Road Trip - Part 1 - Noi's House

Noi’s House

By 5:30 am on the first day, the Beast was packed with my measly items and a ton of gifts for the two families I would be visiting. I inched the Beast down Soi Yensabai and carefully shifted through the gears. I had not driven a manual transmission in years and then, it was a left hand drive with the shifter on my right side so this was quite a new experience. Surprisingly it took about 4 cycles for me to feel completely comfortable and the Beast was tamed…sort of.

Three and a half hours later I turned off Highway 2 at Korat and headed northwest on Highway 205 toward Non Thai and a big welcome at Noi’s home.

The 2 year old house was planned by Noi and built for the family from money received from the sale of farmland after the sudden death of his father. He now admits his ego made it too big for the family and he is now contemplating using a dividing wall to make a duplex and renting out the 2nd unit.

There are always friends and family coming and going. Noi’s mother anchors the house in a quietly determined way despite her health problems associated with diabetes. There is a lot of laughter in the conversations and I was made to feel welcome by all. Noi was always close by to act as interpreter when ever my Thai or their English failed us.

Since his father died a couple of years ago, Noi has assumed the head of house role and he obviously takes pride as such. I met Noi as a street boy in Pattaya some 19 years ago and we have met on and off since then. Four years ago he was determined to leave the street behind and carve a future for himself. This decision was prompted by his advancing age (33) and the fact that he fathered a child. He came to me for advice and after discussing several options, he decided that living as a family and raising his son and another of her’s from a previous relationship would be the best path. It has been a struggle but he is stilled determined and I was pleased to witness some very happy times on this visit.

Gun and mama always seemed to be able to produce small snacks when needed and the beer and whiskey flowed in a responsible way that I never noticed anyone drunk.

I had a large bedroom to myself with a mattress on the floor covered with a mosquito net tent. A comfortable chair and a fan completed the furnishings. Windows could be opened on 2 wall that allowed enough cool air to enter that I turned the fan off at 1:00 am.

I woke up at 6:00am to bellowing roosters and heard the family moving about in the main room. Gun had a cup of coffee ready for me when I emerged and mama was busy making some rice soup for breakfast. I went to the Thai style toilet room and immediately crashed the top of my head into the low door header. This was done 7 other time on different door frames over the next 2 days until my addled brain realized this was how doors were in non-tourist Thailand.

I gave Noi 3000 baht as payment for his guide services – money I knew would go directly to Gun and Mama. Then Noi, Neung and myself settled in the Beast to the great consternation of baby Tom but a handy balloon distracted him enough for us to make a quick get-away.

With a mighty roar the Beast bounced along the track to the highway that would take us to Chaiaphum then Chompae. Issan music blared from the radio and Neung sang and bounced in the shotgun seat happy to begin his adventure. Noi slept in the rumble seat.