An Invitation For Thaivisa Geezers

[Andrew Hicks]

My new book's called MY THAI GIRL AND I. It's about me and my Thai girl... all five years of it including Isaan, buffaloes and all the punishments a sexagenarian has to endure for falling amorous of someone half his age but twice as clever.

And there's going to be a launch party and YOU are invited to it. In fact I'm desperate that you come lest there's nobody there at all. The glitterati were to have flown in from New York and London but I'm afraid I think only Angelina Jolie's going to make it. There seems to be some sort of hassle at the airport.

I'll be coming from Isaan so I hope the buses are running.

Anyway (roll of drums and thump of trumpets) the details are as follows... See you there!

Andrew Hicks

PS To appease the mods I have removed all useful websites from the following info but in the old tradition of burning books and suppressing literature they no doubt will delete this and ban me forever on a whim if they so wish. I am not discouraged... I have not lost face as the prime minister said when heckled in Chiang Mai. It's my party and I can cry if I want to.

Book Launch

“MY THAI GIRL AND I”

by

Andrew Hicks

“How I found a new life in Thailand.”

Venue: The FCCT (Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand)

No cover charge.

Thursday, December 4th at 8.00 pm

Thailand offers an enticing haven for European men wanting to retire to a warm and welcoming climate and huge numbers seem to be flocking this way. The food is good, the cost of living reasonable and the ladies really know how to smile. Some of these men succeed in finding happiness but it isn’t always an easy path.

In “MY THAI GIRL AND I”, author Andrew Hicks describes some of the pitfalls of living with a rice farming family in Isaan. Ants eggs for breakfast and toads in the toilet are the least of his troubles and with his energetic young wife, Cat, life is a roller coaster as they deal with the stresses of marriage and the cultural gulf that separates them.

After life as a lawyer and university professor in London, Hong Kong and Singapore, Andrew finds a small village in Surin takes some getting used to. He soon discovers that he’s not only married his wife but her family too and that their collective way of life is in stark contrast to the individuality of the West.

He describes the problems of building a home, of running a thirty year old jeep and most difficult of all, his isolation from his own world; from international news, family, food, language and culture. How can two people of such differing age and experience possibly make a life together?

The story also provides a vehicle for the reader’s observations on the decline of agriculture and the crisis in rural society, on how Buddhism coexists with a belief in the spirits, on alcoholism, accidents, motorcycle maintenance and many things Thai.

“His observations are on sociology text level,” said Bernard Trink reviewing the book in The Bangkok Post, which may or may not be a good recommendation.

Join us at the FCCT and judge for yourself as Andrew presents and reads short extracts from “MY THAI GIRL AND I”.

He will also mention his other new book, Hicks and Goo, CASES AND MATERIALS ON COMPANY LAW which was published this year by Oxford University Press, a tombstone of a book that’s in no need of launching.

Free entry for members and non-members. A bar and full menu are available.

Venue: The FCCT is on the Penthouse floor, MANEEYA CENTRE which is accessible from BTS Skytrain, Chidlom. Follow the FCCT signs down to the lifts at the back of the Maneeya buildings.

Enquiries to FCCT on 02-652-0508

“MY THAI GIRL AND I” is available at Asia Books and Bookazine and all bookshops throughout Thailand. An Asia Books stand will be at the book launch.