While out taking photos today I spotted these calculations written on the concrete pillar of an overhead expressway.  I failed math early in life, so I’m not exactly sure what it is trying to say.  I can deduce it has something to do with both Thai and Gregorian dates. From the =5555 in one calculation I’m guessing it is intended as humor.  I’d ask one of the boys, but none are here today.  Can anyone offer an explanation?

Leo just got a call from a friend in Korat telling him that the X Size Gay disco has reopened.  Leo is leaving today for Korat, so I’ll get more details when he returns, but the word he got was it is still much the same as I described in my earlier post.

UPDATE: 12-27-9

I just got a call from Leo who is now in Korat. He told me his friend was wrong about the disco reopening. It seems this is one of those friend told a friend who told another friend scenarios and the original source was wrong.

This is one of a few times each year that thousands of Thais head home to visit with family and friends.  On average they will be gone for about one week, and that includes a lot of the boys!  The actual day of departure varies, but you can expect it to start sometime later this week.  Many will return on the 3rd or 4th of January.  The trains and buses will be filled to capacity these two days, so some will come back on the 2nd, and a few will travel on the 5th.

While Christmas is celebrated in Thailand, it’s more of a commercial event.  As Leo puts it, Thais do it for “good fashion”, if they do it at all.  He added that western owned companies will usually have some sort of Christmas party for the employees/clients.

For most Thais, the real celebration is for the Gregorian calendar New Year, which is the first of 3 celebrated each year.  The Thai New Year (Songkran) is celebrated between April 13 to April 15 and the Chinese New Year, which falls on different Gregorian calendar dates each year, shifts between January 21 and February 20.

Most gift giving at this time is associated with the New Year celebration.  I’ve met a few boys over the years that think Christmas and New Year are the same holiday.  Others, like Leo, were told at an early age that farang celebrate New Year on Christmas and January 1 is more of a global festivity.  Of course, he later learned that’s not true.

Gifts are given to the immediate and often extended family members, particularly those that live with or close to the core family unit, which is more common than not in rural settings.  Accordingly, the boys feel a very strong obligation to bring gifts when returning home, a financial burden they struggle with each year.  Thus, if you are in close association with one or more boys this time of year, a little extra cash will be greatly appreciated.   Even if the boy can not return home, he will want to send a bit more to the family so they can buy gifts for everyone.

Just make sure the boy knows your cash gift is for Christmas and New Year.  If the boy is receiving money for services rendered, a little extra than usual scores a lot of points.  Again, make sure he knows why you are giving him extra.  Another option, particularly with a boy that’s living with you, is to go shopping with him and pay for the gifts directly.

At a minimum, budgeting 300 baht for each parent, older sibling and any surviving grand parent is appropriate.  For small children and other extended family members roughly half that (100-150) is more than fair.  You don’t want to over spend here, because the boy, using his own resources, would probably not be able to give nearly as much.  Let the boy know what your budget is, so he can work with you on this.  A good boy will do the right thing, but he needs to know what the budget is.  Failure to share the budget with him puts the boy in a very uncomfortable position, and the process will not go smoothly.  Asking the boy how much you should spend will most likely result in an “up to you” response.

Of course, if you have a boyfriend, and already met the family, you’ll probably be expected to send your own gifts along, even if he is traveling home alone.  It should go without saying the BF is also expecting a gift.

Happy Holidays!

I came out of the bedroom last night and this is what I found staring back at me…

This is something I’ve recently noticed with Leo and Princess.  I’m not sure if it’s typical with all, as I did not pick up on it back when I was seeing a lot of new boys, perhaps due to Kreng Jai.

I’ve already talked about how boys don’t like to say no, and will often say yes when the answer should be no.  This is a Kreng Jai thing, which goes away when you have known the boy for an extended period of time.  Lately I’ve noticed, with Leo and Princess, when asked a question that could easily be answered with a yes or no I get a much longer response.  Worse, I’m not always clear if their answer translates to a yes or no, so I’ll then ask, “Was that a yes or a no?”  Of course, I then get the shorter answer.

I do find it interesting, considering Thais typically prefer to deliver the tersest response possible, so when these two do the opposite it seems a bit strange.

I can only recall the most recent incident, which is the one that got me noticing this trend.  It went something like this…

Q: Are you going out tonight?
A: Cake and GG are going to the disco with some friends.
Q: Was that a yes or a no?
A: Yes

Perhaps it IS their way of being brief, as they are skipping to the answer of a follow up question that is anticipated from me.  So rather than simply saying, “Yes, Cake and his friends are going to the disco tonight and they ask me to go.” I get an abbreviated response that expects me to fill in the “logical” gaps.

I am curious if anyone else has noticed this with the boys they hang around.  I doubt seriously it’s unique to Leo and Princess.

The other day I was having a conversation with Leo about Princess and all the silly drama he and his latest BF are going through.  From this, Leo introduced me to a Thai word that has apparently been barrowed from the English language.   Now Leo isn’t very good at this sort of thing, so I’ll share with you what he said and someone with good Thai language skills can certainly expand on it.

Best I can determine, the word “over” is used in reaction to someone’s overly dramatic behavior, or as Leo would say in English “over acting”, something Thais are notorious for.  So, its limited use in Thai seems to be the equivalent of saying “too much”, as it relates to behavior.  Its pronunciation sounds more like “Oh Verrrrr”.

Leo went on to explain there is a shortened (one syllable) use of the word that sounds identical to “were”.  Both “over” and “were”, but I think more often with “were”, can be followed by “mak” which basically means “a lot”.  Thus, “were mak” would loosely translate to “Way too much”.

Leo added that farang often like to mix Thai and English when talking and this can be confusing for a Thai.  It is made worse when the farang uses a word common to both languages.  He said if a farang uses the Thai word “over”, mixed in with English, a Thai will assume he is using all English.

Today is a special day in Thailand, as we all celebrate the King’s birthday.  A much smaller group of people, myself included, will also celebrate another individual’s birthday.  Leo was born 27 years ago today.

My very best wishes go out to His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and my dear sweet Leo.

At a little after 9 this morning there was a fire in my condominium building.  At first I didn’t realize exactly what was going on.  I could hear a strange high pitched noise that sounded like the alarm when electric is turned off, but power was still on in my room and the outside hallway.  Even so, things didn’t seem quite right.  Soon I heard sirens and several people speaking loudly, so I decided to take another look in the hallway.  This time I saw someone pulling out the fire hose at the far end of the corridor and taking it upstairs.  There was still no smoke smell, but I decided to wake Leo as I was reasonably convinced there was a fire burning on an upper floor.  By the time I had Leo out of bed someone was yelling something in Thai outside the room so Leo, still half asleep and in a daze, looked out into the corridor and confirmed there was a fire in the building.

My father was a fireman for many years and taught us kids well, so I was able to quickly determine we were not in any immediate danger.  None the less, we didn’t waste any time exiting the building.  Leo and I swiftly grabbed a few important items that were out and easy to take without creating any delay.  As we exited the building I could begin to smell some smoke, but only very faint.  After we got outside I learned the fire was up on the fifth floor, at the other end of building from our room, which is on the second level.

One of the items I grabbed was my camera, so shortly after getting outside I started taking photos.  I was very impressed with how the situation was handled.  About 15 emergency vehicles had responded, mostly fire, and there were at least 50 emergency workers on scene within a few short minutes.  Then a truck load of soldiers arrived from the near by base to offer assistance.  Everyone was serious, but calm.  The firemen went right to work on the blaze and had it out in just a few minutes, but not before it spread to rooms on the two floors above.  No doubt many others suffered smoke and water damage, but our room was far enough away to escape any harm.

Just a few minutes after exiting the building I got a call from my landlord, wanting to know if we were aware of the fire and had gotten out.  I had already run into his maintenance man who also wanted to know if we were ok.  It was a good feeling to know the man I’m renting from cared enough to personally check on our safety and wellbeing.

I can not stress how impressed I was with the way this emergency situation was managed.  Everyone had a job and they each did it efficiently and professionally.  It was like watching a well oiled machine in motion.  As some of the emergency workers began packing up, a group of fire, police, medical and army gathered for a group photo.  When they noticed I wanted to take a picture everyone was cleared away for me to get my shot of the group.

We were allowed back into our rooms one and a half hours after the fire started.  The power was off and wasn’t expected to be restored until early evening.  Leo and I decided to make the best of it and went out for lunch and an afternoon movie.  By the time we returned the power was back on.

Rarely a dull moment in Thailand.

Last week Leo went home for a few days to attend his younger brother’s university graduation.  The ceremony was held at a location 6 hours from Korat.  In route, the family stopped at a road-side gas station for a toilet break.

It was then that I got a phone call from Leo telling me about the gay toilet he’d happened onto.  When Leo returned to Bangkok one of the first things he wanted to do was show me the photos he had taken.