Still Here!

15 months after I was due to fly back to the UK for a visit, thanks to Mr Covid and The Variants, I’m still here in Thailand and, frankly, not sure when I will be able to return safely as:-

a) I have yet to receive any kind of jab, never mind a second one, thanks to the shambolic Thai Government’s vaccination plan – or, rather, lack of it and

b) Despite the easing of lockdown restrictions in the UK, the Covid Delta variant seems to be racing through the country at alarming speed. This is clearly not so serious if you have been vaccinated and/or youthful but if you are un-jabbed and an old codger like me then setting foot in Blighty right now does seem to be a bit foolish!

As preparation for a European trip therefore seems a bit pointless for the time being, I have some spare time capacity to start scribbling again about my life here in Thailand.

It’s hard to believe that it’s 2.5 years since we moved into our house in Woodlands, a development of some 60 houses a 10 minute drive due west of Hua Hin and which I ‘showcased’ way back in my blogs of December 2018 and January 2019. For those who don’t know, Hua Hin is on the Gulf of Thailand coast, app 200km south west of Bangkok on the way down to Malaysia. I say ‘we moved in’ as, 15 months ago, I got married again in a totally unspectacular ceremony which consisted of signing a few pieces of paper whilst standing at the counter of the local Town Hall. Hardly the most romantic setting!

Much to my discredit, I have almost totally failed in my feeble attempts to master even the basics of the Thai language due to i) typical English laziness, ii) the desire of so many Thais to speak English and iii) because my wife who is from the Isan province in north east Thailand, mostly speaks (amongst her Isan friends and family, anyway) the Isan language which is more akin to the language of Laos than Thailand. So, all very confusing!

Our house itself hasn’t changed much since the early days but has benefitted immensely from Nokky’s finishing touches. The garden though, is maturing nicely

And the early evening light over the hill is often quite spectacular.

A few months prior to moving into our house, we opened a small bar in the middle of Hua Hin as Nokky felt she wasn’t quite ready for her retirement yet! More of that in a minute but first, a word about the name ‘Nokky’. My wife’s real given name is ‘Jansuda’ but for some reason that I haven’t quite fathomed, at birth or shortly after, Thai parents give their child a nickname which is the name they grow up using. So ‘Jansuda’ was given the name ‘Nok’ – the Thai word for ‘bird’ as in ‘free as a bird’! Hence – ‘Nokky’.

When we started our bar project, I thought the name ‘Nok Nok Bar’ would be quite catchy and appropriate But when I was shown the design for the signs it was spelt ‘Knock ‘Knock’ which sounded/read even better. So the ‘Knock Knock 94′ bar was born – the ’94’ part is the number of the Hua Hin street in which it is located. So it’s easy to find. I’ve only ever had one negative comment about the name and that was from a compatriot of mine back in the UK who thought I might have opened a ‘knocking shop’! Sadly there are still one or two small minded people in the world who believe that the only thing that Thailand has to offer is unlimited prostitution. Nothing could be further from the truth – and especially in Hua Hin where the King has a summer residence so anything even remotely considered as vulgar (from Go Go bars to Las Vegas style opulence) are strictly prohibited.

Bar customers are quite tribal in their choice of watering holes. Everyone has their ‘favourite’ bar. So it took time to build up any sort of customer base – especially in quite a competitive market. But, step by step, business began to improve, thanks to a combination of resident ex pats, tourists and local Thais

plus some excellent customer relations from our staff!

But then Mr Covid arrived. So, from the middle of last year, the tourist industry (which accounts for app 23% of the entire country’s GDP) collapsed, bars were closed and then opened and then closed again. The sale of alcohol was banned, then allowed, then banned again and it’s been the same story ever since. As a result, many of the well known drinking establishments have closed, others have had to borrow up to the hilt to survive as they still have to pay rent and some have had their cars and even their homes repossessed by the banks as loan repayments become overdue. And during all this time, there has been zero financial help from the government. It’s shocking.

In all this, I reasoned that, even if people either could not afford or were not allowed to go to a bar for a drink, at least they would have to eat (which, as everyone who has been to Thailand knows is the second most popular ‘religion’ in this country). So, following my mantra of ‘when everyone turns left, I turn right’, around this time last year we took over the rental of the adjoining property and in December opened the Knock Knock 94 restaurant.

Of course, our food offering could have been traditional Thai but that would have put us in direct competition with many other excellent Thai restaurants in the area. So, with the help of a good (Italian) friend of mine, we decided that pizzas, pastas and salads would be good alternatives to the ubiquitous green chicken curry and Tom Yam soup! I am now an expert in making the secret recipe pizza sauce!

Having a restaurant licence allows us to stay open whilst other bars here have been closed for more than half of this year to date. The sale of alcohol, though continues to be banned in eateries which does make for a less than convivial dining experience. Despite all these negatives, we have just about managed to keep our heads above water which is a fair result considering there are no tourists here and more and more people are eating at home. When we started the restaurant, TripAdvisor ranked us number 498 out of 600+ in Hua Hin. We are currently number 83, which I don’t think is too bad after having opened only 7 months ago and having spent most of that time with some restriction or another or even closed altogether. So we must be doing something right

On the very rare occasions we have been able to open both the bar and restaurant, we have had some good business. We had quite a good turnout for the American Superbowl despite the 6.00am start!

And have had quite a lot of fun on some high days and ho days.

which sometime go on too long for some!

Generally speaking, though, business has been very tough for far too long, no thanks to the Thai government’s ineffective handling of the Covid pandemic. How the long suffering Thais still manage to smile when they have little or no money in their pockets and with little or no prospect of earning any for the foreseeable future is totally beyond me. They truly are a resilient people.

So, that’s where I am and some of what I have been doing since my last blog . It’s been interesting to say the least and certainly, thanks to Mr Covid and The Variants, not exactly what I thought my ‘golden years’ retirement would be like! But it surely has been an experience!

Until the next time.

Richard