Communication problems.

Despite rumours to the contrary the Don is alive, well and still living in Prachuap. Yes its been a hectic few days which have included visits to Hau Hin, Bangkok and Popiet in Cambodia! But I think I can safely say normal service is now resumed. On Wednesday, my computer problems, which I thought were solved, continued, the "universal" power pack gave up the ghost after 12 hours and it was back to basics. Mind you the shop did give me a full refund, which for Thailand is pretty good. Having failed in Prachuap to solve my problem I drove 90 Km to Hau Hin, "they're sure to have one there!" Well they didn't but they could order me one from Bangkok. Well seeing as I was planning to go to BKK on Friday anyway it seemed pointless. After some quick rescheduling of trains and hotels we left for BKK on Thursday thus allowing an extra full day for shopping in the city. Despite Duens reservations we used the Rod Fai (train) to go and come back on. The outward journey was good, as we went by "sprinter," the name refers to the type of rolling stock and not the speed it travels, in Olympic terms its more your marathon pace! But it did have air con and was only 15 minutes late. The return trip by traditional "express" was in keeping with Thai railways normal service and we arrived home about two hours late! Anyway back to BKK. Friday found me at the offices of Qatar Airways, I had to pay some money for rescheduling my return ticket. Now I only mention it because I enjoyed listening to a conversation between one of the staff and a gentleman and his mother from Kuwait. Now Qatar is an excellent airline and I would recommend them, but they are based in the Gulf and you fly via Doha. Now clearly they speak Arabic, as did the guy from Kuwait. Unfortunately the Thai staff at Qatar's office in BKK speak good English but not Arabic. OK the scene is set, now I think the guy wanted to reschedule his flight but his English was very limited. But the young Thai lady was very patient and eventually they seemed to come to an understanding, then she mentioned the cost, well actually she showed him a calculator displaying the price he had to pay. At this point he and his mother(she is wearing a full headdress and veil) had an heated exchange, then she stomped out of the office leaving him. Clearly somewhat embarrassed, he curses the Thai girls in Arabic and follows his mother, leaving his ticket behind! By the way I didn't have any problems myself and I now have my return extended to January 2009. As I was on Sukumvit Road I decided to walk down to the office of "Jacks Golf Tours," the company that organise the visa run to Cambodia. I had booked a month ago for the 7am departure on Saturday, but heck this is Thailand better check. "What booking?" "But you emailed me confirming it," "oh yes so we did, but the 7am trips not running, would you like to go on the 5am departure?" Keep smiling, say yes, thank them, go outside and scream. Ah much better! My third call of the day was to Pantip Plaza on Phetchuburi Road via a trip on the the sky train which gave me time to bring my temperature down in the cool clean interior. The plaza is a huge department store that sells anything for computers, either hardware or software, legal or illegal. I found the official HP shop and quickly got my new "legal" power pack and it only cost 1600 baht compared to the 4000 they wanted in Hau Hin! With my usual degree of hindsight I also purchased a surge protector! The rest of Friday involved a trip to Somat Songkan to visit Duens family. Now they don't speak English but we get by and they are very friendly. A good end to a day where communication occasionally had its problems!
More on my trip to Cambodia in the next post.

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