After 30 years, I finally book the ticket for 3 and half weeks back in a country which was so kind to me when I was younger. I land in brilliant sunshine after a 12 hour flight with Taiwan-based EVA Air at Bangkok’s brand new airport which is on the opposite side of Bangkok to the older one. The motorway is not crowded and we are soon on the outskirts of town. Bangkok itself is much less polluted thanks to many vehicles running on LPG.

For a change from Bangkok’s bustle, we drive south and Christmas Day starts with a 12 noon brunch at Hua Hin with fantastic views over the coast. Hua Hin is the archetypal tourist trap with prices more expensive than Bangkok and getting e-mails printed at an internet café costs even more than in London. I decide to treat myself to a Thai foot massage. The salon I choose has a Swedish family there when I arrive and a little lad has fallen asleep after his treatment so dad carries him back to the hotel. My session lasts 90 minutes rather than the booked hour and I wander back to the hotel past the bars and restaurants which are still open. Our departure is a bit chaotic as there is a power cut so none of computers work at the bureaux de change and tranactions go back into the pre-desktop age with everything being done on the telephone. My postcards from Hua Hin posted on Boxing Day take 10 weeks to arrive in spite of the Airmail stickers.

While a break from the long nights and cold for 3 and half weeks is something to look forward to, the same without any dancing is something else. I have been told about the ballroom dancing scene in Bangkok where some of the keener people go to the international ballroom championships in Blackpool. But my own preference is definitely the real Latin version and this scene is very small in Thailand with interesting cultural differences.

It occurs to me that it would be fun to take one of my friends to an Argentine tango lesson or dance as she has not seen this before, but unwittingly cause her some embarrassment. In Thailand it seems, if you are a lady then you basically have your own teacher and it is bad form for you to go dancing with someone else. This rather old-fashioned situation does not seem to the the case with salsa for example and certainly not with Argentine tango in Thailand. Although my friend offers to get a me professional tango partner I end up going dancing on my own.

This is 30th December, and I am at a pre-New Year’s Eve dance run by Andreas http://www.tangobangkok.com/, a German guy who speaks English and Thai. This is near a metro station about half an hour’s ride away from the Sathorn district where I am staying. I meet my friends from London again who have settled into Bangkok very well and finally deliver the Christmas card as promised. The crowd at the dance are about one third Thai with the rest being ex-pats and we all leave at about 11 pm.

On New Year’s Eve we are at a party given by my host and CNN News is on – a bomb goes off at the station I was at 24 hours before. Within an hour, 8 bombs have gone off but casualties are low compared to other places with 1 person killed with a few injured. It is quite surreal as this was the room where my friends had heard about the 7/7 bombs in London. At that time, I had been on a train to work and was completely unaware of any bombs until I had an SMS from Bangkok.
I have one other lesson at a dance studio in a very smart new shopping centre where I try a McDonalds Rice Burger, but I do not get around to the salsa which is on every Friday evening at the Sheraton.

My host has a large garden and we make a day trip down south to a Burmese border post where orchids are brought over the border. These are sold by weight at a very low price and the shopping village next to the border post is very much two worlds. Near the actual border is the plant bit with people who have walked over the border and are very poor. One lady runs after my host with another full bin-liner of rare orchids which she wishes to sell for 20 Baht – about 30p. About 200 metres away is the smarter more touristy part where gold, jade and teak souvenirs are sold at at higher but still relatively cheap pices when compared to the UK. Back in Bangkok, the assorted orchid plants are held in place with coconut fibre which is nailed to the bark of various trees in the garden, where they should take root after about two months of regular watering.

A friend takes me shopping to the other side of Bangkok to buy a wooden spirit house as these are far lighter than the stone/concrete ones one normally sees. It costs 2,500 Baht for the smallest one.

I take the opportunity of having some suits made for me and get two suits with an extra pair of trousers each plus 3 shirts for a total of about 25,000 Baht which comes out at £324. Only problem is I have now lost weight – at least they are comfortable.

It is now the hot season in Bangkok while we have till recently been shivering, and by the time our summer is here it will be the rainy season there. Next Christmas beckons………..For part I of my Thai memoirs, see http://www.georgeemsden.co.uk/?p=78