I have been telling you about the time that I grew up in Thailand.  It sounds so terrible like the third world country.  That was yesterday, today Thailand is very modern and has one of the strongest economies in Asia.  Bangkok is the capital city and used to be called Venice of the East,  because Bangkok used to have a lot of canals ( Klong in Thai language).  They traveled by boats in canals and rivers like in Venice, Italy,  but today they have to fill them in to make more roads to accommodate heavy traffic.  Thailand is trying to improve the traffic congestion by building more roads, more freeways, sky trains and subways.  Even though they are doing this,  they still have an active floating market.  It is one of the must see tourist attractions ( I highly recommend it).  Floating Market is an open-market where the merchants bring their products to sell on their boats.  They sell just about anything.  You can buy all kind of fruits, vegetables, chickens, clothing, etc.  If you are hungry, you can order a dish of stir fry noodles to eat.  It is a very enjoyable place.  The floating market is located at Damnorn Saduak, just outside of  Bangkok.  You can get there by boat or by car.  I recommend that you ride the boat there.  This way, you can see both sides of Chao Phaya River of Bangkok and also you can go shopping easier once you get there.

Thai people are friendly people, nice and polite.  They are always smiling, maybe that is why they call Thailand-The Land of Smiles.  Tourists love to visit Thailand because they feel welcome.  It is easy to communicate with Thai people because the majority of them speak English.  Thai people love to speak to them too because they want to practice their English also.  There are many interesting places to see and visit.  I recommend two places to see.  One of them is Wat Pha Klew ( Wat means Temple ).  This temple has an Emerald Buddha and has a good history behind it.  The temple is one of the most fascinating architectural sights.  The temple wall is full of a Thai Epic mural.  The painting is so good in detail. This painting on the wall has been repainted since it was constructed about 200-300 years ago ( older than U.S.A.).  The other place to visit is the Royal Grand Palace which is located next to Wat Pha Klew.  This Royal Grand Palace is the welcome place for the high rank foreign visitor nowadays.  When you visit Bangkok, you should take a dinner cruise along Chao Phaya River.  The food on the cruise is excellent and  has a reasonable price.  The shrimps are as big as the lobsters.  There is a tour guide on the cruise to tell you the history of each building or temple in English.  It is a very enjoyable cruise.  There are many things to see and do in Bangkok.  What I just told you are only a few suggestions.

Next you should make a trip to the northern part of Thailand-Chiengmai.  Chiengmai is one of the provinces that has a lot of Thai hand crafted products.  They have many hand crafted teak wood pieces of  furniture.  It is a very detailed hand craft, very delicate and beautiful. Teak wood is a very hard wood and heavy.  This hand crafted teak wood furniture  will last for many generations to come.  By the way the price of the furniture is very reasonable compared to American or European prices.  The most beautiful Thai silk is from Chiengmai also.  You should visit a Thai silk factory when you go there.  They do have men tailor made suits  and women tailor made dresses at the Thai silk factory.  What ever you want to purchase, you need to bargain the price.  Don’t buy the merchandise at the price they tell you on the first quote.  Always bargain and start at half of what they ask for.  For instance, if they start asking for a price of $10, bargain them for $5.  It is the way that Thai people buy and sell.  Wow! I did not realize how long this article was.  Well let me tell you some more next time.

Mana

I would like to tell you about my drinking at early age.  In Thailand they didn’t have the liquor law like in America.  The legal age in U.S. is 21 yrs. old.  Papa’ gave me some money to buy a bottle of whiskey in the neighborhood.  I was only seven years old.  They sold it to me.  When I was four years old, I was running late for my school bus that morning.  Mama’ was calling me  because the school bus had arrived.  Hurry up the school bus is waiting, she said.  I ran to her to say goodbye and I grabbed her drink.  I drank it in one swallow and ran to catch the school bus.  Next thing I know, my Mama’ ran after me and checked to see if I am o.k. or not.  She told the teacher on the bus to keep an eye on me because I just drank her whole glass of whiskey.  Mama’ always drank  a glass of Chinese tea with her meal.  But this morning she felt like she needed a shot of whiskey.  I tell you what all the teachers at my school kept asking me how I felt all day.

Bangkok is one of the best entertaining cities in the world.  Most of the military service men decided to stay in Bangkok instead of coming home to U.S..  They really like the easy life and fun time.  Thai people always smile and are happy.  Americans call Thailand the land of smiles.  Thai people always Sanook ( means Happy Fun in Thai ).  There are many night clubs, massage parlors and bars in Bangkok.  It is very easy for Thai teenagers to get in because there is no one to check their i.d..  It is a very bad influence for Thai teenagers, but it is one of the big tourism businesses of Thailand.  Some foreign businesses prefer to have a business conference in Bangkok.  I know because one of my brothers always partied a lot with his friends.  I will tell you more about Bangkok and other cities in Thailand later.  Let me tell you more about my drinking at an early age.   One day when I was eleven years old, I went with my Papa’ to the U.S. commercial liner.  He went to see the captain and first engineer to have them sign the invoice.  The captain gave my Papa’ two cases of beer for a job well done.  My Papa’ accepted with delight and told me to take them home.  Papa’ told me to put some beer in refrigerator to keep them cold and to have them some day when he comes home from work.  Three weeks later, he asked me to get some beer from the refrigerator. ” What beers are you talking about?”  I asked.  He said that we got them from the U.S. ship a few week ago.  That is the beer, well they are gone, I said.  What do you mean gone?  I told him that I drank them all.  He was shocked and told me not to do it again.  I told him that I just wanted to try it first to see what it tasted like.  The next thing I knew, I finished them all.  He told me that it is o.k. to try it when Mama’ or him is there.  He didn’t want me to get into trouble and to get hooked on it.  That is my drinking story at an early age.  I will tell you about Thailand later on.  Goodbye for now.

Mana

I would like to tell you about my parents this time.  Before I tell you about them.  I would like to bring up my stock Bank Of Ireland (IRE $11.00).  If you buy the day I wrote the Investing article (May 27).  You would have made the profit of 30%.  That is a very good profit indeed.  I haven’t sell it yet.  It is still having some leg to go.  The government of Ireland injected 4 billion into the Bank Of Ireland to buy back bad debt.  Also this stock was $97 on February 2007 before the recession hit around the globe.  I keep this stock for awhile longer.

I am a lucky guy in the world,I got great parents.  I learned a lot from both of them.  They gave an unconditional love.  I called my father-Papa’, it means Dad in Chinese.  In Thai, it says Kun Paw.  I called my mother-Mama’, it means Mom in Chinese.  In Thai, it says Kun Mae.  Papa’ was the one who did all the disciplines.  Mama’ was the one who always gave love and care.  Mama’ was the housewife, she got up real early every morning to cook breakfast.  She woke all of us up when the breakfast was done.  I got one sister and two brothers.  My grandmother (my dad’s mother) was living with us also.  Mama’ helped me get ready before the school bus showed up.  After we finished eating our breakfast, she washed the dishes.  Then she washed all our clothes.  We washed every things by hands  in Thailand at that time.  I forgot to tell you that we used charcoal for cooking and boiling the water.  We got three stoves, one for cooking the rice, one for stir fry and the other for boiling the water.  Today living is so very convenient, you have rice cooker, you have dish washer and washing machine.  Mama’ took me to the market a lot of time, especially on the week end and summer time.  She taught me how to buy chickens, fishes and shrimps, which they were still alive in the open market.  You can take the live chicken home and kill the chicken by yourself or you can pay the merchant an extra money to process for you.  We bought enough for all three meals a day.  Mama’ was a great cook, she could cook all kind of Chinese foods.  She never let us bore with our meals.  She always had different dishes on each meal, some was stir fry, some was deep fry and some was soup.  Every dishes were delicious.  I learned how to cook from her.  I had been carried the baskets for her.  One day, she tested me to see how much I know how to prepare a meal.  She gave some money to buy grocery.  She said “I gave you enough money to buy grocery for three meals.  You have to think what the combination of meat and vegetables to make a dish.  Whatever you want to eat buy it.  If you like it, I’m sure everybody in the family will like it also.”  Boye of boye, it was tough, I bought enough to make only two dishes.  It took three or four dishes to make a meal.  I didn’t even get enough for a meal.  She smiled and said that it takes time to learn, just keep watching me every day and it will sink in.  I had been help her to prepare the meal all the time, but never actually cooked by myself.  The first trip back to visit from America, I cooked for my parents.  My mama’ said to me you are a good cook.  You develope to be a great chef, you have your own style.  I told her that I learned from her and changed a little bit due to lack of ingredients where I lived.

I helped my mama’ doing shore around the house.  I remember that the first time I learned how to iron the clothes with the old charcoal iron.  You had to get the fire start first.  You had to have a bucket of water so that you can splash it on your clothes.  I swept and scrubbed the floor.  I was on my knee to scrub and moped by hand.  We didn’ t have the kind of mop that they use in U.S.A.  My life growing up was a busy one.  Mama’ said to me that you have to plan your daily life and then just do it.  If you are just thinking about it, it will never get done.  She is my inspiration.

It is quiet long article this time, I will continue the story next time.

Goodbye for now,

Mana