The Day My Computer Died

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Geo: 13.8456, 100.524

Traveling alone has its challenges, but the hardest is feeling isolated. Staying connected by emails, Skype, and phone calls makes this less of a problem, but two of those three require an internet connection, in my experience so far not ever a given here in Thailand. For my first two weeks here I did not have an internet connection where I was staying, so that made life much more difficult. When I moved here internet was promised; it was part of why the rent was higher than other places. However, at best it is not reliable. You have to keep trying, and hope there will be a connection, and hope that it continues, or hope that it comes back; certainly do not try to connect when it is dark outside because of the higher possibility of power surges cooking your power supply. That is what happened to my little notebook.

One day I was using the computer, and I noticed that even though it was plugged in, it was running on battery power. Uh-oh. Not good. So I unplugged and tried another plug. Same thing. Oh, this was a bad situation, as I am technologically challenged at best. (No joke. Ask my kids.) I took my computer to one of the other teachers living here, and she tried her plug; no connection there either. Somehow, checking this and that, she figured out my power supply was dead, so it would have to be replaced. We searched on the internet for the closest computer store that sold HP computers. (Our little traveling notebook is an HP; at home I have my beloved MacBook.) I did not want to travel all the way into Bangkok because this is never a pleasant trip. And, unless you take buses, it is expensive in a taxi. But it looked like I'd have to take my poor computer to Bangkok, unless there was an HP store, or a BestBuy (where we had bought this computer in the states), closer. We searched some more, and there it was: a BestBuy in Nonthaburi, almost the next city over! Certainly Nonthaburi was closer than Bangkok! I felt so happy, and relieved. This could be done.

So I had to figure out how to get to Nonthaburi by buses. This did not worry me, as I thought these connections can be made; if other people can do it, then so can I. (I am generally a very optimistic person.) So I set out with my computer to get on the first bus, #33 (saam saam) to Pakkret, truly one of the cities next to Pathum Thani. This sounds much easier than it was, plus it was very hot out. I was not sure where to get on bus #33, but I had seen many of them going by on the main road. I stood on the wrong side of the street, as it turned out, waiting as bus after bus went by and did not stop, until a friendly young Thai man asked me where I was going. I told him: Pakkret. He said I had to wait on the other side of the street, and he went across with me, and stayed until the #33 bus appeared, and flagged it down himself! (Many Thais are very helpful like this. It always surprises and pleases me.) I thanked him and rode to Pakkret (8 Baht, about 24 cents).

Once I was in Pakkret, I started asking people if they knew where BestBuy was. They had never heard of BestBuy. No one had ever heard of BestBuy. I showed them the address, and one person smiled and pointed down, and said, "Pakkret!" Yes, I knew I was in Pakkret, but did he know where BestBuy was? No. Now what was I going to do? I had thought that maybe once I was in Pakkret I would either see BestBuy, or someone would point in the direction I had to go to get there. No such luck. One store I went into took me over to the scooters; the driver was ready to go and handed me a helmet. I asked him if he knew where BestBuy was, if he knew where we would go, and he shook his head no. I wonder where we would have gone?

I knew I could always get a minivan into Bangkok leaving from Pakkret if I couldn't locate BestBuy, but I really did not want to do that. But I needed my computer. So. As I stood there looking lost, I guess, a lovely young mother with her little daughter came up and asked me where I wanted to go. I told her, but she didn't know BestBuy either. But she said, would I like to come with her into the little mall over there; they have a computer store? Yes! I followed her, but the computer section was too small to carry a power supply for an HP Mini. (That would have been too easy.) But the saleswoman said, why didn't I go to Pontip Plaza? They have an enormous section for computers and computer supplies. I had heard of Pontip Plaza; my fellow teachers told me it was in Bangkok, and, indeed, this was one of the places I had thought I'd end up going if I couldn't find BestBuy. No, no, she said. Pontip Plaza was in Nonthaburi! Just a mini-van or one bus away. I began to wonder if maybe BestBuy could be in Pontip Plaza. But this was where I'd go.

She directed me over to the vans going that way, and I got in, paying 10 Baht (around 30 cents) to go to Pontip Plaza One. These malls are huge, and there are several of them, but the computers were in Pontip Plaza One. When I got out of the van I just followed another woman into the enormous store. I had expected a directory, but there wasn't any. Now what? How would I see if there was a BestBuy here? For the first time I thought maybe this wasn't going to work. How was I going to ask someone for what I needed? "Computer" wasn't even in my little English/Thai dictionary that I carried everywhere. My heart sank. I had made it this far; I didn't want to give up now. And then, I saw it: a large poster of HP computers hanging right there on the wall! I got the attention of a salesclerk, and pointed to the poster. Where? I said in Thai. He told me on the fifth floor. So I started up the escalators; by the fourth floor I saw a lot of computers, so I got off. And yes, there were even HP computers, right there on one of the counters. I asked another salesclerk where computer supplies were, but she did not speak any English. So I continued to ask other people, until finally I found someone who spoke English. He understood what I wanted, and told me a copy of the power supply would cost 500 Baht (~$15), or a true one would cost 800 Baht (~$24). As we stood talking, he then told me a copy would cost me 800 Baht, and a true one 1500 Baht. I reminded him he just told me 500 and 800, but he just waved his hand and indicated those were approximate prices. Of course, as a non-Thai, I never know what the real price of anything would be, as nothing is marked; I just know if a Thai had bought this s/he would have gotten a much better deal. This is life as a foreigner. Next we went in search of still another person to take me down to the 2nd floor where they could diagnose the problem. It was definitely the power supply, so I bought a new one, for 1200 Baht, around $36, still cheaper than in the states. Success!

Now I just had to get back to Pathum Thani. Going back I took the crowded #104 bus to Pakkret. It was much later in the day (my wandering around takes time), so I had to stand, and, as usual, I asked the fare collector to let me know when we got to the stop I needed. She was very irritable, crabby even, and kept pushing me first here, and then there. Finally I said to her "Pushy!" and an older Thai woman in front of us laughed. That released any tension, and the rest of the ride was fine. Once we got to Pakkret (which I recognized right away), I went to hail the #33 bus. This is also more difficult than it sounds, as many bus stops are not marked. I guessed where it might stop, and held out my hand when I saw it coming around the corner, hoping it would stop for me. It did. That ride took almost an hour, but it was very pleasant: the air was blowing as the windows were all open, sometimes even the side door, my computer was fixed, I had succeeded in my quest, plus I was sitting down. We finally got to the market, and I disembarked. Tired, happy, I was still in time to plug my computer in to recharge, and go back to the market to buy dinner. I celebrated the trip's success (and my enormous relief at having my computer working well again) by also buying boiled peanuts (really very tasty) and mango sticky rice, a treat. I just hoped I didn't have to go back to Pontip Plaza anytime again soon.

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