Living in Thailand

It’s Sunday. Often my only day off per week. So I slept in, cleaned up my room, ironed my shirts, rearranged my room a little and finally put on my swim shorts to head to the beach. I enjoyed marvelous views over Phuket and the Andaman Sea, had a fruit shake or two, explored so far unexplored areas of the island, buried my toes in the sand, watched little kids play in the waves and afterwards headed out to the night market for some fine Sushi and a Mojito. I probably spent around 5 € today.

And I had some time to think. Many people recently asked me how much longer I am planning to live in Thailand. Good question. Counter question: Why should I live anywhere else?

I decided to offer you a couple of reasons, why Thailand is currently the perfect place for me to be.

The visitors

First of all I’d like to extend a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has invested his/her time and money to visit me here (or is planning to do so). It has been a real pleasure seeing so many of you coming over, engaging in my new life, creating more everlasting memories with me. It is absolutely mind-blowing to know there are such great people out there. THANK YOU!

The weather

It is the end of April. So far, I have witnessed approximately 5 days of rain in 2014 – one of them was in Vienna. When I head to the beach here, I wear flip flops, t-shirt and shorts. When I go shopping, I wear flip flops, t-shirt and shorts. When I go to a bar, I wear flip flops, t-shirt and shorts. When I go dancing, I wear flip flops, t-shirt and shorts (yes – I can enter the poshest nightclubs in the area with this dress code ^^). No matter if the sun is shining, if it’s raining, if it’s midday or midnight, I wear flip flops, t-shirt and shorts. I love it.

The people

• Part 1: The smiling stranger.

I walk to work. Haven’t slept too well. Bit grumpy. On my way, I pass a perfectly random stranger. He looks at me, cracks a broad smile, greets me friendly and walks away. I have never met this guy in my life before, he has never met me, and chances are tiny we will ever meet again. But he smiled. He greeted. Smiling is contagious. He made my day. I greeted him back. And I certainly smiled to everyone else that day. Honestly: When has this last happened to you?

• Part 2: Sharing is caring.

I have lunch with a working colleague. Despite him probably earning around half my salary, he insists he’d invite me for lunch. Thai people share. It happens almost daily that someone (colleague or stranger) waves you over to invite you for something. Simply because it makes them happy. And again, it’s contagious – people here share. White, black, Asian, European… they all share.
(Did you know? It is scientifically proven that poorer people share more than richer people!)

• Part 3: Doing my laundry.

First time I tried to use a coin operated washing machine, I had no clue what to do. So I asked the friendly owner of the place. She instructed me, and then invited me for a beer, as I had to wait for an hour anyway. The rest of that evening made history… I believe two of you had the pleasure to read the story on my blog, before my Mum declared the content inappropriate for a worldwide audience, and I took the post down…
The laundry is gone, that lady and her partner have opened a bar on the hill now. It is hard to convince them that I should pay for things I consume when I’m there. It is really hard!

• Part 4: Time is relative

Sure. Many of you think everybody in Thailand is lazy and walking slowly. Not entirely wrong. But there are counter examples as well: So I sat in that bar and ordered my food and a fruit shake. The waitress took my order and disappeared, only to return a minute later: “I am really sorry, Sir, but these two gentlemen over there ordered their meals before you, so you’ll have to wait a while.” I couldn’t care less. I had my fruit shake and overlooked the ocean.
Three minutes later my food was served.

• Part 5: My landlord

I told my landlord that I’d love to have mosquito nets installed in front of my doors, so I can keep the doors open and get fresh wind, but no mosquitos inside. She agreed and arranged things.
The workers came while I was at work, so my landlord let them in. By the time I returned, not only did I have two mosquito doors – but also a tidy room! My landlord admitted that the place looked so dirty she couldn’t help herself but had to clean up. ^^ (No, it did not look that dirty!)

• Part 6: You never walk alone

So I sat in front of that supermarket enjoying the cold beer I had just bought. My thoughts were far, far away, as suddenly two Thai guys approximately my age approached and started talking to me. As my Thai is far from perfect, I had no idea what this was all about. By the time they began touching my arms and trying to drag me away, I got a bit sceptical. But only a bit. Trusting strangers but be naive, but not being naive is boring; so I decided to walk with them. The destination: A table some 20 meters away. They pushed me into one of the chairs, sat down, opened a can of beer for themselves and started talking. About the world. Or so. Most of the conversation consisted of "Real Madrid!" ... "Ahh, ohh, noo... Germany! Bayern Munich." "Ahh, dee mak, Muller, Schweinsteiger, okay, shai." *thumbs up*  ^^
It wasn't until later that I realized what had happened: These two guys had seen me sitting alone on that porch in front of the supermarket. And had decided that drinking a cold one alone is not cool. Despite them having almost no command of English, they paused their quality time to engange me into a conversation. I mean, honestly - how cool is that?

The job

As most of you know, I am the marketing coordinator at Elephant Hills. Some call me the elephant whisperer, the jungle man. I indeed do spend some time with elephants, and I also do spend some time in the jungle, which is both great. I spend some time in the office, too, which is not too bad either. I learn a lot, I enjoy a lot of freedom, and I have the feeling I move things forward – this year again we are expecting another record in guest numbers.
Maybe the best of all: I also travel a lot! Should all plans come together, I will visit over 10 countries purely for business this year. I meet tons of fantastic people, make excellent new contacts and see spectacular places. Probably a third of my time is spent overseas. And by the time I return “home”, I still live under palm trees 5 minutes from the beach. How cool is that?

The working schedule

It must be Monday. Facebook is full of complaints from people who don’t want to start another week at their job.
Thailand is currently five hours ahead of Germany, hence my working day is already over. I usually have no idea which day of the week it is. It doesn’t matter. I love my job, and I don’t mind working seven days a week – I know this accumulates days off which I can easily spend on some remote island hanging in a hammock while sipping fresh coconut juice. The supermarkets here are open 24/7; whenever I realize I need milk for my muesli, I can go and buy it, no matter what time of the day of which day of the week. I don’t believe that the invention of watches and weekdays generally enriched people’s lives.

Safety

Prior to coming to Thailand I had travelled South America for 9 months. When I moved in crowded areas or at night, I was used to watch my stuff and my surroundings. One hand was usually in my pocket where I had my phone, camera, money, keys, whatever.
You all know how much I love to lose my camera or have it stolen. Or sunglasses. Or so. Since I am here, I have lost … nothing. Even if I leave stuff in certain places, people take good care of it until I realize my loss and return to that place to retrieve my things.
As I walked through the night market tonight, I felt perfectly free and safe and happy. I drove home through the darkness, not having a doubt anything could possibly happen. To be honest – at certain times I felt less safe in Germany…

The food

No, I do not have a kitchen in my apartment. My “cookery equipment” consists of a knife, a spoon, a fork and a bowl. And a fruit shake mixer. ;) I enjoy fruit shakes and mueslis in the mornings at home. Other than that, I eat out. A whole meal including drink can be had for 1 € here – and that’s good food! Even if I tried, I probably couldn’t cook neither more economically nor better. Even though you of course know I am a passionate genius master chef… ;)

The Lifestyle

True. Many things in Thailand work a bit slower than they would in Germany or elsewhere. However, nobody here suffers from burnout. I recently learned that up to 60% of all illnesses are stress related! Since I am in Thailand, I was sick for … let me think … 24 hours. That was when I got stung by a bee and my allergy kicked in. Not much you can do.
Of course, sometimes I wish certain projects would move along a bit quicker. Then again, I am happy that all my colleagues always have time for some small talk and a broad smile in-between. And I learn from friends that projects in Western Europe don’t necessarily move along quicker. Sometimes, just sometimes, I ask myself: Why worry? Will, when I grow old, I still regret that my special project finished two days later? Will we die a happier person if the new printer had arrived a week earlier? Think about it. Relax.

The Future

I bought a world map as room decoration. And mosquito doors. I bought a scooter. I took up Thai classes. I have a working visa. What I don't have is: A Plan. Even if I had - plans always change. So I don't waste much time making any. But from the current looks of it, it might well be that I do stay a little while longer... Hope that's fine for you? Will you visit me (again)? :)

The Lifestyle pt. II

Office hours finish at 5pm. I walk home, change the ranger uniform for flip flops, t-shirt and shorts, and head to the beach. I enjoy a spectacular sunset and a seriously mouthwatering fruit shake while burying my toes in the soft, white sand.
Other people pay hundreds of Euros to spend their holidays here. They have two to three weeks of those, and look forward to this one special moment all year long.
I have it every single day.

And now let me ask you again:

Why should I live anywhere else?

Songkran. The world’s wildest water fight.

I sit in the back of a Tuk-Tuk and cruise along Phuket’s spectacular west coast. The Sunday sun slowly sinks into the Andaman Sea and conjures a breathtaking red glow onto the few lonely clouds in the sky. I sit and drive and let all those coconut palm trees pass by.

Simultaneously, I try to process the past 24 hours.

It is Saturday evening, the 12^th of April 2014. Adam, my good friend from Barcelona, and Sofie, our new Danish intern at Elephant Hills, hire a whole minivan to drive us to Patong – basically the Ibiza of Thailand. Adam and I bought supersoakers for the whole team, because it is…

SONGKRAN!

Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year. In former times, younger persons washed older persons’ hands at this occasion, to symbolically wash away the sins from last year. Over time, this has developed into the world’s wildest water fight. (Probably because only washing your hands wouldn’t be sufficient for all the sins we commit these days… ^^)

So we chuck our stuff in our hostel room and dress up. Sofie gets her black dress out, Adam and I – our swim shorts. After carefully elaborating our options for half a minute or so, we decide to go topless. A very wise decision, as we would learn soon.

As walking doesn’t get us anywhere, we hire a tuk-tuk to bring us to Bangla Road. What Khao San is for Bangkok, is Bangla for Patong. Just worse.

A tuk-tuk is a semi-open vehicle, perfect to have fresh wind blowing through your hair while enjoying a ride and the views. Not so perfect to move forward during Songkran – way before reaching our destination, we are soaking wet. And by soaking, I mean that I am certain there was nothing left in the inside of the tuk-tuk that was not wet. In retrospect I must admit that pointing my empty supersoaker at passersby and making a *splash* noise probably didn’t help much to keep us dry… ;)

So we finally reach Bangla Road. We are soaking wet. But – so is everybody else! I bet you cannot imagine what this place looked like: The roads were blocked with pick-up trucks stuffed with people throwing water from the back of the cargo area. The sidewalks were full of people, all armed with super soakers, water guns and other water sputtering gadgets. In front of each bar you’d find a massive ton where people refilled their equipment. And behind most corners there were kids lurking around with hoses, waiting to blast a heavy water-jet right into your face.

So we fight back. “Save the Queen!” Adam shouts, and instructs me that we two guys would have to save Sofie’s life from now on. We fight hard. We fight dirty. We fight … almost successful. I honestly believe if Sofie had had like 3.287 lives, there could still be one or two left.

We retreat to a bar. They have free water for all customers. And some kind of team morality: All bar clients fight together. Most of the time. Unexpected guerilla attacks do happen occasionally. Not that anyone would care anymore, every person along this road (and there are several thousand!) is as wet as the Andaman Sea itself. The only troubles are the varying water temperatures – from ice-cold to urine-warm, Tom Hanks would probably compare it with a box of chocolates. You never know what you gonna get.

We flee into another place, a closed one, and enjoy the dryness of the moment for around 30 minutes, before it’s time to hit the road again.

There are occasions when I imagine I am not too bad with words. But I must capitulate here – words cannot express what we witnessed that night. In case you’re up for a first impression: Type “Songkran Patong 2014” into the YouTube search engine. In case you’re up for the real thing: Book flights to Thailand April next year. Believe me – you will not regret a single Cent you’ll spend!

The following day. Adam departs to the airport. Estimated travel time is usually around 30-45 minutes. Today, the hostel receptionists hurries him to leave right now. He has only four hours left…

Sofie and I fight our way through Bangla Road again, enjoy a mouthwatering lunch and delicious strawberry milk shakes, dive right into an open air foam party and then recover at the beach for a little while.

Sofie somehow finds the energy to stay for another night; I will have to work tomorrow, so I head back to Chalong. We find a driver, deliver Sofie to the hostel to freshen up, and I snuggle into the back of the Tuk-Tuk to watch the sensational Sunday sun set while cruising along Phuket’s spectacular west coast.

The journey takes double as long as usual. By the time I arrive back at my apartment, I am still trying to process what has happened, but I am quite certain by now that I’ll probably never fully understand this unique event I have just witnessed.

But one thing I have realized once again today:

LIFE IS AWESOME!