Coming Long Time To Sa Kaeo

[CLEVERTREVOR]

Hello ! I'm new to this forum - Bit of history first !!!

Yes, I have a thai wife - I live part time in a village - Klong nang am - app. 30kms from Sa Kaeo...

I have been a regular in Sa Kaeo for about 22yrs or so - when I first went to Klong nang am all those years ago, there was no electricity , no bathrooms , no toilet , no TV , no fridge - just a bunch of beautiful people ( my future wifes relatives ) - at the time there was little communication , as even my wife spoke very little english...

I spend most my time in Australia - my wife lived in Australia for 17yrs - had a dream to be a farmer - she has been farming in + around Klong nang am for about 2yrs now...

I live in Brisbane 3 months , then 3-4 weeks in Thailand - then the cycle repeats - 3 months in Aus. , then 3-4 weeks in Thailand...

I feel I live in 2 countrys , have 2 familys , live 2 cultures - my life is just flat out !!!

If you see or have seen an Australian with twin boys at Sa Kaeo markets , or BIG C or shopping at Makro , its probably me !

Like to hear from anybody living in the area ?

I live a open life , will discuss just about anything !!!

There's a 1000 stories just in my little village alone !

As I say , I'm new to this forum or any forum. So don't hold your breath waiting for an answer ! I'll try to catch up every week...

bye for now, Trevor ...

[Atmos]

Hi Trevor

We're Phuket-based but spend a week or so in Nong Wa area with Nok's family (about 20min from Kaew Chakan) every six weeks or so. Next trip planned for mid-April, actually just got back home on Wednesday. They farm sugar, rice, cassava and have quite a few rai in 4 yr old eucalyptus.

22 years - you'd be an old local then? I made my first visit in December so am totally new.

Did a Big C visit on that Dec trip but the one just gone we stayed on the farm apart from a day trip to Aranyaprathet; I was kept busy as had offered to re-stain the main house so sweated out my 'holiday' up a ladder and came home to relax.

Unsure on exact travel dates, but will definitley be there April 17

cheers.

[CLEVERTREVOR]

Gidday Genghis61,

Had a look at your gallery , motorbikes + surf. I like the mention of teaching Thai kids to swim , at least that's the impression I got ... One of my young thai nephews drowned recently in a dam. Only 9yrs old . I worry about my 5yr old twin boys who can't swim yet , can't seem to get my wife to get them taught to swim.

I intend to be in Sa Kaeo at the end of March + most of April.. I don't spend all my time in Sakaeo , I also do business in Bangkok.I catch the bus back and forth every few days..Have a look at the me page , the posts + gallery reveal more.

If you decide to move to Sakaeo and set up farm , I am keenly interested in what you might want to farm.. I dont want to put you off the idea , but nearly all of my wifes projects have only broken even or lost money.. Still we are trying new things all the time.. As you might imagine she has backup with an income from Australia...

Like to hear more about what you'r doing - Trevor PS. - fell free to ask questions , I'm pretty open....

[CLEVERTREVOR]

Hello again Genghis61,

First I have to apologise - not reading your post correctly , what a billy bunt am I .After a long slog all day , I get a bit weary and this is when I do my forum thing. After reading your post afresh this morning , I realise that you are only visiting Nok's family each time you come to Sakaeo... After seeing your photos , I think about a seachange myself...

After this mess up I think I owe you and anybody else reading this a story from Sa Kaeo.

The tale of two cars I drive a 1992 model Thai-Rung (in good condition) and my wife has a 2001 Isuzu Space-Cab Pickup. My wife is a hard working farmer with may different plots of land all over the place. First i'll tell you how she comes by many plots of land. She lends money (mostly to relatives) and in exchange for interest, she uses so many rai of their land until they pay the loan back. With the Thai slowness of paying back loans, it seems we have use of many blocks of land permenantly. At the end of each day working on one of the farms, my wife supplies Thai whiskey to the workers.

About 9 months ago, my wife finished work, had the few olbigatory whiskeys, and then went to visit a girlfriend nearby. I know this girlfriend and family are a mob of big drinkers, because i've been there many times. On the way back from the girlfriend's house, my wife failed to negotiate an off camber downhill corner. She collected a 6x6" reinforced concrete post, then a few saplings, then side swipped an immovable tree and was left hanging over an embankment.

Just so happens, I rang her from Brisbane while she was sitting in the wreck waiting for a large tractor she had arranged to take the pick-up back to our house. Funny, there was no mention of the little accident. I rang her again a few days later and found out all about it. I was arriving in Thailand in two weeks time and I said "We'll have a look at it then."

Not knowing what to expect, I arrived and saw the Pickup. The radiator was sitting on top of the motor, the left-hand door and space cab were pulverised, and the style side panel had been ripped off. Next, I looked underneath to find the steering box had been ripped out and all sorts of suspension damage.

I said "Darling, this is a complete write-off, you'll never fix this in a million years." She said "Ohh, oh... Then, we can go and buy a new D-Max."

Some quick thinking was required at this point, so I said "No no, I meant you couldn't fix this in Australia. But luckily in Thailand, anything can be fixed." I had the Pickup dragged under a half finished shed and spent 3 days dismantling it in 40 degree heat with very primative tools. Most in use was crowbar and lump-hammer. Luckily on the 3rd day, some relatives leant me a socket set so I could take out the steering and suspension. I know a little bit about repairing cars as I had a Ford Wrecking yard in Australia.

Next, I drove to Bangkok in my Thai Rung to an Isuzu parts dealer at Vorajak. I loaded up the Thai Rung with bonnet, headlights, grill, bumper bar, guards, radiator support panel, inner guard panels, left-hand door, space cab panel, style side left-hand panel, glass, air-con condenser + lines, power steering lines, suspension and steering parts, water pump, radiator and hoses, and on and on...

Got back to Sa Kaeo it was now 40+ degrees, had to work with two fans going full blast. I decided to just make the Pickup usable and have it properly repaired later. I lump-hammered the radiator support panel and inner guards roughly back to shape, then fitted all front panels and left-hand door. I then did all the mechanical work, fitted new wheels and tyres, and limped the car 30km to Sa Kaeo township. There I had more suspension parts replaced and wheel alignment. The Pickup was now drivable, and I was a 100K out of pocket. I'd finished the Pickup on Saturday night and had to fly to Australia the next morning. No holiday that time... Just a lot of sweat and ball busting.

3 months later I came back to Thailand. The Pickup was looking sad. This time I only fixed the power windows because the air-con wasn't working. Arranged for my wife to take it to the panel shop. Another 3 months later i'm coming back to Thailand again. I telephoned my wife to pick me up at the airport. I asked her "How's the Pickup?" She said "It's beautiful now, and i've changed the colour from black to gold."

I telephoned my wife again a week before arriving in Thailand and she informed me that my Thai Rung had a 'little' accident. I said "What happened?" She said "Oh, it's only a little accident! Not a big one like I had. Your car should be ready for me to pick you up at the airport in it." I said, "What happened?" She said, "Jed (our chief farmhand) was driving to Kaew Chakan to pick up 6 pigs, he decided to visit his sister who lives nearby and he got drunk. He got so drunk, he forgot about the pigs and on the way home, a big storm happened. He couldn't see very well and ran off the road and hit a tree." She also said, "He came home and cried a lot and was very worried about what you are going to say when you get here." I arrived at the airport, my wife picked me up in her nearly finished Pickup. The good news is, the Pickup looked okay with its new colour and all. The next day, I went to visit the panel shop to look at my car. YUCK! It was painted in a metallic yellow-ish green. I said "Paint it again." This time we agreed on a lemon-yellow (for safety reasons).

Went back a week later to inspect my car, sure it was yellow, but not the lemon-yellow i'd agreed on! My wife hated it.

Another week went by, "Where's my car?" Small problem, we can't find a dog box glass and the only one available is 200km away at a cost of 5400 Baht. Gave them the Baht, they drove my car 200km only to find it was the wrong glass. In the meantime, some Buddah's came into the panel shop, saw my car, and said "You can't paint the car that colour. It's bad luck." (I'm suspicious as my wife hated the colour also) I said, "I give up! You paint the bloody car any colour you want to." I've just spent over 3 weeks in Thailand and never drove my car once and was out of pocket 'another' 100K on cars alone!

I've rung my wife up since and asked "What colour was the car?" She said, "It's kind of green-ish." I'll have to wait for my next trip to see what this means.

This is only one of the little adventures I have in day-to-day life in Thailand.

All the best, Trevor