trees .

I even found time to take a NAP in the lounge chair there , afterwards a picnic lunch I had packed and another nap I caught two that day.

Cruising down the river to check his fish nets and baskets , was the only noise I heard the whole day , of course there were the sounds of birds and the river and fish jumping .

The last few days have been a lot of fun , I have found a couple new fishing spots and tried them out with my fishing friend Jerry ," some days diamond and some days coal" as the song goes ,some days we catch fish and other days we just drown a lot of worms , ha ha ha , but as I have said before you never know what you going to see on you way to and adventure and another unexpected adventure jumps right out in front of you , sometimes the surprise one is as exciting as the planned one .

This post is a composite of a few days and some of the things I have seen and done . I am so amazed ,every day it seems like something new and different unfolds in front of my eyes and the lens of my little Sony Cyber-shot camera, some things I was prepared for, others are just there on the way to something else . I hope you enjoy the pictures and will try to tell a little about each as I post them .

One very unexpected and beautiful place we came upon as I came around the curve ,was a huge Chinese cemetery as far as the eye could see. It was so clean and well kept and very impressive , and you could just see the pride in the living paying respect to the dead.

Not to stop there , as we came to our planned fishing spot , out in the middle of the Famous River Kwai was a huge barge that was pumping sand from the river bottom and pouring it like a fine spray onto smaller barges being towed up and down the river from the sand pumper barge to the sand processing and storage plant , VERY interesting, and a new adventure for me . Thanks for letting me share some of my fun times with you with my little stories and pictures , It's just another of the reasons why I'm Retired in Thailand and Loving It. Malcolm

Organic Yard

2010-12-27T20:28:00.000-08:00

We don't live on a farm , but we have farm animals in the yard from time to time .
Just when I was saying to Ciejay
that I needed to go to the Farm Store to buy some fertilizer for the grass and plants , here comes the neighbor to the rescue and brings a couple of organic fertilizer producing walking machines to take care of the job for me and it's all for free, I just had to stand guard around my flowers , they like them as a appetizer, ha ha . You never know what you're going to find in your yard some days, that's what makes life here in the LOS interesting . Ever have cows grazing in your front yard??? well it's a first for us too, but it does have a side benefit, I'm just glad we have some sunshine to dry the cow dung quickly. Malcolm

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2010-12-24T04:27:00.000-08:00

A very Merry Christmas and a special thanks to all who have took the time out of their busy lives to stop by my blog and give a read and enjoy the pictures and little stories about Ciejay and My life here in Wang Pho

I'm excited about the new year ahead and hope for lots of adventures and stuff to share with you as we find the time and money to do a little traveling around Thailand to places we haven't seen yet , but are on our list of "to see places" . I hope we get to check a lot of them off. As I have said many times in the past we are still Retired in Thailand and Loving It

Greetings from our little village of Wang Pho for a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous

New Year to you and yours ,in your City , Town , or Village or wherever you heart finds you, and also a

healthy and blessed 2011.

Malcolm and Ciejay

Look Out !!!!!! Elephants on the road

2010-12-21T22:45:00.000-08:00

One of the great things about taking a day trip in the LOS is that you never know what you're going to see just around the next curve or bend in the road . Such a day was yesterday , Ciejay and me were doing the wine business and decided to take the long way home it was such a pretty day , as we came around a curve there they were the (I think ) most beautiful and breath taking creatures in the whole world two elephants with their Manhots going to the river for a bath and swim and the men had a little sugar cane for a snack for the elephants after their bath , I get to see lots of elephants here in Thailand , BUT I always have to stop and take a good look and get a picture if possible . I am always amazed that something that big can be so gentle. I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I do . Where else could you have such a unexpected thrill as this but here in the LOS , I guess thats just another good reason we're Retired in Thailand and Loving It. Malcolm

Tiger in the making

2010-12-17T05:37:00.000-08:00

Just went by today December 31 and they had added this huge Tiger face over the entrance to what they are going to call Tigerland, and it looked like they were having a private New Years party , we couldn't go in . Malcolm

One thing for sure , when you are driving around the country side here in the LOS, you never know what you are going to see. This was the case just the other day on the way home from Kanchanaburi, I looked off to the left and down a road that I had not noticed before and saw that something big was being built out of concrete , sooo I had to turn around and take a look . To my surprise there in the woods was being made out of concrete the biggest Tiger I had ever seen , only a few workers were around sooo could not get any information , but from what I can guess ,it looks like a hotel being built and the huge Tiger will be some kind of attraction , I plan on stopping by again soon for more pictures and hopefully ,be able to see someone who can tell me whats going on here . This tiger is huge and I'm sure when it is finished and painted , it will be a must see for lots of tourist. Have you ever seen a tiger this big , I've nicknamed him "Tony "after one of my favorite tigers. Malcolm

Faux Bois--A lost Art

2010-12-13T01:42:00.000-08:00

Faux Bois In Concrete www. http://fauxboisinconcrete.blogspot.com/

Well , today I learned that the decorating we are doing on the house is actually a lost art and is starting to be revived by some folks all over the world old pieces of Faux Bois are quite collectiable and sought after by collectors , soooo I guess our place will be a collector item for our grand-kids one of these days , who would have thought , ha ha , I'm posting a few up-date pictures of the work and it should be finished in a few days and then we will paint the green part of the house a light tan color , should look good. Hope you enjoy the pictures and the story from the web.

This school of art goes back as far as "art" itself. From our very beginnings, artists have been fascinated with the infinite variety of shapes, forms and textures that Mother Nature expresses in trees and their wood. And while the French are indeed to be credited with giving this art a name, there are examples to be found that far predate the existence of France as a nation.

The modern schools of this art today encompass two principle branches. One employed by highly skilled wood finishers that involves itself with making "lesser" woods such as pine, have the appearance of a "finer" or more exotic wood. The other branch creates three dimensional representations of wood and wooden objects by applying various cement-based mixtures onto a steel framework or "armature", and sculpting it to mimic the real material.

The subject of this brief essay is the three dimensional variety,
also known as Ferrocement Faux Bois.

Ferrocement Faux Bois is a very popular and much sought after category among serious antique collectors. One of the most notable of whom is Martha Stewart, who collects antique as well as modern works executed by the very few remaining artisans still practicing this craft. Sadly, there are only a handful of artisans alive today who are capable of executing Faux Bois at the masterwork level.

The most familiar works are those imported from Europe by antique dealers specializing in garden art. Typically they have what I refer to as a "French" finish composed of a gray, lightly sanded mortar mixture of Portland cement and sand. What few people today, including many collectors, do not realize, is that the vast majority of these pieces were at one time painted. Often quite garishly. Thankfully, nearly all of the paint has succumbed to the nature of the concrete and fallen off, leaving only a faded and aged patina. Many of these works are crude. Others more convincing in their detail. Most of the better pieces were constructed from about 1880 to WWII, but there were a few very capable craftsmen still producing an utterly amazing body of work well into the 1950's...right here in America.

Today, the very best of those major works rightfully represent an entire category on the National Register of Historic Places. And there is a serious movement taking place to add many more and restore them to the former glory that as much as a century of neglect has all but erased in many cases.

The process of creating these works is at once complex, technically demanding and extraordinarily labor intensive. It involves first building a steel framework (referred to by sculptors as an "armature"), securing and forming metal mesh known as "lath", then building up multiple layers of concrete, mortar and often pure cement paste. All the while, shaping, sculpting and detailing the material as it hardens. Once the process of adding cement-based media begins...there is no stopping. The material will not wait and absolutely must be worked from beginning to end. Complex and highly detailed works can often require an artist to work non-stop for 12 to 24 hours to achieve many specific effects. Little wonder it is less than popular with today's generation of artists. But there are rewards for the few who invest themselves in this demanding art, as well as the buyers of these rare works. Because the time and effort put into a quality piece is also reflected in its' longevity. Properly formulated and skillfully placed modern cement formulations can endure exposure to the elements for an estimated fifty-thousand years. How's that for "heirloom".

And while works of this calibre are obviously rare and understandably expensive, they can still be found or commissioned by a properly skilled sculptor

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2010-12-11T06:49:00.000-08:00

Customize a free digital greeting

House Make-over

2010-11-23T01:57:00.000-08:00

the house in 2008

It's been six years since we remodeled the house and moved into when we came to the LOS in 2004 , We did a lot as you have seen in the past post , we did what we knew we could do quickly, so we could move in as soon as possible and have been satisfied with the way it looked all these six years . Paint doesn't last forever in the Los with the hot and humid weather and of course the long rainy season, sooo it (the house ) was in need of a fresh coat of paint . We call our house (home) a bungalow , and have been happy with it , but now after all these years we thought we would like something a little different , and as we talked about it and looked around we thought we would like a cottage style house , of course we can't just tear this one down sooo we had to turn this one into a cottage . We have started and the following pictures are some of the work already done and still in progress , some folks say it looks like Disney Land and I think it does a little , but we love it so far . There is lots more to be done to complete the the Make-over, and then a fresh coat of paint (not sure the color yet), and every time we look at what was done , we see something else we want done , we are going to do work also on the decks and steps and will redo the waterfall and pond , and some (not a lot ) on the landscape and garden , I like it to look as natural as possible with out getting out of control I like wild grass and flowers and vines and even some weeds , I don't want it to look all manicured and perfect , If we don't cut the grass for a month I still think it looks good ( that's just my opinion) and Ciejay likes it too and that's all that matters ,really .

I will take more pictures as we go along , and will put up, with a short post , take a look at the pictures and Please live a honest comment about what you think . I know to some it looks like I've lost it , but what the heck , we like it , and here in the LOS we can do what we want and don't have to worry about the neighbors , the laws and the , restrictions and permits and no Bureaucrats telling me what and how I can do with the property and house that we own

I guess that's another reason why we are" Retired in Thailand and Loving it." Malcolm

The SEVEN

2010-11-18T03:55:00.000-08:00

This much work done in two weeks they are really working to open it as soon as possible .

Well I knew we couldn't be country forever, and it has happened that the big time is coming to Wang Pho . Believe it or not they are building a 7-11 6 blocks from my home , in one way I'm excited and in other ways I am sad , excited , because now I can get a great Hot Dog anytime I want and they make a great ham and cheese and egg sandwich that I love and you can pay almost any bills there and they (omg) are going to put in a ATM . Now for the sad , all of our little Mom and Pop shops are going to see a big decline in business, from the college near by and from the 950 students that attend our local high school.In most cities the 7 is a little more expense, but most of our local Mom and Pops shop at Makro and Lotus and bring it back to their stores and add a few, sometimes more baht to the price which will make the 7-11 cheaper.It would be different if the Thai folks would continue to be loyal to the local shops , But as you and I know it's all about money and survival here in the Los and especially in these small village , every little baht makes a difference. One shop owner I talked with said he is going to sell or close his shop and also sell his house and land and move to another small village and open up another shop " maybe a different business all together", he said . I think they (the little shops ) can see the handwriting on the wall , It's just like it was in our town in America when Walmart came to town , it hurt all the little small shops and many of them just went under at no fault of their own , people are going to shop where they can get the most for their money , that is human nature.

We (Ciejay and Me) are still very happy here in our little village of Wang Pho located in a large fertile valley , at the foot of a small mountain range and on the bank of the famous River Kwai,and as I have said many times ,thats why we are "Retired In Thailand and Loving It."

Change is certain, and probably our grand-kids when they are adults will call Wang Pho THE BIG CITY. Malcolm

CHINESE TEMPLE AND DRAGON

2010-11-17T06:13:00.000-08:00

This is at the entrance to the Temple or (Park)

Tall pole inside of the gate which was closed this day

As seen from the road

Now that's a big mouth full of water fall

Ciejay looks real small stand in front of the Drago

This looked very old

OPPS dragon again

Looks like a gift shop and museum

Ciejay again

My truck in front of the dragon--- this thing is big

A few days ago Ciejay and me took a day trip over to Supan Buri to visit sister Tui for lunch and to pick up some herbs she had for us . On our way right before the bus station on the left hand side of the road is a huge decorated with carvings pole (totem pole) of Chinese subjects, I think . This thing is big and if you drive inside the temple or park , not sure which one , they have made the largest Dragon I have ever seen constructed out of concrete . It looks like you can go in thru the front and must be filled with some kind of displays . they were closed when we got there so we couldn't go inside and the writing was in Chinese for the most part . It looks like off to the side they are building homes and shops , and it looks like they are maybe planning a small Chinese village . Has anyone else seen this and have more info than me ?? We plan on another day trip when it is open and exploring it for a few hours and getting all the info we can for a future post . Lots of pictures and hope you enjoy . You can see the size of the dragon with Ciejay looking like a ant standing in front and also my truck looks like a toy

I don't know a lot about it and I'm sure it would make for a fun day for anyone , if nothing else ,just to see this big Dragon with a Water Fall coming out of his mouth. Malcolm

You never know what you will run upon when you are traveling in the LOS , and as I have said before that's what I love about being Retired In Thailand and Loving It.

Market Day in Wang Pho

2010-11-08T04:59:00.000-08:00

Most of these veggies were growing out behind his house just the day before , he has a huge garden.

I swear this pork is so fresh , I thought I heard a loud squeal

these eggs are so fresh that when they start to run low they run out to the truck where the hens are laying more on demand.

After all the eggs are laid they then are sold here , minus all their feathers of course

Believe it are not , but some of these fish are still flopping around on the table .

It's been a while since I posted anything about one of my favorite things to do here in Wang Pho , doing the weekly shopping at our fresh fruit and veggie market and oh ya I don't want to forget the fresh meat and fish market too

I can't wait for the net to get sooo advanced that we will have scratch and sniff available on all the pictures . The one great thing about the fresh market is all the wonderful smells all mixed together . I would be amiss if I forgot to mention that on market days there is also a lot of already cooked food vendors at the market about 25% of the market is fast (Thai style ) food to take home to eat. Ciejay and me talked about it one day and we both agreed that if we really wanted to we would never have to cook at home ever, and fresh cooked meals are within 5 minutes ride or walk from our home , something to think about as we get older , ha ha ..

Sorry no scratch and sniff , but hope you enjoy the pictures . Malcolm

Do you have a fresh fruit and veggie market near you and do you visit it often ????

We have a huge Tesco Lotus that we could buy our fruit and veggies if we wanted to , but not only are the local markets stuff fresher , it helps our local farmer to sell their stuff and get a little income from all their hard work and it also keeps our little town from being a poor village .

STOP!!!!!!!!!!! DUCKS CROSSING

2010-11-04T02:14:00.000-07:00

Ciejay and me took a little day trip to Supan Buri , to meet up with Sister Tui for lunch and a short visit the other day, on the way there we could see lots of evidence of the flooding from the past week , it was like the road was going across a huge lake with water on both sides of the road and the fields as far as the eye could see was flooded and you could see that the houses that were in the low land and along the fields still had water surrounding them, I am sure was lots of damage not only to crops , but also to the many homes along the river and the rice paddies.
We were driving and came around a curve in the road and almost ran over a flock , herd , or what ever you call a lot of ducks being moved from one pond to another by the duck herder , it was quite a sight , I was able to get a couple of shots off thru the windshield , they were moving pretty fast and there was cars behind me also , hope you like the pictures , have you ever seen a herd of DUCKS??? Malcolm

Wang Pho Tetsaban and Village folks to the rescue

2010-10-27T21:26:00.000-07:00

Putting out a plea , and thanking the people for their help

The response was great , people were coming , walking , motor scooters, bicyles , cars and trucks , bringing what they could

food and water and help is on the way from Wang Pho

As most of you know , Thailand and it's people have been experiencing a lot of flooding in the past month and over a million folks have been affected , many people have pitched in and helped to send relief to as many of the people as possible . I take my hat off to all the effort I have seen in the media and the support they have given to the people in need . Thailand loves their own and when there is a need the people of Thailand rise to the occasion. We in the Burgess house whole have sent some monies to help where it was needed . Today it really got close to home when our local tetsaban announced over the speakers that some people in the Sai Yok district were in need of help , you should have seen the response from the folks of our village , almost everyone was giving something and the local police men were loading it into trucks , and as soon as it was full they took off and another empty would pull in and wait to be loaded , I was sooo pleased with the response from Wang Pho and the surrounding villages, and it made me proud to be a part of such caring people. Ciejay and me jumped in and did our part on the local level as well, and we are so glad that we know the people are getting food and water , that is needed sooo bad. Help were you can ,and remember those in need. Malcolm and Ciejay

Visitors from wayyyyyyy down South

2010-10-27T06:28:00.000-07:00

Aasa and Phil Brumley

A couple of months ago I got a e-mail from a reader of my blog Retired in Thailand and Loving It, Phil Brumley, who lives in Queens Islands , Australia . He stated in his e-mail that he and his wife Aasa were coming to Thailand for a holiday and to visit family in Bangkok, and while they were here they wanted to look around The LOS for a place that they might like to live for 6 months out of the year. They plan on retiring in a year or so. Phil and Aasa don't want to live in a big city as Phil says they are "country folks" and would prefer to live in a small village not to far from BKK, and Aasa's family , something like a 2 or 3 hour drive.In the e-mail he stated that they planned on being in Thailand the end of October and ask if we would like to get together for lunch while they were here to talk about my thoughts concerning ,moving and living in Thailand . Well you know me I love to meet new folks and especially readers of my little blog on retirement , while I am not an expert on the subject of moving and living in the LOS, I feel like I have a few words of wisdom to impart to ears and hearts that are welling to listen, and he mentioned my favorite subject "LUNCH ", of course I said yes.

Then the other day I got a call from Phil saying they were in BKK and coming to Kanchanaburi for a few days , soooo we made plans to meet for lunch ,and a chit ,chat about lots of stuff. I must say we were delighted to meet them and had a great lunch , visit and talk , they are swell folks and Phil , when they make the move to retire part-time in Thailand, will be a falang we other falangs can be proud to have as a friend living in Thailand . After we finished our lunch and great visit, we took a little ride to our village of Wang Pho , to show them around the area, and all that our little village has to offer, and our ever so humble home . It may be small , but we seem to have a lot of stuff that other small villages I have visited do not have "I'm real proud of our town" and the folks that are elected to make sure that it is always clean , well kept and a safe and happy place to live . I think they liked what they saw and they will be traveling to a lot more places before they make up their mind where they want to settle . As I said before it's always a pleasure and fun to meet new folks and especially, a reader of my blog and Phil and Aasa were a delight. I think after our visit and talk that Phil knows now why "I'm Retired in Thailand and Loving It. Phil and Aasa thanks for the visit, Ciejay says thanks too.

Malcolm

Retirement and the Honey Do List

2010-10-22T06:24:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not I built this table with my own hands , it is from the wood that we took off of the front of the house when we started the remodel. It has been outside in the weather(under the back deck roof) for 6 years and the finish had wore of and it was looking bad , soooo it was on my list to do something with it . As you can see I've got all my stuff ready to jump right into the project.

I am wearing a mask to keep all the fine dust out of my nose and mouth, and a pair of safety googlies to keep dust out of my eyes too.

I started out with a course sandpaper and then a fine grit, and after I had removed all the old finish , I gave it a once over with a fine wet and dry paper and then fine steel wool for the finishing smoothness.

As you can see the weather had really dulled the old finish which if I remember I only put on one coat of urethane , this time I put on three coats with a steel wool rub between each .

I had slid on and off of this bench , having my morning coffee that all the finish had worn off it or cracked , because of being in the sun and weather for 6 years , so this time I gave it 3 coats too. It is so smooth that you can see the little Kapow bush reflecting in the finish.

Take a look at the finish on this table , here to you can see the tree reflecting in it's finish . It took a lot of elbow grease and a sore arm to get it smooth enough for this finish. I like using urethane instead of a normal wood finish or shellac as it will not leave a water or white ring on the table finish when you set something cold or hot on top of it and it cleans up real good with soap and water which you can't do with some finish products.

Come on over to Wang Pho and we'll sit here and enjoy a little chit ,chat and a good cup of coffee or even a good glass of wine if you come in time for lunch .

While I had all my stuff out and the weather was holding up ,I took this opportunity to put another coat (really two more ) of urethane on the back and front teak doors.

I even took a piece of the jack -fruit scraps and made a sign with our names and address , some I have been going to do for 6 years , Maybe I was spending a little to much time in the hammock ha ha .

Well, I know you've seen me mention Ciejay's Honey Do List in a few of my post and to be truthful , It's my to do list too. Yesterday and today for the most part the weather has been just right for getting a few of the List things done , I don't want to wait to long as the time to really enjoy this paradise called the LOS is coming up real fast , the rain will stop , the humidity will go away , and the travel bug will bite and I don't want to have to feel guilty that I didn't get a lot done when I could have .I got a couple things done that were on the list , By the way nothing on the list is earth shattering , if something is really important,( if I can't do it myself) I pay someone that knows how to do the job for me , I have found out that the best thing in owning a home and anything else , that maintenance is a very important thing the better you take care of something the longer it will last and give you years of enjoyment with just a little TLand C.
I took a few pictures of the couple of projects and will write a little description about each . Hope you enjoy the pictures and also I want to show you that I don't spend all my time in the Hammock.

Visitors from up North

2010-10-16T04:36:00.000-07:00

Kris from Khemmarat

Ciejay,Kris,Cat,Pook

Kris and Cat

Pook, Kris ,Cat

It's always great to have visitors come for a day , but it's a special treat when it's a fellow blooger or a reader of your own blog , and just this Thursday we had the privilege of having Kris and his lovely wife Cat and her sister Pook, from the village of Khemmarat in the Providence of Ubon Ratchathani come to Whang Pho for a day visit . We meet them at the train station and had a great lunch and then back to our home for a couple hours visit and a little fruit snack before taking them to Kanchanaburi for a van ride back to Bangkok .It was a short visit as the train from BKK had engine trouble and they were late leaving the big city and spent about 5 hours on the train , needless to say if you know anything about the country trains here in the LOS you know that their behinds were tired from the sitting and the hard seats .We had a great (short) time with them and we promised each other it want be the last visit . Thanks Kris and Cat for taking out in your busy schedule to come by our way . Malcolm and Ciejay

Retirement and a new project

2010-10-12T04:08:00.000-07:00

When you're retired and living in a house that you have remodeled there is always a few do it your self projects to keep you busy and if that doesn't do the trick , then Ciejay can always find a few things for you to do , she is always adding to her" Honey Do List" that has taken up permanent residence on the frig door. But ever once in a while an idea pops into my head and I just have to go for it ( that is if Ciejay likes the Idea too -ha ha ha ).

Well that was the case the other day while laying in the Hammock and thinking about the how good life has been to us these past 6 years . All of a sudden I heard a crash and looked over at the neighbors house and and saw that they had cut down the big Jack Fruit tree that was in front of their house

And soooo an idea popped into my head , I was thinking the other day that I would like to make the table that I had made 3 years ago from a jack fruit tree , into our dining room and kitchen table ,the one that I use for my computer table , that it was almost to big for what I needed and Ciejay had said once before that she would like to have it as a dining room table , it is nice and long , and she too loves the golden color .I talked to my neighbor and she gave me the tree already cut down and the guy who cut it for her said he could saw it into boards for me , you see them in the first pictures .I have a idea in my head to make a table with a book shelf attached to the end of it for my printer and other stuff that I like to have around the computer, and it would be almost as long but it would look a lot neater , and give us a bigger table in the kitchen ,dining area . Ciejay liked the idea and soooo I had the guy to saw the tree into boards and I now have them stacked (as you can see in the photos) to dry, and in a couple months will take them to the man that made the table I use now for a computer table , and have him to make the new one for me,and into the kitchen will go the old one .I know I am not doing the work myself , but I feel it's my project , because I thought of it and will see it thru till it is done . "Oh by the way "I will do all the sanding and putting the urethane finish on the table sooo It will be part my handwork.

I really love the color of the wood from the jack fruit tree , and the new wood seems to be even more golden in color , we'll have to wait and see after it dries for a few months .

Theres a special feeling a body gets when you sit down at a table that you had the idea to make. Everyone that comes to visit always comments about the table , as not many folks use the jack fruit wood for furniture , but I have found out thru research that it is used to make a lot of Thai musicals instruments . Most have never seen any thing made if this kind of wood.Have you ever ? Malcolm

Run for your life

2010-10-09T22:22:00.000-07:00

Someone told me that the small lizards that make themselves at home in may of our houses (wheither we want them to or not) would eat each other , I never believed them till yesterday when I saw first hand the act of cannalibism with my own eyes and was able to get a couple pictures to post for your enlightenment. I hate all the droppings we have to vaccum up every morning , but it is better than spiders and mozzies, they will eat both . Malcolm

Retirement-----Ciejay and Me love it .

2010-10-06T00:54:00.000-07:00

Well , today is a very special day for us , it marks the 6th anniversary of us leaving our home in Salem , Oregon ,USA and getting on the big silver bird with 11 suitcases ,with all of our worldly possessions and moving to the land of Milk and Honey, also known as The Land of Smiles and Gentle People, Thailand. I don't think there has gone a day that I haven't thanked the Lord for making it possible for us to be here in the LOS and for all my Thai and Farang friends,family, and neighbors and my wonderful wife , that have made it such a good , safe and happy life , and not forgetting my small SS check that I receive each month that allows us to live here in a comfortable home , on little piece of land, in a beautiful valley ,at the foot of a small mountain range , along side the famous River Kwai and in the wonderful small village called Whang Pho .
We're happy and also we're Retired in Thailand and Loving It. Malcolm and Ciejay

RETIREMENT- A trip to Thailand and Finding a home

2010-09-23T00:46:00.000-07:00

Sitting on the couch one evening thinking ,"what are we going to do now ?" , I've already gave my notice at work , signed up for my early SS, Ciejay doesn't want to live in Tenn. , to expensive to live here in Salem , "what to do ". then I remembered my son Rich had visited Thailand for a few weeks and called me when he got back and said " Dad you should think about retiring in the LOS. I had never thought of it , even tho I was married to a Thai lady , I didn't think she would ever want to go back , and I knew nothing of Thailand , except the little stories of her growing up and the fact that she had two children and a lot of family there .We and the other sisters that lived in America sent a little money to their Mom and Dad every month and also from time to time some vitamins and powered food supplement , and that was all I knew . Ciejay came in and sat down beside me and ask "what you thinking husband?."I told her I was thinking about Thailand and how maybe we could think about retiring there next year .Her answer was that we didn't have any money saved , but I told her that when we retired , we would get a small check from the U. S. Government every month till I die , she did not understand about SS so I tried to explain it to her , I must have did a good job , because she answered "we pray". I left it at that, and for the next couple of months I Reade everything I could find on the www about Thailand , positive and negative.
Well retirement year rolled around and still no decision of where to retire and spend our golden years , then we got a call from Ciejay's sister in Thailand saying that her Dad had pasted away after a long bout with diabetes , and that they were having his cremation and Buddish funeral services in 5 days , well, we were not prepared for a quick trip , I hadn't even got my passport yet and we didn't have the cash for such a trip , we talked to the two sisters that lived in America and we all decided that we would go together for the 100 day ceremony, ( where they put the ashes on a little boat made of flowers and float the down the river ). I told Ciejay , " we will stay 3 weeks and look around for a little piece of land to build us a little house , and see if we want to retire in the LOS .
We went there mainly for the 100 day event , but in the back of my mind I was excited about the possibility of retiring there . I had read and looked at pictures on the net enough to make me fall somewhat in love with the country . After the ceremony , we rented a van and traveled for Two weeks all over the central and northern part of Thailand , but we never saw any place or found a little piece of land that we both liked . The last evening of our trip we decided to go to Sai Yok amphora to the little village of Wang Pho and visit Ciejay's brother before flying back home the next day . We arrived there about 5:15 , it was late evening and already getting dark , the sisters visited with their brother and I sat and looked around the area , already when we were driving down the mountain to Wang Pho valley , I had thought to myself , I like this place , and Ciejay and I had exchanged glances, with a smile , that showed she felt the same .I was dark now and we were about to leave. Ciejay and me had said that we would come back next year on our own and look around some more , we were hurry ,hurry this trip everywhere we went .As we were getting in the van , I said to Ciejay " ask your brother if there is a house and a little piece of land for sale in Wang Pho ", she asked and he said " YES, there" and he pointed to the house next door , can you believe it . We went to look , it was all dark and the house was locked tight and the windows were tinted, soooo we could not even see inside , three bedroom, and 2 to bath rooms, her brother said" not finished" , the man and wife broke and house sat empty for 6 years , I ask if her knew the man and he said "yes my friend in Bangkok" , I ask him to call him and ask the price ( house and a little piece of land .) He called the man gave a price , my brother -in -law ask for a discount and the man said YES and just like that Ciejay had bought us a house and a little piece of land in Thailand . It was dark and we could not see it very well , but as I have said many times we had a dream and God had a plan, and we were happy .
Home we went, with a big smile on our face and a lump in our throat's thinking about what we were going to do and when we could move to Thailand and our dream home , and how we were going to get the money to fix up the house and clear the land and lots of ????????? in our heads.When we showed the one picture of the house we had most of our friends laughed and said it looked like it was ready to fall over, and that we could never make it livable, well we wondered the same thing sometimes , But we had prayed and felt in our hearts that it was right and this was the plan God had for us . This was 2003 and we had till March 2004 before retirement and our plans were to fly to Thailand in Oct. of 2004 to begin our new life .
Of course there was lots to do to get ready and we wondered all along if we could really fulfil our dream of retiring and living in Thailand . In the next post I will go in detail all we did to prepare for the move to the LOS and God's hand in all of it . Malcolm

RETIREMENT and MONEY

2010-09-15T21:01:00.001-07:00

Money frees you from doing things you dislike. Since I dislike doing nearly everything, money is handy. -Groucho Marx
"Early to bed and early to rise -- till you get enough money to do otherwise.
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One thing I learned about retirement very quickly was that you needed money and lots of it , and that there is no retirement fairy that comes along and zaps you on the head with her or his magic wan and says "now you are retired, do what you want when you want and where you want." Retirement as I have already said" takes money", and you have to plan to save it ,retire from a job that gives you a pension , win the lotto, sell a business, marry someone rich ( if single) inherit from rich relative , or as I did start drawing your SS check when you reach the ripe ole age of 62. And at 62 the check is not enough to live on and especially if you have a wife , which I had when I reached retirement age .I took a look around me and and at my SS check and I knew that with that amount of money coming in every month, that there was no way we could live in our present location . My brother lived in Tennessee and offered to let us build a small house or put a trailer, or manufactured home on a little piece of land on his property and we went there to check it out , I loved the idea of being close to my brother and living in the country, but Ciejay just did not like the area, and expressed that she did not think she would be happy ( and her happiness was very important to me ). I think we could have lived there on my SS check (bearly getting by), with the amount of MONEY we would have coming with each check . I could do like a lot of folks that say they are retired and work another full time job just at a different company or they get a part-time job and their wives get one too , Soooo they say they are retired , but in reality they are working just as much as before , just drawing their SS check, (selling the house that they bought for twice what it was worth (when the banks were loaning money to anyone that breathed and had any credit (good or bad) young or old )moving to a different location , most of the time only renting and to a warmer climate and calling themselves retired, with the MONEY they had saved (if any) and the MONEY gotten from the sell of all the things they had collected over the years , the yard and garage sells, and their SS checks . All of this adding up to the Money that it takes to retire. If you don't have the Money or a way to get it, then you really can't retire and will have to work till you drop dead , paying for that new car and big house that you bought and really didn't need in the first , but you have no choice because nobody will buy that used car , not even what you owe on it and the house that you bought for $250,000 dollars, now with the collapsed housing market is worth half what you paid for it , and no one wants to buy it because you owe more to the bank than it's worth , but you still have to make the payments because the banks want take it back , or file bankruptcy, Which means your. credit is ruined and you can never buy anything on credit again ( the thing got you into this mess in the first place ) which means you can't retire , Because to retire takes Money.
I hope you have thought about these things way before it's time for you to retire and have started to save as much as you can every month and started living a little more frugal that you did before you started getting close to your golden years, and remember , when you retire you want need all those TOYS and THINGS you spent your hard earned Money for , Heck most of them you 'll be to old to play with anyway , get rid of them!!!!!!! Now!!!!!! while you still can .When you wait till retirement time , folks know it and will try to steal them from you , remember their not retiring you are and your down sizing is their Wind -Fall. It's all about Money yours and theirs.
When we (Ciejay and me ) retired we had not been married bur two years and I had never saved a penny in my life and had no thoughts of retiring at all , I planned on working till I dropped dead, but when I meet Ciejay all that changed and I wanted to spend all my golden years with her , laughing , loving and enjoying life and the blessings of the Lord to the fullest, and that did not include working every day from dawn till dark, 6 or 7 days a week and not even a part-time job, but how to do this was the problem , because as I stated in the first of this post it takes Money and that was something I didn't have much of , and very few toys to speak of .And as I said before there was just noway I could see us retiring on our small SS check .
I know that there are lots of folks in the same boat we were in and are wondering how they can retire and enjoy their golden years ,and not have to work themselves to death . I hope they have a plan and the MONEY to make it work, I didn't , BUT----- God did and in my next post I'll tell you all about it , this post is getting way to long and I don't want to loose any one along the way , stay tuned for the next post . Malcolm
ps:
I know some folks will not agree with the things I have said ,BUT some will relate and these are the folks I hope this post gives a little inspiration to.

Enough is Enough

2010-08-20T00:10:00.000-07:00

This is my first time in the Hammock in 21 days as you can see , I've lost a little weight (14 lb.) but I'm feeling stronger.

Well , I think I've been a slave to that bed long enough , I've been in and out of it (mostly in ) now for 21 days and I say I need to pull myself up by my bootstraps and get on with living normal again, I have eaten good the last couple of days and have started to get my strength back .The Dr.'s ran all kind of test and everything turned out ok , My last run thru the hospital a few days ago they said I just had a bad flu, that was not responding very well even to anti-biotics and told me to get all the vitamin C I could and in doing this I feel a lot better .

Thanks for all the well wishes and encouragement and prayers , thats what keep me from getting depressed, and there was a few times when I felt like throwing in the towel .

I am soooo much thankful to Ciejay, she has had her hands full ,taking care of me , I don't think I'm a easy patient to care for , I hate being sick . She has been a real trooper and , I will forever be greatful to her .

I'll be back to my blog in a couple of days as soon as I get my mind back in gear too .. Malcolm

I've really been sick

2010-08-06T22:09:00.000-07:00

It's not that I don't want to put up a lot of new post about retirement , but I have really been sick this past week and am even today only feeling about 50% . Take care and I'll be back soon , don't forget me . Malcolm

Retirement--"I love It "(Most of the time) no really "I love it"

2010-07-27T00:08:00.000-07:00

This is what the house looked like when we bought it one year before we moved to Thailand

Me acting like I am helping , when most of the time I was just in the way

We are seeing some progress , we really did a lot

The folks that did the work remodeling and almost rebuilding, were great and it took a lot of work and reconstruction work to get the house the way we wanted it .

We're very happy with the way it turned out ,and we have added a lot that I will show in the post to come .

Malcolm and Ciejay Retired in Thailand

I love being retired and especially ,being retired here in Thailand , but loving it and enjoying all the benefits that come with being retired and accepting all the not so fun things, and some of the lack of benefits that come with being retired also, all this and more (of which I will share in later post ) took quite a while to get use to and even longer to get my mind, to accept the fact that I was indeed retired .
Almost all the things I will write about will be from my own experience, being retired here where we live in (Kanchanaburi) in the small village of Wang Pho, Thailand , from time to time I may mention other places and people , but for the most part it will be about us and OUR retirement life .
The first couple of months , it was life as usually , just in another country , we were busy remodeling the house we had bought pr yer to our retirement in the USA.We were there everyday watching , and sometimes complaining about the way the work was progressing , we were, trying to make this little house into a home , that we could live and enjoy, the rest of our lives in comfort and with as many of the conveniences that we were use to back in the good ole USA . Little, did I realise that some the things I hoped for , would never happen, and that this is not the good ole USA and they don't think , live , work ( or even think important ) many of the things we just take for granted , living in our homelands. I had to wrap my mind around these facts real quick or go crazy , fly into fits of rage, and show my anger and disapproval, just as I would in the good ole USA, have a long , hard and intense, talk with everyone and end up getting things done MY WAY. Well it don't work that way here in the LOS they will just pack up their tools and leave ,and you will not see them again and no one else in the village will come to work for you because the first folks that you ran off are all related to everyone in the village, and now you are on a Thai black list , which can take years to get off of , and then only if YOU learn how to be Retired in Thailand and Loving It . Some things I have learned the hard way , but for the most part I was at least smart enough to do a lot of research and learn a lot about Thai life and customs and Village life before we arrived and I have to say up front ,that I have the most wonderful Thai wife in the world (Ciejay) and she saved me from many a pit fall , and kept me from making a lot of mistakes along the way, starting in to this new way of life , Retiring and living in a strange and new country all at the same time .
Once all the work on the house was done, furnished like we could afford and learning how to get along without the things we could not afford right away, and we had things almost like we wanted them , we moved in , Then the real life of being retired set in, and believe you me , did this time in my life ever take some getting use to .You ask "like what ", well these are some of the things I am going to write about in the up and coming post :
Family , food , shopping , money ( having a lot or a fixed income based on a small to medium pension) , market days , health care , exercise, (enjoying or lack of ), village life ( how much to get en voled,)Kids , grand-kids , neighbors , animals, (yours and the neighbors) social life, together time with wife or husband, time for self (hammock time ), and any other subjects that pop into my mind or that you as my readers and folks retiring or thinking about retiring(in Thailand) would like me to write about , from our point of view, and from mine and Ciejay's experiences.
I hope you will enjoy this post subject and the follow-up post and that you will be kind enough to take a moment out of your retired or not retired life and leave a comment. Malcolm

FISH MARKET DAY IN WHANG PHO

2010-07-22T05:41:00.000-07:00

I've said it before and I'll say it again , "my favorite day of the week in the LOS is market day". there are soooo many reasons why I like market days soo much , I like getting to see everyone , the whole village and surrounding area comes out to buy their weeks supplies of fresh fruit and veggies and anything else you can think of that you might need to keep body and soul together and then some.I like for the folks to see the farang and see that he's still here after six years and not just a visitor. Right beside the market is a car wash and I can get the truck cleaned and detailed for 100 baht , and there is a great coffee shop there too and the lady always puts a scoop of chocolate ice cream in mine , yum yum . give it a try . The real reason I love the market is that everything is sooo fresh and I can pick what and how much I want with out it being wrappped in plastic saran wrap and stored in a cooler for several days and then put out as fresh , I can pick it up, and squeeze it , smell it, hand it to Ciejay for a look see and her professional, (ha ha ) approval or disapproval ,and even ask for a sample taste if I'm not to sure , and the person does it with a smile and not like I'm bothering her or him, like I have experienced in the store front markets .What a difference it makes when you are spending your money and the folks really appreciate you buying from their tent or little table , and you know you're not only getting fresh fruit and veggies , but you are helping this family , by buying the fruit of their labor .

But today was a special mission, we had company coming for dinner and I wanted to have a fish fry , soooo I was on the hunt for the freshest fish I could find, well I soon found out that there were sooo many different kind , and sizes, That I had to go back home and get Ciejay to come help me( that was a first as I always think of myself as the shopper King ), I never knew there was so many varieties of fish swimming up and down the River Kwai, and raised in all the little ponds in back of my neighbors houses.Well I picked a big Catfish to grill and Ciejay picked a Mud fish , to make Tum Yum Pla , we had a couple of Thai's coming too and she said they would like the Tum Yum , Sooo I said ok . Everyone had a great time , the Cat fish fry turned out great , I served it with grilled hot veggies and served on a chilled bed of lettuce , red and green, topped ,with my home made Italian dressing , baked potatoes with butter ,chives and sour cream and bacon bits and my very own corn hush puppies ( deep fried cornbread rolled into balls ) and served with home made cole slaw (South Carolina style ). The Thai guest jump right in and had heaping bowls of Tum Yum and a side dish of the famous Jasmine Rice (Thai guest are soo easy to cook for ).
Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves , and everyone keep say the were full , and Em sooo I guess it was a success.
I am always sooo glad for the fresh things we can get at our market that make it sooo much fun to cook and it (i hope) always taste soo good and fresh , especially the fresh fish , just caught this morning.
I'm posting a few pictures of all the fresh fish I had to chose from. I hope you have a fresh market near you and if possible , buy as much there as you can, the family farmers will love you for it, and you will be eating a lot freshier and healthier.
I'm glad I'm here in the LOS and that I have a wonderful person like Ciejay to share it with, I guess you could say I'm here, I'm happy,I'm blessed, and to top it all off I'm Retired in Thailand and Loving It .

Tuk-Tuk's Love them or Hate them

2010-07-18T23:44:00.000-07:00

All aboard

Click here for all you need to know about Bangkok http://www.onestopbangkok.com/

These folks bought this one new and rode all around Thailand , they store it in Kanchanaburi for their next trips and for their friends to use when they are here . He said made special for the 250,000 baht " I want one."

Opps-!!!! how did that get in here

Ciejay really liked this one

Alex on a Resort Tuk Tuk

Here are a few Picture of Tuk Tuk's

Here today and maybe gone tommorow

ME, I love them and for lots of reason They are cute, they are cheap , they are colorful and the guys that drive the are crazy , and you are in for the ride of your life and the most important reason is "They are a big partof Thailand" , what would a trip to the (Big Mango) hope Martyn doesn't have that name copyrighted, ha ha, without a ride in the little motorcycle that has made the big city and travel around the city famous , I know a lot of you folks don't like the smoke and the noise they make , but after all it's Thailand and you are just here visiting and to some folks it just would not be a complete trip to Bangkok with out a ride in one, when I rode in( or on) my first one I hung on for dear life , it was like riding on a amusement park ride. Ciejay was scared to death and to me it was like riding with my Mom in her little Ford Mavrick in 1975 , when she got her license ot 60 years old . Her moto was the same as the Tuk Tuk drivers "peddle to the medal" and then some . ha ha .
Well I guess they have limted the number of tuk tuk 's in certain areas of BKK and in some areas they have outlawed them all together , that was what a friend of mine told me .
Now ,they have come up with a green Tuk Tuk-- battery powered and charged with solar panels , or a 10 baht charge at a charging station for a 80 kilometres ride , I guess it was to be expected and for the Earth I guess it will be better , BUT I'll miss the smoke and noise and you can bet they want go as fast.
Here is a article I got from a link on the web about the "new" Tuk Tuk's.

The end of the line for noisy tuk-tuks?
July 5th, 2010 Health & safety, Transport posted by Jimmy Kransic
The ubiquitous Bangkok tuk-tuk is in for a revamp with the development of an environmentally friendly and silent model.
For decades, tuk-tuks, which are a form of taxi in Thailand, have been a fixture on the streets of Bangkok. The tuk-tuk moves with a sound akin to a chain-saw. Tuk-tuks are powered by petrol or gas, with little engine maintenance, and usually belch out thick clouds of exhaust fumes.
Due to the fact that the colourful vehicles can only carry two passengers comfortably, they are slowly being superseded by alternate transport options, which include taxis and public services, such as the Skytrain. Tuk-tuks are more of a tourist attraction than a viable means of transport nowadays.
With the appearance of a new solar driven model, tuk-tuks could be given a new lease of life. The only snag is the hefty purchase price. At over 300,000 Baht, this option is more than 50 per cent dearer than a standard model. The new price of the current model is around 180,000 Baht.
The initial expenditure on these green models would soon be recouped with lower running costs. Although the new tuk-tuks have batteries, they supplement the power from them by utilising the sun’s rays. The batteries cost 10 Baht to charge, which gives a distance of up to 80 kilometres.
The solar powered tuk-tuk could become more affordable if the government subsidised the cost of it. With an estimated 8,000 tuk-tuks on the streets of Bangkok, replacing them with smokeless, silent vehicles would surely lower noise and air pollution levels in the capital.

DINNER OUT

2010-07-17T07:59:00.000-07:00

Ha Ha Ha Ha

Ciejay and La La enjoying a glass of wine

Me and my Buddy B-Bie

Three good friends

Talking Thai and catching up on the latest from Wamg Pho

Empty bottle and happy faces

One of the things I love about the LOS is that there are soooo many great places to eat , It makes for a hard choice when someone says "UP TO YOU " which is the normal saying in Thailand , when someone ask you " where do you want to eat tonight ". Well tonight was one of those nights and B-Bie my best friend from The Big City of Bangkok called and said that he would like to come to Wang Pho for a visit , and to take us out to dinner and to celebrate our adopted daughter La La's 30th birthday (I think B likes her a lot ).Well the old" Up to You" was thrown at me and right away I said Som Mai's in the Jungle , one of my favorite places to eat fried fish and cashew chicken, two of my favorite things to eat.Of course I took along a bottle of our famous Hanuman Mangosteen wine , most folks like white wine with fish , but me I am a Red wine person and served at room temperature, It just don't get any better than that . Good food , good wine and dinner out with three of my favorite people.
Took a few pictures of our dinner and evening out hope you enjoy them and if you ever get over this away , I'll take you to the Jungle restaurant , for a "dinner out" you want soon forget .
I guess you know by now that with all these good places to eat and all the wonderful friends we have made in Thailand , that it's just another reason why I'm Retired in Thailand and Loving It

I GOT AND AWARD

2010-07-15T21:25:00.000-07:00

Today when I checked my e-mails I had a nice surprise , I had recieved a Award from Emma and Dennis from http://www.awardingtheweb.com/ and I was given an award for being one of the 2010 Top 25 Retirement Blogs Awards . This is a first for me and made me love blogging even more and more determined to post more stuff about Ciejay's and My life being Retired in Thailand and Loving It . Click on the button on the side to see a list of the other 24 winners and to learn more about the work and world of Emma and Dennis and their blog. Malcolm

I'm back on the net

2010-07-12T02:09:00.000-07:00

IT SEEMED LIKE A LIFETIME

I don't know what happened or how but, I have been off the internet for the past week , the home phone worked then did'nt work but net would never come up , I go upset and tired of waiting for help and started to push and click and found a form that said I had to re-figure my user name and password , now I did't know how I lost it in the first place ,unless It happened during the huge thunder and lighting storm we had last week , anyway I call the CALL CENTER for TOT and got a very sweet and kind lady on the help line, and she walked me thru every thing to remotely correct the problem and within 5 minute she had me back up and running , now you don't get any better service than that . thank you Miss TOT for all your help . And now I think I'll stop being an old-fart around the house as soon as I get my net fix . ha ha . Do you go bananas when you lose the net for a while ? I have come to the conclusion that I am addicted , BUT I LIKE IT . Malcolm

FUN DAY AT THE ELEPHANT CAMP

2010-07-03T07:41:00.000-07:00

TIME TO CHOW DOWN

BATH TIME

CIEJAY AND A TWO YEAR OLD BABY

SISTER SUE AND SON ALEX

ALEX TRYING TO DO LIKE THE BABY ELEPHANT

THEY HAD A GREAT RIDE

ALL SMILES AS THE ELEPHANT TAKES THEM FOR A WALK AND SWIM IN THE RIVER KWAI

IS IT OVER ALREADY???

WE'RE OFF

HOLD ON TIGHT!!!!!!

Ciejay and me have had family from the USA here for a week or two and we have had lots of fun taking them around the country . They have also had a lot of Sister-Hood time and during these times and I chose to stay Home _Alone , for my sanity, can for a minute you imagine being in the van with five sisters and a brother and all of them trying to talk at the same time (Thai custom ) and all in Thai and noone worried wheither or not you can understand what they are saying , pointing to , are laughing at , I can let my thoughts and imangination run wild and quickly decided to stay home-alone and not complain at all.
They have had a great time and I have really enjoyed the time I did spend with them , I really got to eat some great Thai food with all the sisters cooking ,gained 3 kilo.
Well their last day with us, I thought it would be a good idea to take them to see and take a ride on the elephants , my nephew ,Alex was really excited and kinda scared a little , we got there and took a few snap shots with the baby elephants and then they went for a ride , they loved it and I'm sure that Alex will remember this day and the elephant ride till the day he dies. A fun time was had by all. Took a few pictures and , hope you enjoy them
I sooooo love the elephants and love to visit them every chance I get , especially when I get to go out in the jungle camp and see my favorite elephant girl Moll- Lee . I'll do a post soon about her , I guess thats another reason why I'm sooo happy here in the LOS and to be Retired in Thailand and Loving It. Malcolm

WINGED THINGS FROM HELL

2010-06-24T06:53:00.000-07:00

picture from www

Well , the rainy season has finally come to Whang Pho and I have to say that it has been a real blessing in that it has cooled things down a lot and the yard and trees and plants and flowers , and also all our farmers are loving it . And all the neighbors have been waiting for the rain to plant their summer garden , and to set out new trees and plants . Me I'm just glad it's here .
BUTTTT along with the rainy season comes a lot of things that I hate , since it has started raining I have killed YES KILLED!!!! 4 scorpions that have made their way into our kitchen area and one in the bathroom , also 2 of the ugliest big black millipeds as long as my foot , them things have heads on both ends and look like they want to eat you up , and are they ever hard to kill, and then just yesterday a small corba decided that on my shoe rack ,on the front porch was a good dry place to spend the night. BUTTTT the things I hate the most are the things I call "Wings from Hell" . I know a lot of folks in Thailand call them snacks , It's the flying termites(mang mao ) that come out from under the ground after a big rain , just like Bats come out of caves at nights , millions and I do mean millions of them come from the mountain behind the house and you have to be quick to turn out all the lights and close the curtains for at least an hour and most of the time they will have moved on down to your neighbors house with the lights on .And the next morning they (without their wings) are crawling all over the patio and deck and their wings are all over the screens and windows and in every crack and crannie that you have around the house , and for days you will be sweeping up and trying to get rid of the wings that they shed. The geckos and jen jokes (Small lizards) have been feasting all nght and sooooo that means that you have these little black and white things (turds) all over the porch as well as the big ole brown turds from the gekeo (that I have been trying to catch for the last month ) did I say that "I hate them" well I meant to .
Like I said I am happy about the rain but hate the stuff that it brings with it , and if the folks from up North are not getting their share of the MANG MAO , just give me a shout and I'll sweep them up into a huge plastic bag and you can come and get them .
Ciejay says that after a couple of big rains they will all be gone till next year and the rainy season, I'm really looking foward to that . But all this does make for an exciting life and thats why I'm Retired in Thailand and Loving It. Malcolm

COCONUTS

2010-06-15T23:45:00.000-07:00

Cool and Refreshing ----- just what I needed

My desk

my Desk

www

Today I was sitting at my computer desk and complaining to myself about how hot it was and that I really needed something cold to drink, I had already drank a Coke Zero earilier and at least two tall glasses of Ice water , but nothing seemed to cool me down or quench that taste I had for something good and cold and refreshing at the same time,When all of a sudden Ciejay walked in and handed me a chilled , young coconut that the neighbor had given her and she had opened up the top and stuck in a straw and said " here honey try this I think you will like ", well I was ready for anthing cold and to my surprise , that was some of the best tasting ,cool juice I have ever tasted and when I had finished she gave me a small spoon and said for me to eat the meat inside , I said "get me the hammer to break the shell open first " Ciejay said "no honey , it's really soft and you can just take it out with the spoon . "I can not begin to tell you how surprise I was at not only how soft the meat was , but there are not good english words to describe how yummy and sweet tasting that meat from the YOUNG COCONUT was , you'll have to try it for yourself. I know some folks will have a hard time finding Young Coconut , but I think if you ask the local produce manager at the market where you shop to order some for you they will. Also you can always find them at a Asian or Mexican food store .
Below is some info I gathered from the web about coconuts and the great health value they can provide for lots of ailments we might have , I know that from now on I'll have a few cold ones in the frig. to grab when I need something cold and refreshing to drink ( I'm not going to give up my Coke Zero ) from time to time . Hope you'll give it a try too , let me know what you think .

Coconuts taste GREAT! Besides the incredibly amazing experience one can have when eating coconuts, there are many other reasons to eat this wonderful delicacy! In fact, the young coconut is one of the most important fruits within the tropics because of its potassium and mineral rich water.
Preferably, the water and meat from young coconuts is used as opposed to the meat of older coconuts which tends to be very hard (as well, older coconuts typically have less water...if any.)
Medicinal Value Besides being highly nutritious, young coconuts have also been exceedingly revered as having medicinal qualities for heart, liver and kidney disorders.
Coconut is a tropical fruit that is rich in protein. The meat of the coconut is very good in destroying intestinal parasites, that we get from eating infected food. Coconut water is good for kidney and urinary bladder problems.
Nutritive Values : Per 100 gm.
Vitamin A :
Vitamin B : Thiamine .10 mg.;
Riboflavin :
Niacin :
Vitamin C : 2 mg.
Calcium : 21 mg.
Iron : 2.0 mg.
Phosphorus : 98 mg.
Fat : 34.7 gm.
Carbohydrates : 14 gm.
Protein : 3.4 gm.
Calories : 359
Other Health Benefits of Coconut :
Prevents simple goiter (enlarged non-toxic thyroid) because of its organic iodine content.
Good body builder, so it is a food recommended for building up the body muscles of thin and emaciated individuals.
Constipation and for any build-up of gas in the stomach and intestinal tract.
Coconut milk has been found to help cases of sore throat as well as relieving stomach ulcers.
Coconut oil has been found to heal cuts, scratches, burns and sunburns.
The oil has also been recommended for facial massage and is reported to be good as a wrinkle remover.
Coconut oil is also good for the scalp and hair and makes hair dressing unnecessary.
Intake of at least 2 Tbsp. of Virgin coconut oil per day can lessen your Vitamin E requirement.
Coconut water is good for kidney and urinary bladder problems.as recently been reported to reduce the viral load of HIV. ( info from the www)

Before coming to Thailand , the only thing I knew about coconuts was that my dad us to draw faces on them to make them look like a monkey ,and that shredded coconut was good on a cake and that the milk was kind of sour and the meat was hard and also a lot of work to get it out of the shell . All that has changed and now that I am in the land of fruits and coconuts , I have learned how great coconuts and their milk and juice and coconut oil, are for your health and that the Thai cooks use them in hundreds of their dishes , there are many varities also, and each has it specific use in the Thai kitchens.
You can find lots of recipes on Golf's new blog http://www.awesomethaifood.com/ together her and Steve write the great blog called ThaiMusings, check them out, you'll find not only a lot of good Thai dishes to cook but , you'll enjoy all the other good stuff on the blog. Thanks for the read . Malcolm

BUTTERFLY HAVEN

2010-06-08T06:36:00.000-07:00

HONEY DEW DROP

I love this shot

caught in flight

a favorite shot from my yard

looks just like a butterfly----- from my yard

I loved this one

a little worn , but beautiful

Picture from www

Picture from my porch

my yard

www

I know that almost everywhere has butterflys, but it seems like Whang Pho has more than its share of themm not just a lot of them , BUT a lot of different kind ,. In fact they were talking about building a huge Park with a Big dome and have it as a tourist attraction for our little village , we could certianly fill it up with lots of varieties from my yard .Just today I notice a lot of them while I was taking my afternoon hammock treatment and grabbed the cyber -shot and took a few pictures , even with a lot of them flying around , it's not as easy to take a snap as it looks , Here are a few that I did manage to get in focus, hope you enjoy.

I always love chasing butterflys when I was a little boy and have always loved seeing them in flight and around the flowers in our yard , there are millions of species, and they are in the same family as moths , which makes for even more. Do you have a lot of them around your place ? do you like them and do you do anything to attract them to your yard .

Ciejay and me have planted a year-round flowering tree or plant called a honey dew drop , it has small purple flowers and a orange berry that attracts the birds also , all the flying things love this plant .

The butterflys are not only beautiful and plentful but they are great food for the birds that I try to attract and water and feed in our yard we plant lots of flowers with a two -fold reason beauty and food and as a plus the butterflys pollinate, lots of other plants and are great for pollinating the garden, what with the pesticides and sprays killing a lot of the bees.

Hope you love them as much as I do and plant a flower just for them and they will come back every year to show you how much they appreciate you and do their little acrobat flying for you and show you their wonderful colors . Malcolm

We get to enjoy more of nature since we moved here to the LOS and I suppose that it's just another reason why we're Retired in Thailand and Loving It.