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Sawadee Ka!
That's Thai for hello, spoken by a female; men say 'khrub' at the end of phrases in stead of 'ka'. But in some phrase books it's 'khrap'! And I've heard some blokes say 'kup'. It's a bit confusing but we're trying...
We also know the Thai for thank you - khorb koon ka/khrab (or khrap, depending on which book), and custard apple - noi naa, which has proved very useful during the Lich's quest to feed his custard apple habit; he keeps going up to staff in supermarkets and street markets asking, 'Noi naa??!' in desperation.
But typically we're here in Thailand during the off-season for custard apples, and even the Tesco Lotus has stopped importing them from Oz or wherever. So the Lich has resorted to sampling lots of other strange looking asian fruits, many looking like spiky gonads, in a desperate attempt to find a suitable noi naa substitute...
And as our western palates are getting more used to spicy foods, we gladly took up Em's offer to go with her and Bird for lunch up the road, to sample some different Thai dishes - the papaya salad is particularly nice, and iced
Thai tea. It was definitely a case of spot the westerners who can't sit cross-legged for long on the bench!
Now we're a bit more acclimatized to the heat, we're getting out a bit more on the bike. We've been to Wat Khunaram where the body of Samui's famous mummified monk, Loung Pordaeng, is on display, in the same meditation position he died in over 20 years ago. It didn't feel right to photograph him, although it seems to be allowed; he looks pretty good, considering. And we got a blessing from one of the Buddhist monks there, with holy water and entwined knotted bracelets; strangely, the Lich didn't smoulder and spit when the holy water hit him...
We also went to watch the Muay Thai Boxing at Chaweng Stadium the other night. We watched all 7 fights, 3 of which had a westerner fighting a Thai. The last fight was the Lady Muay Boxing, between a young, pretty, model-like English girl and a fearsome looking Thai woman. The English girl did a lengthy and clearly well practiced Ram Muay pre-fight dance, showing off her poise and control. But after a few bashes around the head and a
consequent bloody nose, the English Rose looked more like a dog daisy after a heavy downpour.
It looked like her first real fight as she seemed to reel with shock after each wallop, as if she's never been hit before; you could almost see the cartoon stars above her head. But she seemed to gather some resolve towards the end as if she'd resigned herself to having a smashed up face, and it appears that all the kicking and kneeing she did in retaliation won her enough points to win.
And we've discovered the virtues of simple design in the form of Thai fisherman's trousers, a one-size-fits-all wrap-around unisex trouser that's so comfortable to wear. We love them so much, we're getting a couple of hundred pairs from the wholesalers in Bangkok, all enquiries welcome!
As our 30 day Thailand visa runs out pretty soon, we're going to have to shift our backsides and cross the border, and then re-enter Thailand for another arduous few weeks on the beach here on Samui and over on Koh Phangan....
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Thai Fisherman's Trousers
Julie Gape
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Trs demo
Great Trs demo Jools! they look very comfy. Shame you have to leave your lovely bugalow with that great view. Enjoy the rest of your travels. Julie G