Living and owning a business in Thailand, CS style.

[Captain Sensible]

Grrr. OK, I will outline how I left the pub then.

I mentioned earlier that one of the gals went on to become Mrs Sensible. My now ex-wife had come to Thailand on holiday with another gal and made their way to the pub one night. To cut a long story short we became quite close and one day, when I returned from a visa run, I found a lovely long letter that she had left for me when she had returned to London. We exchanged a number of letters over the next few months and she invited me to come to London. I remember that I travelled back and forth to London 3 times that year, each time leaving the pub in the hands of a friend.
On the last time that I came back to the pub I found that the guy (a friend) that was looking after the show had let it run right down. There was little stock, the place was a mess and the staff were also very unhappy as they hadnt been paid and were all looking at me for money. I did what I could to rectify the mess but I was fast losing interest. That same night I just took a decision in exactly the same way as I had when I first went to Thailand to quit and return to London and marry my gal.
I flew out of Bangkok the very next day leaving everything behind.

It was to be 8 years before I returned to Kanchanaburi.

The end.

[Captain Sensible]

[MeMock]

Originally Posted by Captain Sensible

The end.

No, it's not the end CS - I keep telling ya - I just wanted to get that bit out of the way first!

So it all went belly up because of a woman huh?

So back to the questions.

Did your thai cook cook thai food thai style or farang style?

[Captain Sensible]

Originally Posted by MeMock

No, it's not the end CS - I keep telling ya - I just wanted to get that bit out of the way first!

So it all went belly up because of a woman huh?

Well, I cant say that my relationship with her had nothing to do with it coz it did but it wasnt all. There were times when I was just tiring of the lifestyle that I had developed. Hedonism is great I reckon but I was also concerned about my health as I was drinking every night. There were other things as well. For instance I felt like I had to be available for folks, with a smile on my face, almost 24/7 and it was becoming more and more difficult to keep it up. I had become quite a public person and I remember one time a Japanese guy came into my bathroom while I was showering and enquired about hiring my bicycle. Now that in itself was no big deal but my bathroom was my personal space and this lil fokker simply had no regard for the fact.
Argh, there were a lot of reasons actually but I just felt it was time for the next chapter in my life and yeah, I had yet another long distance relationship on the go.

Originally Posted by MeMock

So back to the questions.

Did your thai cook cook thai food thai style or farang style?

My cook was reknowned for her Thai food, especially her Pad Thai. Armin had taught her how to cook some western dishes like chicken wotsit (erm what is the one were you wrap cheese and ham in a chicken breast and fry it?) along with club sandwiches and some other dishes too but her main claim to fame was her Thai food and she was also aware of falangs liking more on their plate so her portions were generous.

[Marmite the Dog]

Running a pub/bar/restaurant is one of the most taxing jobs one can do. It nearly killed my mother. I certainly wouldn't want to do it (plus, I'm a miserable b'stard, so I wouldn't be very good with the customers anyway).

[Captain Sensible]

I have read others posts here as well who say the same and I think it does take a certain kind of person to do it. Now I aint saying that I am that kind of a person but most of you will know me as quite a gregarious sought of bloke and I think that this is one of the things that a person needs to be to do it well. To be honest, I havent ruled out opening another pub when I get back but my problem is that I dont trust myself to know that I wouldnt drink myself to death.

One thing that I would do differently is have certain opening hours. As it was back then I would just stay open as long as their were folks who wanted to go on drinking.

[Captain Sensible]

I built a balcony off my quarters upstairs that overlooked the beer garden and was still under the roof of the beer garden. Surpringly, whenever I was up there no one could see me and simply were oblivious to the fact that I was there. Except of course when I took a pic and the flash gave me away.

[MeMock]

Originally Posted by Captain Sensible

chicken wotsit (erm what is the one were you wrap cheese and ham in a chicken breast and fry it?)

Chicken kiev, is that what you mean?

So she was a great cook but was it real thai food and not dumbed down thai food. ie - if a thai ate it would they say 'aroy mak'?

[Captain Sensible]

That's it. Chicken wotsit.

In Kan they would say 'aloy makt' Memmers.

Yeah she was pretty good coz I offered on the menu that if a falang wanted in hot or mild they just had to say at the point when they ordered. Dont forget she was selling take aways out the back door to the locals mate. I think they rated her cooking pretty highly. The Thai's I mean.

[friscofrankie]

Chicken Kiev; onions, parsley, garlic and butter stuffed chicken breast breaded and deep fried....
Chicken Cordon Bleu; ham and some knid of cheese stuffed chicken breast, breaded and deep fried...
Fuc me I'm hungry.
Anyway Cap this thread reminds that I've yet to hit Kanchanaburi. one Place i've wanted to go and haven't. Thiking maybe i'll need to fire up the way back machine to visit the same place written about here.
Now,.. On with the shaggin' stories!!!
With 8x10 color glossies of course! (cirlces and arrows ommitted if you don't mind)

[MeMock]

Next question:

Did you have many/any backpackers come to eat/drink and then say they have no money?

[Fabian]

Originally Posted by friscofrankie

Chicken Kiev; onions, parsley, garlic and butter stuffed chicken breast breaded and deep fried....
Chicken Cordon Bleu; ham and some knid of cheese stuffed chicken breast, breaded and deep fried...

Yes, it was Cordon Bleu.

[Captain Sensible]

Originally Posted by MeMock

Next question:

Did you have many/any backpackers come to eat/drink and then say they have no money?

There was one occasion when these two Aussie bushpigs turned up. By jiminy they were feral mate. Anyway they gave me a sob story about how they had no money and no ticket home blah, blah, blah and just came straight out and asked if I would help them out with food and booze if they shagged me. Now had they been even half way decent looking gals I might have considered it but they were true bushpigs so quick as a flash I told them that I was happily married and would never even consider such a thing. They then just asked me if I would give them 2000 baht and they would then go away.
My initial thought was to just toss them out into the street but I decided to send them down the street to my Chinese competitor saying that he loved Australian gals and was giving out free food anyway. They were out that door and all but running down the street to his gaff.

The only other incident that was anywhere near related was when I noticed a new guy sitting in the beer garden with a bottle of beer in front of him that I knew that I had run out of stock of. I sat down at his table and asked him what that beer was like and said that I had asked for it but had been told that the pub had run out of it. He laughed and told me that he had bought it in his guest house and had smuggled it in coz he would save 15 baht. He then showed me that he had another 3 bottles in a bag that was on the ground next to him. He then told me that he knew lots of tricks on how to save money in Thailand. I then laughed and told him that I was the guvnor. You should have seen the look on his face. I turfed him out there and then. Telling him that he should not come back.

These were the only two times that anything like this ever happened and I found that the honour system amongst backpackers, which was prolly 70% of my custom, was very reliable. As I said before, many times folks would come up to me and just hand me 180 baht or so, saying thanks for the credit from last night. I had completely forgotten about it anyway.
By and large folks are pretty honest I think. It certainly wasnt worth worrying about.

Lastly though I will say that I used to laugh out loud at folks that came in to buy a bottle of drinking water (nam deum) and when I told them that it was 10 baht they said no thanks and then walked about 2 kilometres into town to buy it at the 7/11 for 8 baht. Stoopid foks. I suppose the walk did them some good though.

[Dougal]

I've only been in Kan for a few days once back in '93 I think. I stayed in the Jolly Frog and hated the place. The first night or rather morning I was woken up at about 05:00 by some bl**dy floating disco called Disco Duck you could hear it coming for about half an hour before it arrived and another half when it was going then the whole thing was repeated on its return trip.

I think that was when I first accepted that I was old.

[MeMock]

Wow you realised you were old 12 years ago - you must be ancient now!

[Captain Sensible]

Actually, that Disco Duck and a number of other barges that blared music became quite a nuisance on that stretch of the Kwai and a campaign was mounted to have them go up the other arm of the river. Most of the guest house owners along the river joined in and eventually the The TTA stepped in and they were stopped from using that stretch of the river.

[Dougal]

Originally Posted by MeMock

Wow you realised you were old 12 years ago - you must be ancient now!

On the basis that you are as young as the woman you feel, I have shed a considerable number of years since then.

[dirtydog]

hell dougal, I wouldn't want to shag women as old as me, it's a disgusting thought, hell my mom was this old once.

[Captain Sensible]

Talking about the Jolly Frog GH, Dougal, it is actually, or was at least, a fairly good GH. It has a good menu and the food is pretty good, both Thai and Falang. I often ate there as an alternative to my own gaff. That is until I got banned. You see, I also used to make use of thier cheaper rooms when I had sorted myself a doll from one of my treks. I learned that it wasnt always a good idea to bring them back to my gaff so I would take them for a meal at the Jolly Frog. On one occasion the waitress that was serving us asked for my room number once we had given her the order. I looked at the key fob to check and it was room E5 (e five). Now, my Thai wasnt great and I told her that my room number was 'E hah', showing off to the dolly that I could sapeak Thai. Well, the waitress didnt here me and asked me again. I made a mistake in raising the hah bit when I repeated it loudly and she just turned crimson and ran off. What had I said I wondered??? A minute later the owner came over and told me to get out of his restaurant and not ever come back.

Apparently, in raising the tone at the end of the 'hah' bit I had told the waitress to go fucking or something equally horrible.
It was months before I could eat there and I never took a room there again.

The place was full of yids as well coz at the time it was the only Guest House listed in the Israeli Lonely Planet Guide.

[poolcleaner]

Originally Posted by dirtydog

hell dougal, I wouldn't want to shag women as old as me, it's a disgusting thought, hell my mom was this old once.

Sometimes I wonder how your mind works dd.
You're not that old so your mum would have been OK I reckon..................
fer yer dar!