Trip to Khlong Yai - The good and bad

Trip to Khlong Yai � The Good and the Bad
Part 1.

Many times in Thailand I have found myself wondering, �How did I get myself into this?� Last fall, Bop, one of my English students mentioned that his family was going home for a few days and would I, and my wallet, like to come along. I am eager to experience �real� Thai life and wanted to go but as it was near the end of my 3 month stay, I was short of cash. I asked him to help me work out a budget for the trip so I could decide if I had enough funds. This process befuddled him as expected but we decided, with mama�s approval, that 8000 Baht would be sufficient. Plans were made, a date set and soon we were trundling down the highway towards Trat and beyond to Khlong Yai. Never in my 20 years of coming to Thailand have I learned more in such a short time � 5 days.

I met the family 2 years ago when I befriended At at Jomtien beach. He was a really nice young man who worked in a gogo bar but wanted to move on to something else. He was keen on learning English so I volunteered to teach him. He became proficient enough that he got a job in a restaurant. Through him I met the rest of the family.





I would teach at the family�s room in Pattaya. His younger brothers decided that they wanted to study as well. Bop and Pond worked in the same bar as At. A few weeks before the trip, I was invited to Bop�s 18th birthday party. Great fun.





The mother and father were quite friendly to me and we got on well. It was strange at first because they were very supportive of their 3 sons working in a gogo. Over time I realized they were a very happy and close family so who was I, a sex tourist, to judge.




Pond and O were the 2 younger brothers. O stayed with family in Khlong Yai most of the time attending school. I wondered if his fate was to be dancing on a stage in Sunee sometime in the future.






At the last minute, At said he couldn�t get the time off work but he said that Bop would look after me in every way. At�s place was taken by Jen, a gatoey, who was introduced as the boy�s �sister� and she did stay in the family compound of 5 houses in Khlong Yai. With father and me in front, mother and Pond behind and Bop and Jen riding in the box, we headed off to their home which I had estimated via Google Maps should take 3 hours. Ah, but not so. Why? In short form:
1. the truck needed water every 20 minutes
2. father needed to pee every 20 minutes but never sincronized with truck watering.
3. we needed to stop to eat, twice
4. mother and my wallet needed to buy fruit, especially durian and there were many, many fruit markets and road side stalls between Rayong and Trat and mother had to stop at almost all. She had a weighted stick with her with which to tap every durian at every market along the way. Of course the fruit stops rarely coinsided with the other stops.
Half way there a rain shower struck and, even though the truck had a canvass canope much of the luggage had to be moved inside. They needed the room for all the fruit anyway. Bop and Pond squabbled over who should ride inside and, in the end, they both squeezed in with mother and the luggage. Pond perched like a vulcher on the console between Father and me. He got sleepy and slowly slumped over on to me and onto my lap.

Six and a half hours later we arrive in Khlong Yai. This is a fishing town on the narrow slice of land between Cambodia and the sea in the extreme south east. Koh Chang can be seen across the crystal clean water. The coast line is beautiful, dotted with many secluded beach coves and backed by rolling hills.


At my urging it had been decided that I would stay at an air-conditioned bungalow or hotel in town. As we drew near the town, I ask about the bungalow and the mother got on the phone. To make a long story short, they told me that neither the bungalow nor the hotel would allow a farang to stay there with a Thai companion. I hadn�t planned on a companion but didn�t argue the point. Up to them.

Arriving at the family�s compound, I was warmly received by members of the extended family. A covered central area was surrounded by five houses. Bop�s 2 bedroom house was modern, large and nicely furnished. The family share this house with the mother�s brother, his wife and young daughter. I estimate there were 16 living in the compound.





The family was headed by grandmother. She worked hard and barked out orders which the young�uns seemed to ignore. Living in grandmother�s house was a mentally handicapped girl who was always peering out to see what was happening. She seemed to be ignored and encouraged to stay hidden.





The family had a business of cleaning, sorting and drilling holes in seashells. Except for Bop and Pond, all members worked from sunrise to sunset; even the children when they came home from school. In the evening everyone helped out preparing the meal. Every night we were there and huge feast was prepared with the main dish some kind of seafood. It was wonderful.








Both Pond and Bop did not participate in any of the business work or household chores yet they were treated as �hi-sos�. Their wishes were everyone�s commands. I could only speculate why this was so. One time I tried to embarrass Bop into helping a girl cleaning the dishes. He just laughed so I got up and, making a joke of it, went and squatted down to help the girl finish the dishes. This provoked gales of laughter from the family.


After the meal a sound system appeared and Issan music was played. Bop and family had gone to an Issan concert with me therefore they knew I like to dance. Well when I got up and danced, peels of laughter echoed through the neighbourhood and, then and there, I was accepted into the group. I was even able to entice the retarded girl to come out and dance with me.


When bedtime neared, we were sitting in the living room. I asked Bop where I would sleep. He simply pointed to the ceramic tiles on the floor beside my chair. I gave a surprised look that must have been noticed by everyone and they all started jabbering in Thai and pointing to the farang. Finally the uncle got up and asked if I like �air�? �Very much�, I replied. He said, �We have�, and showed me to his bedroom which had air and a nice big bed and its own TV. I was over the top in my thank yous. He said, �No problem� and grabbed a couple of blankets and pillows and placed them on the floor beside the bed indicating that was for me. Well at least it was cool.


Uncle and Wife

I went and showered and stuff and when I returned to the room, there was uncle, his wife and their little girl in the bed watching soaps. I smiled shyly, stripped to my boxers and lay down on the floor. I was beginning to doze off, when the door opened and in came Bop in his tight whities. He proceeded to climb under my covers and snuggle up close to me, giggling quietly. In the morning I noticed something hanging in the corner I hadn�t seen before. It was a police uniform. The uncle was a part-time policeman. Only in Thailand�.sleep with the family in their bedroom�.sleep with their, just turned, 18 year old nephew and the uncle was a cop. I really didn�t know what to think but I decided to simply go with the flow. Needless to say, John Thomas did not stand at attention that night or the next 4.