• Thai people are very nice indeed

    Thai people are very nice indeed

    I am now stationed in Ayuthaya which is just about 1.5 hours north of Bangkok on the train. I met a Scottish couple on the train, Heidi and Vaughn. He is from Zimbabwea and she from Canada. We shared a Tuk Tuk to a guest house called Tony's Place and all managed to get a room. This was very fortunate as they were about to run out and it's such a nice place. The Lonely Planet tells of a few guest houses in Ayuthaya that are run by the same person where the owner has sometimes been violent towards guests and I didn't want to stay in any of those! Anyway, I'm in a nice place and I'm sorted.

    Last night I went for a stroll and happened upon a little bar playing what sounded like nice smooth proggy trance. It turned out to be 'not as dreadful as it often is' Ibiza style trance (though the next tune was probably hip hop or something). Anyway, that's not the point of this tale. I sat down and ordered a drink then a Thai chap called Moo approached me and we started talking. His English wasn't bad (actually it is very good) and he was quite impressed that I knew a little of the history of Ayuthaya (All gleaned from the Lonely Planet). So we keep buying each other drinks and he introduces me to several other Thais all of whom were perfectly wonderful to me. He offered to take me around the Wats of Ayuthaya in his car the next day (today). I was very unsure about this and didn't say yes straight away. He showed me a book of letter's that other western visitors had wrote (having had the grand tour) to him to prove that he was genuine and eventually he convinced me and we arranged to meet at 10 AM the next day. Later, as I was lying in bed, the sudden memory of a certain friend telling me to "Beware of people that are suddenly your best friend" popped into my mind and I was a little worried. The next day I made sure I had told someone at the guest house where I am staying what my plans were.

    Today has been brilliant and I'm so glad that I trusted my instincts about Moo. He's a great guy. He took me to meet his wife and kids, cooked me (well, had his wife cook me) a vegetarian lunch of fried cabbage, rice, onion rings and battered vegetables. The (mainly ruined) Wats of Ayuthaya are fantastic (I think I saw 5 separate temples in all and what feels like thousands of Buddhas) and seem reminiscent of the Hindu architecture of India. I am hoping that the gallery part of this blog will be operational soon and that I'll find a way to upload pictures.

    If there is any problem with Moo it is that he is being too nice and too generous and a little over bearing. He wants me to stay in his house with his family. Now this in some ways is a great opportunity but I just don't want to. He didn't want any money for today. I did however give him 500 baht which he said he would give to his wife. I think he does this for his children. He gets to know westerners, gleans a bit of their English language and culture and then passes it on to his kids. I think it's a great advantage to a Thai to be able to speak English. As I sit writing this he has just popped his head around the door and asked me if I want to see a Wat at night. Its 7 PM here and I haven't eaten yet. I can't help thinking that if I say yes I'll end up back at his house again which is something that I don't want to do. If it were something that I wanted to do then I wouldn't hesitate. Moo is a good guy to be around and genuine I think. His family are great but I'm just as interested in meeting other westerners as I am in meeting Thais and there's quite a lot of westerners staying at the same guest house as me. Am I being too cautious, staying in the safety zone??? Maybe, but who cares, I'm on holiday so I please myself init.+