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[BAKABAS]

You gals make great reading. It must be the feminine side of me coming out, but it sure beats reading the wise arsed comments elsewhere. And.. you are all so nice to each other... Aw, i dont want to leave..

Thanks for letting me say that. I needed to get that off my chest. I will keep reading, but won't butt in again. K  

[Boo]

chaps with manners, like yourself, are always welcome in the ladies section bakabas

[MiG16]

well I must agree with bakabas.....especially when you try to work out the percentage/proportion wise.....my guess is there are far fewer famale on the forum..yet all that i have come across are nice
without wanting to offend or pick on anyone...still have to say thats far from being the case when you read the general forum (where again I assume majority would be men)

lucky for me this is the ladies forum..else saying that could get me in trouble

[donna]

after reading all the posts from you ladies, i forgot to add mine.  jeez, where do i start?  

i came here in august 1999 working as a tour leader for an australian company.  thailand wasnt my first choice to be honest.  i wanted to go to indonesia!  i pictured myself living at the edge of a rice field in beautiful bali!  

the first 6 months were really quite difficult.  i had difficulty coping with my groups, i missed my friends and family, and i couldnt help but think i had made a terrible mistake in leaving my cushy job to a job where absolutely NOTHING was certain from day to day!  

anyway, after a while i grew to love my job and the people i met whilst doing it.  both my travelers and the locals i met on the ground were great fun.  i met many a shaman, fortune teller, hunter, fisherman, akha, lisu, karen and lahu hill tribe people, wealthy people, poor people, people with no home, and people with many homes!  from doctors and lawyers to coal miners and labourers, every week was different.

after a time, the company decided that they would use only Thai nationals for the job, so i had the choice to either move regions or to quit.  after being in the role for some time i decided to quit as i didnt want to go to another country, start to make friends, and then decide that my tour leader career was at an end.  

i had a few in-between jobs, and then decided that i would go to an island in the south to run a friends guesthouse.  i was so excited to be finally living the idyllic island lifestyle i had so craved for years.  but living in paradise does take its toll.  i was lonely, worked crazy hours, and didnt have any time to do what i wanted to do.  

so, again, i came to the decision to find a new job.  

after a long haul, i have ended up on phuket working in a lovely 5* boutique hotel.  i really love working where i am and the people i work with, for the most part, are great fun.  as with every job, it has its ups and downs, but i enjoy the challenge that every day gives me.  no two days are the same and i get to meet some lovely people along the way.  

relationship wise, god.  ive met some doozeys.  i had one bloke, who i loved for so long, belt me in the face (that was the last time i layed eyes on him, by the way).  i met others who were so lovely, but lacking the ambition and hopes that i would like to have in a partner.  

at the moment i have met a lovely man, but we are going through a few difficulties at the start of our relationship.  i am hoping it will get better, but am preparing for the worst just in case it doesnt.  not a good way to start a relationship, but its something that im not willing to discuss on an open forum.  

so for now i am living alone in a nice little 2 bedroom house with a kitchen and washing machine!  the first time i have had this since arriving into the country all those years ago.  

thats a brief summary of my life in thailand so far.  of course, there is a heck of a lot more to it than what i have said here, but i suspect that this is getting a tad long so will leave it for another time (perhaps).

[fruittbatt]

Hi Donna,

after reading your post I realise that we met in Chiang Mai almost two years ago...at Baan Kaew guesthouse.  You had a tour group in tow, and we had just moved here.  Good to know what you are doing these days, and that you are enjoying your new job on Phuket.  I hope that you get to sort the rough bits in the new relationship, and best of luck with it.  Will PM you if I ever get away for a break from study to Phuket.  Meantime the very best for 2007 to you and to all who have shared your stories on this thread.

And Bakabas, hi and thanks for your support.  I agree with Boo that you are most welcome!

[November Rain]

Time to bite the bullet & add mine. Sorry for not doing this before, but TV is such a "big pond" & I'm used to smaller ones, I needed time to suss TV & its members out, and I'm really impressed by the ladies on this forum. You're really lovely, caring people.   

OK, I came to Thailand 4 days before the 9/11 tragedies. I remember watching them on a big screen tv in a bar here. I'd lived in Hong Kong for 7 years before that, I was teaching, and my father wanted me to come to Hua Hin & front an adventure tourism venture he was starting with special forces police here. It included jungle survival, skydiving, shooting, team building etc etc... So, I learnt to shoot, I skydived from 9,000 ft, I did many wonderful things & we tried our best for the business venture. Unfortunately, due to 9/11, then Bali & SARS, tourism in HH didn't take off the way Dad had planned & we got into dire straits financially. For a while Dad, Mum & I sold anything of value we had & shared the proceeds, then, with no warning Dad took his life to leave some money for Mum & I & my sister in UK.

It was a horrible time, but, as Murphy's law predicts, I'd met a Thai man the night before Dad died & although I'd intended it to be a one night stand, it didn't turn out that way.

Mum moved down to HH from BKK & life continued in a strange way...  

After a few months our business failed. I was still with my Thai BF and didn't want to move on, neither did Mum. I don't like doing nothing, so I volunteered in a Dog Rescue Center. After that, Mum volunteered to help in the same place.

To cut a long story short, Mum & I became managers of the Dog Rescue Center, My BF and his (Then 2) son moved in with me & life went on.

I then found out BF was an alcoholic ( I knew he liked a drink, but so do I). Numerous on/offs occurred, fights, sober periods when everything was wonderful - you know the situation. We found out he had serious liver cirrhosis & he really tried to keep off the booze, but he never could.

He died March 19th 2006, 5 days before his 39th birthday. I am now looking after his son, a wonderful 5 year old whom I want to be there for for the rest of his life (there are problems there, too, but I digress)

So that's me. Single mum, manager of a dog rescue center & forum addict...

[Bellatrix]

Hi ladies,

I came here to spend a year learning Muay Thai, which I'd done for about 9 months in Australia.

First though, I wanted to experience Isaan village life so I volunteered as an English teacher for 1 month at a rural school, and lived with a Thai family in Prang Ku, Sisaket. Near the end of the month the trainer at the local gym agreed to train me, so I stayed on. I had two very bad stomach infections though, as well as all sorts of health problems, so in the end I moved to Ubon Ratchathani to live and train at a Muay Thai camp, but where I could buy my own food and have my own room. My immune system by this stage was shot to shit, so I ended up with a fever for 6 weeks. I'm still trying to get my health back to normal and my fitness back up, so I haven't fought yet unfortunately. I have however, learnt some important life lessons, so it's not all bad.

On January 6th I'll be moving to Bangkok, where I'll keep training, work part time during the day, and hopefully be able to start fighting soon.

My year in Thailand will end in June, but at this stage I'm only planning on spending a month or so in Australia before heading back over here.

It's lovely to meet you all and hear your stories.

[donna]

hi fruittbatt.  

of course i remember you!  oh wow.  what a small world.  i have often wondered about you guys!  nice to hear you are still going ok here.  

fruittbatt, on 2006-12-22 20:28:30, said:

Hi Donna,

after reading your post I realise that we met in Chiang Mai almost two years ago...at Baan Kaew guesthouse.  You had a tour group in tow, and we had just moved here.  Good to know what you are doing these days, and that you are enjoying your new job on Phuket.  I hope that you get to sort the rough bits in the new relationship, and best of luck with it.  Will PM you if I ever get away for a break from study to Phuket.  Meantime the very best for 2007 to you and to all who have shared your stories on this thread.

And Bakabas, hi and thanks for your support.  I agree with Boo that you are most welcome!

[terry57]

hello ladies and what a surprise to read your thread.  sorry about being a nosy parker but i sort of stumbled across it.

i must say that you all are a very talented and diverse bunch of women and i salute you all just for living and loving los.

so many different stories and experiences.  very impressive to see how you relate to one another and care for each others story.

very different vibe from the general forum where i usually hang out.

i must pass one comment and that is,   please dont think that all us guys go chasing bar girls as its simply not true.   theres only seems to be a few stories amoungst you of your farang partners ending up with a bar girl so please apreaciate that we are all not that way inclined.

i arrived on koh samui in 1987 and fell in love with the los and have been coming here ever since and will move here very shortly.

i love the country and the people but dont chase bar girls and never have.

i might be lucky and meet a nice lady when i move here but its not my motivating force for coming to the los.

anyway ladies,

i salute each and every one of you,   as you are an excellent bunch of women and more power to you all.    


cheers   terry  

[donna]

nice comments terry57.  the ladies here are pretty cool.

[fruittbatt]

November Rain and Bellatrix,

I am impressed by the physical and mental courage of you both.  Your determination marks you out as two uniquely strong individuals.  November rain, I wish you every success in raising your adopted son and in caring for your dogs, too.  You have certainly had some very hard challenges since moving to Thailand, and I'm amazed at how you have coped so well.  Bellatrix, I hope your health improves very soon.  Am looking forward to hearing a lot more from both of you in 2007.

thanks, Terry, for your reassurances to all the ladies here.  You are very welcome, and I hope the fires are not giving you a heavy christmas workload.  Firefighters in Australia all deserve medals IMHO... a very difficult and dangerous job.

[SkyWeung]

Hello ladies...!

I was really impressed with some of your stories, and mine isn't as exciting, but I thought I might as well share it...!



I came travelling in South-East Asia for the first time on October 2005, well, actually, it was the first time I ever got out of my little hometown down there in Canada, at the young and glorious age of 20. I was on my own (loved it...!) and was planning to go around Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam (the infamous backpacker path) and then head back home and carry on with school and everything. But like someone said, and I loved the quote, life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans...!

So after visting Bangkok and the south, I came to Chiang Mai for the first time in November 2005 and fell deeply in love with it. I stayed for 3 weeks before making my way to Laos, stayed for a month, and then decided to go back to Chiang Mai for Christmas and New Year's Eve because I liked the whole vibe there, and had some friends and stuff.

I met the man who became my husband on the 1rst of January 2006, nothing romantic since we were both really drunk, hehe. But we stayed together for a while, and I stayed another 2 months in Chiang Mai, enjoying the moment. My boyfriend had then already plans about starting a buisness of his own, he had some money from a land he sold and he wanted to open a small cafe, or a bar, or something, and since he didn't trust any of his friends and was scared t go through the whole thing alone, he asked me to stay and help him. I asked him to give me a little time to think about it, since it was quite an important decision to make, and in February, I went back home using my return ticket as I planned to. I stayed a month and a half in Canada, had time to think, talk with mama and I decided to buy a one-way ticket to go back there and try it. I was broke, but quite enthousiastic about the project.

So we signed a 6-years contract to rent a tiny piece of and in the heart of Chiang Mai, and spent 4 months building the whole thing with our naked hands since we didn't have the money to hire workers (if some of you are curious, I can PM you the links to my websites with all the pictures since the beggining), we sweat, cried and fought a lot, really we went trhough some truly hard times, but we did it...! We are now open for almost 2 months, we have a tiny Café in lovely Chiang Mai, the buisness is going really good and we are both happy as ever.

We got married on December 1rst, it was a wonderful traditionnal thai wedding, and I'm now back home for Christmas to spend some time with my family.



That was my two satangs...!

[sbk]

Good luck in your new venture, if you can make it through the hard times and still work things out then you'll do fine.

Best wishes for a happy New Year and welcome to the forum

[solid]

SkyWeung,
nice story. It made me smile. I wish you and your husband can fight it through.

[fruittbatt]

I admire your spirit of adventure and the determination & hard work of you and your husband, Sky Weung.  Hope your cafe is firing during the high season.  All the best with the venture and the marriage!

[hellohello]

Congratts Sky W.

Well its new years! Happy new year.. Ive finally gotten around to posting my story---

Five years ago I lost my Mother to cancer. While she was ill, I began to re-ignite my passion for painting. I painted her more & more pictures so she could enjoy them from her bed. I’ve always been an artist and had been working in graphics/publishing for many years in the west. After she died and my father before, 911, I thought there’s no time like the present. I bought an around the world ticket- solo. Quit my job, broke up with my boyfriend, put everything in storage and packed up my paint brushes and headed out. After about six months on the road I knew I’d be ready for a break from traveling- So I did some internet surfing and found a position volunteering at a high school to teach Marine illustration in Krabi. I turned up and just loved it- although I was primarily teaching English. In exchange for teaching I was offered a huge wooden pole house over the Andaman Sea with the most amazing views...Simply paradise. The semester ended and I was getting quite lonely when a Thai lady knocked on my door and spoke ENGLISH to me! We became fast friends. A few weeks later I told her I needed to meet a man with a boat. Beware of what you wish for! That’s when I met my husband ( our 1st date was translated LOL!).  We’ve been together now for 4 1/2 years. Today we run an island/fishing tours business and I make Art/batik in our gallery.
We were very lucky ( and our guests) survived the tsunami (by a few minutes on our longtail boat) but we lost our new house. Our village was severely hit, and my husband and I, along with other foreign neighbors jumped right it and raised millions of baht in relief money. We worked diligently for a year plus- along with rebuilding our own house. The tsunami even further grounded me to my little village- the tears have mostly passed, away and most of my neighbors have received new homes on the hill behind us. Our village has been adopted loosely by the UNDP. There’s a revival to restore it's beautiful wooden stilt houses. A history museum is to open in the Old Amphur building and we have since bought another pole house and plan on restoring it over low season, in-between fishing.

Oh, back to the painting... I did complete my RTW solo trip (coming back through Bangkok to see my sweetie)  and produced 100+ paintings (and a website) in her/their honor. I returned home for "a show" and had great success. I quickly returned to Thailand to be with my partner and I've never looked back. We were married last Valentines Day (I met my in-laws the first and only time..)  and the whole village was invited. It was such a happy day after all the heart ache.  


Chok di Ka!  Hellohello

[November Rain]

Amazing story! Good luck for the future, Hellohello!

[MiG16]

yet some more amazing ladies in our presence! welcome and best wishes.....I really admire all your courage. cheers.

[solid]

SkyWeung, on 2006-12-29 10:45:28, said:

Hello ladies...!

I was really impressed with some of your stories, and mine isn't as exciting, but I thought I might as well share it...!



I came travelling in South-East Asia for the first time on October 2005, well, actually, it was the first time I ever got out of my little hometown down there in Canada, at the young and glorious age of 20. I was on my own (loved it...!) and was planning to go around Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam (the infamous backpacker path) and then head back home and carry on with school and everything. But like someone said, and I loved the quote, life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans...!

So after visting Bangkok and the south, I came to Chiang Mai for the first time in November 2005 and fell deeply in love with it. I stayed for 3 weeks before making my way to Laos, stayed for a month, and then decided to go back to Chiang Mai for Christmas and New Year's Eve because I liked the whole vibe there, and had some friends and stuff.

I met the man who became my husband on the 1rst of January 2006, nothing romantic since we were both really drunk, hehe. But we stayed together for a while, and I stayed another 2 months in Chiang Mai, enjoying the moment. My boyfriend had then already plans about starting a buisness of his own, he had some money from a land he sold and he wanted to open a small cafe, or a bar, or something, and since he didn't trust any of his friends and was scared t go through the whole thing alone, he asked me to stay and help him. I asked him to give me a little time to think about it, since it was quite an important decision to make, and in February, I went back home using my return ticket as I planned to. I stayed a month and a half in Canada, had time to think, talk with mama and I decided to buy a one-way ticket to go back there and try it. I was broke, but quite enthousiastic about the project.

So we signed a 6-years contract to rent a tiny piece of and in the heart of Chiang Mai, and spent 4 months building the whole thing with our naked hands since we didn't have the money to hire workers (if some of you are curious, I can PM you the links to my websites with all the pictures since the beggining), we sweat, cried and fought a lot, really we went trhough some truly hard times, but we did it...! We are now open for almost 2 months, we have a tiny Café in lovely Chiang Mai, the buisness is going really good and we are both happy as ever.

We got married on December 1rst, it was a wonderful traditionnal thai wedding, and I'm now back home for Christmas to spend some time with my family.



That was my two satangs...!

I have something to add a little bit here.

What I admire the most is this: a relationship built on hardship. When you get through this, both of you will have huge respect for each other. I have one example. After I graduated from the States, I flew back home and stay with my parents for a month. One day my dad and I went to hang out in Hua Hin like dad and son, but my mom was too tired, so she stayed home taking a nap. We went to a street market. My dad was checking out some music stores and I was waiting for him and checking out some cute female expats walking around the market. Then we got hungry. We saw a nice restaurant showing huge prawns in front of the store. Then we asked the price. It turned out to be really pricey but we could afford it. So I asked my dad "dad do you wanna eat them? Coz if you do let's get in and kill these bad boys." My dad said "Sure son, I do. But at this price, I wouldn't eat it without your mom. We worked hard together. We should celebrate and eat together." So, we ended up eating some street food which was quite tasty though.

Yeah, that conversation has stayed in my head since then.  

[MiG16]

Solid...thats really sweet of your Dad
i remember when I was a kid anytime we'd get nice candies or snacks Id not eat it til my brother was there still do that on occasion but its harder now that we're living in different towns

ok off topic

[Little Black Duck]

MiG16, on 2007-01-06 15:13:41, said:

Solid...thats really sweet of your Dad
i remember when I was a kid anytime we'd get nice candies or snacks Id not eat it til my brother was there still do that on occasion but its harder now that we're living in different towns

ok off topic

Miggie..A wee bit off Track but come one you have an interesting job what do you do ???

Terry you're just sucking up, not following the thread..

Donna you're dazzled by the Bald head and other atributes so Girls please stay on Thread..

Me... Ithought you'd never ask I Make and Sell Ice Cream...

[skeetaboat]

Hello ladies,

Thought I'd jump in.. I've been around TV for a while especially when I'm looking for information, but have kept a low profile.

I've been living in LOS with my hubby for the last 16 months, we're both in our 20s. We came here for my job, working for non-government organisation on refugee issues. We started off living in Bangkok, (which we hated.. too difficult to get around, too many not nice people, lots of racism, too much pollution.. uck) - and spent the first the first 6-10 months horribly home sick and wanting to go home. But we stuck it out and I applied for a transfer. Just when we were about ready to pack our bags, my transfer came through, and we're now living in the North (which we LOVE.. great weather, lovely people, transport, travel and exploration is easy, so many things to see and do).

Just to add some excitement to our lives, we found out that I'm pregnant! I'm due in May. We'll have the baby here, I'll finish my contract at work, and then we'll head home when the baby is about 3 months old. We're enjoying Thailand so much that we'd probably stay longer if this baby hadn't decided to make a suprise appearance so early in the picture.  I'm now hunting around for a hospital which promotes natural birth to have the baby in (but not having much luck unless I go private... which is peeeeeeeng maak!)

Anyway, nice to meet you all. Good thread.. Nice idea Fruitbat

[LaoPo]

hellohello, on 2006-12-31 10:18:52, said:

Congratts Sky W.

Well its new years! Happy new year.. Ive finally gotten around to posting my story---

Five years ago I lost my Mother to cancer. While she was ill, I began to re-ignite my passion for painting. I painted her more & more pictures so she could enjoy them from her bed. I’ve always been an artist and had been working in graphics/publishing for many years in the west. After she died and my father before, 911, I thought there’s no time like the present. I bought an around the world ticket- solo. Quit my job, broke up with my boyfriend, put everything in storage and packed up my paint brushes and headed out. After about six months on the road I knew I’d be ready for a break from traveling- So I did some internet surfing and found a position volunteering at a high school to teach Marine illustration in Krabi. I turned up and just loved it- although I was primarily teaching English. In exchange for teaching I was offered a huge wooden pole house over the Andaman Sea with the most amazing views...Simply paradise. The semester ended and I was getting quite lonely when a Thai lady knocked on my door and spoke ENGLISH to me! We became fast friends. A few weeks later I told her I needed to meet a man with a boat. Beware of what you wish for! That’s when I met my husband ( our 1st date was translated LOL!).  We’ve been together now for 4 1/2 years. Today we run an island/fishing tours business and I make Art/batik in our gallery.
We were very lucky ( and our guests) survived the tsunami (by a few minutes on our longtail boat) but we lost our new house. Our village was severely hit, and my husband and I, along with other foreign neighbors jumped right it and raised millions of baht in relief money. We worked diligently for a year plus- along with rebuilding our own house. The tsunami even further grounded me to my little village- the tears have mostly passed, away and most of my neighbors have received new homes on the hill behind us. Our village has been adopted loosely by the UNDP. There’s a revival to restore it's beautiful wooden stilt houses. A history museum is to open in the Old Amphur building and we have since bought another pole house and plan on restoring it over low season, in-between fishing.

Oh, back to the painting... I did complete my RTW solo trip (coming back through Bangkok to see my sweetie)  and produced 100+ paintings (and a website) in her/their honor. I returned home for "a show" and had great success. I quickly returned to Thailand to be with my partner and I've never looked back. We were married last Valentines Day (I met my in-laws the first and only time..)  and the whole village was invited. It was such a happy day after all the heart ache.  


Chok di Ka!  Hellohello

I like your story HelloHello; sorry to hear about your parents but I'm sure you will manage in the future !

So, why don't you post your website in your profile......? I would love to see your paintings-work as I'm a 'painting-holic'...

Good Luck to you !

LaoPo

[hellohello]

Hi LP - I sent you a PM to my website..... would like to see yours too! Thanks for asking...
Kindly - hellohello

[fruittbatt]

Hi Hello Hello.  

I was really interested to hear what you have made of your time in Thailand: how the creative, romantic, and material stuff all fell into place after you determined exactly what you wanted.  Yours is also a story of tremendous endurance and faith in hard times.  I would love to see some of your work.  Sorry to have taken so long to welcome you ...went on holidays briefly, and then through TV withdrawal for a while...due to work pressures.

Hi Skeetaboat!

good to hear that you are living in and loving the north and having your baby outside Bangkok.   Good luck with finding a natural birthing centre.  I don't know your location but if you are anywhere near Chiang Mai maybe some alternative medicine clinics like Mungkala or the Ayurvedic place might have some clues??  You could also PM Sheryl, who is very knowledgable and helpful about medical services and issues in Thailand.  Good luck.

Hope to hear more from you both on this forum soon.