A New Life in Thailand

Life with Jiab

I stayed in Vientiane for 5 weeks waiting for a visa to China. Vientiane is expensive and the cost of living in hotel rooms had virtually depleted my funds. When the visa papers eventually arrived, I was unable to get to China. I asked the employer if they would give me a small advance to enable me to travel there, but they refused. I tried to get a job in Vientiane, but it is very difficult to get work there. Backpackers, just passing through, choose to extend their holiday by working as a teacher.

I was practically destitute! I called my ex, Cat, several times and asked if I could stay with her for a while. She refused, despite my desperate pleas, and threatened to call the police if I turned up. I had to laugh. She possessed the 2 new motorbikes I bought, the fridge, the furniture and everything else. All I had was a suitcase full of old clothes, and she was going to call the cops! She still calls me and seems surprised when I give her the cold shoulder! Funny creatures women!

I searched the ajarn.com website daily for jobs in Thailand, and I was lucky to get a response from a school in Trat, which also offered a free room in a teacher's house. I was desperate, so I accepted the offer of an interview without even knowing where Trat was. I emailed my friend in England and begged him to send me some money. He agreed to lend me 100 pounds (7,000 back then would you believe!) and I collected the money at a Western Union office the next day. I started my journey to Trat the next day. It took 18 hours by bus! The interview went well, but the school principal asked me to accept a ridiculously low salary. I accepted, providing I could stay in the free room immediately. She agreed. I called Jiab, and she travelled there a few days later. We shared the teacher's house with some Filipinos, but they assured me that it was OK to have visitors in the room. We spent a few wonderful days together, and she returned to Lopburi. I was summoned to the principal's office the next day, and she informed me that I was not allowed to have lady visitors in my room, unless we were married! I had lost my job!

I told Jiab and she cried a lot. I found a job as a P.E. (Physical Education) teacher on ajarn.com (the teacher's website). I was 57 and had never taught P.E. before, but I grabbed it as a drowning man grabs at straw. It was in Kamphaeng Phet! I called Jiab and told her that I had a job. “Where?”, she asked. She groaned when I told her. She agreed to meet me in Bangkok and we travelled together to Kamphaeng Phet. It took 13 hours! When we arrived, I asked if the school could lend me some money for the hotel room and expenses and they agreed. I began working the next day, and Jiab returned to Lopburi. She visited me again later, and I asked her to live with me. She was reluctant to give up her job, understandably, but she eventually agreed. We both hate apartments and we were lucky to find a small bungalow surrounded by trees and grass for 2,000 a month.

We loved the rural location, but the downside was that we received many uninvited guests-snakes! When you go to the toilet in rural Thailand, or walk near undergrowth or long grass, you need to be on your guard. If not, you will be bitten on the bum! An English guy called Steve lived nearby with his Thai wife and family and 2 dogs. One of the dogs was a golden retriever called Lucky. We did not have a sofa in our house, so they loaned us one of theirs. They had a restaurant in the town with a view of the river Ping. We had many good times there, because they served English, Italian and Thai food.

We “stole” one of their dogs by feeding him at our house! Lucky was a frequent visitor too and we cared for the dogs when Steve and his family went somewhere. We often went to the Tiger pub to listen to live music, and I hired a motorbike from a co-teacher who is now my best friend, also called Steve. He had a car but hated motorbikes so I rented it for 1,500 a month during our time there. We visited many places nearby such as Mae Sot, Tak and Nakhon Sawan, and enjoyed just riding in the countryside most weekends.

We stayed in Kamphaeng Phet for 10 months, but my contract was not renewed. Frankly, I admit it, I was not a good sports teacher! I searched the internet for another job, but the hiring season had ended, so I was not successful. Schools in Thailand shut down for 2 months during March and April, so it was time to tighten our belts again. We had 40,000 saved by the end of the Kamphaeng Phet job, but I figured it might not be enough. I asked Steve, my motorbike friend, to loan me 20,000 as a further buffer just in case 40,000 was not enough. As it turned out, that 20,000 was the difference between coping and total disaster! By the time I got another job, our funds were very low. I started working in the new school near Khon Kaen 17 June and the first salary was paid 30 June, so I only got 2 weeks money. During the down time, bills have to be paid.

The costs of visas, visa trips, rent, rent deposits, travelling, abortive interview costs and living expenses had taken a considerable toll on my resources. Just moving our stuff from Kamphaeng Phet to Khon Kaen cost us 4,000. So there we were in a new town, without a motorbike, and virtually broke. It is during the bad times that you understand if your lady really loves you or not! Having to budget tightly for a long time is a strain on a relationship! Luckily for me, Jiab is incredibly supportive and inventive during such times, and her gentle, loving attitude is a huge relief for me. She can be blunt too, of course, if I need shaking up.

Thailand is a great place to be if you are on a small budget. The basic necessities are so cheap. Thai food is delicious and costs just 30 for a plate of good nourishing food. Electricity is free because we use less than 300 a month and rent at our current home is 1,400. Water costs 150 each month. There are no unexpected bills like council tax, T.V. licence and the rest. The only fly in the ointment is the dreaded visa runs, of course. No matter how broke you are, you must take care of your visa and passport.

We moved into the lovely house we are currently still living in during our stay of 9 months working in Khon Kaen. The salary there was 35,000 a month, so life was good again. I bought a second-hand 125cc Honda Wave motorbike for 13,000 which is still our faithful friend. We love where we now live. We love our house, our garden and our dog. Our dog is called Lucky. Jiab named him Lucky because we rescued him from imminent death. We normally take another route home, but for some reason, we took an unusual detour. At the side of the road was a sad looking, hairless, ugly thing, but that is not an unusual sight in Thailand, so I drove on. That day, something caused me to take pity on him, and I turned around. “Pick him up, Jiab.” I ordered. I will not tell you what she replied but it was not polite! She was wearing her favourite pink jacket and she refused to pick the scrawny wretch up! Luckily, she took pity on him too, and she held him in her arms during the short journey to our home. He now lives in the garden.

The garden is a great resource. It is teeming with wildlife such as squirrels, birds, butterflies, ants, scorpions, snakes, snails, frogs and centipedes. If the dog starts barking incessantly, we rush into the garden, because it is likely to be a nasty creepy crawly, such as a centipede, scorpion or snake. Jiab kills them instantly, because she is fearful that they will get into the house if allowed to stay in the garden. She is only tiny, but she puts her wellies on, grabs a Thai spade and chops it into 20 pieces. Jiab is a nature lover otherwise and she loves watching the wildlife that surrounds us. “The squirrels have a house together in the coconut trees. I think they are husband and wife because they are always fighting, just like us!” she excitedly informed me the other day. When the grass needs cutting, we invite the buffaloes in.

They soon munch away and eat everything within reach. Just recently a neighbour was sick and the buffalo house was waterlogged, so we cared for her buffaloes until she was well again. Another neighbour is our bottled drinking water supplier, and he picks any mushrooms he sees as a rare breakfast treat. He also takes away the buffalo shit to manure the plants in his garden. The 5 mango trees provide delicious snacks. Mango trees have a good year followed by a poor year, followed by a good year again. This year will be a bumper crop and we are looking forward to it.

Another neighbour, who looks after our dog when we go away for a few days, often walks into the garden with a long pole–she is after the ants' eggs which she cooks and eats–yummy! We have 2 hammocks, side by side, strung between 2 mango trees, where we relax together. There are 5 mango trees close together in one corner of the garden and they provide a haven of shade during the day. I often go there to read the newspaper and drink a beer or two or play checkers to unwind.

Jiab often scolds herself for forgetting to buy something or the other as she is preparing a meal. Moments later she is smiling again because she has found a leaf or plant in the garden, which she happily pops into the pot. There is a huge earthenware container that stores the rainwater which falls from the roof. This is a very useful supply during the summer months. When I lived with my ex in Korat, we even drank it, but Jiab prefers using the water to wash her hair, because she says the water is soft and clean. When it rains, the rainwater is allowed to clean the roof for a while and then it is directed into the container. Apparently the solid impurities fall to the bottom,...