I am further at a loss for the reasoning behind the pictures, it is beyond me.

Curiosity, that's all.

I am a naturally curious person, always have been, I poke things with sticks, I ask questions, If there are gaps in my knowledge I try to fill them. My failing, if it is a failing, is that I expect others to be the same.

Would I be wrong in assuming that there would have been a couple of people reading this thread who at some point thought 'I wonder what she looks like'...... bet there was.

That was the sole reason.

Your post got up my nose for a couple of reasons, if my intent had been to 'plaster her face all over the internet' I can think of far better places to do it than here, can't you. so I would have thought it fairly obvious that that was not my intent and I felt more than a little insulted that you could even think I would do such a thing.

And the

"One further thing I would ask is why would you post her pic, what does it accentuate, accept to massage your own ego, why would you do that to an adolescent?"

I can't believe that you thought that massaging my own ego was your only choice, as that is plainly wrong, and I thought you were smarter than that.

Hi Thaddeus

I hope you are well and alls back to 'normal' (if possible in Isaan ).

This has been an interesting read and thank you for it.

I would just like to add that I have recently come across an expat that married a 16 year old (some 3 or 4 years ago) and although they are still happy couple with a child together, their lifestyle IMHO seemed strange when looked upon from me, an outsider. The guy was clearly a clever articulate chap with a good command of the Khmer language and when we spoke about their meeting, his defense was that she had been married before at 14!! so she was world wise. <deleted>!!

The lady concerned (now approx 19y.o.) acted like a 19 year old(no surprise), she was a spoilt brat who barely looked after the home and more importantly their baby!. Please don't read this like I am some kind of chauvinistic pig, I have helped raise a couple of kids and I am proud of it,too. I just wanted to pass on this 'snap shot' and I clearly accept/understand that that is all it is, ONE example of marriage to a child.

I wish you well in the future and hope to meet up sometime.

Dave

I wish you well in the future and hope to meet up sometime.

Dave

You mean instead of a 2 minute chat with me on the way out of the FC and you on the way in

Thanks for the comments Dave, and I understand what you mean. In the last conversation with Gow, I told her that we could stay friends and she was more than welcome to come and see me here any time she wants, but it will stay just as friends until she is a bit older..... if she can hack that for a couple of years, then there is a chance that it may work out, but I doubt she will be able to, two years at my age goes like a flash, for a teenager it's an eternity. (I can still remember being one )

Life here is returning to normal. The hole in my wrist has heeled over nicely, the new meds I have been subscribed have got my blood pressure down to an acceptable level (140 over 90 ten minutes ago, you wouldn't believe what it is without them)

I have a couple of relaxing beers at night if I want, and I haven't had a shave for three days because I couldn't be bothered. Plus I'm still the major gossip topic at the local market.

I'm off to Patts for a couple of days next week, I may get lucky and manage to relieve the last remaining bit of tension I have but the main reason I am going is to see a dear old friend of mine for the last time (Steve aka Rolyshark, Boo knows him) if anyone reading this thinks they have had some bad news recently, it's probably nothing compared to this chap.

Take it easy Thad (if possible)

Remember being less than 50........you are are still a young farang in Thailand.

All the best & hope to meet again in a not so distant future!

All the best & hope to meet again in a not so distant future!

Ok .... but only if you promise not to sing

Well, oh, well oh well...

16 eh? Thank god her good mother told you...

Gonna throw all my kitty knicks out now - I am over the age of 16.

Have a good weekend, Thad and there are lots and lots of fish out there.

Take care and be careful. Don't let your charm get in the way of your good intentions.

I have just found rolys post at thai-uk, I don't post so much there & never visit the off topic lounge so missed his news but stunned doesn't even cut it. Please send him my regards, sorry sound just so bloody pointless. But I am. Such a generous man with his expertise & advice not only to me & Ponk but to all the other posters there too. shit.

Please send him my regards,

Rest assured I will hon.

I'm looking forward to seeing him next week, one of the kindest, gentlest men I have ever met (and so much of him too) saying goodbye will probably be one of the toughest things I have experienced, it's bad enough parting company with a friend not knowing when you will see them next, knowing that you will never see them again is something else entirely.

Gonna throw all my kitty knicks out now - I am over the age of 16.

Don't do that Pats... send them to me, I'll put them on eBay (we can pretend that you are only just over 16 )

This should give you a wee smile..

I can see that Boo is viewing Bedlam, so just a quick message from Steve to say thanks.

He is putting a brave face on it, and he actually looks fine, you can tell from the twinges of pain that he get's every few minutes, that he isn't. He's a very brave man, and a real friend over the years and I'm really going to miss him.

I'm going to get drunk now.

Enjoy yourself mate!

I'm going to get drunk now.

Mind how you go and stay safe

Moss

I think age difference is more of a western concern. I can't think I have ever seen a bad look from a Thai woman when seeing an old man with a younger girl, yet it seems to bring a negative reaction when western women encounter it (and not just in Thailand).

totster

I love it when my wife and I walk through shopping malls and other public venues in the US. The looks we receive from older women are just amazing. My wife has a habit of having at least one arm locked through mine and sometimes uses both to hug my arm.

We've been together for 11 marvelous years. She now has reached the ripe old age of 36 still 25 years younger than I, and she looks 25 not 36.

There's an age difference, but we're content, with each other. She works awfully hard and doesn't waste much on incidentals. Its all about saving for the future, or making money in the present. Last night she ok'd a sale of three rai of rice paddies she purchased three years ago( for 210,000 baht) sold at 350,000 for a profit 140,000. The three rai were an odd lot and not attached to other rais she/we own. She then purchased a 3 rai plot outside of Chiang Mai in the mountains that we fell in love with for half the price quoted to us last March.

We'll have her uncle the contractor build us our home next year when I retire and we get to Thailand for good. He does good work and is used to building for falangs. He knows how to build proper closets and bathrooms and kitchens. Or at least what I consider civilized. Wardrobes to me are just needless pieces of furniture.

My wife will pay half of the costs.

Anyway the point is, young and old can coexist very happily with each other. Our commitment, our love to each other has only grown stronger with each passing day.

I love it when my wife and I walk through shopping malls and other public venues in the US. The looks we receive from older women are just amazing. My wife has a habit of having at least one arm locked through mine and sometimes uses both to hug my arm.

We've been together for 11 marvelous years. She now has reached the ripe old age of 36 still 25 years younger than I, and she looks 25 not 36.

There's an age difference, but we're content, with each other. She works awfully hard and doesn't waste much on incidentals. Its all about saving for the future, or making money in the present. Last night she ok'd a sale of three rai of rice paddies she purchased three years ago( for 210,000 baht) sold at 350,000 for a profit 140,000. The three rai were an odd lot and not attached to other rais she/we own. She then purchased a 3 rai plot outside of Chiang Mai in the mountains that we fell in love with for half the price quoted to us last March.

We'll have her uncle the contractor build us our home next year when I retire and we get to Thailand for good. He does good work and is used to building for falangs. He knows how to build proper closets and bathrooms and kitchens. Or at least what I consider civilized. Wardrobes to me are just needless pieces of furniture.

My wife will pay half of the costs.

Anyway the point is, young and old can coexist very happily with each other. Our commitment, our love to each other has only grown stronger with each passing day.

Good luck to you. Mr Mogoso

Thad, thanks for passing on my regards. I can imagine he's in a lot of pain, my dads was constant & he told me that unless you want to be doped up to the eyeballs all day rendering you useless, then learning to cope with it is the only option I just hope he is having as much fun as he can handle while he can.

Oki doki.

About four weeks ago I was at Steve's house for our weekly pool night and it had got to the point in the evening when we play 'killer'

It was my shot, but there was a mountain of a bloke in my way with his back to me, I said 'excuse me' and put put my hands on his hips just to give him a little nudge. He reached around behind his back, grabbed my arms and bent over effectively lifting me off the ground, I felt my sternum pop, so did he he said later, it was extremely painful and I shouted out, he panicked and instead of just standing up, he let go of my right arm, which meant that all the pressure went on to the left side of my chest and cracked some ribs there as well.

It was agony for days, breathing was painful (and I only got the ability to do that comfortably a few days ago) coughing and sneezing, don't even go there.

I still have to sleep on my right side, which isn't natural for me, so I am on the sofa at night so that I can't roll over..... it's nowhere near as bad as it was, but I'm not in a fit state for handing out big hugs at the moment (made my trip to Pattaya last week not as enjoyable as it could have been)

Martin was very apologetic at the time and still is now, it was an accident, a stupid one granted, but he just doesn't know his own strength.

I'll be alright in a couple more weeks.

And I'll get round to the 'tales of the ear' a bit later.

Well..all the best for your recovery.

He's such a fragile soul.

take care in recovery mate. Sounds like a "cracking" night, though, eh?

Time for an update I think but typed very slowly

If you have read this thread from the start, you may remember me mentioning on the first few posts that the lady who runs the ex-pat bar (Yoon) had the hots for me, well, she still has. But I have told her in no uncertain terms that nothing is going to be happening while her alcoholic husband (Wolfgang) is still around. The only reason they are still together is because she is terrified of what he may do to her or her family if she even mentions the word divorce.

The only reason that most of the ex-pats still go there (as quite a few now don't) after Yoon and Wolfgang took over last November is that we all like Yoon, she's a really sweet little lady, always smiling and joking, the only time she doesn't smile is when Wolfgang is verbally abusing her in front of everybody. He has been told, by several people not just me, to give it a rest as if Yoon isn't there, there isn't a bar..... which we proved a couple of months back by all walking out when he told us that he didn't want Yoon there as he could manage by himself and he had told her to stay home..... he managed alright, dead easy when you have no customers.... the next day, she was back.

About a month ago he got so drunk that he appeared incapable of driving them home and Yoon, who was very tired, asked me if I wouldn't mind giving her a lift. This I did and that was all I did, just dropped her off and went home myself. I didn't know it at the time, but he had followed me to their house in his truck with the lights turned off so I couldn't see him. He then spent all night getting even more drunk, ranting and raving.

At 6:30 the next morning, Yoon calls me to say that Wolfgang is on his way to my place 'to hurt my car' .... I set my mobile to video record and start to put on my shoes, before I have even got the first lace down up, he turns up on his motorcy, places a length of wood on top of my car and rides off again very unsteadily. I finish doing up my shoes and go outside to get it, it's a piece of 2 by 4 with the words "never come back" written on it in felt tip..... I took it to the bar that night to give it back to him, but he didn't show up.

A few days after that Yoon called me to tell me not to go to the bar for lunch as he was outside it in his truck, window down, drunk as a skunk and telling anyone that would listen that he had a gun and he was going to kill me...... I wasn't too keen on that happening, so I did the sensible thing and called my friend the ex-police chief, he went and had words, basically told him to cool it and if anything were to happen to me, my property or Yoon then the current police chief would know where to come looking.

Since then Yoon has taken to sleeping in the bar overnight and when he does turn up, which isn't as often, he just sits behind the bar scowling at everyone for an hour or so before stomping off, only to return in the small hours pounding on the door to be let in, raids the fridge and disappears in the morning to sleep it off before anyone else shows up.

That was until last Wednesday.

I was last in the bar and I gave Yoon a hand moving the tables and locking up. While I am walking away down the road to go home, he drives up in his truck and starts pounding on the shutters, I start to walk back and ask him to give his wife a little peace. Then he goes into his "I kill you, I kill you" routine, to which I replied "Really, you've been saying this for weeks, and all I'm hearing is yak yak and not seeing any action, so come on big man, go for it, if you think you can" .... he mutters something in German and stomps off to his truck, gets in and locks the doors, so I'm banging on the window shouting "C'mon c'mon let's do it, what's wrong with you...... I'll tell you whats wrong with you, you're just like every other bully I have ever met, nothing but a <deleted> coward" ........ he then lost 2,000 km of rubber from his tyres screeching away.

Thursday was quiet.

He turns up late Friday night and there was only myself, Dave and Chris left and starts his verbal abuse against his wife who disappears into the kitchen, he then starts shouting at us about him not wanting the English in his bar, Chris reminds him that if there are no English in the bar, then there is no bar, he says he doesn't care because he is going to get rid of the English and take care of all the Scandinavians instead, Dave reminds him that no Scandinavians drink there because they like him less than we do...... he stomps off to the kitchen, we hear raised voices and after a few seconds we then hear Yoon shouting "help me, help me".... we rush in there and find him towering over Yoon with his fists raised, Dave suggests quite loudly that he should stop, Chris turns to me and says "leave this to us Col" ..... I leave the kitchen with Yoon in tow..... they told me the next day that they didn't touch him, but they did have him on his knees praying for his life.... at the time they just reappeared and suggested we drink up and pay our bins, which we did, guess what? I was last to pay and while I was waiting for Yoon to get my change Wolfgang makes his way out of the kitchen and starts all over again on Yoon, I'm on my own, Dave and Chris had literally only been gone a minute. He had his back to me, so I tapped him on the shoulder, he turns round and starts with the "I kill you, I kill you" again, I suggested to him that he should grow up and then did something completely out of character and something that I haven't done for over 30 years, I punched his lights out, repeatedly, and with feeling.

That's how I hurt my hand.

Good lord Thad, hope the hand is ok but I think you did the right thing, he sounds like a totally bully & all bullies are cowards. If he was gonna kill you he would just do instead of threatening it to anyone who will listen. The poor women sounds like she has s right nightmare on her hands.

Take care of yourself though.

Hi Thad and to thunk, I thought that seemed a nice little bar with a sort of Basil&Sybill ownership arrangement.

I hope you stay safe matey cos its hard when one gets between a man(if thats what he is?) and his wife.

You may find yourself blamed for the worlds woe's (in his eyes) even when its nothing to do with you (A cowards easy option).

I am sorry to say I found myself in that situation recently with a bar owner and being a non violent type like you, I will NEVER return to that place.

If it was me, Id give that bar a wide berth and drink elsewhere.

Just be careful Taddy, things like this can get out of hand...

Boo.....

Hand is getting better now, I managed to brush my teeth properly yesterday, doing that with the wrong hand is awkward to say the least. One of the ex-pats here knew them from the twelve years they spent in Germany he allegedly used to keep her like a slave there and did the same thing when they moved back here seven years ago. I've know him for all those seven years, but I only really met her for the first time last year.

His biggest mistake was buying the bar, firstly, as he got completely stiffed and only found out when he discovered that the building was rented and not owned by the seller, he basically bought the tables, chairs, fridges and the goodwill (the goodwill is rapidly running out) Secondly it has given his wife her own independence, she doesn't need him any more and he knows it.

In all the time I have known him he has always bragged about 'his darlings' that he has all over Thailand (obviously these darlings get paid by the hour) and I think it really sticks in his throat that Yoon is more popular than he is, we all love her to bits and she hasn't needed to buy that loyalty.

The man is in a downward tail-spin and I think that it is only a matter of time before one of three things happen. He will either have a very bad drunken accident on his motorcy, or Yoon will dob him in to immigration, or she will take up the offer that one of my younger Thai mates made to 'make him disappear'

Non of us could give a shit as to which one.

Dave.........

You have only really met the guy twice I think and then only briefly, next time you come down, stick around a little longer and you will more than likely witness his darker side. And he isn't just blaming me for his problems, he is blaming everyone, there is a good chance he will get launched again by someone else, not necessarily an ex-pat.

I will not be staying away from the bar, in fact I've been there twice a day every day since the incident, he doesn't intimidate me any longer, in fact it's probably the other way around as if he sees my car outside he drives straight past to go and drink somewhere else or if he is there when I front up, he leaves, but I have turned into a chap who is not the first to turn up or the last to leave anymore. Apart from bullies being total cowards, they hate being outnumbered

Tigs.......

It will not get more out of hand by my doing, unfortunately I think it will do by his, and I will be taking the furthest seat at the back to watch when that happens.

Thad

I am not entirely sure that is what Tigs meant, I read it as perhaps the German will take up the offer of a young Thai, ( not your friends obviously ) to do unto you, as has been offered to Yoon to do to him.

He is a coward, he has lost considerable face, this face is being squashed every time he sees you and probably an awful lot when he doesn't, angst and continued build up of ire will drive him into possibly making a young Thai an offer they can't refuse.

That is how I am reading the situation.

Moss

Sounds like an abusive, cowardly nutter- and since the woman stays with him, there's a bit of a low-self-esteem problem there, too, which would probably make relationships challenging even if she were available (and she would probably look for another abuser). I would think you'd be better off without all of them, Thad- just my opinion.

I think you may be right Steven.

I have a confession to make ........ I'll probably have to make another one in the morning.

It's now morning....but did the cock crow ?